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Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector

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20'x15'x4"

08-20-08
Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector
A common problem in the Pacific Northwest, and Bellingham, is water in a crawl space or a basement. In our climate, even a missing vapor barrier over crawl space soil can be responsible for several gallons of water evaporating into the crawl space and, up into the home -- walls, finally into the attic and out. As an inspector I can tell you that, long term, crawl space water can lead to some very icky concerns inside the home and in the crawl space and attic. We are talking wood decay or even mold.

Sometimes people do not think much about it if you say there is water in the crawl space. I have found a means of bringing the information home to them. Real numbers. Even though this photo shows plenty of water, an area about 20' x 15' and 4" deep, when you realize how many gallons it really is, that will knock your socks off.

Check out this little online water volume calculator. I find this super handy in my work.

The puddle below, by the way, is about 750 gallons. Now that gets a person's attention!

 

bellingham wa home inspector, king of the house

 

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

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Washington State Home Inspector Licensing Sub-Committee Meeting

08-19-08
Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector
I have had requests from some Washington State Home Inspectors to post information, as it comes available, about the sub-committee meetings on home inspector licensing. Since active rain has such good SEO, this should get the word out.

It has been announced by DOL that the sub-committee, Changing Business Practices, will meet on August 22, 2008 at 9:30 am. It lasts until noon.  The location of the meeting will be at 2000 4th Ave W, Olympia, 2nd Floor conference room.  The agenda will focus on the Standards of Practice and, if time permits, Professional Conduct. 

 The state says that this venue has limited space (6 seats) so if anyone from the public or the industry wishes to attend, please email Jerry McDonald at jmcdonald@dol.wa.gov. 

 They also have the room wired so a person can be there, without really being there: If space is unavailable, there will be the option for up to 15 people to listen in through a conference call.  If you are interested in attending via conference call, please request the call-in number and code.  Again, to do that, Email Jerry above.

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A Deer Time In The Old Park Tonight

08-19-08
Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector
When I do inspections at Sudden Valley, a lake area that is part of Bellingham, I usually have deer hanging around like pesky kids. They are so plentiful there. A couple weeks back there was a young buck with a full head of antlers. Yesterday I heard a dog bark, and there were two deer grazing. I could only get a photo of one.

While they are pretty and quite tame. There are a couple problems with them.

1. Each one will eat plants to the tune of about 100 rabbit each. And they jump so well they are hard to fence out.

2. They run in front of cars and get hit. They make a device to hook to a car, deer whistles, that supposedly reduce instances of that. Not sure if they work or not.

 

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

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Burnaby, BC, Blues and Roots Festival

08-10-08
Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector
I am going to Canada today. This will be the fourth time that my wife and I, with friends, have attended the Annual Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival. Since we live in Bellingham, we are only about 50 miles south of Burnaby. This festival is a great nearby venue for those of us who live near the border.

 I am a bit apprehensive this year because we have had hard rain falling for the past two days. The weather prognosticators are predicting an improvement in weather -- nice this afternoon -- but I hope they are right. This outdoor festival brings in major entertainment and is not limited to blues. Acts range from Cajun to folk, country, rock and blues. Every year they have a major headliner. Last year it was Los Lonely Boys. Year before that Buddy Guy was there and the Neville Brothers were the big act the first time I went. This is 100% a family venue. There is a beer garden but nobody gets out of line. The first year, hot weather, it was so very hot that they had a sprinkler system setup that you could go through to cool off. This is a wonderful event and, if you live in the northwest, you really ought to check it out. This year the headliner is Jonny Lang. 

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

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Pacific Northwest Music Legend -- The Raiders

08-05-08
Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector
Bands from the Pacific Northwest are credited with having had much to do with the proliferation of what were termed "garage bands" back in the 1960's. Bands such as Seattle's Fabulous Wailers and the Sonics, were among the best known in the genre. One of the first really big garage bands, that ended up being much more than a garage band, was Paul Revere and the Raiders. They had a huge number of hits in the 1960's. Some of those songs are classics. I heard from a man who told me how much he enjoyed that group because, as a kid, he could play their music in his band. That might have been much of the appeal -- loud and accessible music that teen bands could duplicate. Paul Revere, the leader of the band not the guy of the midnight ride, was born in Nebraska but raised in Idaho. He was into Spike Jones and the City Slickers, for those of you old enough to remember that odd musical comedy. The comedy in the Raiders act was not unlike Spike. There were several incarnations of Paul's band, before they finally started gaining ground as artists and with the public. When Mark Lindsay joined the group in the early 1960's, he became lead singer and the main personality for years. By 1962, they were based south of Seattle in Portland Oregon. When 1963 rolled around, the Raiders were a powerful group in the Pacific Northwest. When Dick Clark hired the band to star on "Where the Action Is", his nationally syndicated teen music show, the group was obviously going places. Some of their hits included a version of Louie Louie, Hungry and, probably their best known tune of all -- Kicks. It was one of the biggest songs of 1966.

 

 Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

 

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