Hello. On this week's show, I talk to Jared Ball
of Bear Home Inspections. We go over some things
to be on the lookout for specifically in the
Pacific Northwest during a home inspection that
could save you thousands of dollars. We also
get into why you should always get a home inspection
with new construction. And we talk about some
of the things we've seen, some horror stories
out in the field that you might want to be on
the lookout for as well. Hey, look, if we haven't
met before, my name is Doug Varenas. I'm a licensed
real estate agent in Washington, and Oregon.
And if you think we might be a good fit to work
together, buying, selling or investing here,
please click the link in the description below
to schedule a 100 % free, no pressure chat where
you can get all your questions answered and all
the information you need to make the best decision
for you. And even if you're looking to buy or
sell in another state, I have a vast network
of vetted resources. resources that I can hook
you up with to get that accomplished. So thanks
for watching, and let's get into the show. My
guest today is Jared Ball. He's the owner and
operator of Bear Home Inspections and an all
-around great guy. We've done a number of deals,
and he always does a great job. And so welcome
to the show, Jared. I appreciate having you on
the show. Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for having
me, Doug. Yeah. So let the viewers know how you...
You got into home inspection originally. Yeah,
it was. So it's funny because I used to be a
carpenter. I was. You know, a lot of my working
experience was through construction. And I worked
really hard at getting to where I was in construction.
I journeyed out as a journeyman carpenter. And
it was right at that point where I started experiencing
some knee issues, primarily some osteoarthritis.
And that was very much job related. If you can
imagine, you know, carrying 60 pounds of tools
on your person and then going up and down ladders,
working on your knees. It's just, you know, my
legs kind of took a toll. During that time, I
was really into long -distance running. That
was kind of my outlet just to kind of burn off
steam, especially steam from the job sites. But,
you know, it eventually got to a point where
I had a couple surgeries. The smart people said,
you know, listen, kid, you've got no business
in construction anymore. Your knees look pretty
bad. looking at those joints specifically, you
look like you're in your 60s, not your 30s. And
so what we're looking at is just the ultimate
lack of cartilage in between, you know, the bones
in the knee. And so it was kind of a shock because
I was planning on just staying within carpentry
and other residential services for the rest of
my career until, you know, it was time to retire.
So how do you take that information when, you
know, your joy and your passion is... all of
your experiences in construction. And so I ended
up, you know, dabbling around just to put some
food on the table and just taking jobs here and
there and taking it easier on my body. And I
thought, you know what? I'm qualified to sit
in a crane. Why not just... take what I know
about construction and apply that to moving boxes,
you know, all around the job site. And you might
as well, you know, use my experience with some
of the contractors and the supervisors in our
area. And so I looked into that. There is a really
interesting, really cool program over here in
Woodland, Washington that trains people to become.
great heavy machinery operators, and they had
a crane program. And I remember the recruiter,
she sat me down and she goes, Jared, I know your
type. You're not a crane operator. And I'm thinking,
are you a recruiter? I have $16 ,000 here. Take
my money. I want to get to work. And she goes,
no, no, no, no. You know, you're very, you can
tell you're very people oriented. You like working
with people. And there's other ways that you
can take your experience and apply that into
something else. And so I was like, OK, tell me
more. And she goes, have you thought about home
inspections? I thought, yeah, I've thought about
it. Absolutely not. Because for a carpenter,
you know, inspectors, engineers and architects
are kind of our mortal enemies. We work with
them quite a bit just to get the job done. But
they certainly, you know, they don't make our
job any easier. In fact, there's a lot of conversation.
or I guess you can call professional arguments
that happen on the job site when you apply what
looks good on the blueprint and how things actually
get assembled. And so, you know, I thought absolutely
not. And she goes, well, I'm not talking about
county or city inspectors. I'm talking about
private. When someone's interested in buying
a house or maintaining a house or just wanting
to know what the condition of their house is,
that's where you could step in with your experience.
And I still shook it off. Like, absolutely not.
That sounds, it doesn't sound like a good fit
for me. But something she said was just ringing
around in my ears for the rest of the evening
and I couldn't sleep. Three in the morning, I
jumped on the computer and I think it was by
seven, seven o 'clock in the morning. I already
came up with the full business plan and it was
just a few weeks later, I got it all, you know,
kind of squared away. I took some time off to
- What did she say? What did she say that was
- It was just - It was just that - Just everything?
