Paul N Frey

I agree with Marc. Residential stucco sucks - why not since most of the installers can't read english and the super is nowhere to be seen. I have seen contractors that ran out of poly and went to the hardware store and purchaded a few coolers to fill in with!!

We just had an inspector lower his rates to 249.00!! He felt he needed to do it to stay in business ("a financial decision" as he called it)! Just 2 days before he did this he was bending my ear about other "Inspectors" that were low balling and how he hoped they went out of business soon since they were stealing business from good inspectors. Well, now I hope the same for him!! How many referrals do you think he will be getting now?

The clip was hilarious! As said before, Holems usually finds something "major" after they tear the hell out of the interior. What would you bet that if you bored a hole in his new front porch in about 1-2 years you woulf find the same air space. Showmanship - 95%, Reality - 10%!

As ScottPat said - they used everything ever made - too bad they just f----d it up so badly you have to laugh!! Even an idiot inspector would think something was wrong.

I see Pushmatic panels occasionally (along with Jim K) and the only thing I have noticed is that if you trip a circuit sometimes they will not reset for a few minutes. I just walk away and reset it later and have never had a problem other than there are not many connections since the breakers are so large.

My father was a Doc in the California foothills around Nevada City and up to Downeyville (sp). Some of his "funniest" stories were of patients that were hit by black widows while sitting on either the toilet or more commonly the outhoust pot. He said that these guys would literally beg him to "put them out of their misery" while laying in the hospital. Just picture a scrotum the size of a softball and you will get the idea!!

Here is a little different spin. While you must be licensed and take an "Exam" to do inspections in Oregon, we are woefully back country when it comes to WDO inspections. Literally anyone can do the "WDO Inspection" part but must be licensed to do the application. This leads most Structural Inspectors to throw in a WDO - many times with disasterous results. I followed one "Inspector" that identified subs incorrectly (it was old WBB damage and quite inactive) and to this day refuses to admit he made a mistake. I asked him just how much money he had required sellers to pay out for uncalled for termite treatments as a prequisite for selling the home and he just stared at me and said "not my problem"! So, Dan S in Wa is tough and lots of people don't like him (he is a little / lot dictatorial) but he has really straightened out the industry there. Here in Oregon we have a bunch of political pussies that are afraid to rock the boat and mandate licensing for a WDO inspection.

Try this one on for size: while ASHI, NAHI et all will accept any and all of CertainTeed and many other on line credits for CEU's, Oregon will not!! It seems that the Company "offering" the credits must submit a lengthy form with a full outline to the State for a full review before credits are allowed. If I were CertainTeed I would likewise tell the State to stuff it! I somehow have a feeling that if it does not increase the States revenue then it will not be "approved".

Just think, after you do your big stinky, the next person, and the next, and the next will be privy to your "labor of love"! How long has it been this way? New dormer?

What about a well thet supplies multiple dwellings?

Bear with me on this one: 1 year old residence with an ADA shower on the main floor. Crawl space under the residence. 1) Shower pan and walls are tile and I am assuming the floor base is mortar / tile set. 2) No threshold since it is ADA compliant. Shower enclosure is wall to wall (of the bathroom) and approximately 3 1/2' wide and the toilet "adjoins" the shower area approximately 5' off the main wall. 3) Original inspection for 1 year warranty noticed leakage in the crawl and builder applied silicone sealant to wall / pan joint and called it good. 4) At the request of the inspector I went out to check and proceeded to "flood" the pan area until slightly more than 1/4" of water was on the wall. Floor is poorly sloped so I didn't want to flood the entire bathroom. 5) Climb back into the crawl space and the floor was dripping water at literally every area where the wall and pan intersect on the 3 sides of the shower. Not a little - a lot and I only held the water for about 3 minutes. 6) My feeling is that the builder either did not install a pan liner or it was compromised during construction. I e mailed Mr Katen and he feels the same as I do in that a liner should have been installed and it should extend 3-4" up the wall. 7) Talked to a county inspector and he got quite a chuckle out of it - his response was something like "yeah, this is a real quandry in the code regs because of the ADA and ""exceptions"" therein". He really couldn't offer much in the way of help other than point me to the code references (which Jim had already given me). Oregon Specialty code 411.7 and beyond. Any feelings on pan liner requirements for ADA showers with no thresholds (pretty hard to get a chair over a threshold)?? This floor will rot out in a matter of years as installed.

