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It's another great day here in Northern Utah. Do you have the white stuff on the ground where you are? I feel for those of you dealing with the rainy weather. I can't imagine anything more difficult that trying to do 2 or more inspections a day in the rain. I've been following the posts on the Inspector Hotline regarding the soon-to-be- formed Washington chapter. That would be an interesting meeting as each Inspector trudges through the rain in their mud covered boots into the local Marie Callendars for the Chapter Meeting. "So Inspector Bud, how many carpets have you had to be pay to be cleaned this past month???" "I had to raise my fees $40 per inspection to help reduce the carpet cleaning fees." "You've got it easy, I have had to work a deal with Mr. Carpet so that I can get discount cleaning fees." "Oh yeah.... I had to start up a special carpet cleaning division of Samson Enterprises Inc. and hire 3 crews and 11 employees." "At next month's Chapter meeting we will discuss how to deal with computer entry in the steady drizzle without shorting out the microprocessor."
EIFS SNOW EVALUATIONLast week I told you about a large EIFS Moisture Intrusion Evaluation that I had tentatively planned this past week. Well, it did come to pass and was quite an experience. Would you like to see the home???...... I encourage you to visit http://www.slcity.com/rg/346/welcome.html and see the way it has been marketed over the internet. I was fortunate to have a day without snow or rain, yet the sun never did appear. Some of you might not be aware, but it is near impossible to do an EIFS test in wet weather. Whenthe outside of the wall is wet, it is the best time to test the interior of the wall. The $1,000 Tramex wet wall meter cannot be used when the exterior surface is wet, because it will send the moisture readings off the chart from the surface water.
I scheduled the evaluation
for Thursday hoping that the weatherman's predictions would be
accurate. The Buyers had extended their time window an additional
week, but that window was to expire on Saturday the 18th. This
meant that the Buyers would need to have the report in their hands
by Friday at noon so that they could meet with the EIFS repair
specialist to get a repair bid.... That is IF the home had any
damage. I smiled when I heard this timeframe because I knew that
the odds were not in their favor that there would be no EIFS-related
damage.
You have heard me several times before explain how thankful that I am for the Federally protected woodpeckers. If it was not for them, I probably would not ever perform an EIFS Moisture Intrusion Evaluation. The Buyer's Home Inspector will identify the EIFS because of the blatant 4" hole created by the Woodpecker. This ruffles the feathers of everybody involved. "There must be major damage from the open hole!" is the thought. Don't tell anybody this, but I have yet to find major rot at the woodpecker holes. Instead, these areas are a straight forward repair.
The scary part is that the major damage is found far away from the woodpecker holes from the normal EIFS installation flaws. I shudder to think how many Home Inspectors are currently reporting the Stucco is in Good overall condition when in fact it is EIFS and there are major damage areas. This is why I thank the woodpeckers.
WOODPECKERS
ATTACK EIFSMany Northern Utah homeowners are experiencing EIFS damage from the woodpeckers. This is a difficult situation because the birds are Federally protected and the homeowners cannot poison, hurt or kill the menaces that are damaging and residing in the nests. The Deseret News in Salt Lake City first reported on this in 1998.
(AP) -- Construction workers at the new Riverton Library have been unable to get rid of two woodpeckers who have made the site their home and are protected under federal law. Construction on the exterior of the building is nearly complete, and officials of Paulsen Construction Co., the prime contractor, hope they can find a way to get the birds to move elsewhere. The library is scheduled to open next spring. D.J. Waters, a nuisance wildlife control operator and owner of Urban Wildlife Control, said he has filed for a permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to eradicate the woodpeckers. But he said it may take time to get approval from the federal agency to act on the request.
Woodpeckers are a protected species under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In the meantime, Waters said the contractor would place a birdhouse on the library property on Wednesday in an effort to divert the birds' attention from the library. Efforts so far, including placing shiny streamers to produce a scarecrow effect, have been unsuccessful. Lack of wood on the exterior of the building has not deterred the birds. They pecked through a one-eighth-inch-thick layer of stucco and into styrofoam insulation material to make a home.
"For some reason, the woodpeckers like to nest in the styrofoam," said Toby Cordova, project manager for Beneco Enterprises Inc. Beneco manages construction projects for Salt Lake County.
The birds, which Tracy Aviary education curator Betsy Price said are most likely the northern flicker -- a variety common in Utah and other states -- burrowed in and started making a nest above the front entry on the west side of the library. Two or three holes about 4 inches in diameter were the result of the woodpeckers' two-or-more week stand on the library. The holes were repaired on Monday, but the woodpeckers were spotted on the building again the next day.
"They were resting on the rain gutters or on the roof, as they usually do," Cordova said.
Dave Black, vice president of Paulsen Construction, said he just hopes the woodpeckers will find a new home.
"We are expecting they will go away," he said.
LOCAL INSPECTOR'S
EIFS ERRORI received a call on Friday from an agent friend who was listing a house that had just been inspected for the buyers by another Home Inspector. The other Inspector tends to get a lot of business because of his low inspection fees and a 90 day supposed guarantee. He had made an issue over moisture damage in the stucco at one location on the front of the home. The buyers were scared and wanted it repaired. The Sellers agent knows my work and reputation and wanted to know how much it would be for a second opinion. I then pressed her for more details.
"What kind of exterior does the home have?" The agent said that it was stucco and brick on the front, while aluminum siding was used on the other three sides.
"What is the extent of the damage?" The inspector told the buyers that there is a stained area at a lower portion of the wall.
"How did the Inspector know that it was wet?" The agent then related that the Inspector took his little moisture meter and put it on the stucco wall that had a stain on it and the needle was pegged.
"Did he use the meter anywhere else?" She said that he only put it on the stained area.
"What does his report say the type of stucco is?...... Did he specify traditional stucco or EIFS?" "Let me see.... Here in the report he just checked the boxes Stucco, Brick and Siding. He does not specify what type of stucco there is."
So what other kinds of questions would you have asked the agent?..... I continued to ask her what the weather was like during the inspection, how much snow or rain there was, and where else he placed his meter. The agent was scared because she did not know what to do, or who to pay. She didn't know if it was EIFS or stucco. I then told her different options which might include an expensive Moisture Intrusion Evaluation or a wasted visit if it was just plain old stucco. I have probably lost many of you in this dialogue, so let me digress and clarify some points.
RETURN
TO EIFS INSPECTIONInspecting a home in the snow for EIFS is a long, cold process. As most of you are aware, I do not have much meat on my bones to retain heat. On a typical Home Inspection I may be outside for just 20 or 30 minutes before retreating from the elements into the heated house. EIFS testing requires 3 to 5 hours of non-stop exterior evaluation. If one is not properly dressed, the elements will suck the heat from you and leave you laying for dead in the snow.
To fight the prolonged exposure to the cold, I have a wonderful insulated, snowmobiling-type suit and a warm hat with ear covers. Also important are the Sorel snow boots. Mine have extra insulation pads under the foot to provide an extra barrier. Over a long period of time the cold ground will suck the heat right out of your feet. Gloves are another important shield and I prefer to use the fingerless gloves with the mitten overlay. This allows use of the fingers to control the tools, and the warmth of a mitten in between probe readings.
I started the Salt Lake EIFS test at 10:50 am and remained outside until 4:20 pm. The snow was about 8" with some drifts up to 36". The home was set on a hillside which required extensive ladder movement to access the different levels. The home was an architect's nightmare with 16 main floor walls, 7 second story walls and 1 third story wall. Some of you have visited the EIFS portion of my website and have seen how EIFS Inspection fees are calculated. As a refresher.... $200 just for showing up. $50 for each single story wall. $75 for each 2nd or 3rd story wall. Extra for decorative entries and dormers. I then have the option of not doing any walls that are out of reach of a 22' ladder or deemed as unsafe (by me!) to access. In this case, 2 of the second story walls and the third story wall were not evaluated. I gave them a break on the main entry and the EIFS-clad deck railing system. There were also no dormers installed.
EXTRA CREDIT - Be the first to E-mail me with the correct fee total for this inspection (according to my fee structure) and receive a Christmas surprise.
It was a good fee for the time spent on the job. I proved to myself that winter weather EIFS testing can be a successful reality. Although there were many portions of the home's walls that I could not test with the Tramex due to surface moisture, I was able to probe at over 70 locations. As suspected, there were several areas of moisture damage that had nothing to do with the woodpeckers. The Buyers were thankful for the EIFS information that I was able to provide for them. You might also be surprised to know that even the buyer's agent was glad to learn of the damage, and she was paying $575 of the testing fee out of her own pocket. This payment by the agent is another topic for another MMM, but my wife still can't understand the twisted logic of why an agent will pay so freely for tests/repairs that are for the buyer's sole benefit..... Anything to close a deal, I guess.
MERRY
CHRISTMASThe Leavitt family wishes all of you a Merry Christmas. We are all excited for the special day to arrive. We will have the majority of Shelly's family visiting with us throughout most of the week. I look forward to the glee on the faces of the gift recipients...... Even little Aaron is old enough to comprehend the fun. We also will be celebrating Aaron's 2nd Birthday on Tuesday. This will be a full, wonderful week of celebrating! Shelly and I hope that all of you enjoy this special day surrounded by loved ones and that your day is full of joy.
NEXT
WEEK'S SNEAK PREVIEWSteve Bradley is going to share with us an incredible backyard swing..... You will get to decide if it is a "Reportable Condition" or not. I would have HAD to test the gigantic swing out first before I could've made an accurate determination :>).
QUOTABLE QUOTES: "And
the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.[Michael Leavitt's Home Page | Back Issues of the MMM | Current Issue of the MMM]
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