Yeah. It was just some information about why
I would be a good home inspector in regard to
the information that I have and the experience
and overall just my passion from building and
just building sciences. And at that time, it
was kind of a risk because at that time, I was
not interested in could -bes. I needed to get
straight to work. I needed to be able to provide.
But looking more and more and more into it, late
at night, it made more sense. She definitely
knew what she was talking about. Because you
could have just worked for an inspection company.
So what was the impetus or why did you choose
to go into business? I'm always interested to
hear about that journey. What made you decide
to start your own inspection business versus
just being in it? That's a great question. My
wife always wanted me to start my own construction
company. And I thought, gosh, that would be...
Another project. I'm a guy who has too many hobbies.
I have too many things and projects that happen
that pop up. And I actually was interested in
eliminating a lot of the things that I do with
my hands and with my time because I just I wanted
to live within simplicity. But, you know, she
says, no, you would always be a good business
owner. And I felt like I needed more organization
skills in order to take on something like that.
But no, I liked the idea of just working for
myself. I liked the idea of going above and beyond
and not being told how I'm going to do my job
or when I need to do something. Ultimately, I
think that's where it landed. Before construction,
I had quite a bit of customer service, time in
customer service. And if you have visited a job
yard, there's not a whole lot of it. There's
not a whole lot of that on a construction site.
Not to throw any shade on construction workers,
but we are pretty much close to cavemen. You
know what? In all the plumbers and HVAC people
and all the other business owners, that's the
biggest Achilles heel, I feel like, is just the
ability to interact and get back to people, answer
the phone. Communication is huge. And I don't
get it because these people could be doing gangbusters.
And the people I use are like, you know. really
good communicators or the best out of the cavemen,
I guess. But yeah, that's such a barrier and
such a good point to realize. It is imperative
that a business like yours communicates well.
And I don't understand why more people don't.
realize that i don't get it you know we all we
often hear the phrase communication is key it
it really is whether you are building a house
building a deck building a business um or just
relationships and that's all this is it's just
relationships building good relationships that
all requires uh not just communication but good
communication so um you know i i wanted i wanted
to really kind of soar on that. I wanted to take
what I have learned through customer service
and how to take, you know, how to serve people
and how to help people along with my knowledge
of building sciences. That's kind of where I
felt like I was going to be able to fit into
this in home inspection. So, you know, after
starting it up, You know, as with any startup
business, it just, it takes time. You got to
build the trust along with the relationships
and, you know, you got to introduce yourself
and explain to people what your value is. And
I was not really into like, you know, the typical
showman type, like I can promise you this and
this, I, you know, I. I kind of started off showing
people what I can do instead of talking about
what I can do. And a lot of that, you know, it
was kind of risky, but a lot of that was kind
of free work. And I've always been cautioned.
We all have been cautioned. Don't do anything
for free. But how do you convince anyone in business,
you know, your values and your principles and
your qualities if they can't see it? That's kind
of a risk to trust. From a real estate agent
point of view, it's kind of a risk to trust your
client with someone you've never really met,
you've never really seen the way they operate
and how they handle a very delicate process.
Right. Well, I think it was that communication,
though, was the foundation. Because we met at
a real estate investors meeting where we were
just chatting about whatever. You know, I appreciated
the fact that you came to this investors meeting
because it was just a it's a variety of people.
And, you know, it's obvious you were there to
like, you know, make those connections. But it
was definitely not in a salesy way. It was just,
you know, introducing yourself, you know, providing
that value proposition for people. And, you know,
it just seemed really natural. And that's why,
you know, I definitely, you know, started using
you is just that communication and that. I appreciated
the hustle of showing up to that event and getting
to know people. And so, yeah, it's relationships
for sure. It was pretty easy because that event
is actually a really cool, really cool event,
that group. It's really easy to find good people
in that group. That investors network is actually
a great place to be when it comes to just meeting
people, not just professionals. And so, yeah,
it was really easy. But yeah, it was cool to
meet you there. Yeah. And business is booming.