This may be a little late but I just had to send a comment. Another inspector that I have mentored over the years - female and widely regarded by most contractors and some other "inspectors" as a "dumb woman" butting in on their territory - recently got involved in a pissing match with the listing agent over calling high moisture readings in a wall below a leaking roof / rotted sill plates. This "agent" managed to get her "regular inspector" to give a judgement call over the phone and he said that his company employees have been instructed for 20 years to "refuse to use moisture meters because they are not reliable"! One main problem with this scene is that he has only been licensed since 2000 as an inspector in Oregon. I just love the inspectors that can be duped into doing second guess "phone inspections" to keep their agents happy. FYI - he had inspected the same home last year and found rotted sill at the crawl entrance but failed to notice pretty obvious rot in 2 other areas at these other sill areas. Go figure! Any Portland, Or inspectors want to know who the "phone inspector" is just e-mail me and I will send info!

Brandon, I have a pretty good line when someone calls (client or agent)and "wants to discuss the report on ---- home. I talk for a few minutes, get their name and pull the old report. Then I ask what relationship they have with Joe Blow (my client). Normally they say "oh, the house was a fail sale and the agent gave me the report to use". At that point I tell them that they have 10 minutes to contact the owner of the report and purchase it from them because I am calling in 15 minutes and recommend that they prosecute for theft of property. I tell them that I will do another full fee inspection but cannot discuss the inspection they have as it is not their property. I usually get about 50% of the jobs and really don't want the rest since the home was normally a true POS. Believe me, you will find more the second time around even if it is little stuff but you will definitely reword the original report.

First you need to determine the type of termite then go from there. zIf they are subs, demolish the house (sounds like it is pretty well gone anyway) and do a soil treatment - just like new construction. As for the neighbors, tell them to cross their fingers and hope they don't already have them - not your problem.

Thanks to all of your replies. As it happened we went to 13 Coins since she wanted one last burger (I should say "HAMBURGER" since it was $13.00+). She loved it except for the velveta cheese on top! Personally I was pushing for Anthony's but you know how that goes. Overall I would rate the total dinner at a 6 or 7 - other plates were OK (whoever thought we would see a 3/4" rib eye for $30.00 with no salad?) but not great. It was also during the dinner hour / Friday and packed. Service was great so would probably go back if in the area. FYI - the Ceasar salad was fantastic!! Thanks again for all your local help. Sea Tac is about 300% more efficient than PDX in terms of parking, ticketing and passenger handling!! Not that it was enjoyable but at least not totally frustrating.

Out the door directly behind the checkbook when you have 2 girls and a doting mother!!

Thanks Rob, I used to go to the 13 coins in Seattle and always had a good time. Didn't know they had 1 near the airport. Paul

I am taking my "baby" up to SeaTac on the 28th to deposit her ona plane headed for Rome. She is studying abroad for a semester (why wasn't this offered when I was in school - (all I got was an all expense paid trip to Viet Nam in '67)). We are spending the night somewhere around the airport and I wanted to take her out for dinner that night. Any suggestions on good seafood restaurants fairly close to the airport from some of you local inspectors? I know of some good ones in Tacoma but I really don't want to fight your traffic all that much since I will have just driven from Portland. You can e-mail me at "oregonwest@comcast.net" with any suggestions that pop up. Thanks much for the help. Paul Frey

That roof "has reached the end of it's useful life" as we say here in Oregon. If the RE agent wants to guarantee it let him put it in writing, otherwise stick to your guns and fail it. This roof was a replacement item years ago - missing shingles, etc. There will always be damage to the bottom butt ends after a few years (this is normal aging) but when you can lift up the butt end and break the shingle at the overlap they are done. Looks like a ----- shingle to start. FYI - I have been in many attics where you could read a book from the amount of light coming thru the shingles (they leaked) but the old timer mentioned had it right - the shingles swell after the first rains and do a pretty good job of being weatherproof - as long as they are in reasonably good condition. This roof is not! I wouldn't have even walked it due to the visible damage that you can see.

Brandon, from all reports you are doing an excellent job but you really do think waaaaaaaay to hard. Take your first impression - how long has it been there, has it caused damage, was it acceptable when installed? Think about all the old homes in downtown Portland with 2x4 roof supports with a 20+ span - they haven't collapsed yet after 90 years and some have 3 or 4 layers (sag yes, broken rafters no). REcommend knee walls and leave it alone.

Brandon, I would recommend Tri-Star Electric (503-860-3838). Danny and his Father are really excellent. As for Mike's Electric, as per Jim K's recommendation: I had been referring therm for over 20 years, had inspected 3 homes personally for the owner during this time and when it was time to replace my trusty old FP panel (after it almost burned the house down twice in 1 week) I called the owner and he came out for a bid. Well, he was the highest of 4 electricians - I thought I might get some little "break" considering the fact that I had referred well over half a mill in the last 20 years but his was the highest of all ($3,800). Mind you - this was just a 200 amp change out! I sent out an inquiry on the local inspector site and Mark Stronich recommended Tri Star so I called. Danny's bid was $1,200 for the same work (and same panel). During the change out he noticed the main feed had been severely nicked when the house was built and replaced that also (at no charge since he didn't have it in his original bid) I gave him an extra $200.00 anyway so the total was $1,400) He was on time, courteous, and did a superb job (even as per Wa. County Inspector at final). Needless to say I recommend him for all work now and Mike's has not had a referral since then. Clients have had nothing but good things to say about them. Funny thing is that the owner of Mike's is in one of those "Le Tip" groups along with another inspector and keeps asking him why I don't refer him any more! He can piss up a rope as far as I am concerned!

Brandon, check out some of our "competitors" web sites - you can get a pretty good idea of what some of the people are charging. I agree, I think we are not charging enough as is but I get at least 5 calls a week and the first question is "How much do you charge -------------. Any more I politely tell them that if that is all they are concerned about to call another inspector and many times just hang up. You can give them all the speil you want but until that $$ comes down they are not going to bite. The problem is that some of the low ballers have been in the business long enough to know better!! One way to get a good laugh when they tell you so and so will do one for $$, tell them you will match that price and let them bite. After gettig all their info and letting them think they are really cuttin' a fat hog ask them "Now, which part of the inspection would you prefer I do not do since I have lowered my original bid price, plumbing, electrical, WDO??" Watch them backpedal - "I thought you were going to do a normal inspection?" they say. "I was and will but for the original quoted price, not the discounted price." I sort of like to push buttons on occasion. P.S. one of the low price guys was the old pres of OAHI so what does that tell you?? You can have it either way - "quick and easy" or clear and complete - - but you can't have them both at the same time! In the last 3 months I have seen inspections that were so poorly done I had to wonder if I was at the same house - normally I don't tell homeowners to seek legal counsel but this time I did on 2 homes (engineer also agreed). One hates to disparige other inspectors but once in a while they really need to get a boot in their ass!

My guess would be that it was painted to cover the smell of an old fire. See it quite a bit here. Also, we had a crew of Ruskie "re-habbers" a few years back that did this - they literally came in and painted anything that didn't move white (furnaces, water heaters, panels, toilets, floors - I mean literally everything in the damn house!) I think that the paint was the only thing holding some of them up! You know that they have gone too far when they paint the sub floor and basement to hide the S.T. tubes - almost but no cigar! The owner of the com[pany was really pissed when I told the buyer that approximately 60% of the subfloor and 1 entire kitchen wall was infested (the little guys went all the way to the second floor). Funny thing is that they purchased the damn thing anyway and then turned around and sued the seller and contractor - go figure!!!

Jim, yes - a number of inspectors got a little more than slapped. Some got fined I think - not much but I know it really pissed a few of them off. 3 I know of were Larry, Nagle and J Weaver. Of course 1 of them argued with the CCB and they promptly hit him harder. One of the main complainants was the OREIA board. Sort of funny because Jerry was also on the board and kept saying it was no big deal! CCB really didn't want to pursue it but OREIA's board told their lobbyist to jam it down their throat until they choked on it. He did well! I thought the list went away but it seems it didn't - and I really doubt that PNW is going to publish a list for free!! I doubt that any of the inspectors would admit to "pay for play" at this point in time but there are other ways to "donate to a cause" I would think. As they said in another thread a while back - if it smells and tastes like shit, it probably is!

Why on earth would you want to be included with those knucklehead inspectors?? Some of them can barely walk and chew gum at the same time! Half of them fall into the "quick and easy boys" group, the others start their pay scale at about $250.00 so if you want to compete with them go for it! The only problem is that it takes the homeowners about 6-7 years before they realize that they got a shitty inspection (when they sell and a competent inspector comes in).