Donald Hester NCW Home Inspections, LLC

Wenatchee Home Inspection Tuesday Afternoon Tweet

With the temperatures dropping in the Entiat Valley I took a stroll into the woods.

Ice is forming on all of the vegetation and I found this little treat.

“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

509-670-9572 or on the web atwww.ncwhomeinspections.com

When building a home you want professionals to perform the work. Hopefully these professionals will take some pride in the job that is performed.

During a recent home inspection I came upon this curious little bit of craftsmanship.

The contractor must of had some damaged material, in the old adage of “waste not, want not” you want to be efficient with your materials.

But as a home inspector and as a home owner I would not want this type of work performed for me. If I am paying for a job to be done, it should be done with care and thought, and done right. If the contractor had some damaged material he should use it on a short field of siding or scrap it entirely. I do not want to see this in a large open field of siding. In addition they should read the manufacturer's instructions on how the material is to be installed, because this was not installed in accordance of the manufacturer instructions.

(broken corners that have been patched)

As you see the manufacturer does not recommend this type of installation. So if there is a failure of some type what will be the warranty?

This also makes you wonder what else they skimped on. What can I not see?

As a home inspector I look for clues that lead to the larger picture. Now this is a fairly minor item but it shows that care may have not been taken.

“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

509-670-9572 or on the web atwww.ncwhomeinspections.com

One thing as a Chelan Home Inspector I realize is that as we create homes that are more energy efficient we need a understanding that the home is a complex arrangement of various independent components and you the occupant to create a system. The operation and/or failure of one of the components can affect many other components and you.

When the systems all work together they create a home that is comfortable, efficient, safe and durable. You can take advantage of energy savings and avoid creating health and safety issues.

Yet the home may experience problems when its systems do not work together properly or systems are not used as designed. The problems can be very obvious such as condensation on windows and mold. Other issues may be invisible such as condensation in wall cavities where rot and mold can go unnoticed. Certain problems could appear immediately and others can be several years in the future.

Building and component failures can be symptoms of failures in the house as a system. Contractors and home owners will need to understand the underlying problem(s) and not just replace the obvious rotted wood or moldy sheet-rock.

Understanding the climate that your home will occupy and building the home for that climate is an important fundamental criterion.

Understanding and controlling the flow of air, heat and moisture is critical in the durability of the home. Home as systems, in effect, are less durability because as we seal the home up the potential for trapping moisture and pollutants increases.

So ensuring that the systems are functioning properly, are designed correctly and we use the systems as designed becomes more important.

For more information on the home and it various components-

House as a System
House as a system or not

“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

509-670-9572 or on the web atwww.ncwhomeinspections.com

What is the real Purpose? Buyer beware!

Along with my basic business of performing residential home inspections and structural pest inspections in Chelan and Okanogan area I also sub-contract to a few agencies and companies to do various other inspections.

This includes foundation certification for manufactured homes, relocation inspections, draw inspections, bank auditory inspections and more.

I had a curious inspection a while back. While working for a relocation company I was performing a moisture/moisture intrusion inspection.

During that inspection I found some fungal growth (mold). The company needed mold samples and the mold re-mediated.

But here is my dilemma , I was hired for a very specific purpose and my contract was for just that. But what was the real purpose of what I was performing?

I found an issue I report it, they re-mediate the mold but do not correct the condition that is causing it.

This is an example of what I found. A bathroom exhaust vent to a gable vent. Mold was occurring because the vent can not exhaust the moisture when air pressure is moving into the attic space. The moist air can not escape the attic and condensates on the sheeting and/or joists/trusses.

So what was the purpose and who does this protect? This is just a case of doing something from a check list and not truly evaluating the situation.

If anyone is relocating I highly recommend that you hire a competent independent home inspector to perform a thorough inspection to ensure you have all the information available to make an informed decision.

“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

509-670-9572 or on the web atwww.ncwhomeinspections.com

New Earth Rising

The Kepler telescope made a new discovery this week. They found a planet in the Goldilocks zone considered by many to be the zone in a solar system that has the best chance to support life. And it is only 600 light years away ; )

Here is a video on this discovery.

Link to Kepler website- link

“We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share.“

President John F. Kennedy

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

509-670-9572 or on the web atwww.ncwhomeinspections.com