You're doing residential and commercial. And
so one of the things that I appreciate about
your inspection style is that it's very educational
for the buyer. So a lot of times I feel like
it's a passive thing. And at the end you get.
a report and then you know i'll go through it
or you'll go through it a little bit or the inspector
will go through it but for you and kind of how
you do it it seems to me a lot more educational
like as you're going through the process can
you can you speak on how you do inspections and
kind of what your frame of reference is for doing
an inspection with a buyer yeah um Well, not
everyone has a knowledge on how a house is built
and how it operates, right? So there's a lot
of mystery to the average home buyer, to the
average home owner. And so I knew that when I
was first trying to buy a house in 2016 or 2015,
I think it was. I remember what that felt like.
It was very stressful. It was very scary. This
is going to be one of the biggest investments
of my life. I took that and I thought, how can
I relate to the young home buyer from 2015? How
would I be able to meet him or her where they're
at? And so, you know, I just made it my goal.
Like we mentioned before, communication is key
and that takes a lot of information. And so it
just became my goal to educate and empower everyone
on being the best homeowner or property owner
possible. And so, you know, it's very common
in this industry. You get the inspection done
and you say, OK, I'm done. You'll get your report
within the next 48 hours. I felt like that's
not really the best sort of. Doug, you're in
the medical industry as well, right? Yeah, I'm
an occupational therapist as well. Yes. All right.
So how do you ever have to, you know, hand over
any bad news when it comes to like physical,
like when it comes to the human? you know, the
human body? Yeah, I've done, you know, assessments.
Typically they've been, you know, in the pediatric
realm, but you do have to deliver. you know,
not so great news at times. It's nothing like
a physician, but it's definitely, yes, you tend
to be a bearer of some not great news. But then
you also like to come with solutions and positivity
as well, because no situation is, you know, so
bleak that you can't find a little positive nugget
in it. So, yeah. Yeah. So, you know, a house
or a building is kind of built, you know, kind
of similar to a human body. There's just a lot
of systems and they're all working together.
And so when you deliver, my job is to find defects,
right? And so when you take a look at all the
negative things in the home, when you deliver
that news, you also have to deliver it with a
bedside manner as well. Is that the right term
when it comes to? Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah.
You have to have some empathy. And some understanding
about where they're at, like you said, meeting
them where they're at, because it is terrifying
to get even the best home inspection because
you see this laundry list of things on the inspection.
If you're inexperienced, you don't know what
to look for and you don't know how to separate
the like minor little things that are just on
the report versus things that are going to cost
you a lot of money down the line. And so every
report looks disastrous if it's not interpreted
in a way that's helpful. Yeah. Yeah. So it's
very common to basically just inform homeowners,
homebuyers, what the defects are. And that's
where the communication ends, typically in this
industry. And that's not very comforting to me.
That wasn't comforting to me when I was trying
to buy a home back in 2015. I wanted something
more out of that transaction. I wanted more information.
And I wasn't unskilled on how to take care of
the house. I just... I wasn't provided the communication.
Yeah. And so that's what I sought out to achieve
is to have the actual conversations. And it's
typically frowned upon to have clients at the
inspection to ask questions. And in my mind,
that's exactly why we're there. We're there to
answer questions because not everyone understands,
you know, how a house is built together in full.
And, you know, oftentimes I don't know everything
myself. And so sometimes I need someone I need
to ask, you know. Ask questions. I'm there to
answer any questions, to address any concerns,
because that is the time for it. You know, that
is instead of just saying there's something wrong
with the house. OK, well, what does that mean?
How how drastic is it? Is this a minor defect?
Is this a major defect? Is this a cataclysmic?
you know, defect. Ultimately, we're all just
concerned with the condition of the home on the
health of those occupying those spaces. Right.
