Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, WA Home Inspector (King of the House)

It is always nice to be able to figure out why a problem exists. At a recent inspection I had noted some minor gutter and downspout maintenance issues prior to the deluge of heavy rain. But, when I was down in the crawl space, the otherwise dry area was really wet in one corner. This always requires further review from the outside.

Sure enough, when I got the fine tooth comb out, on the outside, the foundation drain was not functioning and water was running over the top of the drain and out around the downspout. You can see the water stain on the concrete, lower left in the photo.

There are benefits to inspecting in the rain. Had this inspection been done in dry weather at this newer home, that wet corner would have been dry and there would have been no water coming out of the downspouts and gutters. Wet weather can turn up many more problems at a home and it is beneficial to the inspection process when an inspector works in a climate such as Bellingham.

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Steven L. Smith

King of the House Home Inspection is operated by Steven L. Smith and the firm is based in Bellingham, WA. King of the House, Inc serves Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties.

Find out why you should have a home inspection by clicking the start button on the King of the House Home Inspection Inc video presentation below.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

The photo was recently taken at a building owned by the city and leased to a leading local restaurant. Obviously, the establishment complies with the various city safety codes. The business in this location attracts adults and their children.

Codes are designed to protect children and adults. Remember that when you look at the guardrail on the upper floor at this busy public spot. It is at least ten feet off the floor below.

The basic rule, with code, is that spindles in a high guardrail or a handrail must be spaced so a four inch sphere cannot pass through. Despite a popular misconception, codes DO NOT MANDATE that the spindles be vertical so the basic safety provision, if installed horizontally, can become an enticing ladder to youngsters while fully meeting codes.

But, there is more. These so-called spindles that pass so-called scrupulous code inspector's eyes are simply flexible metal cables. They may be around four inches apart if nothing is touching them. Fact is, the slightest pressure can stretch them to what -- six inches, ten inches, a foot? The sky is the limit -- "give and flex" are the key words. Any kid could crawl right through head first or hang from them.

These cables obviously meet code in a city owned building that is occupied by a leading local restaurant. If someone is to tell me that they do not have to meet code and do not, then please explain that to me as well. Does the city get a pass on their own buildings? Is there a double standard? If so, since the city is self-insured and pays for lost lawsuits with public funds, then I would ask why.

I got no problem with the business here, they are a fine one and this is a city owned building that is leased to the business. So tell me, are code inspectors nuts or what?

I rest my case: When unknowing people tell me that home inspectors should NEVER cite as a problem anything that is okay with a code inspector, I say "piffle" and "nuts".

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Steven L. Smith

Wow, another four weeks just passed us by. Today we completed another 120 hour fundamentals of home inspection training class and yet another 40 hours of field training. At this point in the course, the students are totally exhausted. The first three weeks they are mentally pummeled for 8 hours a day with relentless and very detailed minutia.

Then, the final week, they have five inspections and, all together, that amounts to 40 hours out in the field. But, they are still not done. Because, after that, they have to go home to wherever they live and write the reports. These photos are among the last photos I will take of this group. They look pretty beat to me.

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Steven L. Smith

So tomorrow is a very hectic day for me. I really wish that I could be attending rain camp in Bellingham, my hometown.

It was not even a year ago that I went to the Seattle rain camp and that was lots of fun. But this year, despite the best of intentions on my part, family circumstances in my life and a multitude of other commitments have made it impossible to get the time off.

I hope that all of my AR friends who are in attendance will have a good day. I just wish that I could be there too. Have fun.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

When it comes to home inspection, this is pretty basic and you have heard it before: Keep the bushes, shrubs, trees and vines cut back from the siding and trim.

Not only will the vegetation keep the siding wet, or shall we say damp, but also the vegetation can hide problems and it makes a wonderful freeway for carpenter ants and other wood destroying insects.

Keeping the vegetation cut a foot back from the house is good for the homeowner and the home.

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Steven L. Smith

It makes no sense, other than it is cheap to do short-term, but many manufactured homes have a wood skirting around them and that wood skirting is buried in the ground. When wood is in contact with earth, over time, it will eventually decay. That applies to plywood, OSB and you name it. Even pressure treated lumber, in this application, is often found to be rotting behind the skirting.

The probe, in the decayed wood, says it all. A skirting at a manufactured home should be made of either a cement-based product or metal.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

I have been monkeying around the past few weeks with a video about home inspection and my firm. Having worked in broadcasting for years I viewed this less as a video and more as a voice-over with applicable photos. This has not been done without a few hassles but, generally, I think it turned out pretty well. I uploaded it to youtube today. I am having a hassle there in that the quality of photos is better than the upload is allowing. I have to get a file converter to get my better quality video saved to a format they can use. For now, I will put a link below so you can see what I came up with. When I get the better quality video, I will upload that but this is, as it is, pretty typical of online quality so not bad. I, also, have no clue why youtube selected, as the feature photo for the embed, a big puddle of water out of the middle of the video....anyway to change that? Update: did as I was told in comments, change may be coming.

This is my first venture into any sort of video presentation and I think I might do some procedural documents on technical topics using this same format.

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Steven L. Smith

Years ago there were these series of books about Joe's this that and the other thing -- from his stomach to his large intestine. Since this is such a clever theme, I have come up with my own article which is called " I Am Joe's Dryer Duct."

That is NOT flexduct. That is smooth metal ducting, in a multi-unit complex here in Bellingham that has a shared laundry, and this has not been cleaned in two years. Wow. How that lint does collect. Joe needs to clean his dryer duct.

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Steven L. Smith

I was at a home inspection recently, really a high house, and I kept seeing birds entering up under the soffit. Residents of the home were under the impression that the birds were nesting outside, not getting inside the attic.

Since I saw no nests up there, I suspected that the feathered friends were getting inside. When I got a ladder up under the eave, it was evident that the birds were, for sure, making the attic their home. In fact, it looks like they did some chewing just to make it easier access to help them in their role as birds in the attic.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith