In the summer of 1969 I had my first “near death” experience. I was traveling around the southern states during summer break from college on my motorcycle. I could do dozens of blogs about that trip, but today I am staying focused on nearly dying while brushing my teeth. It is not every day that someone dies of drowning from choking on toothpaste, but when you can’t breathe and you look in the mirror and notice that you are no longer the correct color it does give one pause.
One of the thoughts that ran through my mind was that I was going to be found dead in this no-tell-motel and no one that knows me knows where I am or what happened to me. It would likely take some time to put the pieces of that puzzle together. I spent the whole summer going from town to town picking up dishwashing jobs in greasy spoons. I found that I could get fed very well---make enough money to pay for my no-tell-motel room and re-build my cash fund enough to buy gas to get me to the next stack of dishes.
But back to choking to death.
I had the presence of mind to hang myself upside down over the side of the bed and was able to dislodge the tooth paste----and lived to embellish this story.
I mention this story because there is no way to know when we are going to “clock out.”
We all want to protect ourselves from dying and yet, in a very real sense, if we are too careful, we won’t have very many of the kinds of experiences that make us feel alive. Would you rather “be” alive or “feel” alive? While catatonia may have its merits-----I would much rather “burn out, than fade away,” as Neal Young said.
No matter what we do with our lives, we must always accept that “shit happens”----even to us----not just other people. I don’t remember who said it, or even the context it was said in, but in Little Big Man, one of the characters said (regarding going into hopeless battle), “It’s a good day to die.” This attitude is not at all about being willing to die----it is more about living your life so fully that you have no regrets when it does sneak up on you. This is why it is important to do the things that make you feel the most alive as much as possible! It really does not matter at all whether that is climbing mountains, riding bulls, or blogging in the Rain. No one but us gets to determine what makes us feel the most alive.
One of the great ironies in life is that whether you are a vegetable in front of the TV, crossing the street, or rafting down the Colorado River, when your time is up, your time is up. Assurances and Insurance is not much of a hedge when calculating the risk of one adventure over another. It is interesting that somehow society has us programmed to think that if we die doing something we love while climbing mountains, it is somehow “better” than if we die doing the work we love. Implicit in whatever risks we take in our lives is the idea (whether conscious or not), that we accept the consequences. Denial later, after something “bad” happens, would on some level not be completely truthful.
The ability to turn those consequences into the next adventure would seem advantageous.
Charles Buell
Click on the Rose 
to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group
PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
DeCroe, is my "etherial" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.
Michael Thornton’s post today is a perfect lead-in to my post. Large trees on a property can pose a very real threat to a home-----whether Inspectors are usually not licensed arborists, but it is a good idea for inspectors to inform their buyers of the “potential” danger of trees on the property, whether it is to the home they are looking at buying or to neighboring homes. Trees with decay, trees with wind damage, trees that are leaning precariously, or trees that are too close to the home should obviously be reported for either removal or evaluation by a licensed arborist. While adding incredible beauty to a property, people need to be aware of potential problems all this beauty can pose. Trees actually falling on homes are rarer than the more continual damage they represent from falling limbs and covering roofs with vegetative debris on a yearly basis----including filling up gutters and downspouts. Trees too close to the home also pose a risk to foundations from the tree’s roots. So this pretty much covers issues with trees on the property the buyer is looking at. Here is another, more complicated issue: trees on the neighbor’s property that are in danger of falling onto the buyer’s property. Can you imagine how difficult it might be to get that neighbor to deal with taking down a tree? Take a look at the tree in this picture: It doesn’t take being an arborist to see that this tree, already severely weakened where one section of the tree has fallen away, is in danger of falling against the home. Even though this tree is on the neighbor’s property, getting it taken care of can get complicated if you don’t have a willing neighbor----or the property is in foreclosure. Often the only practical, timely, solution would be for the property buyer to pay to have the tree taken down. In the City of Seattle it can cost several thousand dollars to take a tree like this down professionally. You certainly would not want it to be taken down unprofessionally like the one in Michael Thornton’s post.
it is your home or the neighbor’s home. They can represent serious liability for the homeowner for both property damage and personal injury. If you think not, just take a look a Michael’s post. I REALLY hope no one was home at the time.
Charles Buell
Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group
PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
DeCroe, is my "etherial" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.
The weather-head on the electrical system is to keep water from entering the electrical mast when the wires run to the home overhead----as opposed to going to the house underground. It also helps protect the wires from mechanical damage as well as orient the wires so that they point down so that water won’t run along the wires and into the mast. It is a really good idea to keep water out of the mast because if it enters the mast it will end up in the electrical panel and make a mess of things. Water and electrical components brought together in this situation are----as usual----bad juju. Here is a picture of a proper cap.
There are several defects in this picture----of which the weather-head is NOT one of them----maybe the other inspectors here in the Rain can point out some of them. One of the defects is actually one of the most dangerous defects you can find in a home----a matter of life and death.
In this next picture we can see where the cap is missing and the top of the pipe is wrapped with electrical tape to keep the water out----obviously not a proper cap.
This is not a difficult fix----just needs a proper cap installed by the licensed electrical contractor.
Charles Buell
Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group
PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
DeCroe, is my "etherial" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.
WARNING: This post has the potential to cause one’s eyes to glaze over! In my blog I usually strive to keep things from getting too “technical”----or too “risqué.” I have wanted to do a post about the differences between “Main” Electrical Distribution Panels (the place where your main breaker is) and “Remote” Distribution panels----more commonly known as “Sub-Panels. The main difference between the two----without getting too technical is how they are “bonded.” “Grounding” and “bonding” get thrown around casually sometimes as if there is no difference between the two. In Residences “grounding” happens at the Main Electrical Distribution Panel and consists of the grounding conductor being connected to the Neutral/Ground bar and then to one or more of several options: Ground Rods, Metal Water Pipes coming to the house, and/or Rebar in the foundation footings. Other metallic systems in the home will be “bonded” (connected) to these “grounded” parts of the system. So if you have metal water pipes, or metal heating system pipes, or gas supply pipes, or cable/telephone systems in the home, these systems would all be connected mechanically (bonded) to the grounding conductor of the home. The critical thing to keep in mind about bonding and grounding is that at the Main Distribution Panel, the Neutral Wires (white wires) and the Equipment Ground Wires (bare copper---sometimes coated green wires) join together on the Neutral/Ground bar. So in the Main Panel you will find all of these white and bare copper wires connected to the same termination bar. I really don’t want to get into the reasons why this is so in this post. Just keep in mind that in a Remote Distribution Panel (sub-panel) the equipment ground wires and neutral wires cannot be joined together. In fact even at switches and receptacles or anywhere else wires are brought together----the equipment ground wires and neutral wires must never be connected together. Now I will change my mind and tell you that the reason for this is that there is a small amount of current that always flows on the neutral wire in the normal operation of appliances etc and you do not want that current running on the bare ground wires----these wires are connected to things you might touch. So now let’s look at the electrical panel in the picture below. On the left side of the picture we can see all the bare copper wires that are all the equipment ground wires. There is one big honking one that comes in with the big black conductors from the Main Distribution Panel. There is another big honking one that goes off to a gas pipe---out through the top of the panel. There is a whole bunch of little ones from individual circuits. Now aside from the fact that there are some issues with the way all of these bare ground wires are terminated in terms of the number of wires under each screw, the thing I want you to pay attention to is that they are all connected to their own little metal bar that is connected directly to the metal box itself. Now look at the big wire with the white tape like a barber pole. That is the Neutral wire and notice how it is connected to the vertical neutral bar on the left side (the bottom end is visible below the breakers on the left side) and that there is a Crossover Arm connected to it that goes over to the vertical bar on the right side. This is what we look for when we talk about the ground wires and the neutral wires being isolated from each other in a sub-panel. All of the electrical components related to the Neutral wires are separated from the metal box with pieces of plastic----so they don’t touch each other. But wait a minute captain----we have a problem. Can anyone see the problem? Take a look at that crossover arm that connects the left neutral bar to the right neutral bar. Do you see that very pretty green screw? That green screw is shipped with the panel, from the manufacturer, so that when the panel is going to be used as a main panel the Neutral bar can become a Neutral/Ground bar. The screw is meant to be discarded when the panel is being used as a sub-panel---like this one is. So in this installation we run the risk of running some amount of current onto all of those bare copper wires and to every thing they are connected to----including you if you touch them. It is an unimaginably easy fix----the green screw merely needs to be removed----by the licensed electrical contractor. But not to worry----if there is this defect, there will likely be others----to soften the electrician’s “minimum” service call. Now for all of those that are wondering when I am going to get to the bondage part-----ask Dr. Ruth----that is what Google is for.
Charles Buell
Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group
PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
DeCroe, is my "etherial" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.
Don Quixote rides again. I usually do my best to stay off my high horse---but this is a recurring theme and one that seems to be happening more often as more people get in trouble with their mortgages and banks take possession of the properties.
The problem?
Winterization.
Winterization is the process of turning off all the utilities and draining the water pipes in the home (theoretically). I am baffled by this practice----it is akin to withholding food and water from a person in solitary confinement. I know, some would say it is a bit of a stretch to compare a human being (no matter what they have done) to a house----but I will stick with the metaphor.
At a recent inspection we were given permission to turn the water back on. There was an obvious leak under the kitchen sink and we had to immediately turn the water back off which prevented further evaluation of functional aspects of the plumbing---including drainage.
To winterize a home in any climate can be problematic, and I am hoping some of the inspectors here in the Rain from warmer areas of the country will chime in with the adverse effects of winterizing homes in their areas.
In colder climates, leaving the house unheated can do tremendous amounts of damage. Heated air holds much more moisture than cold air, couple this with people coming and going in the house or moving the air around through the heating system or with exhaust fans, there is less opportunity for moisture to find cold surfaces to condense on. (There are many situations where this can still happen---but when you don’t heat the house you can guarantee it.) Now let’s take the home and turn off all the utilities, close up all the doors and windows and say, “see you later.” Moisture is always moving into homes from the ground and the air inside the home will equilibrate with whatever the humidity is outdoors. This moisture tends to condense out of the air on the first cold surface it finds (because there is no warm air to hold it). These cold surfaces tend to be the windows and drywall of the home making these surfaces prone to mold and other fungal growth-----kind of like an empty refrigerator. We all know how nasty an empty refrigerator can get.
So let’s come back to why winterization happens. In a word: $Money.$
As Mr. Rogers might have said, “Can you say, ‘short-sighted?’”
Winterization is actually a euphemism for, “F*%# you house!” So, unless the house is going to be bulldozed, it makes far more economic sense to pay what it takes to keep your “investment” valuable. The amount of money saved by turning off the utilities will almost always make the home less valuable in the long run----not to mention less marketable. There is nothing like showing your buyer the inside of a refrigerator----everyone just can’t wait to get the heck out of there----and go have coffee at the one with the open house.
It is easy to understand when a homeowner has been pushed out onto the street due to loss of their job that they would not be able to maintain the utilities. When banks do it they become a part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution. Some would argue that they have always been part of the problem.
Charles Buell
Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group
PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
DeCroe, is my "etherial" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.
Licensed Home Inspector (5yrs)--33 years design/build general contractor. Adjunct professor: Bellingham Technical College's Home Inspection Course. WA State, Licensed Home Inspector. ASHI member.
I had been designing and building homes for 33 years when I decided to become a Home Inspector. With all of my years of building experience and taking the 160 hour Residential Home Inspection Course at Bellingham Technical College, it is difficult to imagine what kinds of inspections the buying public was getting before the State of Washington started requiring Home Inspectors to be Licensed. (Thanks to the efforts of Senator Spanel, and many others there is now licensing of Home Inspectors in Washington State.) I have a dream of seeing home inspections taken to a higher level. While setting "minimum" standards is important, providing something of lasting value to the home buyer is what I am interested in, and over the coming years I expect to see increased education of home inspectors---perhaps even including 2 to 4 year college degree programs. Providing the kind of information necessary to aid in the decision making process is not difficult, and adding the kind of information that turns the home inspection report into the beginnings of an "owner's manual" creates something of lasting value. Because I use a lot of pictures in my reports, people have often commented on how easy it is to communicate the issues to the seller, and as a result I very rarely ever get calls from sellers looking for clarification----or to refute my findings. The whole process is about communication and information----"too much" is never enough.
I am a Certified Member of ASHI and I see membership in at least one of the major associations as a "minimum" requirement when choosing an inspector in Washington State----in addition to the State's requirement to be a Licensed Home Inspector. I would also expect to see Home Inspectors also be Licensed Structural Pest Inspectors in order to provide the highest level of service to the home buyer.
While members of the major Associations (and other associations for that matter) will argue the merits of their Association over the others, I find that they all have their good points. Buyers need to understand that membership requirements in all of these associations set "minimum" standards for the profession and that most inspectors exceed those standards. The important thing is what kind of report does the inspector provide and how clearly is it written, how well does it describe the issues, and how clearly does the report define the course of action regarding those issues.
I provide my client with a very detailed and thorough report on the condition of the home---some have commented on the report being like an "Owners Manual." I consider it the beginning of one. Along with all the major concerns, the buyer will also find useful information as to the age of appliances and Model and Serial Numbers.
Click here to see a Sample Report.
One area of concern for many home buyers today is MOLD. It has almost become a "four letter word" (wait a minute----it is a four letter word). No buyer's education and information about Mold is going to be complete without the information provided by Caoimhin Connell. For some great information please see his link below: Health Effects of Moulds (Molds): State of Knowledge Caoimhín P. Connell http://www.forensic-applications.com/
Forensic Industrial Hygienist
Much of my home construction has been involved with Super Insulated, Energy Efficient Homes. I have been a dealer of composting toilets, installer of wood foundation systems, and installer of air and water solar heating systems.
I won a New York State Energy Reserch & Developement Award ($10,000) in 1979 for a super-insulated duplex house built in Oswego, NY. My interest in energy efficient housing continues today and, because of my years of experience, I am able to assist my buyers with their questions about how efficient the home they are buying is or help them with their questions of how to improve the energy efficiency of the home. I was into "Green" before it had been given a name. Now I can help people sort through the various approaches to building homes (and even assist with some of the confusion surrounding what it means to be "Green").
Because my entire carrier as a builder was "Design-Build," I am able to also assist buyers with questions they might have regarding remodeling. For example questions about whether walls are bearing walls or not, or the feasibility of adding a second story, are all questions I routinely hear from buyers, and am able to assist them with. It is all I did for 33 years. I designed and built dozens of homes, and additions to homes, over those years----including designing and building most of the cabinet work in those projects----so I am very familiar with the processes and requirements of all of these areas. In the early years of my career I was building in areas where I was allowed to do electrical and plumbing as well (they still had to be inspected of course). So I able to give much more in-depth information regarding these areas as well.
As a builder of energy efficient homes in the 70's, the Syracuse University, School of Architecture would routinely tour my homes and even monitored some of them for documentation purposes for periods of time. One of my more curious areas of interest was the use of wood foundations in the overall design of super-insulated homes. These systems designed by Weyerhaeuser for use in the perma-frost of Alaska were well suited to creating very energy efficient homes.
I curretly teach part of the (160hr) Residential Home Inspection Course at Bellingham Technical College in Bellingham, WA. Link to the course: Residential Home Inspection Course
I LOVE teaching. It is such a great opportunity to give back all the stuff I have learned over the years. It fits with my general life philosophy of "giving everything away---to make room for more." Blogging for me is an extension of this philosophy, another way to give back to the community.
Founder of Sparky's Plumbing, the ActiveRain Group where everything is shocking and all wet!
Below are some of my favorite blogs----please enjoy. I promise, that if you tour through the archives, that I will entertain and hopefully educate you about the homes we all live in. Sometimes, no doubt, you will see things similiar to your own homes---sometimes things you will be fortunate to never see.
Anybody got 10 bucks I can borrow?
Beware of Having Sex on Granite Countertops!
Has anyone ever asked you to, "Pull the Plug?"
Should Agents sleep with their Home Inspectors?
Finding the "Better-than-the-average-bear" inspector.
Why is there a BARGE on my roof?
Scared the BEE-GEEEZEZ out of me!
What do you mean there are "SECRET" tunnels under my lawn?
Doggone it!-----Bet I'll be in the "Dog House" over this dog!
The Inspector goes to a Pajama Party!
How many chickens will fit inside a cow?
Instead of providing dozens of references from past buyers, I have selected just a few testimonials that typify the kinds of things that I hear back from buyers.
Charlie,
I would like to once again thank you very much for your outstanding work on the inspection of the xxxxx Street house on our behalf.
Our expectations of the inspection you performed were exceeded. The detail and quality of your report will be used by us as a goal for other inspectors we have the chance to do business with in the future. I can not imagine that there was a single thing you didn't cover! We will use your report as guidelines on what we need to do immediately to the house, over the course of the next 6 monts as well as ongoing maintenance. Your added background information and photos not only illustrated the issue but educated us as to the correction. Your willingness to share your impressions and knowledge via phone was greatly appreciated. We both feel this was the best money we could have spent!
Please feel free to use my name and have any potential customeers contact me for a reference. I am more than happy to tell them what a professional, knowledgeable, thorough inspector your are!
Thank you for your outstanding work!
Zan Murzello
Hi Charles,
Thank you so much for this great and very professional inspection. I have reviewd the information aen will be using this to negotiate our terms with the seller. Your discovery of the issues on this place has shined a new light to this property:)
Thanks again for your help,
Andres
Thank you so much Charlie--- I am so glad I had you to do this inspection-- you did an excellent job and discovered things I would never have thought of and I so appreciate your expertise. I feel so much more confident going into this purchase knowing exactly what's going on.
Thanks so much,
Mary Lee
After finding a house that we loved, we had to finalize the details for the sale. For the inspection process we chose Charles Buell Inspections since our friends spoke highly of him. Dealing with the stress of making the biggest purchase of our lives, Charles' calm demeanor and thorough examination of the house and lot put our minds at ease. We felt confident that all of the negative and positive aspects of the home were brought to our attention on sight. Twenty-four hours later we received a detailed 84 page summary of his findings which included pictures to clarify the issues being discussed. We were impressed! In fact this inspection report has been almost like a homeowner's manual, which we've used while updating our home. We have now used Charles for both our home and business inspections, and would definitely use him again in the future!
Glenn Soja
Leah Mitchell
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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