So what does this mean for my wife and kids that
I'm moving into this structure? Are we going
to be safe in regard to the investment? Is this
going to be a good purchase or are we going to
be looking at appliances, systems and components
that are going to be failing within the X many
of years? And then we're looking at a lot of
repair costs. And those are things that we need
to know when we're. when we're buying homes,
and also when we're sitting on them and maintaining
them. Yeah. And I find it shocking that it's
discouraged to have buyers there. And I certainly
recommend my buyers to show up just because I
know how you operate and I know that that's the
value you provide. I have used other inspectors
who don't do that. And the experience has just
been kind of night and day. And it has been shocking
to me that there's not more of that educational
component during the process because the information
by itself, if you don't know how to interpret
it or you don't have the ability to interact
and ask. questions is confusing. To get an inspection
report and just look through it, if you're the
layperson, is a nightmare. It is unbelievable
that that would happen, and not to get on a soapbox
here, but I'm with you where it's shocking to
me that that is not more of a standard with inspections,
to have the ability for the buyer to ask you
questions and to give your opinion as much as
you can. I know there's limits to that, and that's
made apparent on the inspection report. You need
to consult a specialist in this area, but this
is what I'm seeing. Yeah, shocking. I appreciate
what you do. Yeah, I can't say it's my pleasure.
I feel I'm often told I should have been a teacher.
It's just, you know, I like conveying information.
And like I said, I don't know everything. Sometimes
it's just passing along information just where
it fits. Yeah. So let's get into some of the
things that a buyer should look out for during
an inspection. Let's try to separate some of
those things that are red flags or something
we need to, you know, get some further information
about versus like the door is a little sticky
or, you know, what are some things that buyers
should be looking out for first and foremost
in an inspection? That's a great question. I
like the idea of kind of keeping it local to
our area because we have a substantial amount
of moisture in our area here in the Pacific Northwest.
We got a lot of rain. We got a lot of moisture
in the air. It's very humid here. Not like the
humid in the South, but yeah, we certainly have
a lot of water within our area. And so number
one, that is our residential and commercial building
enemy. That is the number one threat to our structures.
So, you know, the phrase it all starts at the
top. Number one, the roof. That's the first defense
against moisture intrusion in our area. And so
typically when we see moisture intrusion, it's
not just water anymore. We're also looking at
conducive conditions for microbial growth or
what we're limited to call mold. And then we're
also looking at the relationship of moisture
intrusion and wood destroying organisms, whether
that is termites. ants or even rot. So that's
what I'm usually on the hunt for the most out
of everything in the house and everything else
is kind of, it just kind of pops up in nature.
But sometimes you have to look for moisture intrusion.
So I think welcome to the Pacific Northwest.
That's one thing that you're going to have to
plan to combat on a daily basis. And it's really
not that hard. We just got to make sure that
we're installing the right materials and that
we're maintaining those right materials. Well,
we've seen moisture intrusion through chimneys,
like uncapped chimneys is pretty common. Yeah.
And then via your teaching, it's been... Eye
-opening to see how lumber that touches the ground
can soak up water like a straw. So you've recommended
just some pretty simple cuts to give some space
between some plywood or some wood that is touching
the ground in order for it to suck up moisture.
Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, that probably pops up
on 90 % of the homes that I look at. And where
that is, is the garage door opening. More often
than not, it's right there where those lumber
materials are making contact with the concrete
driveway. And that area is just so prone to not
only the deterioration that is caused by a chemical
reaction in between the lumber and the concrete,
but once that's wet. just from all the rain and
all the other saturation, that just accelerates
the deterioration process. So typically when
I see wood that is making direct contact with
concrete, I like to at least recommend that a
quarter inch of that would be cleared away. Or
if there's a way that we can separate the two
materials, whether it's metal or some sort of
composite material, that would be ideal. Do you
see a lot of water intrusion also in basements?
You said you start at the top. Obviously, the
roof is the biggest line of defense. What about
any water intrusion in the subterranean living
areas or spaces? Is that a big concern? It is
a concern. There is a lot of misinformation in
regard to moisture in a crawlspace. These days,
houses are built to allow. moisture in a crawl
space. So what we don't want is uncontrolled
moisture in a crawl space. What that looks like
is, let's say, standing water on top of what
we call the vapor barrier, that plastic sheet
that's down on the grate of the crawl space floor.
When we have standing water there during the
warmer seasons, that's going to evaporate into
the lumber materials that are important, like
your floor structure. and other components but
yeah we often see quite a bit of moisture intrusion
whether that is a moisture coming down through
the framing of the exterior walls or you know
it can soak in through the very fine holes of
the concrete stem walls and then often what gives
that what gives that away is that there's usually
a white film that is found on both surfaces of
the concrete stem wall we call that efflorescence
because the water pulls in a lot of the minerals
from the nearby grating, and then it just kind
of deposits right there on the faces of those
concrete structures. That's a first sign that
we're seeing moisture and the relationship of
moisture kind of seeping into that area. But
again, as long as it's controlled and it terminates
still. from the crawlspace, it's still allowable
to have water enter in those areas. It's when
it's captured and just kind of hangs around there
and then, again, can evaporate in those areas,
then we're starting to see conducive conditions
for mold and other damage. Yeah, stagnant water,
never a good thing. You mentioned termites. I've
seen rot quite a bit. I've seen termites less.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about what...
pests we should be looking out for because i've
seen rats I've seen like nesting rodents, basically.
I haven't seen as many termites, but I'm curious
if there's like beetles or any other infestation
that buyers should be looking for in an inspection.
Yes. Yeah. We have quite a bit of that here.
So there is a direct relationship with moisture,
water and moisture damage to lumber materials
and wood destroying organisms. So number one,
if we... we i think our biggest wood destroying
organism threat here in the pacific northwest
is the western subterranean termite as well as
the um Would that be the moisture ants as well?
Oh, yes. Those have a correlation with moisture
and moisture damage. If you have, let's say,
wood rot, that's very delicious to wood -destroying
organisms. And as you already may know, a wood
-destroying organism, like an insect, they don't
differentiate the dead wood out in the nearby
forests. the dead wood that is used to build
a home. So what they're looking for is the cellulose
of that material. And when it's broken down easier
for them, that's when, you know, that's when
their appetite goes up and they know exactly
where to find it. So we do see quite a bit of
Western subterranean termites in our area. We
see quite a bit of moisture ants. Do see wood
boring beetles in our area as well. And typically
what happens with those more often than not is
that those materials are already installed with
those infestations and what they're you know
more often what they damage the most is the flooring
structure the the components that are underneath
the floors like the joists the girder beams some
of the posts but those don't hang around as long
as you know termites and ants do You know, their
reproductive cycle is a little bit, I would say,
more marginalized or smaller than what we see
with termites and ants. But rot is definitely
probably the more popular wood storing organism
in our area, just because of the substantial
amount of moisture that we have in this area.
So yeah, I would be looking out for all of those.
Absolutely. So I'm just curious with the subterranean
termites, are they are they less likely to be
spotted flying around? I'm just thinking being
not an entomologist or expert in those. Are they
less likely to be like flying around being subterranean
or? Are they still? It's kind of a dumb question,
I guess. No, that's a great question. Because
when we think subterranean, we think, you know,
coming from the ground. And that's where they
dwell. And that's a lot where they operate. But
actually, no, this is the time of the year to
be taking a look for what we call swarmers. And
they are termites with wings. And they're flying
into hard to reach places like attics and crawl
spaces. And they're trying to find a safe place
to start a colony. And so what they're looking
for. Is there a source of food, which is the
cellulose of wood? Is there dark, safe conditions?
Is there water? And so it's about this time of
the year where I see more termite activity than
any other time of the year. And that's because
these swarmers, the colony starters, they not
only are they evident when they're flying around,
but also there's a certain point where they shed
their wings and their wings are kind of left
all over the flooring throughout the house. There's
one house. here in our area that that stands
out in my memory more than any of them uh and
that's because it was a it was a really cool
duplex opportunity over in the the rose village
area and i remember as soon as i walked into
the interiors there's wings all over the floor
i mean from one side of the living room to the
other and there's you know more a concentrated
amount around the windows and the crawl space
vents and i thought well if they're near the
crawl space fence sorry not the crawl space fence
the the uh The HVAC registers on the floor. If
they're near those areas, can they find their
way into the crawlspace and start attacking the
wood structure? Absolutely. And that's what we
found. And it was an enormous infestation. They
already set up quite a big colony by the time
that we saw evidence of their existence. Not
the kind of tenants you want in your duplex.
Absolutely no. They're not the best renters.
