Ideally, the ground should drop one inch for every one foot that you move away from the house for the first 5-to-10 feet around your house. While this is not always possible, the ground should never be sloping upwards as you move away from your house foundation.

General Awareness: Just as a reminder and food for thought: Snow removal in winter months is a necessity for ease of access with most properties in this area. Consideration should be given to ways and means of snow removal. Some opt to do it themselves, while others hire a snow removal contractor. Each property will have different requirements for snow removal.

General Awareness: Whenever large trees are located near a house a higher level of maintenance should be expected to keep trees safe and healthy and to eliminate the risks of damage to the home or building materials from falling limbs and to eliminate rodent entry points. With larger trees such as firs pruning is recommended to eliminate the sail effect and reduce strain on these trees during high winds. If an arborist has not been out in the last few years, consider having a new consultation.

This exterior has been constructed almost primarily of logs, often called log home construction. Log homes have a beautiful appearance, but they can require regular maintenance to ensure the logs do not get damaged from water and wood destroying organisms. Common maintenance issues include:

• Re-chinking. Chinking is essentially a glorified caulking system, typically applied over a backer rod that helps seal up the gaps between the logs. Over time, the chinking can fail, allowing insects and water into the logs assembly.
• Sealing checking in logs. Logs usually develop a single dominant crack, the location of which can be controlled by kerfing the log (making a saw cut down the length of the log). Checks or cracks in logs provide an opening for water and wood destroying organisms. Keeping exterior cracks sealed, located at the top radius where water can enter is critical log home maintenance.
• Treating for wood destroying organisms and managing conducive conditions. From carpenter ants to anobiid beetles to wood decay, wood logs are vulnerable to a host of wood destroying organisms. Many companies that specialize in log home maintenance use treatments such as Borate finishes that can help reduce risks from wood destroying organisms.
• Replacing rotted areas or damaged logs. If logs get too much moisture or insect damage, they may require replacement. Log home restoration work can be expensive.

Expect some floors that are not level and walls that are not plumb. In addition to critical exterior maintenance, log homes may suffer from some amount of movement and settlement as the logs expand and contract with moisture content and age. Many log homes have at least a few areas of uneven floors and walls that are not plumb. This can even be the result of logs drying differently on the outside of the log compared to inside.

Expect challenges for sealing and renovating. Log homes can also present challenges for renovation as there are fewer walls and building cavities to run wires and pipes. Log homes are also difficult to air-seal reliably as the logs are expanding and contracting and often gaps open up to allow air, moisture or insects.

To see a prescriptive guide for residential wood deck construction click this link: Most existing decks do not meet the standards set forth in this guide, but these standards do help guide our deck inspections.

Roof flashings are used to keep a roofing system water proof where the roofing material starts, stops, changes direction or is penetrated. During inspection, we look for standard flashing techniques that could be considered normal or standard in our region. Damaged, incomplete or non-standard flashings can be a sign of an older or less reliable roofing system and may require repair. Any non-standard flashings noted during inspection will be reported on below if found.

During a home or property inspection, every effort is made to inspect the visible components of the electrical system grounding. The grounding system is critical for safely discharging electrical surges, especially in the case of lightning strikes. There is no way in the context of a home inspection to verify the "effectiveness" of the grounding system as much of the system is not visible and there are not practical tests one can perform in the way we can test a furnace or a plumbing fixture. General info about grounding systems:

• Modern homes (2008 and newer) generally use UFER grounds (foundation rebar) and no longer need ground rods.
• Older houses (1963 and earlier) used metal water pipes for grounding instead of ground rods and these older ground conductors may be disabled if the old metal pipes have been updated with plastic pipes.
• In between, (very roughly 1963-1990) ground rods have been used for grounding. Typically two ground rods are required (to try and achieve the recommended 25 ohms or less) unless there is also an older metal water piping system that can be grounded, then often 1 ground rod will suffice.

All metallic systems in the building are required to be "bonded" (connected) to the the building's electrical grounding system. Bonding creates a pathway to shunt static charges (that would otherwise build up on the system) to earth, and to provide a pathway to trip a breaker in the event that these bonded metallic components became energized. During the inspection, I attempt to visually document electrical system bonding. There is no way in the context of a home inspection to verify the "effectiveness" of system bonding.

During inspection I make an effort to test and inspect all accessible electric receptacles and switches. In general, the scope of testing is directly related to access; where personal belonging and furniture obstruct access to receptacles and fixtures, fewer of them can be reasonably tested during inspection. Any defects found during inspection today will be listed in this report.

During inspection I test all Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) devices that are readily accessible. GFCI's are those electric receptacles with re-set buttons that you commonly see in bathrooms, kitchens and at the exterior of the home. GFCI's are important safety devices that limit the duration of electrical shocks and have demonstrably saved lives. I recommend being aware of where re-set buttons are located in the house as GFCI's can trip and disable a circuit which can not be re-energized without re-setting the button. I avoid testing to determine if a receptacle or circuit is GFCI protected if it is not clear where the re-set button can be found. This is because re-set buttons can be concealed behind stored items, so such a test risks disabling a circuit in the home. Occasionally, during testing of GFCI's one can fail. This is a statistical reality that some of these devices will fail under testing and require replacement after testing.

