Electrical Reset and Refresh for Home Inspection

Presents: Electrical Reset and Refresh for Home Inspection With Charles Buell May 18th at the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Association This class is an excellent opportunity to refresh your electrical knowledge and learn new techniques for performing electrical inspections on residential construction from a true expert. Charles Buell has been in some form of residential construction for his entire adult life. He was a custom home builder for over 35...

Is it Time to Service Your High Efficiency Water Heater?

As of April 16th, 2015, the manufacturers of water heaters must comply with a new energy efficiency standard set by the Department of Energy called the NAECA National Appliance Energy Conservation Act. The good news for consumers is that these new standards will save energy. The bad news is that many of the high-efficiency appliances that comply with this act, notably gas water heaters and boilers, are not like your mom and dad’s water heaters; they are complex appliances with circuit...

Fiber Cement Siding: Common Installation Defects Found

Click here for a free download of Hardie diagrams that can be used in home inspection reports In the Pacific Northwest, fiber cement siding has been an excellent replacement and upgrade over many of the 1990’s era siding products which proved to be little more than disposable siding systems. Fiber cement is arguably better and more reliable than many of our traditional siding materials in this climate. Stocks of old growth lumber are long gone and other traditional siding materials...

When Carpenter Ants Are Found On A Home Inspection

What You Need to Know: Finding Carpenter Ants Carpenter ant activity is both seasonal and nocturnal, so these ants can be difficult to find during a home inspection. Carpenter ants are endemic to woodland areas and they perform an important function in the ecosystem, but you do not want them setting up a satellite colony in your house. Carpenter ants do not “eat” wood, as termites do, but they can tunnel in wood and as they excavate wood to build their...

Anobiid Beetles Found During A Home Inspection

Anobiid Beetle Basics Anobiid beetles, often mistakenly called “powder post,” beetles, are rarely seen, but their presence can be identified by the marks they leave behind. Active infestations will leave a fine powdery frass that the beetles excavate from infested wood and where the anobiid larva emerge, you will see a series of small exit holes that can look like miniature buckshot. Anobiids can damage softwood lumber which is commonly used for framing residential construction in North America. Wood with a moisture...