Donald Hester NCW Home Inspections, LLC

Open Discussion on Closed Valleys- Wenatchee and Chelan Home Inspection Service

As a home inspector in Wenatchee and North Central Washington I get to see some pretty interesting roofing installations.

Something I have run into several times of late when performing roofing inspections is the improper installation of what is called a closed cut valley.

A closed cut valley is where shingles span the valley surface of the roof. The shingles on the lesser water shedding roof will go under the opposing shingles. The shingles of the main water shedding surface will be cut 2 inches back from the valley and should widen as it gets closer to the bottom of the valley to accommodate more water flow.

Here is an example when the installation was performed in reverse.

(arrows are main water flow)

If installed backwards you run the risk of too much water moving down and under the opposing shingles. Valleys are one of the weak links in the roofing surface just after penetrations.

(proper installation)

What this practice is really telling me is either that the roofing contractor does not fully understand the dynamics of how the roof surface is working or is just plain lazy. Either of these is very problematic in my book. Your roof is the primary barrier to protecting your home from water.

Roof shingle installation manual- (Link)

When there is any doubt on any roofing installation asking for a second opinion from another professional roofer or a professional home inspector could help prevent issues from occurring at a later date.

Here is an installation video on from GAF- (Link)

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Steve Jobs

NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

Your Wenatchee and Chelan Professional Home and Structural Pest Inspection Service

www.ncwhomeinspections.com

Oil or grease fire in kitchen- Wenatchee and Chelan Home Inspection Service

Grease and oil fires in the kitchen can be very dangerous and a few simple ideas can save you from a very serious situation. The NFPA states that 42% of all structure fires and 37% of home injuries relate to cooking fires.

Remember always stay present and attentive in the kitchen when cooking with greases. Grease fires burn very hot and can quickly spread to cabinets or other flammable materials or areas of the kitchen.

First, always stay calm and never use water to put out a grease fire. This will only make it much worse.

Remember to turn off the oven or burner and then cover the fire with a lid or as in this video a damp cloth.

You must rob the flame of oxygen.

Here is a link on kitchen fire safety -Link

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Steve Jobs

NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

Your Wenatchee and Chelan Professional Home and Structural Pest Inspection Service

www.ncwhomeinspections.com

Ah… backstabbed again! A Wenatchee and Chelan Home Inspection Service

I get a call from a very good friend of mine. Knowing that I am a home inspector and seen a lot of issues and that I have also have done my fair share of electrical work on my own homes he wants my advice and how to fix it. (Full disclosure I am not an electrician but I have slept at a Holiday Inn ; )

The issue at hand is that he had a bathroom GFCI go out on him, he replaced the GFCI outlet with a new one and it still does not work.

So now for the diagnosis from afar, yikes! He is a very handy guy and done a fair share of construction work. So here is the sequence of events

Me- “So… what kind of electrical test equipment you have?”

He- “I have one of those three light testers.”

Me- “Okay… replace the outlet with a standard one and see what the tester says.”

He- “I get a hot- ground reverse, (oops not good) and then open neutral (again not good).”

Me- “That tells me we most likely have a neutral wire dropped somewhere. Find all the outlets on the circuit and start checking for a loose neutral. “

Later that night (the phone call)

He- “Hey all of my receptacles are back-stabbed.”

Me- “Guess what to do next? Replace them all and check any neutral pigtails. If that does not fix it call me. I will be in your neck of the woods on the weekend and we can take it from there.”

He- (after two days of replacing receptacles) “Still got an issue”

Me- “Okay I will be there tomorrow”

I get there and place a voltage tester on it the circuit and see that we have a loose neutral somewhere still. So after confirming and evaluating what he had done, isolating parts of the circuit, and having him look for a mystery junction box in the attic still no fix.

I am now just as perplexed as him. I know there has to be a missing junction somewhere. So I look on the other side of the wall in the master bedroom.

Me - “You got an outlet on this wall?”

He- “No”

Me- “You sure, this is a bit over two feet and should have one.”

So we pull out the cabinet that was there and low and behold the missing junction. Weeeeeeee!!!!!

We open it up and have a neutral starting to dis-color from being over heated.

The moral of the story is kiddies is… even though those back stabbed receptacles are “Code Compliant and UL Listed” if you have them I recommend you replace them. They are bad, bad, bad in this humble home inspector’s opinion.

Trick of the Trade number “80” - If you run into this problem start hitting the walls above each receptacle if the problem cures itself that is the most likely place to start looking for a loose connection.

(I will not tell you what Mr. Buell’s trick number 86 is, it just goes boom ; )

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Steve Jobs

NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

Your Wenatchee and Chelan Professional Home and Structural Pest Inspection Service

www.ncwhomeinspections.com

I crawl because I can- Quincy Home Inspection

On this particular home inspection I was not performing a structural pest inspection because one had already been performed.

When I perform a home inspection my standard is to always perform a structural pest inspection but in this case one had been done recently, or was it?

I always do the crawlspace last because, well it is the nastiest area of the home generally and I do not want to re-enter the home after my little foray with the spiders and muck. (I usually do not smell too good either!)

So during my inspection of the crawlspace I come to this interesting little area.

Now if this home had a previous pest inspection why is this in the condition I found it? Nothing has been disturbed in this area and by our standards we are to crawl all areas of the home unless we are obstructed or there is a perceived danger by the home inspector (maybe it was the creature from the black lagoon lurking ; ).

If any conditions that limit the inspection have been encounter they must be noted on the report.

Here is what else I found after de-webbing the area.

When hiring a home inspector it would be wise to ask how they will perform the crawlspace inspection. This is a very major area that needs a very thorough inspection.

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Steve Jobs

NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

Your Wenatchee and Chelan Professional Home and Structural Pest Inspection Service

www.ncwhomeinspections.com

2012 Looking up- Quadrantid meteor shower

Well we have barely made into the New Year and we have a very nice celestial display to occur.

Tonight (tomorrow morning) the Quadrantid meteor shower will happen. They are predicting this to be one of the better displays of 2012.

The peak activity for this shower is due to happen early on Wednesday at about 2:30 a.m. EST (0730 GMT) in the area of the constellation of Bootes. The best viewing favors those in eastern North America.

Meteor shower occur when the earth passes through a stream of cosmic debris usually left behind by a comet. Most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand and burn up prior to hitting the earth's surface.

Here is the schedule for this years meteor shower displays.

(Zenith Hourly Rate (ZHR) of meteors will be 10 or more)

Article link-Quadrantid Meteor Shower

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Steve Jobs

NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

Your Wenatchee and Chelan Professional Home and Structural Pest Inspection Service

www.ncwhomeinspections.com