What I'm Seeing Now

Well, it looks like a sunny day coming up!  Woohoo!

But not supposed to get very warm.

Hopefully things will begin to melt.

We cannot use either back door.  So I will have to create a path to one of them the old fashioned way.

Here is the upper deck on our house.  I was happy to see the underside of our grill!  From above it is completely gone!

The dog is not happy going all the way to the basement door to get out, but IS happy to have the underside of the deck for her business!

The lower deck is the key.  If only I can find the stair case to get up there to start cleaning them both!

My wife is worried the snow may be too much weight for the decks.  Well, probably not, but this has been a good test!

I hope I don't have to dig a path to my daughter's play set!  That would be quite the job...

Because of high winds and drifting it is hard to know how much snow we got.  I think it is around 30".

Here we are in the middle of the deepest snow storm since 1922, and set to exceed even that.  Think it will snow?

This was 9pm Friday night!

I had shoveled the sidewalk and driveway just an hour previous.  The high winds make it impossible to keep things clean.  And all night it snowed, they say, 2" per hour.

Tomorrow will probably find me shoveling three or four times!

This is the front sidewalk, and dog bathroom (lower right) at 4am Saturday morning.

It had been shoveled twice the night before, as late as 10pm.

So what you see filled in in 6 hours.

I woke up the dogs who wanted to go out, of course.

At that time I had not cleared a path for them to go. 

Neither appreciated it at all.

By 7am Saturday it was 18" or so.

By this point, the bathroom, again seen lower right, had been remodeled three times.  I had to enlarge it.  The dog can be so picky...

By 9am, with the continued snow and blowing wind, this had disappeared completely!

Saturday morning at 11am.

This is only 20 minutes after shoveling. 

No point in cleaning the cars off.  We are expecting another 10-15" by tonight, when, they say, it is likely to stop!

You can't see this, but the snow plow has been by and the wall left behind the cars is 5' high!  I will have to dig through that to get to my inspections on Monday, if I can find the houses...

How often have you been in the laundry room and just can't find that screwdriver?

I know, it happens to me all the time.

You look high and low and you just can't find it.  It can be frustrating!

What to do?

Hi, Billy Jays here!

Call now to have Bestway Construction install this convenient screwdriver holder in your laundry room!

Never search again when it is right there within reach! You will appreciate this installation like no other!

And since Bestway will do such a thorough job, your screwdriver will go all the way through the window to the other side!  When you want a little fresh air in the laundry, simply pull out that screwdriver, from the convenient screwdriver holder, and fresh air will pour in!

We are so confident you will appreciate and love your convenient screwdriver holder so much, if you call now, since we can't do this all day, we will attach this convenient hammer holder on the wall of your laundry! 

Be the first in your neighborhood to add these two convenient tool holders into your laundry!  Stop your searching!  Stop your fumbling! 

Have two tools right at your fingertips!

So call now! 

I thank you. 

And Bestway Construction thanks you.

We were supposed to get 1"of snow a week or so ago.  Instead we got 4".

We were supposed to get 1-2" last night.  Instead we got a little over 6".

This is what I woke up to.  These pictures are in color!

To the left is the Dwarf Japanese Maple tree in my front garden.

I bought it 25 years ago when it was a twig.

It is beautiful with and without leaves.

It is gorgeous dressed in white.

This is the view toward the rear of my house.

Croakster's pond is to the left.

This weekend we are supposed to get between 1 and 2 feet of snow!  I hope that doesn't mean glaciers!!

These are the trees in front of my house.  Not much is more perfect.

Despite the speed life moves; despite the evil that surrounds us all; amid the hate and lies, the destruction and sadness, the poverty and pain - despite all the truly difficult and tragic bad that comes with life --

The bad can only exist because of, and is defined by, the good that serves as its opposite and balances every creation.  Good is always there.  Our life experience depends on it.  All experience is for our good, and one way or another it is. 

Do you see the black AND white?  The one is defined by the other.

Peace abounds and simplicity reigns when all is dressed in the purity of white.  It is calm and its beauty unsurpassed.

Take a minute and contemplate the balance in your life.  It is there!

And, take a minute to count your blessings!  They are good.

I got a call this afternoon from a broker in a realty office that wants me to come to speak to their office about Chinese Drywall.  I have written many blogs on the topic.

Asking how this broker got my name she said she Googled "Northern Virginia Chinese Drywall Expert" and my name was the first home inspector to come up.

Tonight I did the same thing.  I come up #5 out of 10,300 possible hits!  Not bad...

All of that is because of my blogging on the topic.

CAN BLOGGING ACTUALLY GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE?

We suppose so!!

Hopefully this call will lead to lots of new clients and future business.  I will keep you informed!