No, they don't pay. They leave their wings all
over the place. They don't leave their property
in the same location in which they got into it.
Terrible. Do not rent to termites. Do not rent
to them. I recently heard a story of an agent
who will remain unnamed, of course, working with
a client who's looking at some new construction.
And they sort of dismissed the inspection process.
They were kind of like, it's new construction.
You don't, the inspection's fine. And I just
like, I couldn't believe that either. I fell
out of my chair because I've seen so many new
construction things with wacky stuff. And it
ended up being that this new construction, they
didn't vent the roof properly. They didn't vent
it at all. And it caused a bunch of microbial
growth in the rafters. And so I wanted to ask
your opinion. I mean, spoiler alert, get an inspection
on new construction. But what kind of things
have you seen in new construction? And why do
you need to get an inspection for people who
think that maybe it's new? So I don't need an
inspection. That's always a good question. Why
is always going to line up with peace of mind.
So it's always understanding what your investment
or the condition of your investment is. Whether
it's new construction or it's, you know, been
on the block for a long time. I actually just
saw a 90s house earlier this week that is probably
in a condition that... beat out a lot of new
construction in regard to its condition. I was
kind of marveling over it. We never see a perfect
house. Like we never see 100 out of 100. There's
always something to correct on a house. And that's
the fun part of my job is I like working with
my hands and I like encouraging people to take
care of those things too. But when it comes to
new construction, they're certainly not flawless.
I have a hard time talking about this topic because
I really want to share who does a great job and
who does a bad job when it comes to new construction
in our area. But I'm not going to go there for
the sake of this discussion. I will say that
the majority of the defects that I find for new
construction, they line up quite a bit on plumbing.
roofing and electrical if it's not just the cosmetic
drywall and the molding or the cabinetry you
know defects that we find just from unfinished
work so when it comes to plumbing i've seen a
numerous amount of disconnected pipes that when
you turn on a faucet It's just dumping water
into the crawl space. The same thing to be said
with the drainage systems. When I find defects
in the plumbing system on a new construction
house, I think I found more broken drain pipes
than anything else. So I always recommend, even
though it's new construction, get a sewer scope.
Because what's happening is when they're constructing
this new house, And they're driving the great
alls and the forklifts on the gravel driveway
at that time. They're not really concerned about
what's underneath that gravel and the weight
of those heavy machineries are down on top of
those ABS plastic pipes and cracking them. So
I can't, I think it was last year I counted,
it was a number of 17 drains that. uh that i
inspected and they were caved in from the top
there's gravel inside of the drain pipe that
goes all the way up to the city sewer and it's
shocking because it's like this is brand new
How did we get here? Well, we're not paying enough
attention to what we're doing as we're installing
these houses. And if, you know, I cringe every
time I hear it, and it's not uncommon, the recommendation
to waive the home inspection or skip the home
inspection because it's brand new material. It's
a brand new construction. What could go wrong?
A lot can go wrong. And I'm not here to scare
anybody. And I'm not here to scare anybody or,
you know, to make this sound more intimidating
than how it should be. But, you know, along with
a home inspection, I always recommend, even though
it's new construction, to do a sewer scope, even
a radon test. Yeah. Fun fact. In 2015, Washington
requires all... high risk areas to have new construction
built, have a radon reduction or ventilation
pipe installed. What that looks like is a black
six inch pipe that goes from the crawl space
and it's nice and sealed underneath that vapor
barrier. and then it extends through the framing
of the house and then it terminates above the
roof what it looks like is just another standard
plumbing stack vent but what that's designed
to do is take any potential radon gas through
that pipe and then just terminate it directly
above the house and it dissipates in the oxygen
of the open air but what happens if that's not
installed correctly right so sometimes contractors
and the subcontractors are in a rush and trying
to meet deadlines and sometimes those things
get skipped i've counted already just this year
20 pipes that were not installed correctly. So
if those are not regulating radon gas, could
there be a radon gas intrusion into our houses?
Yes, absolutely. So you think with them having,
you could be mistaken to think because they're
installed, of course they're installed correctly
and I have it, so it's not an issue. So I'm not
going to get a test, which would be a mistake.
