Jay Markanich - Northern VA Home Inspector

So often, more than seeing something flashed correctly, I see how not to flash a chimney, or a roof.

Roof tar does not flashing make! Period. It's great UNDER "stuff," like shingles, or vent covers, and when under it is long lasting. But it is not intended to be installed (my word is "gooped") over "stuff!"

But it does inspire song! Please, feel free to sing along. It's best to bob your head too...

I SEE A RED CHIMNEY AND I WANT IT PAINTED BLACK,

NOT ONLY IN THE FRONT, BUT UNDER AND IN BACK!

I LIKE TO GOOP MY STUFF ON TOP OF EVERYWHERE...

GOOPING BUMPS AND CRACKS, ALL OVER, I DON'T CARE!

NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH,

NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAAAAAHHHH.

Well, you get the idea.

And just in case the gooping on the outside didn't do enough, there is always inside!

Thank goodness for the universal nature of poly foam -- the other white goop!

This poly foam is placed just under the edge of the roof line in that second photo.

Perfect!

My recommendation: it can get frustrating, but never buy a home without a home inspection! Many people would look at this and think it is okay! IT IS NOT! And a home inspector would know that.

I do have fun though. And making up songs along the way doesn't hurt!

"The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell."

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)

What does that mean?

Carnegie is the quintessential rags to riches story. Moving to Pennsylvania in 1848, he found work as a bobbin boy changing spools of thread in a cotton mill. He worked 6 days a week, for 12 hours a day and was paid $1.20 per week.

Finding a job that paid $2.50 per week (!) as a messenger boy in the Pittsburgh office of the Ohio Telegraph Company, he jumped right in.

Here is where the quote comes in. As a 16 year old messenger boy, Andrew paid attention to the sounds the telegraph made, learning to translate the sounds into letters and could repeat messages without writing the sounds down.

Impressing his superiors, he moved up from there quickly. Networking, and borrowing money from his family, he made his first investment, and then another and then another.

While working in the railroads, he invested in the things the railroad industry needed - steel, bridges and rails. Eventually settling into the steel industry, he, to quote him, "Put all [his] eggs into one basket, and then really, really nurture that basket."

The rest is history, as they say. In 2007 dollars, his worth at death was $300 billion. That is a few Gates or Buffetts. Carnegie is regarded as the second richest man in history, behind Rockefeller.

His dictum?

1. " To spend the first third of one's life getting all the education one can. "
2. " To spend the next third making all the money one can. "
3. " To spend the last third giving it all away for worthwhile causes. "

Carnegie's later years were given to writing and to philanthropy. He especially liked giving money to libraries, educational causes, to schools that were connected with religion and to the education of blacks. His philosophy about money was that it was "debasing" unless one spent his efforts in pursuits of giving it away!

He also developed into quite the writer, contributing often to magazines and newspapers. His most radical work first came out in 1886 called "Triumphant Democracy." His thesis was that American Republicanism, that of voting for political leadership, was superior to the British monarchical system. Democracy allowed people to become all they could be being subject to themselves and their individuality (seeking the oyster and not the shell) and not to the whims of a ruling family.

Later he published "Wealth," in which he argued that a man should first accumulate wealth and then work toward giving it away. Subsequent to that period, he commissioned Napoleon Hill (at no pay) to interview 500 wealthy industrialists, and publish their secrets. In this way he hoped to pick up the "common man," and then have more philanthropy available for "the masses."

Carnegie spent his life utilizing the capitalist system of developing and implementing one's abilities to seek the oyster. He never desired the shell. He never settled for the shell.

And he didn't desire the shell for himself OR others!

AND SO, MY DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE CONGREGATION, DON'T SETTLE FOR THE WONDERS GUBMENT WANTS TO OFFER! SEEK INSTEAD TO DEVELOP YOURSELVES IN A SYSTEM OF PERSONAL LEADERSHIP AND GROWTH, AND DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT ACCEPT THE EMPTY PROMISES OF SOCIALIST CRUSTS AND THE CONTROLLING OFFERS OF GUBMENT CRUMBS!

DOING SO WILL LEAVE US ONLY SHELLS. AND WE WILL END UP INSTEAD ONLY SHELLS OF OUR POTENTIAL SELVES!

One very important thing to look for on new construction, pre-drywall inspections are hurricane straps. Also called "hurricane ties" or "twist straps," let's keep it simple for the post and call them hurricane straps.

A simple piece of engineering, a hurricane strap is a single piece of metal with a half twist.

There are pre-drilled holes for nails to anchor the straps to roof rafter ends.

In modern construction, every roof truss rafter that rests on an exterior wall is to be strapped. The only exception is the truss rafter at the very edge of a townhouse, which is itself anchored to the house beside.

My house was built in 1998, and these straps were not required by code. Some builders used them, but mine did not. I begged my builder to install the straps, or allow me to nail them on. They refused me saying that others would see them and want them on their houses! Their use is code now.

Certainly this rafter is missing one!

There was another too.

And this house already has had the County inspection allowing for the installation of drywall.

They must have missed this.

This photo shows something else I had a problem with. The framing over the window is such that it contributes to the sagging of the top frame of the window.

Done differently, there would be no sagging.

But that should be in another post!

It's a simple matter to put on another strap and get things right.

My recommendation: don't skip the pre-drywall inspection. Even things that are small and simple can get overlooked. Unless, that is, you have a home inspector on the job.

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Where oh where could the dryer vent be?

Sometimes you know a change has been made, but you don't know where.

This dryer vent has blown directly onto the AC compressor since the house was built. That would be 1979.

A dryer vent should not be within 12' or so of a compressor. Too close, as in this case here, and the compressor will draw in air while the dryer is venting its lint-laden exhaust. That can load up the fins with lint, clogging them, and robbing the compressor and AC system of efficiency. I have seen compressors look like they had grown a gray beard!

Over time, enough clogging can kill the compressor.

This compressor is less than two years old.

I have to wonder how many compressors have had to be installed over the years as this dryer vented right onto them!

But wait! This dryer vent is intentionally plugged with a K-Mart bag!

The dryer no longer vents here.

Not seeing another vent anywhere on the outside of the house, or the roof, I was interested in where it was venting!

When these things happen, they become fun detective scenes.

I like to sing the title of this post to myself!

Sooner or later the vent will show up.

Usually the evidence is, um, visible!

Pulling down the folding ladder to the space over the garage, and looking over, I found it!

Wonderful!

Going further, and I had not been upstairs yet, that white vent cover could be completely removed from the wall there.

Looking into the hole, I could see what looked like the back side of a dryer!

Mentioning that to my clients, they said, "Oh, yeah, the sellers made a laundry room upstairs."

Hmmm. This should be interesting.

And it was! The linen closet had been turned into a "laundry room." A wall had been knocked out and the "laundry room" was a part of the master bathroom! And it was cute!

Oh, there was lint everywhere. And County permits were nailed all over the wall!

I may be exaggerating a bit on the County permits. There was nothing smart or safe about this installation. Or the kitchen remodeling. Or the newly finished basement. Or the new window in the dining room. Or the front stoop.

My recommendation: when you see one wrong thing, it usually leads to another, sometimes connected to the first! Even if the dryer vent had not been plugged, it still would have been a problem. And the "fix" for it was no fix at all! And don't forget to be a preposition!