The link below includes important information about smoke alarms that could save lives in the event of a fire. There are two basic types of smoke alarms: ionization, which are better at detecting flaming fires and photoelectric, which are better at detecting smoldering fires. Standards in the building industry are moving toward recommending BOTH types of alarms in the home. It is nearly impossible to accurately test smoke alarms during a home inspection. I recommend learning more about these important life saving devices and consider installing both types of smoke detectors in your home. http://getscribeware.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Ionization-vs-photoelectric.pdf

During the home inspection, I try and test a representative sample of the smoke alarms by using the test button on the alarms. This is NOT an accurate test of the sensor just a test to see if the unit is powered. For reliability, fire marshals recommended updating smoke alarms every 10 years and changing batteries bi-annually. The latest data indicate that we should be using photoelectric technology in our smoke alarms for improved fire detection and to reduce problems with false alarms which can lead to disabling of this important safety system. Unfortunately, the alarms have to be removed to determine if they are photo-electric or ionization types. It is surprisingly complex to accurately test a smoke alarm system and determine the reliability, age, and type of sensor technology used, especially as many homes can have half a dozen or more alarms throughout the house. A complete evaluation of smoke alarms is beyond the scope of this inspection. For optimal fire safety, I recommend taking control of these important safety devices and learning about how to service and maintain your smoke alarm system to keep the building occupants safe. For more information, please read this link. For more information, please read this link.

The installation of carbon monoxide alarms is recommended for all homes that have fuel burning appliances such as gas or oil furnaces, gas water heaters, gas ovens and cook-tops, gas fireplaces and wood stoves. Best practices are to have these alarms hardwired with a battery back-up - though requirements are for the installation to meet manufacturer's specifications. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can cause sickness, nausea and even death. Alarms have a useful service life of roughly 6 years, so changing them more frequently than smoke alarms is recommended.

This shows the furnace and data tag.📸

Determining proper ventilation to the exterior from kitchen, bath and laundry fans can be tricky as exhaust fan ductwork is often concealed beneath insulation, behind finishes and fan terminations can be all over the house from the roof to the foundation, presenting difficulties for systematically checking every fan termination. During inspection, every effort is made to verify proper terminations of fan vents to the exterior, but it is possible to miss something here that is latent or concealed.

This shows the location of the main water shutoff valve located in the crawlspace. near the access hatch. There is no perceived current conditions that might lead to leaks, however, its still not a bad idea (for peace of mind) to shut off the main water valve when/if leaving the home for extended periods of time.

Sinks are flood tested and waste assemblies are checked for leaks or minor drips. Homeowners should check the waste plumbing connections beneath the sinks periodically to avoid water damage from unseen drips that can occur. Wastebaskets and other storage coming in contact with waste assemblies beneath sinks can sometimes loosen connections and can cause drips to develop. We also often find that sink stopper assemblies in the drain assemble work loose and drip.

This shows the water heater and data tag .

We make every effort to visually inspect and operate every single interior door. All interior doors may be tested on smaller homes - where a representative sample of interior doors are tested on larger homes. Occasionally we find doors be locked or blocked by stored items or otherwise inaccessible.

Kitchen appliances were tested during inspection today. The typical design life of appliances can range from 4-20 years. Some appliances such as an older electric range are simple and tend to last longer than more complex appliances such as dishwashers and refrigerators or modern appliances with circuit boards. It is impossible to predict the useful remaining life of an appliance. I ran appliances during inspection. Any defects noted will be listed in this report. There are companies that offer warranties for appliances such as AHS Home Shield. While I do not endorse or recommend any specific warranty. I know that some home owners have been very happy with this insurance. For your convenience, I have attached a link to a web site of one such warranty product. LINK

Homeowners should inspect their dryer and transition ducts regularly and have them cleaned as needed to remove lint and debris to prevent the potential for a dryer fire. Every year, dryer duct fires cause $35 million in damages, hundreds of injuries and even deaths. If you ever notice a burning stench in your laundry room, this is another indication you should get cleaning sooner rather than later. If you don't want to do it yourself - hire a duct cleaning professional to take care of dryer vent cleaning.

7 Signs You Need to Clean Your Dryer Vent:

1. Clothes take longer than normal to dry
2. Clothes are unusually hot to the touch
3. The room is warmer than normal when the dryer is running
4. You've noticed burning smells
5. The lint flap isn't opening
6. The dryer tells you there's a problem
7. The dryer stops working

During inspection of the crawl space, every effort is made to inspect the entire space. Visual inspection of crawl spaces is difficult and limited as access is often restricted by pipes, ducts and sub-floor insulation as well as limited clearances.

Hornets, mud-dauber wasps, carpenter ants and other insects, mice chipmunks, squirrel, birds, bats, etc. All are considered pests in this area. Homeowners need to be aware and use methods to keep pest activity to a minimum in and around the house. In some cases, we may recommend the services of a licensed or certified pest professional.