NBI is in the inspection (only) business. Since we do not perform corrective work we are able to freely convey money saving tips to our clients that can save them "Thousands" of dollars in a typical home sale. Here are but a few of the money saving ideas our inspectors can offer our clients.

Money Saving Ideas:

 

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National Building Inspectors, LLC
PO Box 83 Littlerock, WA  98556
(888) 795-8885

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wooden Decks... "Beautiful but Expensive"
Wooden decks can be very pretty….especially when new. The problem is…. they immediately begin to deteriorate. Routine maintenance can prolong that deterioration but the deck will eventually need to be replaced. Being knowledgeable of wooden decks can help homeowners make better informed decisions.

Things to understand:

With proper planning, both the seller and buyer can prevent this unneeded expense.

NBI recommends dealing with wooden decks in the following ways:

  1. Replace wooden decks with concrete. If your deck is built low to the ground on a relatively flat surface, we recommend converting your deck to a concrete patio. Concrete patios (even fancy ones) can be constructed for the same amount of money….and concrete doesn't rot.
  2. Raised decks should be cleaned every two years (especially the underside) and treated with a fungicide/stain to slow the deterioration.
  3. If you are building a new deck;
    • Use pressure treated support members rather than redwood. Pressure treated lumber is less expensive than redwood and it lasts longer.
    • Break the contact between the deck boards and the floor joists using 30 lb. felt paper or specially designed metal clips. This will help prevent moisture accumulation at these connection points.
    • Properly flash all attachment points to the house. Water trap areas can lead to damage to adjacent siding and wall framing.  If possible, consider building the deck as a self supporting structure.

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French Drainage System
 Site drainage around your home is probably the most important single issue involving the home. Between 80% and 90% of all foundation problems are caused by moisture in the soil. If your home is settling or sliding down the hill, the first thing that needs to be done is to correct the moisture condition. Stop the moisture and you will have stopped most of the problem.

NBI's recommended approach to correcting moisture problems is…start with the easiest corrective method; observe the results and then progress to the ultimate (and most expensive) repair method…the French drainage system.

If you are noticing possible signs of structural failure or settling, you should immediately take a visual tour around your home. It is best to do this during a heavy rain. Where are your downspouts discharging water? Is water ponding next to the foundation? The most important thing is to get this water as far away from the house as possible. If possible, you should also crawl under the home to determine if water is entering the substructure.

Redirect all downspouts so that they discharge water to a point where the water does not collect around the house. Often times, a spring coiled plastic extension works well. These can be purchased at your local Home Depot.

Make sure the soil around your home slopes away from the house at the rate of ½" per foot for a distance of five feet.

Once this has been completed you should reinspect during the next rain storm…including the substructure. It may be possible that you've corrected the problem and only need to maintain it from this point on.

If regrading and redirecting the downspouts isn't plausible or if the problem persists after you've made these changes, you may need to install a French drainage system. This system has been used for hundreds of years with very little variation. The French drain is nothing more than a trench used to collect and discharge surface and subterranean water. This is a manual labor intensive project and often times is quite expensive to perform.

Listed below are the main components of a properly installed French Drain System:

The French drain principal is very simple. The surface water will flow until it hits the gravel. It will fall to the bottom of the ditch; fill up the ditch until the water runs into the holes of the pipe. (Facing the holes down, prevent the pipe from being filled with dirt. The water from downspouts discharge with such force that it will push the water out of the holes rather than allow water to seep into these holes. This is why we recommend the downspouts be connected to separate non-perforated lines. ) The substructure moisture that is creeping through the soil will hit the gravel which has less resistance; fall to the bottom of the ditch and run into the holes also. (The landscapers cloth prevents the gravel from being filled up with silt. This cloth can extend the effectiveness of this drainage system to 10-20 years.)

Now that you've captured the surface and substructure moisture, you need to be able to get it away from the house. Obviously, being able to simply slope the pipe away from the house and have it discharge into the street would be the easiest. There are times; however, that the slope of the lot doesn't allow this. You may need to have the system drain into a sump and then install a sump pump to discharge it further from the house.

