Like the economy, real estate markets and planning continue to struggle with a severe drag of uncertainty. People wish the real estate bubble-bursting trauma would fade into oblivion already and allow things to get back to normal. However, optimism alone is not yet enough to outweigh the negative effects of stubbornly high unemployment, political shenanigans, European troubles, and the still bloated supply of foreclosed dwellings. We see positive signs for one quarter followed by pullbacks the next, making long-term, realistic planning extremely frustrating and difficult.

However, real estate trends and statistics are useful and helpful provided we get a broad perspective that takes into account all important factors. We start by looking at the local conditions of income, realty pricing changes, and inventory. We examine trends and expectations, but also take into consideration ramifications of national policies and financial constraints on the realistic potential for certain property transactions occurring.

Air conditioning repair is not something I recommend very often in my home inspection reports, primarily because I rarely see air conditioners in the Pacific Northwest. Air conditioning scarcity means repair is even scarcer. However, AC technology is essentially the same as that for heat pumps, which I do see more frequently nowadays, with a concomitant increase in recommended repairs. But what I want to focus on in this blog post is what, if anything, a homeowner can do to repair these appliances.

Repair issues of air conditioning vary with the type of installation. The most common type is a centralized system that distributes cool air throughout the house using the heating ducts and registers. The localized window units operate similarly on a much smaller scale. Evaporative coolers are really different and not pertinent to this blog. For basic principles of operation, see my article on air conditioning repair.

I get leak detection requests occasionally from prospective clients, most often in conjunction with a home they already own. I tell them leak detection is not an explicit part of a home inspection, though in the course of tracking down excess moisture accumulation leaks and their causes are sometimes obvious. The person is usually not interested in a home inspection, just someone who can detect leaks. But it raises an interesting question of how responsible a home inspector is for hunting down leaks.

To my knowledge, leak detection is not offered by any home inspector, even as a specialized service. I am aware of companies that detect leaks in swimming pools. And, of course, plumbers are well equipped to trace a pipe leak, and roofers a roof leak, back to its source. So there are experts in other fields that one can turn to. Still, though some practitioners of my trade expand their business by providing additional inspection services, such as radon testing, mold inspecting, or air pollutant sampling, there seems to be no inherent reason why leak detection couldn't be one of them.

The flat roof is much more commonly seen on commercial buildings than on residences, but that doesn't mean it is without benefit for homeowners. Nonetheless, if the flat roof isn't constructed properly in all aspects, or if some of its ramifications are ignored, it can be the source of endless headaches. Let's look at some of the distinctions between a flat roof and a sloped roof and why one might be preferable to the other.

A flat roof, though graded enough to drain, must be watertight, whereas a sloped roof is designed not to be waterproof but water shedding. Any roof with a pitch less than 2 in 12 falls in the flat category, for the shedding principle fails below that steepness.

Heating and air conditioning systems have evolved quite a bit in the past decade or so. Inspecting heating and air conditioning has become both easier and more complex with the current trends of higher efficiency and reduction of carbon footprint. It is easier because units are more compact and better designed; more complex because there are additional issues, such as draining condensate, and more numerous options regarding venting and air exchange. There has also emerged a kind of offshoot house inspection service, focused less on facilitating transfer of real estate and more on auditing for energy use and air quality.

Heating, having borrowed air conditioning technology in a sense, is today more significantly different from a decade ago. Using coal, oil, or wood to heat homes is fast becoming obsolete, and the efficiency of both electric- and gas-based furnaces has improved dramatically. Heat pumps, essentially air conditioners in reverse, are much more in fashion. Size has diminished despite elongated heat exchangers for increased efficiency, and venting sideways through the wall is perhaps replacing venting through the roof.

When roof tiles are involved in a home inspection, there are tradeoffs and challenges to take into consideration. The tradeoffs roof tiles impose are between doing a careful and standards-based inspection and damaging the material. The challenge is to stay safe and yet still get the job done.

Roof tiles are constructed out of clay or concrete, though sometimes slate is grouped in the tile category. The demands for installing them are more stringent than those for installing roof shingles. The weight per square is so much higher that foundation and structure must be strong enough to support them. They use special fasteners and metal flashings. Manufacturers recommend not walking on them because it is difficult to know where to step and consequently the tiles are more susceptible to breakage.

Mold symptoms are rather prevalent in the Pacific Northwest, there being long stretches of rain or air high in relative humidity without much sun to dry things out. I see symptoms of mold all the time in my home inspections and customers sometimes shrug it off as if mold is a necessary evil in our neck of the woods. However, for clients who have respiratory problems, the presence of mold is a serious concern and even a deal breaker.

How do we deal with mold symptoms? Are they indeed a way of life for us Washingtonians, or can they actually be prevented from developing? More importantly, once mold growth becomes apparent, either from neglect or failing prophylactic techniques, can we expect to have any success in eliminating it through therapeutic approaches? Trying to answer these questions is the subject of this blog.

Faucet parts come in so many categories, styles, colors, materials, and mounting characteristics that I as a home inspector get lost in the maze. What the many faucet parts mean to the average homeowner I can only imagine. Fortunately, on my inspections, I only have to concern myself with operating faucets. This is usually easy, although in some cases it is not immediately intuitive.

Replacing faucet parts is another story. It isn't that often that a homeowner has to do this, but when it becomes necessary it pays to know what one is up against. I half believe that there is a conspiracy between plumbers and manufacturers of faucet parts to make it as difficult as possible for the do-it-yourself owner. I'm not talking about replacing worn out washers but about replacing the faucets themselves.

Inspecting drain pipe is thorny because so much of it is hidden from view. Furthermore, drain pipe leaks can go unnoticed for a long time, whereas leaks in a service or supply line will show up quickly as an increased water bill. Some of my customers express concern about the inaccessibility of their efflux plumbing and their inability to know whether or not they have a problem. And their concerns are not unfounded; outdoor pipe in particular is susceptible to corrosion, cracking, and vegetative invasion. Yet, though I have some insight into leak detection, there are limitations to how much I can help them because so much of the pipe is buried.

Drain pipe terminology is also confusing. It is used in a host of applications, including storm systems, sewer or septic lines outside the home, plumbing that empties fixtures inside the home, and special functions such as French drains. As a whole, output house plumbing is called the drain-waste-vent (DWV) system, which adds to the confusion. Some people insist that drain piping doesn't carry any solids while waste piping does, but others claim that the two are equivalent. Then the vent piping, the purpose of which is to equalize air pressure as a deterrent to siphoning and backflow, connects directly to the drain piping and in some cases doubles as drain pipe itself. Hence, distinguishing the three sets of pipes from each other is not straightforward.

The home inspection service industry is certainly not immune to the devastations imposed by today's economy. Home inspection as a service seems to be almost on the brink of going the way of gas stations, once called service stations. Indeed, the whole notion of serving our fellow man while making a living has been getting quainter for a couple decades now. But I will ever be a holdout for the position that bettering others is the only true measure of success, whether in life or in my chosen profession of inspecting houses. Otherwise, what's the point, or, more generically, what has society become?

Service in the home inspection business will never really go defunct because fulfilling even the most basic functions is a service. But I sense an attitude shift in collective consciousness away from appreciation for a benefit received towards assumption that everyone does the minimum he can get away with. Whether this is a short-term glumness stemming from economic necessity or a long-term cultural change is harder for me to detect. Will the halving of the number of real estate agents be a blip or permanent? Will helping people to buy and sell houses survive as a service? Probably in some form, but using a different business model. Will we get to the point where the vast majority sacrifice advocacy and expertise for the sake of lower cost (including home inspection cost), perhaps justified by the self-delusion that they are still safe, that nothing will go wrong?