Steven L. Smith's Blog

Being a home inspector I go through digital cameras. I have lost count of just how many have died on the job, although their bodies are in my drawer. Every once in awhile I "harvest" an organ from an old one to keep another camera operating for a few more days.

I am not going to pay $200.00 a pop for cameras that I then take into crawl spaces and submerge in water or that I drop off ladders from roofs. Yes, I have lanyards but I would actually have to have my wrist through the strap for it to work.

My solution is that I have found a couple Olympus model cameras that I like. One is good for general shots and exterior, the other has better detail for closeup work. These cameras I have chosen, at this point, are getting older so they keep showing up on Ebay for under a hundred bucks each. Often the cameras on Ebay are, actually, in great shape because normal people -- not a home inspector -- used them instead of abused them.

Now we get to the point of my post. In this age when everyone is so concerned about privacy, it is amazing the number of cameras that are sent to me that come with one, or several, memory cards that are full of private images. Now, being an honorable sort, I am not going to post these anonymous people's photos online, other than I do think the two authentic examples below are safe to post. Probably the people in the photos would not recognize themselves.  

The photo at the right gives an example of the "party" type photos that people send to me. Least you think I am a pervert, I only discovered this fact the other day. I do not froth at the mouth waiting for UPS to deliver my used camera to see what kind of special bonus I might have received. I discovered this by accident when I desperately popped a memory card from my ever growing stash into a new used camera. Gee, it has stuff on it. What might that be? I have since erased the card, but it had several naked photos of an individual, with the primary focus being on the rear-end. The downside, quite a steep downside actually, was that the naked photos were more in line with, or similar to, this photo, than photos of anyone with a resemblance to Catherine Zeta Jones or Angelina Jolie. Heck, even Angie's dad, Jon Voight, would have been a huge step up.

Everyone thinks about privacy issues, it is big talk right now. Therefore, I think it strange that people do not think to erase their private photos, instead they send them on to a total stranger that they encounter on Ebay. It is a strange world out there. And, if you do not believe me, take another gander at this.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

Actually, the title of this post is a bit of a joke, but not too much so. I can honestly say that I never would have dreamed, ten years ago, that, at some point, much of what I do for an income would involve bugs and being a bug detective. I am a home inspector but, in this state, the root of home inspection for several years has been to also perform wood destroying organism inspections.

With home inspector licensing that changed some -- an inspector no longer must be licensed as a structural pest inspector. However, far as I can tell, it has not changed much. Most of us, because our clients and realtors have come to expect complete inspection reports, include wood destroying organism (WDO) issues.

I thought you might find it interesting to see just how much so a structural pest inspector has to be a bug detective. I was preparing some photos for an upcoming class at Bellingham Technical College. These are photos I will be using in class, so without weighing you down too much, I will explain a bit of the theory as to what a structural pest inspector should see in each photo.

This "scaly" damage below is typical of subterranean termites. 

This pile of chewed shavings, frass,  is from carpenter ants.

This closeup shot is also from carpenter ants, note the bug parts -- typical of carpenter ant frass.

This pile is from a wood shop. You have to be able to tell WDO damage from remnants of workers who were cutting or drilling under the house.

This damage is from moisture ants. They build galleries in wet and decayed wood.

This pile of dark frass is from moisture ants.

This shot is the most destructive wood-boring beetle in our region -- the anobiid beetle. That sawdust is an indication that the species is very much alive and eating the wood.

These larger exit holes, slightly oval, are from another wood boring beetle that is known as the cerambycid beetle. In our region they do not reinfest. That means the pest needs no chemical treatment. But in some places they do. Ever heard of the old house borer?

Here is a sign of another wood-boring beetle -- the buprestid beetle. It has a very elongated exit hole and is not reinfesting. It got in the wood when the wood was a tree in the forest.

This is a view inside a piece of wood that the buprestid beetle has been tunneling in.

And here we have old cerambycid beetle holes that are plugged with mud. This packing was done by orchard mason bees who are beneficial and not wood destroying organisms at all.

These photos are only a handful of the pictures in the BTC  presentation on wood destroying organisms -- which takes six to eight hours to complete. While abbreviated here, it gives a good idea of the amount of information one needs to know to figure out which pest is doing what to whom. And if you wonder what frass is, it consists of the byproducts of insect feeding or tunneling activity.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

I was clearing a few photos out of my Active Rain folder. I have to do that or it gets so large I cannot find anything. Well, in the course of doing that, I found this photo that I took before Christmas. This is from a nursery near Blaine -- a wonderful poinsettia farm that is near here. I am going to post this photo, because it seems a nice way to say goodnight to Christmas for another year.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

Well, it is Christmas Eve here. Just had some friends and family leave. Heck, quarter to nine and bedtime for me. I am not half the man I used to be.

Anyway, it is Christmas day in parts of the country so, on behalf of myself and the King of the House staff, including my famous and highly regarded certifried home inspector assistant Nutsy, Merry Christmas to all of my friends here at Active Rain.

Merry Christmas to my niece Heather, over there in Moses Lake, too. Nutsy considers her his favorite of the Smith side of the family relatives. For many years of my childhood, and even as an adult some 20 years ago, I spent many a Christmas Eve with her dad, her uncles, her aunts and her grandparents. Heather too, but she was a kid back then.

Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas,

Steven L. Smith

I remember an old song about some guy with a bucket that has a hole in it. I am afraid that the words escape me. But, regarding buckets, I can tell you  that, when a home inspector sees a sink trap with a bucket under it, he or she looks pretty carefully.

