Salem

Appraise this

General, Home inspections Salem Oregon, , Leave a comment

I have noticed that recently appraisers are starting to
look at the condition of homes.  Although
I have no real issue with this practice I am curious about the training that
these appraisers have obtained that allows them to comment on rot, deterioration, electrical, plumbing
and various other issues.

While doing a
home inspection here in Keizer, Oregon the other day, the client and agent mentioned that the
appraiser had commented on the rot in the siding at the front and side of the
home.  This was good and I did not disagree but what about
the large section of garage door trim that you could stick your finger

through?  The appraiser apparently missed
that section.

I am not
concerned for my job as an independent home inspector/ consultant.  I am just curious about the direction of the appraisal industry.  I have no training and very
little knowledge about home values, so I try to not comment on, or even pay
attention to home prices.  I thought the inverse might be true for appraisers.  There is no
doubt that an untrained person could recognize significant deterioration in the
siding but what about the termite infestation at the very back of the stairs
that was not recognized because the person has no training on wood destroying
organisms?  Does that not become a condition of the loan?

I guess I am just venting/wondering out loud.  Where do you think this issue/appraisal industry is headed?

Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321                   jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

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On-line Billboards for this Salem, Oregon Home Inspector

General, , , Leave a comment

I was telling my father about my on-line marketing and how it was effective at driving business and contacts to me for very little money.  I was telling him that my blog and FaceBook are serious tools that allow me to be found when I am doing other things (like home inspections!)  He mentioned that he really had no idea what I was taking about.  So I started to think about my understanding of this on-line world that I have so-far been able to leverage.

I watched the movie, “I love you man,” the other day and I got to thinking about billboards.  In the movie, the real estate agent’s friend puts up all kinds of silly billboards for his friend.  The advertising was very visible and really got the agent noticed.

I told my dad that blogging and networking on-line was kind of like that.  I put up a billboard in cyberspace every time I write a blog or post a comment.  The freeway on and off ramps are controlled by search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN).  If you are looking for, say a Home inspection in Salem Oregon, for instance, you would drive your car into cyberspace and ask one of those engines to show you where to go and the applicable billboards.

Now to back track a little;  the way a search engines work is by continually cruising around on those freeways.  They all have little robots or spiders that are driving around looking at billboards that are being erected in cyberspace.  They take note of these billboards and catalog them according to what is on the billboards and where the billboards point.  The more entries the spider robots get in their catalogs that point at one place, the higher they rank that location for those terms.

Of course that is a very down and dirty explanation of things and there can be a significant amount of refinement and development.  That is a basic idea of how Search Engine Optimization works.  The point of this; is that blogging and on-line social networking is very inexpensive compared to real world (as opposed to cyber-world) advertising.  For much less than $1000 dollars a year I have easily doubled my business and done my fair share of puttin’ my name out there where it is going to be seen.

 

Jim Allhiser  President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321

“Always on the cutting edge”

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Google Docs people!!

Marketing, Leave a comment

Google Docs people!!

My little garden of irritation for Windows products has been growing and thriving lately.  I guess anything that you rely on day-in and day-out will let you down now and then.  I don’t really have any experience with anything else, but I have heard some wonderful things……

One of the fantastic little products that I have started using is Google Docs.  …Um, can you say, “suck-it ms Word?”  Not only does G.Docs work every time, it is on-line so that there are no formatting issues when I cut and paste a blog that I have written and to which pictures have been added.  Did you read that last part?  Yeah, things just cut-and-paste like you think they should, weird huh?

It is important that you take warning from this post.  As of today there are about 10 previously written blog posts on my computer that are locked in a bizarre ms Word purgatory.  I can only partially open them and I cannot highlight to cut-and-paste.  For me, there is little hope.  But for all of you that read this, please do something today.  Put down that widows pacifier and try the solutions that were created for the people!!

Multi-wired circuits

Electrical, , , Leave a comment

A material and man-hour (read MONEY) conservation technique I have noticed more and more recently is called multi-circuit wiring. The purpose of this technique is to save money on wires and man-hours by pulling only one wire for two circuits.

Seems like a good idea and there are definitely a fair amount of contractors that agree. During normal operation of most circuits no significant problems will be noted. However if too many watts are added, the circuits could be prone to overheating.

The issues come from the neutral wire. With a single circuit wire there is a black wire for the hot, and a white wire for the neutral. For simplicity sake let’s look at these as the supply=hot(black) and the return=neutral(white) for the current respectively.

A 15amp circuit should use a 14 gauge wire for supply and return. That means that if the maximum amount of power (allowed by the breaker) is called for, the wire on the supply and on the return are both thick enough to hold all of 15 amps or 1800watts at 120 volts. [(15amps)x(120volts)=1800watts]

Now let’s save some time and materials during installation by running a multi-circuit wire. This wire has two supplies and only one return. Remember each one of the 14 gauge wires are designed to hold 15 amps but now you have two wires that could be called on to hold all of 15 amps and only one 14 gauge return/neutral wire for 30amps! (15+15=30amps) Normal alternating current modulation will prevent the neutral from having to carry both loads at the same time but if something goes wrong and the neutral does experience over current in this manner the breaker will not trip, because breakers only protect the hot/supply wires.

The deal is the authorities that say this is ok are betting that there will never be a situation that causes both wires to call for the entire load at the same time. As a home inspector here in Salem, Oregon I am paid to be a “worst case scenario,” guy. It is my job to alert my clients to not only issues but also potential issues and educate them as best I can.

Thermal imaging finds Missing Insulation

Home inspections Salem Oregon, Insulation, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , , Leave a comment

I just did a home inspection on a fine home here in Salem, Oregon. Overall the home was a piece of cake, and very well taken care of. There was one little section of insulation in the attic that had fallen (from the cable guy presumably). It was impossible to see visually but thanks to the magic of my fancy little thermal/infrared camera my clients now know of an area that could use some additional insulation.

Very simple fix, in fact the fallen insulation is most likely sitting up there in the attic just waiting to be reinstalled and protect the home from the hot or cold of the attic.

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Radon and the Crowd it Rolls with.

Environmental, , , Leave a comment

Radon can make you very sick and has been linked to more cases of lung cancer than tobacco. Radon is a radioactive gas that is produced when uranium degrades. Uranium has a tendency to geologically ‘hang,’ with granite. This is significant due to the fact that the geology of granite and other minerals can be mapped.

The EPA has a fantastic resource for general knowledge on all kinds of different environmental issues. They have a radon exposure map that is based on a geologic map of the United States. Basically it categorizes areas of the US depending on what type of rock is found in that area.

Unfortunately this map is only a good guess. It cannot tell your home or any other home has a radon issue. The only way to determine if your home has a radon issue is to (shameless plug) get it tested. If you live in Salem, Oregon I just happen to know of a fantastic home inspector that can help….

 

Edge metal flashing on rake rafters

Roofing, , , Leave a comment

This flashing’s improper installation is pervasive. Despite the fact that there are instructions on every bundle of shingles detailing this as an improper installation.

It must seem like a good deal to put the metal on the top. Maybe it seems like a good thing to cover the edge of the hand-cut shingles that, due to lack of experience, look like a rodent chewed on them.

No matter what the reasoning, putting edge metal on top of the shingles is always wrong. When rain is hitting and running down the top of the shingles, edge metal on top allows water to wick under the metal and access the wood rafter and sheathing. This condition will promote wood rot.

Unfortunately repair of this condition can become significant if the edge flashings have been in place for a few years. Ideally you should replace the shingles that were involved when the metal was nailed down. Although those holes could be filled, you would need to re-fill the holes every few years as the caulking/tar releases its grip. Depending on how long the flashing was installed incorrectly, there will also be sheathing and possibly rafter damage.

The repair of this issue is quickly approaching the exclusive realm of a professional contractor. Although I am a big fan of DIY sometimes the mark of a true craftsman is knowing when to sub out to a qualified professional.