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

Over the past couple years I have liked my yellow pages representative. Honestly, that slim bond was the only thing that even kept me in the book. I will not name names, but we are talking the "main" Bellingham phone book here, not one of the copycat books of which there are many.

My wife, who took over paying bills a few months back, has told me that I ought to dump the yellow pages and the $50.00 per month that they charge. I spent 30 years in media and marketing so I know how to track my business. I can say that I have not been able to track a client back to the yellow pages since 2007.

Just the same, I was going to keep the listing another year, except the representative said that the rate was going up. Now, it was not going up much, but even two bucks more a month is a lot when a person is convinced that there is no value in the product. That small bump tossed me over the edge and I told the rep that, far as I could tell, they had blinders on and nobody cares about the book anymore. They have been replaced mainly by three words : Google, Yahoo and Bing.

The rep, nicely, explained that I was wrong and suggested that all these people I am crediting to the Internet have, in fact, found me first in the yellow pages and then they decided to look me up to find out more. Now I better understand the power of Google -- Pleeeeeeease!

I think that, like the photo copy shops, the numerous one-hour photo developing shops and the VHS video store on every corner, the yellow pages are sinking into the abyss.

And one thing I am sure of, having worked in AM radio as it started to fall in popularity to FM, is that ignoring a problem and pretending that you are better than ever is a sure way to fail big. I think that is where the yellow pages are headed. We call it skydiving without a parachute. Long story short, I am now gone from the yellow pages.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

We have, over the years, come to assume that much of the advertising we are exposed to will be quite sophisticated. It will consist of all types of "hooks" to get us in the mood to purchase or consume a product.

Yesterday I had to quickly run into Albertson's which is a big supermarket chain on my side of the country. I could not help but laugh, and shoot a photo, at their promotional sign for their fried chicken.

This is just about as direct, and unsubtle, as you can get when it comes to promoting chicken. It is honest, that is for sure.

If this sign does not up the demand for chicken then I do not know what will. Maybe the hardships out there are such that this is now very effective marketing -- cheap is good again.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

My wife was going to be a walker, today, in the Bellingham Bay Marathon. Why, I do not know. I get enough exercise to suit me by going up on roofs and crawling around attics and crawl spaces. I guess she feels the need to be macho.

So I decided that, like last week, I would hop the Lummi Island Ferry and go over to the Lummi Store Cafe for breakfast. Problem was, the wife was going to be out walking. So I called a friend of mine to see if he wanted to go. He had never been to Lummi. It seemed like a good plan and, fact is, it worked out great. We left with plenty of time to catch the ferry. What I had not realized is that the very race my wife was walking in goes right through the roads we were taking to Lummi. We should have gotten to the ferry with about 15 minutes to spare. As it is, we drove up, they were just loading because we were nearly late so we hopped on and we were gone.

The info on the big marathon is described here in the local newspaper. Had I read the paper, I guess I would have known.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

One of the things that buyers often wonder about, assuming they have heard the term, is whether or not an older home they are buying might have knob and tube wiring. Any old house, up through the late 1950's approximately, might have some knob and tube wiring. And if they are really old they are pretty much bound to have had it at one point or another. The house I grew up in as a kid had knob and tube and that was an upgrade -- it had been gas lights.

Knob and tube is outdated, and insulation might be brittle, and it does not have a modern equipment ground, that third wire. Some insurance companies will not insure knob and tube, others will. But they usually charge a premium for doing so. How dangerous knob and tube is, if at all, often depends on how much hacking has been done to it in the past by unknowing homeowners or tenants who were trying to rig up some wiring concoction.

Here is a point: Often the inspector will not find obviously energized knob and tube wiring. That is, he or she might see past signs of it -- photo below.

The wiring has been, in obvious areas, disconnected. Does that mean the inspector should state that there is no knob and tube? Absolutely not, unless he or she wishes to end up potentially in hot water. The fact is that, often, even when substantial amounts of knob and tube wiring has been removed, it is still on premises somewhere -- maybe leading out to a garage, or maybe behind the refrigerator which is not pulled out, or maybe it is gone from receptacles but it is still in place at ceiling fixtures.

The cautious home inspector can report what is seen but if a client wants a "guarantee" that all knob and tube is gone then refer that to a licensed electrician. By the way, my experience is that most licensed electricians will not give such a guarantee either -- unless they are rewiring the house so they see, and know, every inch of wiring.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

One theory I have, in this business, is to document the facts and prove what I say. I have to give some opinions but, when I do, I like to have valid reasons for those opinions. And, when I can, I try to eliminate further controversy by posting photos with the report.

Below is an example. In this state we inspectors are supposed to run air conditioners if the temperature is above 60 degrees F. I know, in some states it is 65, but not here.

In the winter no worry but, in our fall borderline weather, I want it clear that I was not making up an excuse for not running the unit. Below is a photo from one of several thermometers I have in my tool kit. This way, if anyone ever disputes what I said, they probably won't pursue it beyond taking another look at the report.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

Those individuals who have worked in home inspection know that it is not just an inspector being cranky when he or she does not want to turn on main water and gas and circuit breakers that are off. On those rare occasions when I have been talked into doing so I, more often than not, wish later that I had not. Invariably there is something awkward that happens that the inspector does not wish to be responsible for.

Realizing that, you can imagine how thrilled I was recently when I drove to a house early to meet the utilities firm so they could turn on the water. They had already been there.

They had turned on their main but left it up to me to turn on two more water valves that had to be on or there would be no water to the house. In the end, with the realtor inside listening and watching, I did turn on water because, otherwise, I would have had to make a third trip back to the house. Also, I was pretty confident that the house would be okay, but it is a situation that is unappetizing to the inspector. Why? Because everyone will tell the inspector to turn on this, that or the other thing. But, if it ends up that the house floods or something goes kaboom, you can bet that those same people (such as the seller and his agents or a bank) who told the inspector to turn it on will then think the inspector ought to pay for the damage. Dumb inspector! Fact, not fiction.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

This is one the home inspector in the wet northwest sees often. Here you see lumber that extends out from underneath the roof. As a result of that, that lumber is subjected to extreme moisture. The way it rains here that has to be at least half of the time.

Since wood will rot at 20% moisture or higher, such wood is often decayed. It this case the blue rot probe tells the story.

In all situations such as this, either the wood should be trimmed so it terminates under the protection of the roof covering, or an appropirate flashing should be put in place at the top to protect the wood.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

Many people on here are writing about fall. No question about it, fall is here in the Pacific Northwest. I have to lead students on a field inspection tomorrow and I really hope it is not pouring. Below are a few photos that I took yesterday after getting back from Lummi Island.

It was pretty nice this afternoon but I fear that again tonight the rains will come and continue through tomorrow. When it gets wet around here, it gets wet. Oh well, at least we do not have deadly vipers and tornadoes in Bellingham.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

This morning I had to do a quick roof re-inspection on Lummi Island. This is an island that is only about a ten minute ferry ride from the mainland. Of course, from my house, driving to the ferry landing takes about a half hour. I was trying to talk my wife into riding along and she was hesitant. I suggested that we ride over and then stop for breakfast at the Beach Store Cafe. I had heard good things about it so we had a deal. You can see, from the sign below, that it is an attractive and atmospheric older wood building.

It was nice. Maybe it was because it's Sunday morning, but there were few customers at that hour so it was quite private. It was not nearly as hectic as breakfast in Bellingham at some of the popular spots. The cafe is so close to the ferry landing that one could easily leave the car on the mainland. Going both ways as a foot passenger makes it a cheap trip and an uncomplicated trip -- especially on those days when there are a number of cars waiting to go back and forth. The ferry is tiny. I strongly recommend the Beach Store Cafe at Lummi Island.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

In some parts of the country, the first indication of fall is the change in color of leaves on the trees. Up here in the Pacific Northwest, often shortened to read Pacific Northwet, we are likely to see heavy rains prior to our paying any attention to the color of the leaves on the trees. Below is a photo of my driveway at 11:00 this morning. If you think it looks wet, well it was wetter than the picture is able to get across to you.

When the weather changes like that, you might ask how a moss back in the northwest can keep a positive attitude for a weary, and growing wearier and wetter, soul. The answer is simple and unanimous. Leave!

My wife and I are planning to get in two major trips between now and the end of January. Within the next 30 days we are going back to Italy. We plan to re-visit some places that we enjoyed before -- the Lake Como area and Verona, not far from Venice, come to mind. Below is a photo, from a couple years back, of Juliet's balcony in atmospheric and beautiful Verona which is a river city.

We plan to be there for two weeks. Then, after Christmas and New Years, we are going back to Oaxaca, Mexico. This will be our third trip there. I guess, as we get older, we are becoming snowbirds in our own right. But we only leave for a few weeks at a time. Below is a part of Oaxaca's downtown where I love to hangout.

So, when someone asks what I am going to do to escape the blahs, the answer is this: Pack my bags and go have some experiences where the weather is nice and the sights are fascinating. We are not getting any younger and a person has to do it while you got it!

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith