Want To Be an Expert Witness? Careful What You Wish For!
Background - How a Lawsuit Begins
Home inspectors live in terror of phone calls from lawyers. Well, most home inspectors. I do a fair number of inspections for lawyers for their personal purchases. They are detail-oriented and precise, and I enjoy working with them. Still, there’s a bit of a gulp when you find out that the attorney does not want to schedule an inspection. Instead, litigation is under way. In this case, the lawyer that contacted me needed an expert witness. The case, he explained without going into details, involved a local inspector which meant there would be blow-back from the community. Would I be willing?
I tentatively agreed subject to reviewing what they had - I won’t work as a witness in a case I do not believe has merit. I asked how the lawyer had heard of me - this isn’t a service that I’ve advertised. In this case, the lawyer had sent queries around, and my name was mentioned by several attorneys in the region as someone who had done outstanding research work in previous cases and was very solid on the stand. (Pro tip: be prepared and tell the truth - it’s just not that complicated.) There was a second industry recommendation, but we’ll get to that a bit later below.
And, honestly, my first reaction, once I heard the name, was to think that the plaintiffs were mistaken. The inspector named in the suit (no, I’m not sharing it - if you are that curious, my deposition is part of the public record as are the other pertinent details of the case including names) is a very experienced inspector. No way he would make a mistake egregious enough to warrant a legal action.
Every inspector has a story about a client who didn’t read the report and gets ‘surprised’ later. I had one last year, in fact, exactly like this. I defected a roof, said it needed short-term replacement, said it would be expensive, get a roofer out to provide an estimate - and the client complained after the fact. I pointed this out in detail to him and he left a bad review. Such is the life of a home inspector. I thought this was the same type of scenario.
Until I saw the first pictures, that is. Then, I had a “oh holy hell!” moment.
At the heart of the case was an inspection that was performed on a log home that was about 15 years old. Log homes present special challenges to home inspectors and most lack the training to do a good job on these structures. The inspector failed to report, in writing, extensive damage to the logs. By extensive, estimates ranged from $100,000-$300,000 dollars in needed repairs. That is, by way of understatement, a big miss.
Becoming the Expert Witness
I met a partner in the law firm for coffee in Pullman and we went through an initial review. He had a binder with the inspection report and a sample of pictures from the inspector. Visible in the pictures was wood rot, extensive failure of finish coatings on the logs (which is a critical failure point), failed chinking, and assorted other visible defects. It was about the seventh picture that I told the gentleman flipping pages that this home needed a log home expert to perform repairs.
As it turned out, they had contacted a top-notch log home restoration contractor. That was the source of my second recommendation. I had inspected a log home in 2018 with similar damage. Unfortunately, I was working for the seller on a pre-listing inspection. Itemizing all the damage and explaining it to her was agonizing. I hate giving bad news - but it is my job. I try to do so with some compassion but, at the end of the day, I have to be accurate. The log home contractor that she brought in also worked on the home at the heart of the litigation. He referred me as some who was extremely knowledgeable who also knew when to call in the cavalry.
Apparently I passed the initial test, so we set a time to meet at the property. That occurred in April of 2019. The damage was even worse than I thought from the pictures. Portions of the logs were so soft I could depress the wood with my thumb. I use a 3” awl for probing and had several places where I buried it to the hilt. The chinking was in terrible condition as was the finish coat. To make matters worse, there were entry holes that looked like they were made by carpenter ants.
When I mentioned that to the lawyer who was accompanying me, he mentioned that a carpenter ant infestation was the trigger for the legal action. Second test passed, and I was offered the opportunity to be their expert witness. (Below - See #34- I’ll explain why they were testing me so much.)
The whole process took until February of this year to resolve. My clients, per the lawyer, negotiated a settlement with the inspector’s insurance company. I’m not privy to the details of the settlement so I have no idea what the terms were. I’m also not going to go into all the details of the process, the research I did, and depositions given. I found them fascinating, especially the research angle, but this doesn’t have any of the pizzazz of a Grisham novel, so we’ll move on to the lessons learned portion of this article.
Lessons Learned as an Expert Witness
Always Get a Signed Contract - Before the Inspection
The inspector in this case did not have a signed inspection agreement before he did the inspection. This immediately became a problem when things went south. In many cases, an insurance company will not even cover the inspector without the agreement, and I’m surprised that this one expended so much money.
Without a clearly written agreement that lays out the responsibilities of both parties, it becomes a he said/they said issue. The contract will lay out the Standard of Practice used, the exclusions, and the limits of liability. For the inspector, this is absolutely critical. Without a signed agreement PRIOR to the inspection, the home inspector is nearly naked in the face of a lawsuit. The various courts have consistently held that a contract signed after the inspection is done under duress.
For the customer, the agreement explains the what they can expect to be inspected, the means of reporting, and lays out their rights in the event there is a grievance.
I feel so strongly about this that I will not leave to inspect a home without the agreement being signed first.
2. If It is Not in Writing, It Doesn’t Count. Period. Full Stop. Do Not Pass Go!
I don’t know how many times, during the deposition with the opposing attorney, that he asked “Well, the inspector told him about it in a phone call. Doesn’t that count?”
No, it doesn’t. The written report is the record that counts. All the standards in our region – Washigton State SoP, ASHI, InterNACHI – require a written report. None mandates the format of the report (though some states do) and the level of detail can vary pretty dramatically.
I use a narrative style report heavy with pictures and, often, video. A decade or more ago, I abandoned the old “Satisfactory, Marginal, Defective” categories. My reasoning then was that the tendency was to move everything into the marginal category so inspector could say he identified a problem but for the same inspector to avoid defecting components since that irks real estate agents. This minimization of issues is prohibited by the various Standards of Practice but is devilishly hard to prove since oftentimes a defect is a matter of opinion.
In this case, the inspector had marked the siding and finish coatings “Satisfactory.” Clearly, they were not even close to being in satisfactory condition. Further, he stated, in writing, that the home was well-maintained.
As a defense, he and his lawyer attempted to argue that he verbally informed them of the true condition of the logs. As they say in the sports world, “Scoreboard, baby!” If it wasn’t in writing, it didn’t count. Those logs were bad, the finish coating and chinking were bad, and the report called them “Satisfactory.”
3. You HAVE to Follow the Standard!
The Standards are not pie-in-the-sky aspirations. They are literally the minimum allowable operating procedures for a home inspection. In the case of Washington, the standard is mandated by regulations from the Department of Licensing. In the case of Idaho, the minimum is set by the Inspection Agreement. Now, I admit, the contract could specify the minimum as “Whatever, the inspector feels like identifying on the day of inspection” but I doubt most customers would sign such a stipulation. Most contracts will specify either the ASHI or InterNACHI Standards of Practice. Personally, I worked on and believe in the Washington SoP, so I use it everywhere. Other inspectors float back and forth between standards.
In this case, the ASHI SoP clearly states, “provide the client with a written report, using a format and medium selected by the inspector, that states:
“1. those systems and components inspected that, in the professional judgment of the inspector, are not functioning properly, significantly deficient, unsafe, or are near the end of their service lives,”
One avenue that the lawyer tried to sieze was the phrase “in the professional judgment of the inspector”. While that might be an explanation for the inspector’s written comments, it is not a shield to being wrong. You can be very professional and very wrong at the same time. Being massively wrong gets you sued – as it should.
The second issue is not techinial but ethical. As such, it is not part of the Standard of Practice but built on the Code of Ethics which works hand-in-hand with the Standards. In this case, the following provision came to bear:
“2. Inspectors shall act in good faith toward each client and other interested parties. A. Inspectors shall perform services and express opinions based on genuine conviction and only within their areas of education, training, or experience. B. Inspectors shall be objective in their reporting and not knowingly understate or overstate the significance of reported conditions..”
I stated directly that I felt the inspector had intentionally minimized the findings. His lawyer challenged me on that, stating I could not know that. My response was (paraphrasing), “He either minimized the findings or he is grossly incompentent – and I’ve never considered him to be incompetent.”
I stand by my assessment. Sadly, minimizing report findings is an everyday occurrence in the home inspection industry. He isn’t alone; he just got caught.
4. Not All Expert Witnesses are Expert
I worked as the expert witness for the plaintiffs. The home inspector and seller’s had their own experts. In the case of the home inspector, the person he chose was an associate of many years standing. This, unfortunately, does not necessarily make for a good expert. The ‘expert’ no longer worked in the home inspection field in any capacity. Further, in 2010, he worked on the Washington side as an unlicensed inspector – a fact I knew as I received the complaint that came in from another local inspector and forwarded it to the appropriate Department of Licensing personnel.
Reading his deposition was eye-opening, not so much of his original statements as for the evolution of his statements. He initially maintained that nothing untoward had occurred, that the home inspector operated fully within standard, and that phone calls were fine for documentation. By the end of the deposition, he had allowed that it probably would have been a good idea to have provided written documentation of the damage that existed and was supposedly discussed on the phone call.
Gee, you think? We went from everything was by the book to undocumented damage was present. And he’s the guy on YOUR side?
He also maintained that a visual inspection does not require the use of any tools or any of the other senses. Really quite astonishing.
5. People Will Lie
This was a bit of an eye-opener for me. That people lie is not the surprise. That the inspector involved would lie, both about the inspection process and in the aftermath of losing, was. He, as with his ‘expert’ witness maintained that he was not required to do anything other than look at the home, completely ignoring the standards of practice and the significant training that he has had. It was so blatant that I went to his website to document, from his own photo gallery, instances where he had performed the activities of home inspection that he was now saying were not within the standard.
He also has expended significant energy in slandering me to real estate agents and other inspectors if the stories I hear are true. I’m a big boy, so I don’t really care with one little quibble. He told at least one person that I stabbed him in the back. Not true. I sat there and gave my testimony with him at the table. If I wouldn’t say it to his face – which I did – I wouldn’t say it at all.
6.Anything You Say in the Past WILL Get Dredged Up
This proved interesting. If you work as an expert witness, expect the other lawyer to do anything they can to impune your reputation. Fair enough.
In this case, the defendent’s attorney brought up a situation from a decade ago involving another inspector along with some other websites that I had purchased.
I had posted on my website a small table that listed the top four inspectors in the region and their license status. It’s important to note that in 2004, all home inspectors were required to hold a Structural Pest Inspector license. This requirement was removed when home inspector licensing was passed. After licensure, a home inspector was not required to continue with an SPI, though many did. I carried mine until 2014 but the market here didn’t support the cost and liability to maintain the SPI license.
SPI licenses renew on the first of the year and the WSDA, who governs the program, has a searchable database. In early February of 2009, it was clear who had renewed – and who had not.
I gathered the information and posted it. Two of the top four were licensed, two were not.
In April/May of 2009, I received a letter from legal counsel of one of those unlicensed inspectors stating that I had committed an act of defamation that had a negative financial impact on his client. I responded, in writing, that truth is an absolute defense against defamation. I also checked his license status, found that he had finally renewed, and removed my chart online. Fair is fair, though the inspector could have accomplished the same thing with a phone call. Or, you know, actually renewed his license in January instead of late April.
As for the websites, I am an entrepreneur. At this writing, I have two businesses after shuttering two others in the last 24 months. I have plans for another business in the next two years after I sell off my chimney sweep business. I experiment, find industries both under-served and that I can excel at, and invest time and money into them.
Having said that, I was born to inspect, I am outstanding at the process, and expect to do home inspections until I’m too decrepit to do them well.
7. Home Inspectors Can Massively Screw Up and Stay in Business
After having lost his case against my clients, you’d think that the inspector would be out of business. Nope. He’s still inspecting, though I suspect it is without insurance.
I have little advice to offer on this to potential customers. There’s no way for you to verify an inspector’s integrity. If you ask him if he’s been sued, he’ll just lie. If you ask the real estate agent, they won’t, or don’t want to, know.
Right now, in Pullman, we have inspectors who perform home and sewer scope inspections without the proper licenses. Some don’t even have a business license to operate in the state. Agents use them and never check.
In Washington, you can check for license status. In Idaho, there is no way to verify anything except a basic business license.
8. There Will Be a Price to Pay
As I mentioned above, the inspector involved in this case has been blathering about getting stabbed in the back. That sort of negative commentary in small towns will hurt your business as the good-’ol-boy club kicks into gear.
I have had agents blacklist me and have had reports of whole agencies considering doing the same. This is the reason that I am no longer a member of Realtor associations in the area. After 14 years, I declined this year to renew as I cannot justify, in my own mind and to my standards, supporting organizations that would allow a restraint of trade and promote the use of unlicensed activities.
9. You Will Know Who Respects You
I am blessed to have a cadre of professionals who use me on their own projects and refer my services. They have heard the stories, they have dealt with other agents who try to blacklist me, and they know that I’m a honest, competent inspector. To have their support, professionally and personally, is humbling. These are people – and the clients that they represent - that I will run through walls for.
It's Not Enough To Have Good Tools
Lookie, Ma! I Can Measure Water Temperature with this Thing-a-ma-jig!
I’ve seen this a couple of times now in inspector’s reports. They are using a digital laser thermometer - technically, an infrared laser pyrometer - to measure water temperature. It’s a great little tool and helpful in a bunch of applications. One teenie little problem.
It doesn’t work to measure water temperature. Not even close.
Oh, they will get a number, but it won’t be an accurate one. The reason is that they, the inspector, have a tool that they do not understand. Spot pyrometers have been used, successfully, for years in asphalt paving, HVAC, and other industries.
Home inspectors adopted them as a fast, easy way to check temperatures on ducts and such. For that, where a qualitative number is needed, they work great. We don’t care what that number is, just that we have a heat profile being generated.
Measuring water temperature is a quantitative measurement. We care very much what that number is and it needs to be accurate. The reason is pretty simply. A ten degree difference in water temperature can take scald times from 30 seconds to less than five. For a small child or an elderly individual, hot water temperatures are important. Both of these populations have slower reflexes and mobility to react to scalding water and yes, people get badly scalded every day.
That’s where not understanding your tools comes in if you are a professional home inspector. In this case, some training on the physics behind the tool. The digital laser thermometer, as they think of it, is actually an infrared device. Infrared cameras and measurement devices follow the same principles. They are not measuring the actual temperature but rather the emissivity of the object. All objects do one of three things with energy: they can reflect it as glass and metal does; it can transmit it as translucent materials (like water) does; or, they can emit it as heat radiation as most solid, non-reflecting surfaces do.
Water has lousy emissivity but high transmission so the number that the inspector sees isn’t even within shouting distance of accurate. Yet, because they do not understand the deficiency in their tool -actually, the deficiency in their knowledge and skills as the tool will do what it is designed to do - they proudly put pictures into their reports documenting a false reading.
Which won’t matter much. Not until someone gets badly scalded.
Then, it’s a real problem and the home inspector bears some significant responsibility.
Welcome to Winter 2020
I was hoping that we could hold off on the cold, blowy white stuff for a while, but . . . Mother Nature, as is her wont, had other ideas. So, yesterday’s home inspection had 4” of snow on the roof. Snow covered roofs introduce all kinds of spectacular opportunities for inspectors to land in the rhododendrons just before they get carted off to the emergency room. Inspectors are NOT required to traverse a roof if, in their opinion, it is unsafe to do so. Mind you, some inspectors think that getting on any roof is dangerous so they never, ever do such a thing. I had a lawyer (I do expert testimony as a home inspector in cases where there has been a major dereliction on the part of the inspector) who I explained this to as he questioned the inspector not traversing. Yes, I explained, it is a cop-out but inspector gets the final word on safety.
This all came to mind because I had an agent recently tell me that winter is rough when you can’t do any inspection on the roof. I gave a little chuckle - there’s always a way to get a job done. It might not be perfect like we’d have on a pretty spring day, but usually we can get pretty good information - and find some surprising things that otherwise get missed. After 15 years in the business, I have a few tricks up my sleeve on how to get on and off a roof safely even with snow. (I also have stories about pushing my margin of safety to the point of thinking “This was dumb!” )
Real-Life Examples of What Can Be Missed on a Home Inspection in Winter
Case in point, yesterday. The chimney could not be seen from ground level because trees and the ground slope angle blocked the view. If I didn’t get on the roof, I would have missed this::
Chimneys are not supposed to come apart at the seams. This one was, it was leaking into the attic, and the crown needs to be replaced. In all, there is at least $2,000.00 worth of work to bring this chimney back to satisfactory condition.
This picture is another, less dramatic example of an easy miss, especially if the inspector does not traverse the attic. Hint, if the inspector does not like walking roofs, it is unlikely that he feels any more comfortable walking attics.
As I said, there’s always a way - IF the inspector wants to fully complete his inspection and protect his client.
Home Inspections - with Conditions, now allowed in Washington and Idaho
Both Washington and Idaho have created paths forward for home inspections.
The rules are a bit complicated. If you have questions, call and we’ll talk them out.
A link for the change in the Shelter in Place order is HERE.
Be safe, everyone!
Home Inspections and Coronavirus Covid-19
I wrote the following for one of the local associations. Sharing here . . .
Good morning, everyone. Wow, are things moving and changing quickly. From a home inspection perspective, I'm implementing the following protocols to protect your sellers:
All tools, especially my phone, will get cleaned with an anti-bacterial wipe prior to entering the home. I’ve taken the phone out of the otter box protection since that’s almost impossible to clean.
Only those tools necessary will enter the home and only when they're needed. Once used, they will be returned to the tool bag outside the home.
I will be cleaning all surfaces that I touch with an anti-bacterial wipe - door knobs, windows, bath fixtures, all of it. For more information on cleaning, see the CDC Guidelines.
I'll be trying to avoid touching my face - as you know, that's a hard one, so . . .
I'll be washing my hands - a lot. I'll bring my soap and a clean towel.
On the exterior of the home, in the attic, in the crawlspace, I'll be wearing surgical gloves. They will be disposed of immediately after use.
If you are the listing agent, expect a text or phone call to see if your seller wants me to wear a mask. While the government suggests they aren't necessary for healthy individuals, the goal is to make your buyers and sellers feel as safe as we can. If wearing a mask aids in this, I'll do it.
Traditionally, I've taken my shoes off to avoid making a mess. I'll be switching to disposable booties instead.
I'll be maintaining social distancing - this one is easy for introverts like me.
I will be adding even more videos to my reporting. If buyers wish, I can Facetime from the home.
If anyone else has suggestions, please send them along.
Be safe.
UPDATE On Covid-19 Home Inspector Protocol: March 20, 2020
After a week of working with this protocol, I found a couple of spots that needed tweaking. A big one is customer management. Once the buyers get to the property, they have a natural inclination to touch things. Not making a value judgment on this, but facing the reality of the situation. So I’ve added a final step of cleaning every surface that they touch with sanitizing wipes. If it sounds as though I’m following behind them with a wipe in each hand, that’s exactly what I’m doing.
Another change is in my outdoor protocol. With the warmer weather we are experiencing, I can set up my cleaning station outside, so I don’t need to glove up there. I do the exterior of the home, wash thoroughly and resume the rest of the protocol.
If you are a Realtor reading this blog entry, may I suggest that you and your broker have each home inspector provide you with their protocol for the inspection process?
Chimneys and Antennas and A Surprise
Want to know why codes don’t allow attachments to the chimney? And, another bad idea as a special bonus!
Changes in 35R Inspection Contingency Forms Not Helping Buyers
One of the changes that the Washington Association of Realtors has made as of July of 2019 is to change the rules (their’s, not state law) on how inspection deficiencies can be relayed to the seller. Quite literally, the seller can refuse to look at any of the inspection findings. You, the inspector, find a Federal Pacific Electric panel? Put it in your report, but know that the seller can stick his or her fingers in their ears and refuse to hear anything. Ditto with pest damage, a foundation that has failed, a catastrophic roof leak. Under the current guidelines, none of that can be reported to the seller, even if the buyer wants repairs made unless the seller agrees to accept the findings in the report.
This has huge implications for the buyers in Washington State.
Let’s use the pest damage I mentioned above as an example. I, the inspector, go into the crawlspace. Not just any crawlspace, but through an access hole that I have to enter one arm at a time, suck in my gut, and think skinny thoughts. The kind of crawlspace a lot of inspectors don’t even attempt. I do, and I manage to get myself in. (Getting out can be a bit trickier,. btw.) While there, I probe the wood and note that it is significantly damaged and appears to be structurally unsound with a main beam failing. There are also mud tubes everywhere and, when I break one, little brown bugs scrambling.
In short, this is a big deal. So, in my report to you, the home buyer, I note the following:
That there is substantial damage to the structural framing of the home. The framing should be evaluated by a structural engineer for design of remedies to replace all damaged wood with sound materials. Once the remedies have been designed, a contractor should complete all work recommended by the structural engineer.
That a Pest Control Operator should be retained to determine the full scope of the pest problem - evident by the damaged framing, the habitation tubes, the presence of insects, and frass - and design a treatment plan to remedy the intrusion.
Along with these notes, which would be more extensive in practice, I would include pictures. Maybe even video. None would be transmitted to the seller unless they authorize it - in writing, no less.
You, the buyer, want these problems fixed and, since it isn’t your house, you would like the seller to absorb these costs.
With the changes in the 35R promulgated by the Washington Realtors, you are out of luck. Not only can you not tell the seller what is wrong with the house, you have to pay to determine the scope of needed repairs on a property you don’t even own. That’s accomplished by having your inspector recommend additional inspections which you will have a total of five days to complete. Legal counsel for the WR has stated that your inspector will be happy to do that.
And pay you will, because engineers and contractors are going to charge for the estimates. They have to as their time is worth money, too.
Who benefits? The seller, clearly. Legitimate expenses that should be born by the seller who has a property significantly defective can have you , the buyer, pay some of his expenses. Even better, from his standpoint, is that he wants you to spend your time at a point where life is ungodly hectic, to meet with the contractors. By the way, he doesn’t have to accept delivery of the estimates, either. If they do take delivery, the legal counsel for the Washington Realtors is suggesting that they not fix the items in question but negotiate a change in price or other terms so the repairs won’t be complete when you take possession.
And, if you walk away from the deal, the seller has no legal requirement to disclose the dangerous condition of the crawlspace. After all, so far as he knows, it’s in great shape.
And, if the next inspector isn’t as skinny or dedicated - and I have a reputation for both and for getting into crawlspaces that make other inspectors and a fair number of agents nervous - well, that dangerous condition won’t be discovered, probably until it’s too late and someone’s bank accounts get drained. Worse, someone gets badly injured.
My hope is that most reasonable sellers will opt to receive the report information, will agree to work with the buyers to have repairs made where necessary, where information flows freely, to the best and balanced interests of consumers. We’ll know in about five years..
On the plus side, I’ve already been busy designing solutions so my clients will get exactly what they need to trigger the Additional Inspections contingency period..
The High Cost of a Cheap Inspection
I have to admit that this year has been interesting - and FRUSTRATING.
This is a year that has included my usual residential work with some neat people. I’ve also worked with some folks that were less than neat and forced me to change procedures, including one gentleman who stood on a rickety second story deck railing to see what I was doing on the roof. I took a picture and sent it to his agent with the message, “THIS is way inspectors have anxiety attacks!”
I also had a client go through the dresser of the property owner. I was mortified.
Throw in a couple of other incidents, and I had to make a policy change. While in the past, I always wanted the client to attend the whole inspection, now I encourage clients to visit with me at the end of the inspection. This actually means the inspection process takes longer, but I simply will not have a client get injured on one of my projects, and I’m not going to violate a homeowner’s privacy. To compensate, I now put a lot of video into my reports.
I also am working as an expert witness in a case for a law firm in Spokane. I won’t go into particulars, but the process has been fascinating and will lead to changes in my reporting (even more thorough!) and policies.
I’ve had multiple clients set inspections and then cancel them after they were told that the listing agent would not allow me to inspect the property. In one case, the client was an attorney. From a real estate agent perspective, this was just dumb as it opens them up to a suit. As an inspector, it is frustrating - especially in the case of a home where I had previously called out structural concerns. As the”deal-killer” inspector, I’ve gotten used to being blacklisted but nothing says I have to like it.
But Wait . . . . There’s More! Let’s Talk Commercial Inspections
The most frustrating part of the year happened on the commercial real estate side.
Last year (2018) was a banner year for commercial inspections and I did some outstanding work identifying issues ranging from deteriorated foundations on a historical building to sagging walls in a warehouse building, to the extreme difficulty of upgrading a boiler system in a 1950’s building.
Good stuff, great catches, and I saved my clients a lot of money. This is not the way to endear oneself to the local agents. At the heart of the ASTM E2108 Property Condition Assessment (the recognized commercial inspection standard) is the Opinion of Probable Costs. When identifying deficiencies, I also generate an estimate of the repair costs. As you might imagine, this estimating requires considerable time and expertise. Contacts in the construction world help a lot, too.
One that didn’t get away . . . A landmark Pullman Building and Restaurant
This year, I missed on multiple projects. The reason?
I was too expensive. In almost every case where this happens, I am discussing fees and proposals with the agents and not the principals. Not an ideal arrangement.
One project that I missed out on was the McConnell Building in downtown Moscow. It is a historic building constructed in 1890. I will be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for old homes and buildings. I’m also leery of them and approach them looking for surprises. Sometimes it’s wiring issues, sometimes it’s foundation concerns - the list goes on and on. The inspector needs to be highly competent and vigilant.
In the case of the McConnell Building, it was the plumbing and I suspect that it was not discovered in the inspection process. After testing, the management company discovered that there was lead in the drinking water. This is a very big deal - and very expensive to fix. It is also exactly the type of issue that the inspector should be looking for when performing the walk-through survey.
This was not the only surprise. The new owner, Andrew Crapuchettes , with whom I have not talked, hinted at additional difficulties. Per this article in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, there were several other “significant deferred maintenance issues” that he now has to deal with.
Yes, this chimney needs more than a little help.
One I’m not sure the current owner probably doesn’t know about yet is something I learned at the fire department while marketing my new chimney inspection service. Apparently, a neighboring business didn’t want to have the McConnell residents climbing on the roof of his business, so he nailed the windows shut from the outside. I have no idea if that condition still exists or if it is legal, but it just adds to my conviction that a proper commercial inspection includes all aspects of due diligence, including gathering the building permit records, health department records, and fire safety inspection reports.
As an inspector, that bugs me. My job - any inspector’s job - is to get that information and protect my client. The purpose of the Opinion of Probable Cost section is to address exactly this issue and is a critical feature of the due diligence process.
I’ll never stop saying it - you need the best inspector you can afford. The guys that work on the cheap will likely deliver a product that reflects their attitude toward their profession.
Drone Inspections
After a bit of hard work, I have passed the FAA test to be a Part 107 Remote Pilot. This means that I can legally use drones in the real estate industry. While much of the work will certainly be geared to real estate photography here on the Palouse, the drone that I fly - the DJI Mavic 2 Pro - is a top-of-the-line piece of equipment that can inspect anything from inaccessible roofs to cell towers.
The Mavic is a dream to fly (hat tip to Jess Rainer at Windermene in Pullman for the great advice on drones!) The integrated software and hardware make it possible to take terrific photos and video right out of the box.
Early returns are very encouraging and I’ve already started booking work for the drone. In fact, the first job paid off the insurance for the equipment.
Yes, I carry insurance on the drone and on the drone operation. While there is no legal requirement, it is the prudent option.
I’ll be adding pictures from iconic spots around the Palouse and from the Lewis-Clark Valley every once in a while. I’ll also be building out a separate website for the drone business. While I intend to use the Mavic for inspections, it will be through a separate company.
I’ll keep you posted.
Pouring Concrete Against Siding Is Dumb
I wish that this was an occasional problem with builders, but it isn't. I see it all the time. For those of you who think that the municipal building inspector will catch this, I sadly report that your expectations are set too high - much too high depending on the town.
This house is less than 10 years old - and already showing signs of damage. There are hundreds in our area just like it and they aren’t going to age well. Board movement is the least of my worries. I expect that we’ll see wood rot due to poor clearance and, in areas like the Lewis-Clark Valley, termites since we have provided a perfect entry path.
I Need to Lose 10 Pounds - Or Gain 25!
Video first.
So, ask yourself - would you go in there. There’s a concrete foundation wall blocking half the access. It doesn’t show, but there’s a 4” plumbing drain line to the left of the opening. There’s also communications wiring tangling everything up. The shelf above is just a bonus head-knocker.
I always give it a try but I’ve developed a phrase for nearly impossible to get into (and get OUT of, too) places. Home Inspector Yoga. This one fit the definition. And, while I always give it a go, nothing says I get to enjoy it.
The problem was that I didn’t exactly fit that hole. It took about five minutes of twisting, turning, jabbing various body parts into the opening in different sequences before I found the combo and managed to slither in.
Then I had a seventy foot crawl with dust everywhere, spiders everywhere, and no clearance to speak of. It was drag myself ahead with my elbows and push with toes. Get my butt any higher than that and I’d have wedged myself into the joists. It got lower and lower as I went, too.
I found some wood rot but not as much as I expected. Found a ladder down at the front of the space. That piqued my curiosity, so I dug my way under a plumbing drain to see what was going on.
Any hopes for a secret tunnel to hidden treasures were sadly dashed. It was an old plumbing main. Bummer, dude.
Off to the right though was a thoroughly impressive habitation tube. No signs of live insects, which is encouraging. (Still referring the whole thing to a Pest Control Operator.) I like the way it wrapped around the heating duct work.
At that point, I was done. Time to extricate myself. Problem number uno - I didn’t have room to turn around. So, baby scootch backwards until I can find a slightly wider spot to pull a U-turn. Then, back to the access.
Remember the gyrations I went through getting in?
I had help.
From gravity.
Getting out? Oh, boy. I tried following the path I had used getting into the crawlspace (and, arguably into trouble.) I twisted, I turned, I pivoted, I cussed. If I find out what idiot plumber put that pipe there, he and I will have a discussion, probably at very high volume. About half way through the process it occurred to me that I might not be able to get back out. That would be bad since I was in a vacant building. No client to go for help, either. So, once I got done being a mite angry, I put my thinking cap on.
I tied the communication cables that were trapping my legs up to the plumbing with an old dust mask some other workman left behind. I went ninety degrees off my entry angle, and levered one arm up and out. So far, so good. I used that arm to take the weight off my side so I could press with my legs. Hah! Success!
It took nearly ten minutes to get back out. I took a picture of my coveralls. They were spotlessly clean (and navy blue) before I went into the crawlspace.
The whole process took about 35 minutes and presented my with a dilemma. If I were ten pounds lighter, I think that would have gone a bit easier.
Alternatively, if I were 25 pounds heavier, I’d never have tried in the first place.
Somebody pass me a donut while I figure this out. And some potato chips?
So What Do You Think? A Meth House?
Earlier this week, I went into a house at the request of a bank. The real estate agent that was generating a BPO (Broker Price Opinion) for them and became worried about what she saw. Not having a lot of training in some of the oddities of inspection but possessing abundant common sense, she told the bank to hire an inspector to evaluate the property.
That was me.
It didn’t take more than a few seconds to go from normal inspector mode to “don’t touch a thing” mode. It was that bad. The odor, bitter and strong, hit me hard at the front door. The kitchen was to the right and the rolling smoke stains told the story of repeated cooking.
The bath tub was etched and scarred, abused by all the chemicals that got dumped down the drain.
Chemical stains were everywhere.
Unfortunately, there were no chemical bottles present except for a pair of oxygen bottles. I think they were used for transport of anhydrous ammonia. Anyone taking a hit off the tanks would like be dead. The meth cooks have used propane tanks for years to disguise their ingredients. I think they are evolving again.
The most disturbing part of the process was finding a bedroom door with a lock hasp on the outside.
The meth cooks had kids and were locking them up.
Sometimes I get to see a little too much.
It's Swarming Season
It’s an unwelcome sign that spring is here, but swarming season has begun. If you spot these winged reproductives, call you local Pest Control Operator.
In Idaho, I call them carpenter ants. In Washington, due to regulations, they are ‘suspected wood destroying organisms.’
In either case, they’re trouble.
How Old Is This House Again?
I was having a discussion with Chip Kenny, the inspector at Inland Northwest Home Inspections, about a house he was inspecting. The visuals - type of foundation, etc. - didn’t match the age of the home listed in the public sources.
I have run into this three times in the last year. The easiest one was a house listed as a 1965 building in a neighborhood in Pullman that was newer. The house had engineered trusses in the attic and the concrete foundation appeared to more modernly formed. When I opened the electrical panel, I found an inspection card for 1985. That fit much better, and I adjusted my report accordingly.
This structure was listed as a 1953 home - but the framing says 1900-1920.
The nastiest one had the listing agent blow a gasket and shriek at the buyer’s agent. This particular Clarkston house was listed as a 1974 home but none of the features matched the vintage. The attic was sheathed with dimensional wood, the attic framing was 2x4 rafters, the number of outlets was low, the foundation system was funky. It didn’t feel like 1974.
When the buyer’s rep showed up, I asked her about this. She commented that the seller had put a 1955 date in the disclosures. I ran with that and suggested a video sewer scope of the main drainage line. As it happens, the material was Orangeburg pipe and was in lousy condition. Given the extreme over-reaction of the listing agent, I wonder if she already knew that the line was questionable. Hmmmm?
Anyway, to the point. How does this happen? How does an old house get listed as a newer home?
The answer is not that the real estate agent is deliberately deceptive (usually!) What happens is that the house undergoes a major remodel, so much so that the home is nearly new in a functional sense. The owner applies for, and gets, a new certificate of occupancy from the municipality. The records get updated with the new C.O. When the house gets listed again, anyone (or any computer algorithm) will locate the last certificate of occupancy and that date gets assigned to listing.
This is not a 1974 attic space even though that was the listed age of the home.
The only time we used to see this happen was when a home was moved. With tighter controls coming into play at the municipal level, I expect to see more of this sort of mischaracterization occurring. The home inspector community will need to be aware of the potential for the actual vintage of the building to be different from the documentation. Unfortunately, with so many new inspectors arriving on the scene that lack the thousands of houses of experience to recognize the oddities, this likely will get missed.
Wait - Your Inspector Didn't Say Anything About Anchor Bolts?
First, a little history lesson. We tend to think that modern standards are inherently superior to the ‘good old days’. That may be so, but that does not mean that an older foundation is unsafe or needs a full retrofit. Many of our old foundations (in this region) are doing just fine. Many of those do not have a single anchor bolt, either.
Washington State began requiring anchor bolts on a statewide basis in about 1973 though many of our 1950s and 1960s Pullman and Clarkston homes have them. Prior to that, the state mandated them in the Puget Sound region due to earthquake potential.
Anchor bolting is installed to handle seismic and wind forces that have the potential to knock a home off the foundation. The Northridge quake is a case in point. The manner in which we installed them changed after that quake and the design of the washers was modified to limit damage.
Anchor bolts are not always visible - finished basement will prevent access - but it pays to have your inspector making the effort to identity if they are present or not. I do so in my reports on a separate line. If they are missing, the client gets a nice explanatory paragraph.
It’s a fairly common defect to find that the anchor bolts are present but missing washers and nuts. When this happens, it becomes a repair issue. If they are not spaced correctly, it becomes a judgement call - is it worth the cost to retrofit versus the risk. On this side of the state, our earthquake risk is minimal compared to Seattle. Most people don’t retrofit, but they always appreciate the information.
Ice Damming In Pullman
After skating for most of the season, Old Man Winter showed up with a shovel and has proceeded to bury us. So far, several areas have reported record snow falls including my home town of Asotin. For those of you that scoffed when my sweetie bought me a snow-blower, HAH! The Snow Joe has earned its keep this month.
The view from the roof at an inspection in Pullman.
Also happening this month - business is picking up. This time of year gets pretty treacherous for walking roofs, though sometimes it can be done. It requires a careful consideration of the underlying structure of the snow and of the point of access, but snow by itself is not a primary limiting factor.
What is a primary limiting factor is ice. And, by golly, we are seeing a lot of ice on the edges of roofs lately due to ice damming.
What Is Ice Damming?
In its simplest form, ice damming is a build up of ice on the eave of a roof. The formation is from snow melting at a higher point on the roof, typically over the heated portions of the home, and flowing down the roof slope to the eave. The eave is at nearly the same temperature as the air outside. As the water hits this frigid zone, it re-freezes.
In the process, the dam blocks more water from flowing freely off the roof deck, thus extending the ice dam. Because the velocity of water drainage plays a part in the process of re-freezing, lower slope roofs are more susceptible to ice damming.
On a low enough slope, the ice can build up many feet along the roof deck. That is what I found with the roof in the second picture. My best estimate is that the ice extended 8-10 feet up the roof from the edge.
Damaged Caused By Ice Damming
The presence of the ice is not the major cause of damage to the home. While the accumulation can cause problems, it is the water behind the dam that causes the most concern. Our roofs are not designed to act as pools and are not water-proof. They are water shedding. That is a huge difference. Obstructed water will not drain down the roof. Water being water, it will try to find a way to flow with gravity. This means flowing under the shingles, finding gaps in the underlayment, and getting into the ceilings and walls of the home.
It is not just a matter of getting a roof stain on your ceiling, though. This moisture in your attic can be a major contributor to the growth of mold and wood destroying fungus.
How To Recognize an Ice Dam
Ever drive by a house and admire the long glittering icicles hanging from the roof? Well, admire those from a distance. If you see those on your house, you likely have an ice damming issue.
Likewise, if there is a four inch iceberg on the edge of your roof, you’ve got a problem.
Also, a couple people a year get killed by falling ice or icicles from a roof.Do not walk right under the icy spears admiring them. If you are walking around a house with ice on the roof, stay near the wall under the eave or well clear of the fall zone to the perimeter.
Just a heads-up - if there is ice at the edge like this, I’m not getting on the roof.
How To Fix Ice Damming
The first thing to do is figure out where the heat is coming from to allow for the excessive snow melt. Usually, the first and best answer is that you do not have nearly enough insulation in your attic. You don’t even need to go into your attic to figure this out - if your roof is the first in the neighborhood to lose snow cover, you probably need more insulation. (I take perverse pride in having snow on my 1910 built home long after everyone else has exposed their shingles.. It a great sign that I did a solid job of insulating the home. Lower energy bills are nice, too.)
There are other factors that come into play. If you have canned ceiling lights, they can create enough heat to cause problems. Have a contractor insulate the boxes.
Check to make sure that you have enough effective attic ventilation. If you do not, the attic will retain warm air and lead to ice damming. Also, to mold growth.
If you have a furnace in the attic, make sure all the joints in your duct work are tight. Leaky ducts will cost you in more than dollars.
Insulate all your ventilation fan ducts. Bathroom fans and dryers move warm air to the outside. If they pass through the attic on the way, they will transfer much of their heat to the attic space. Insulate them and limit that possibility.
If these steps do not work to control your issue, it is time to call in a quality contractor to perform a thorough analysis of the heat transfer taking place, including thermal transfer through air exfiltration from ceiling penetrations or up the wall cavities.
Good luck! As always, if you have questions, feel free to call. I may have a tidbit of information that can help.
I’ll leave you with one more scary picture . . .
Water is actively leaking and two different fungi are growing.
Don't Make Excuses
I am loathe to make excuses for why I couldn’t accomplish my job though it does happen. The 2016-2017 winter was so brutal that I didn’t climb a roof for two months. This year’s more mild winter has been much easier to deal with - but there are still occasions where your inspector has to extend some effort.
Raised-Heel Trusses
Since the late 1960s, most houses have been built with engineered trusses (click on the link for more information than you need) instead of traditional rafters. Trusses offer greater spans to open up our interiors with great rooms, require less time and labor to erect, and provides a more uniform pitch to the roof, which may not seem important to you, but your roofer loves it.
Early truss systems resembled a triangle with a bunch of triangles inside the outside one. The problem that we ran into, from an energy usage standpoint, were those skinny angles at the ends of the truss. Often, there was not sufficient room to get an adequate amount of insulation into the space. I see a fair number of homes with shadowing on the ceiling at the outside edges of the rooms from precisely this.
A 1970s Engineered Truss
Note how skinny it is at the low edge. Not much room for insulation.
When energy was really cheap (raise your hand if you can remember $.25 gasoline!), this was not a big priority. Today, with more expensive energy and an improved awareness on how to heat and cool our homes efficiently, what happens on that edge is important. One solution was to re-design the truss. Meet the raised-heel truss.
The raised-heel truss
Raised-heel trusses are engineered to provide enough space for the insulation. By design, they are taller than older truss designs at the point where they cross the wall. This section, called the heel, intersects at the perimeter wall and lifts the top chord of the truss. From my research, it looks like the energy-saving qualities of the raised-heel were not the primary reason they were developed, though. Initially, the were built to match roof lines and increase curb appeal. Go figure . . .
Even though the cost for these trusses are not substantially higher than with other truss systems, I still don’t see that many of them. When I do, it’s good news for my clients!
(A quick note on the video - I shot it in an attic while hanging from the framing - it might not sound smooth and polished.)
Garage Door Safety Sensors - What Height?
Little things count, too. There is actually a standard on the height of the sensor at the garage door and for good reason - set the sensor too far up and a small child can be caught under the door even with an otherwise fully operational safety system.
So, what is the maximum height?
6 inches.
Washington State License #215
Former SBCC Member, Former Chairman State Home Inspector Advisory Licensing Board.