HI! Billy Jays here!  (The screen fills with me with black, dyed hair and a beard)

Aren't you tired of dealing with that pesky gutter end cap??

I know I am.  All it does is cause clogs!  And there you are, time after time after time again, up on the ladder, cleaning clog after clog.  (The screen shows a middle-aged man, high on his ladder, cleaning huge handfuls of mucky muck from his gutter, disgustedly throwing each to the ground below)

Well, those days are gone!!

Now you won't have to clean a single gutter ever again!  That's right!! NEVER CLEAN A GUTTER AGAIN!  (The screen shows the same middle-aged man, high on his ladder, imagining how wonderful it would be to never clean a gutter again)

Call now and the trained technicians from Bestway Construction Company will install this beautiful, small gage, plastic gutter and,

GET THIS

without an end cap!

And to make sure it really doesn't clog, they will carefully incline the gutter AWAY from the open end SO YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A CLOG AGAIN!  Can I repeat that?  YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A CLOG AGAIN!

But that's not all!  If you call now, and we have our courteous phone specialists answering even now (the camera shows a smiling phone cutie happily conversing with a nodding, and obviously excited purchaser), we will throw in two more things.  What you say, there is more?

YES, THERE IS MORE!!  Bestway Construction will carefully tuck your high-voltage electric cable UNDER the gutter.  Now you will no longer arrive home and pull into your driveway only to look up to see this ugly electric cable on the front of your house.  It will disappear like MAGIC!!  BEHIND YOUR GUTTER!!

(The voice of an excited listener says, "But you said TWO things Billy Jays!  What's the other one?")

Is that what you're asking now?  Well ask no further!!

Call now and Bestway Construction will install a second small-gage, plastic gutter in the rear of your house! And it, too, will incline so very little water will make it to the downspout and clog things up!!  That's the best way possible!!

THAT'S RIGHT!  TWO GUTTERS, TWOOOO GUTTERS, FOR THE PRICE OF ONE, AND BOTH, YOU HEARD ME RIGHT,  BOTH  WILL BE INSTALLED WITHOUT  THAT PESKY END CAP!!

So, call now!  We've hired extra phone babes, um, specialists to handle all the extra calls for this one.

THEY ARE STANDING BY!! (The camera pans to a gymnasium full of tables and smiling phone operators)

Imagine how proud you will be to tell your neighbors that you, you smart guy you, will never be up on that ladder again!  And, just imagine how jealous they will be knowing that!  (A smiling buyer fills the screen, looking up to the left imagining how jealous his neighbors really, really will be)

SO CALL NOW!  OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!  (A digital clock on the side is counting down from 2 minutes, and the toll-free phone number is hugely displayed and blinking)

Disclaimer:  (The guy speaking now is the one who can talk really, really fast)  Billy Jays is not responsible for any work performed by Bestway Construction, the quality of materials used, the time frame in which the work is completed, if it is completed, any permits, licenses, or legal obligations in any way.  Check with your local jurisdictions before beginning any work, your local HOA associations, your tax adviser, and especially your insurance agent because Bestway Construction does not carry any form of liability or medical insurance.  Any accidents or injuries will be the sole responsibility of the party purchasing any of our products.  No gutters will be installed higher than 20 feet, so good luck if you have a high roof.  All credit cards accepted.  Patents pending, and all rights reserved.  Good luck and have a great day...

My recommendation:  Well, you know my recommendation.

I was called and asked to do an inspection on a house being sold by an individual who is a practicing Licensed Architect and Class A Licensed Contractor.  His company advertises "Design and Build."  I was also told the house was quite remodeled and gorgeous.

This could not have been a more disappointing inspection, given the build up.

This is representative of the kinds of things I found during the inspection.  My report was three times longer than the normal report, for having to write about all the improper and/or dangerous things I discovered while there.

Inspectors will notice about seven things wrong in this picture.  What they cannot see is that the new disposal (builder grade, 1/3 HP) did not have putty under the support ring and no connector clamp where the cable enters the unit.

There is a previous AR post about connector clamps:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1156492/are-you-connected-

Now, any Class A contractor should at least know how to install a disposal.  At least!

Things like this went on an on.  Little things and big things.  I actually said "Dammit" when I looked into the panel box.  I NEVER say dammit, or anything else like that, especially on home inspections and in front of clients.  Honestly, I don't remember the last time I even said dammit!  And at that point I was only about half way through inspecting the basement!  Already we were all fed up.  I was very disappointed because so much was frightfully wrong.

This seller probably passed all the Virginia Class A Contractor test questions about proper wiring and appliance installations.  That is not an easy test!  And here he is trying to sell things like this to other people.  Well, my first-time-buyer clients backed out.  They, too, were very disappointed.