We recommend French drainage systems only be installed by professional drainage experts; however, we've found many people who call themselves drainage experts don't understand the importance of some of the aspects mentioned above. Therefore, its important that you be aware for your own protection.

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Raise the Foundation vs. Lowering the soil
When the soil around the outside of the home is at or above the top of the foundation, some companies will recommend increasing the height of the home's foundation to a level 6" above the outside grade. This recommendation can be quite expensive and may not need to be done. Other corrective methods may work equally well. In order to determine this, one must make a thorough evaluation of the foundation as well as the surrounding soil.

"How did the soil get there?" Faulty grades typically involve older homes. When the home was constructed, the outside soil was 6" below the top of the foundation. Over the years, soil may have sluffed from a hillside above; the homeowner has added soil adjacent to the foundation; or there has been a natural buildup of soil and vegetation. After a thorough evaluation, it may be possible to simply remove the soil adjacent to the foundation rather than raising the foundation. This would be a viable corrective method only if the soil can be removed while still allowing surface water to drain away from the house. This is easier with hillside homes. Homes on substantially flat lots are more difficult.

Increasing the height of a foundation can cost many thousands of dollars vs several hundred dollars for lowering the soil.

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Increasing the Height of the Foundation:
 Once a decision is made that the foundation height must be increased; the next decision needs to be (1) raise the height of the "existing" foundation or (2) replace the existing foundation.

Old foundations (75-100 years old) often times are very small and shallow. Increasing the height of these foundations often times results in a foundation failure within several years. The foundation is now too top heavy and begins to rotate. Not only did you incur the expense of raising the height of the foundation….now you will be forced to replace it.

The best way to make this decision is to retain a licensed structural engineer to evaluate the existing foundation. They will recommend raising the height of the existing foundation only if the existing foundation is in good sound condition capable of supporting the additional height.

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Wood Shake Roof Repair
Wood shakes are typically from the cedar tree and are split (not sawn); therefore they will vary in thickness and will have a rougher texture than wood shingles. These shakes do not keep the water out of the house; the tar paper (underlayment) installed under the shakes do that. The shakes are only meant to protect the tar paper from the damaging sun rays.

As these shakes age, they will become thinner and thinner due to the weather and sun damage. The thinnest part of the shake will eventually burn through; thereby exposing the tar paper to the damaging sun rays. Tar paper exposed to the sun for 3-4 years will typically dry, crumble and fail…causing a roof leak.

Therefore, it is important to routinely service a wood shake roof. After five years, a wood shake roof should be inspected and serviced every two years.

Servicing includes:
· Cleaning the roof of all debris the obstructs inspection and/or traps water.
· Protecting all areas where the underlayment is exposed. (This is done either by replacing the entire wood shake or by sliding a thinner wood shingle under the shake and over the top of the underlayment protecting it from the sun.)
· Spray treating the wood shake with a shake and shingle oil. (These oils replenish some of the oils in the wood and can dramatically increase the life of the shake. Chevron makes a "shake and shingle oil" that works very well. This is a very light weight oil that can be applied by the homeowner with the use of a simple garden sprayer.)

Here are several pictures that show a nicely repaired wood shake roof.

(Click images to enlarge)
First the damaged shingles have been removed and replaced with either shakes or shingles to protect the tar paper underneath.
Repairs need to be made wherever the tar paper is exposed or where the shingles no longer serve their intended purpose. 
This contractor did an excellent job of staining the repaired areas so they blend well with the old.

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Showers Repairs vs Replacement
Shower wall (enclosure) replacement is big business; therefore, it is important to be as informed as you can be.

The majority of the problems result from moisture intrusion at seams. Since ceramic tile showers have seams every 4" between the tile, they experience the majority of the problems.

Problems occur when moisture gets behind the tile. It will first loosen the tile from its backing and eventually damage the wall backing behind the tile. These problems are typically discovered by a home or pest inspector. The key in determining a proper repair method is to perform a further inspection.

A shower/tile expert can delicately remove the suspect tile to perform a further inspection of the wall backing. If the wall backing is structurally sound, the tile can simply be replaced and regrouted. If the wall backing is structurally damaged, the entire shower enclosure will need replacement.

A problem arises with the question of whether damage exists behind the wall backing. Many repair companies will either recommend a complete replacement or recommend performing a further inspection by opening the tile walls (which would necessitate a replacement even if no damage was found after the walls were opened). With the understanding that walls have two sides, one can determine which wall is less expensive to open to perform this further inspection. Often times, the opposite side of the "suspect" wall will be located in a bedroom closet. Obviously, opening a sheetrock wall is far less expensive than opening the tile wall. If no damage is found, the sheetrock wall can be easily repaired and the tile shower wall can be well sealed to prevent any further moisture infiltration.

Performing a further inspection in this way; will ease the buyer's concerns about hidden damage and can save you thousands of dollars per shower.

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Bath Floor Repairs:
Bathroom floor damage is also a common problem. Each time the shower is used, several drops of water can drip down the side of the tub or shower…typically in the corners. If the linoleum is not properly sealed, the particle board underlayment under the linoleum will become swollen and damaged. This will necessitate the replacement of the underlayment and floor covering.

An easy way to prevent this from happening in the future is to create an impenetrable seal between the floor and the tub/shower pan. (Click images to enlarge)

Remove the floor covering and underlayment. Replace the underlayment. Prior to the replacement of the floor covering; flood coat the area directly adjacent to the tub/shower pan with a two (2) part epoxy mixture. The coating should be feathered away from the tub for a distance of 12". This epoxy will seep into all voids creating a perfect seal and will dry rock hard and glass smooth. Allow to dry over night before installing the floor covering.
(Sealing around the toilet flange will also protect the floor.)

This floor replacement method will dramatically extend the life of your bathroom floor for very little extra cost.

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Correcting Mold and Mildew Problems
Mold and mildew can be frustrating problems to correct. Understanding the "cause" can help.

There are two primary sources for mold and mildew... (1) central heat source such as wall heaters and (2) substructure moisture:

  1. Homes with a central heat source such as a wall heater often times will have mildew problems. The center of the house will be warm, while the exterior walls will be cooler. This causes the moisture to condense on the outer walls creating mold and mildew.

    Correcting the "cause" of the problem is difficult in that it would typically require the heat source be changed to something that equally distributes the heat throughout the home.

    Correcting the problem can be fairly simple. First, wash down the walls with a mixture of water and bleach. Prime paint the areas with a product called "Kilz". Then mix a fungicide into the new paint and apply. This will dramatically reduce reoccurrence.
  2. Homes with a normal substructure moisture (moisture under your house) will vaporize approximately seven (7) gallons of water per day. This moisture then permeates the home. Homes with a wet substructure can vaporize up to seventy (70) gallons of water per day. This additional moisture will inevitably cause mold and mildew to form in areas with limited ventilation such as in closets or behind furniture.
    • To correct the cause of the mildew, you will need to either eliminate the substructure moisture (see French Drainage System) or install a moisture barrier.
    • A moisture barrier is nothing more than sheet plastic that is laid over the substructure soil. To properly install: · Use 6 mil sheet plastic.
    • Cut into strips the same width as the interior piers (typically 4' - 6').
    • Install the plastic covering as much of the soil as possible.
    • Create large "staples" using 12" strips of wire. Staple the moisture in place in all areas that are subject to higher traffic by inspectors such as areas around the perimeter and areas under kitchens and baths.

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Minimizing Expansion and Contraction of soil under the foundation
A typical home can raise and settle as much as ¾" annually as a result of the expansion and contraction of the soil under the foundation. Soil expands as the moisture increases and contracts as it dries out. Evidence of this typically appears as cracking above doors and windows. Although this movement doesn't effect the structural integrity of the house; the cosmetic problems can become annoying.

Controlling the moisture under the home will dramatically reduce this movement. This can be done by installing a French drainage system (expensive) or by installing a moisture barrier as mentioned above (inexpensive). The moisture barrier doesn't prevent the moisture from entering the substructure but it does maintain the moisture at a more consistent level throughout the year. Maintaining the moisture around the foundation at a consistent level will minimize the movement of the foundation thereby minimizing the associated cracking in the walls.

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