I would say that, about fifty percent of the time, the bucket is strategically placed there because there is a leak from the sink or the trap. The other half of the time somebody just has the bucket stored there and uses it for some other purpose like pulling it out when they are cleaning.

My advice is this: If the sink leaks, fix it -- lose the bucket. If the sink does not leak, and you are trying to sell your house, then move the bucket out from under the sink so you do not unduly raise the home inspector's radar. Inspectors work from clues and a bucket right under a trap is a clue that the inspector better take a pretty close look and, heaven forbid, the inspector might even jump to the wrong conclusion.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

Earlier today I posted a piece with photos from James Street Estates. In all of Whatcom county, over the last decade or more, several years, I do not think that any location is as recognized for the Christmas lighting as is James Street Estates -- a manufactured home park tucked back behind the local Kmart.

There is so much color there that I wanted to post a few more photos that I took last night.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

Over the weekend, I wrote a piece about the shortage of city sponsored Christmas decorations this year. That does not mean there are not Christmas lights. Over the past decade or more, those of us in this area who want to see bright Christmas color need only take a drive through James Street Estates which is kind of tucked behind the local Kmart.

This is a manufactured home park and the residents there take their decorations seriously. I went through there last night with the family and I will be posting some of the photos here. There were so many bright lights that, actually, I will be doing a followup post as well.

The first photo is the sign you see as you enter the park. There is continuous car traffic and lots for anyone to see.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

In my post yesterday, where I compared city of Bellingham Christmas decorations fifty years ago to now, I got the attention of a few people. Ends up that, as far as the city goes, tall trees and extravagant lighting are things of the past.

I did not wish to imply that the spirit of Christmas lighting has died in our fair city. Many homeowners still have vivid displays of lighting. It is just that the city fathers seem to have zipped shut the coin purse when it comes to holiday festivities or lighting that is sponsored by the city.

Below is a photo of a huge Bellingham home that has, for years, gone all out at Christmas. It is on a busy corner on a primary residential street.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham has, over the years, had our share of well-known residents. The oscar winning actress Hilary Swank learned drama here at Sehome High School. Going way back, Edward R. Murrow was raised in this area and he was often seen visiting his parents who lived in Bellingham in those years after WWII.

Probably a dozen years ago, Ryan Stiles, a star on the Drew Carey show and the improv comedy show "Whose Line Is It Anyway" moved to Bellingham. He still appears in movies and on TV but, around here, he is known for his small improv theater -- The Upfront. Every year or so, he personally makes appearances.

Another of our best known Bellingham residents, who only moved here five years ago, is David Lanz.

David is an international recording star and had one of the biggest hits ever in the field of "new age" music. Remember that genre back in the late 80's and early 1990's? David composed, and had a top hit, 27 weeks at #1 on the adult alternative/new age charts, with Cristofori's Dream. The song sold platinum and even now, years later, it is still one of the most downloaded songs at I-tunes.

David is very involved in the local community, helping out worthy causes and he is, if you are paying attention, often seen around town. He might be mailing CD's to anywhere in the world or he or his wife might be walking down the street or out at a local restaurant. A few times a year, in between concerts elsewhere, David plays at local venues in Bellingham. He does workshops with students at some of the local colleges and he does intimate, and highly enjoyable, concerts.

My wife and I saw him just last night at the Amadeus Project concert hall on Cornwall Avenue in Bellingham. Next week he plays Jazz Alley, a famous nightclub, in Seattle. Last night we were front row in this small 150 seat venue. It was warm on a cold night and we saw some neighbors whom we had not seen in years. As always, David did a great show and his good character, sense of humor, professionalism and dedication shine through.

Last night, David introduced his new CD, Liverpool, Re-imagining the Beatles, which is his homage to the Beatles music, an influence that he says transformed his life.  David is of such an age to have been involved with pop music in the 1960's and beyond. In fact, he played the distinctive keyboard track on Terry Jack's monster hit "Seasons In The Sun."

David's Christmas concerts are always fun and a favorite in the community. He mixes his own hits and many of the Christmas standards. He has rollicking fun with "Nutcracker." The music begins in the typical dramatic fashion and then he goes wild and takes you from a smoke filled jazz nightclub to the keyboard antics of a Jerry Lee Lewis. David Lanz is a nice addition to our city. He gets involved in the community and works to make it a better place for all and that is much appreciated by those of us who have lived here forever.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

Yesterday I posted a photo of Bellingham's Christmas tree from the year 1949 that was the tallest Christmas tree in the world. Local history can be fascinating to those of us who live in a town.

I have written about the topic previously but, as a lifelong resident of Bellingham, I think that one of the most interesting pieces of local history goes back 103 years to the amusement park that was located in the Silver Beach neighborhood by Lake Whatcom.

White City got it's name because it was "lit-up". It was white due to there being electric lights. This was a novelty -- the dawning of the electric age. The lights alone were a drawing card, hence the name "White City."

This was not a small amusement park. There was a major roller coaster, a ferris wheel and various other means of distraction for that person who wished to be amused. The city center street car dropped people at White City -- the end of the line. People could flock to White City for rides or to rent boats. It was on the edge of the lake and the splendid Silver Beach Hotel, with about 15 rooms, was in the neighborhood.

The amusement park and the hotel were short-lived and they faded away by 1920. The advent of WWI did not help business. Despite being long gone, no remnants of the site remain to the best of my knowledge, this is an interesting part of Bellingham's history. A few historical post cards and photos have been left for posterity. The best photos I have seen are in the Galen Biery collection. Galen was a local historian who spent years preserving a photo history of this area.

Steven L. Smith

www.kingofthehouse.com

Bellingham Home Inspector 

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith