Oh, We Don't Have Those Here....

One of the very neat things about living in the southeast part of Washington State is that the weather is truly unique compared to the western half of the state.

For example, Clarkston typically gets less than 13 inches of rain per year effectively making it a desert environment.

Pullman gets about 21 inches per year.

To put it in perspective, Olympia get more than 50 inches per year.

This makes inspecting a home very different for the Eastern Washington inspectors even though we're governed by the same rules.

For example, I've had people say that we don't have termites here. Fortunately, our incidence rate is very low. But we still have termites. I've seen and reported on them in Pullman, Clarkston, Colfax and several of the towns on the Idaho side of the border.

This picture is a recent one of an older home. The mud tube from the termites is clearly visible and is attached to the water heater in addition to the wood post. The water heater gives us the opportunity to determine the approximate age of the infestation. In this case, the heater was less than 8 years old. The agent was understandably upset at the findings and a bit surprised since we don't have a reputation for this sort of problem.



I had a similar experience in Lewiston, ID. In that case, we found anabiod beetles. And I say "we" because my client is an entomologist who works with Sun Pest down in the valley. he was identifying things faster than I was. According to Russ Craber at Sun Pest, we're in the midst of a challenging pest season. They're seeing higher rates of incidence for almost every pest catagory.

Not good news for us. Nobody likes to deliver bad news especially pest infestation news.

Your clients do have some protection: if a Washington licensed inspector suspects insect related damage, they are required to refer your client to a structural pest inspector or pest control operator.

It's not perfect but it is better than nothing.