My recommendation:   Even though a listing might be advertised as having this or that benefit, get a home inspection.  You just never know...

It would be difficult to explain what this configuration looked like when I first saw it.  There were a multiplicity of problems, all identified on my original inspection report, and the seller agreed to many repairs.  This is what we saw when we returned to what is apparently thought to be the Bestway* to do it.

The list of what was wrong to begin with was enormous. These repairs are as you see them.

The water heater exhaust hood is still disconnected where it exits the unit.

The previously single-walled furnace vent is now a new double-walled vent, but still angled downward.

It exits the wall on the left, but we can't see if it is still touching the wood framing.  But it is still horizontal inside that chase above the water heater, coming from 15' to the left.  It hooks downward at a dramatic angle to turn again as it extends to the chimney.

It no longer loosely enters the chimney (on the right) as it is attractively glued with polyfoam.  We see polyfoam in so many places used in so many ways!  It is as ubiquitous as duct tape!

It is time for thermal images!

The furnace is on the ground in the crawl space to the left of the first image above.  The vent goes up and inside the chase, after it makes many turns.  It is a single-walled vent inside that chase!  It touches wood framing, drywall and the AC line seen in the photograph above.  That AC line follows that furnace vent along the entirety of the 15' chase.  It can't be in a good condition.  The middle image above is similar to the photograph at the top.  The hottest spot, as demonstrated by the white color, is just to the left of the left tube connecting to the top of the water heater.  That spot is 183F!  The corner, where all the tubing makes many turns and goes downward, is 177F.  Imagine how hot it is inside the chase!  The right image shows where the two tubes enter the chimney.

I think that when they connected the double-walled vent to what existed before, they disconnected things inside the chase, accounting for the high temperatures.  Heat doesn't vent downward well!  It clogs, as you can see, and builds up.  I don't know what is going on at the chimney connection.  I suspect the wide gaps between the vent and brick work are still there behind the metal plate.  It still lacks a clean out port.

* Bestway Construction asked to have me call them with anything that might still be wrong or not to code.

I'm sorry, a home inspector's purview is not to tell a supposedly licensed "construction" company if their work is wrong or not to code...  Any company worth it's salt, um, soy sauce already knows that!

My recommendation:  Hire professionals to do work when repairs need to be done!  And remember, heat should be vented upward!  It isn't heat that flows downhill...

No, it's not what you are thinking.  Sorry, but these boobs were something more like stooges, maybe even the Three Stooges!

This is one of many repairs effected by the Bestway Construction Company.  Yes, that is their name.  I am not kidding and I am NOT making this up!

During our inspection a couple of weeks ago a very loose and dry hose bib was in this location.  It pulled out of the wall about 1/2".  Since it was hidden behind drywall in the garage we could not see the inside.

The buyers wanted it repaired, by a "licensed plumber, with receipt provided."  Instead, the agent employed a company she said "does everything perfectly, the best way possible," and that's why she uses them.

The Bestway Construction Company discovered that the bib was connected to nothing, so they removed it completely.  That "repair" is indoor, bathroom silicone.  I don't know how much they used, but it is classic!  Water tight, long lasting, hardly noticeable!  That section of siding is only about 18" long, easily replaced.

The buyers called me because they got back a letter from the same "repair" company for everything on their addendum list.  No licenses, no receipts, no guarantees, just a letter saying what was repaired.  They called me back and we did a re-inspection.  Many of these repairs will appear in future posts!  Sadly...

My recommendation:   You might not get what you are expecting despite being very specific on your repair addendum.  And construction companies may not be populated with professionals!  Sometimes what is advertised as the best way turns out to be a real boob job, so to speak.

Arriving early at a home inspection in a condo development, just after sun up, I did my usual walk around to check out the general upkeep of the units.  It was very cold.

This gives me information about the condo association and how on top of maintenance it is generally.

I was met by a lady standing on her  lower-level patio.  She saw the sign on my car and thought to take advantage.  She said her column was rotting at the bottom and would I mind looking at it.

"Why is it rotting? My neighbor's column on the balcony above mine isn't rotting."

Glancing upward she was right.  But I could immediately see why hers was rotting.

I said, "Ma'am, your column is rotting because of the long arm of the law."

"What?!"

So I said, "The law.  The law of gravity.  It never fails."

"Do you see the frozen splatter on the bush beside your column?  Look up.  Where do you think it is coming from?"

She did and saw.  "It is even dripping now, from the melting dew on the roof," I added, as she watched.

The bush you see is below the column above, but right beside her column.  This had been happening for a long time.

Appreciative, she went back inside.

My recommendation:  If you see a home inspector in the neighborhood and have a problem you think he might be able to quickly diagnose, ask him!  He won't mind!  It might just be as easy an answer as the one above.