Yeah. Yeah. Good point. And also radon's not
just in the basement. is another thing that I've
learned. I've seen high radon in single story
homes, like ground level homes. So that's also
something I've learned throughout working with
Jared and getting home inspections is to don't
skip on the sewer scope. I've seen that before.
Amazing. Don't do it. Don't skip on the radon
because if they are damaged or if there is radon,
those are two concessions that sellers are typically
going to give because their livability. their
health and safety and livability. And so you're
going to find a lot of sellers amenable to giving
you credits for correcting those things because
they're going to have to do them anyway. They're
going to have to disclose it and they're going
to have to correct them. So I think it's safe
to say to always get a sewer scope and a radon
test. And it's really not. that much. I did some
content about getting not only an inspection,
but also getting, especially if there's indications
of any other further damage, specialized inspections
on like the chimney or the HVAC or different
areas where you might need a more thorough look.
Is that something that you recommend as well?
Because the inspection is as good of a job as
you do. It's not meant to be. a thorough inspection
on every component of the home. Correct. Yeah.
So home inspectors can be as thorough as possible,
but we're still limited. We still have limitations,
as you brought up earlier in this discussion.
We're limited to a visible -only inspection,
which means that we're not permitted or even
licensed or insured to take off materials and
take a look at the deeper things of the house.
So a chimney is a really good one. We do our
best to take a look at not only the construction
of the chimney, how it's flashed and how it penetrates
the roof. We want to take a look at the way it
sheds water away from the top of the chimney
so we're not getting water into the fire. box
and also the other neighboring components and
materials. We also want to take a look at the
flue, but we can't see everything about that
chimney flue unless we have the proper technology.
You know, there's a guy that I know in Colorado
buys two separate sewer scope cams, one's for
sewer, one's for chimneys. And it's just a matter
of dropping that little camera down the chimney
to get a good look at, you know, exactly how
that flue looks from the top to the bottom. But,
you know, again, we are limited to things that
we cannot see. And that's really hard for me
personally, because, you know, coming from contracting
and construction, I really want to take things
apart. I really want to get to the bottom of
why we're seeing staining in the drywall, why
we're seeing cracks in the foundation. I want
to see what more in that story we can tell so
that we can provide more information. But at
that point, the best we can do is just document
what we're seeing. kind of explain what this
could mean in regard to the relationship of the
rest of the house you know and then also what
the recommendation or what the correction would
be so typically it usually lands on just recommending
evaluation from a licensed professional contractor
that is specialized in the construction of that
material or that system because ultimately even
though we're very thorough We're not specialists.
I hate saying this out loud sometimes, but we're
really just generalists. We're looking at visible
only so we can't get too specialized anyway.
But we're just looking at, you know, we're just
damage. We're looking at defects and we're looking
at what could cause, what is causing that. could
happen if we leave that alone. But really, the
best people to have the conversation on what
to do about it is really the contractors and
those tearing material types apart and fixing
the problem. Yeah, you're pointing an educated
and experienced finger at a potential problem
that needs more assessment. And I feel like people
should... get that assessment. And I've often
felt this too, where it's like, oh, you've already
spent all this money on the inspection. And okay,
you've got this indication. I would recommend
that people do take that step. And it's tempting
to skip it. But if you see indications of that
damage or something like the chimney where you
just can't get... You know, you can't see the
inside. You can't see the flu to have somebody
come out and look at that as well, because it's
going to be well worth the, you know, 200 bucks
you pay for that inspection. It could save you
thousands. And so when when you when an inspector
like you does the good job of pointing out the
signs of something that needs more inspection,
you need to listen and really invest in that,
I think, because it could be a lot of data. It
could be something significant. And so I think
that it's worth it to get those other inspections.
Is there something that you see, like you notice
quite a bit that buyers don't pay attention to?
Is there something that like we may not know
about? Like I think most people like realize
the roof's important, like the HVAC and checking
all that and the structure. Is there anything
that you see commonly that maybe a buyer wouldn't
have as much knowledge about or be looking at,
especially in Vancouver? That's a good question.
You did mention radon. So I feel like that's
kind of region specific because we are in sort
of an overall higher radon area here. So that's
one of them for sure. Yeah, I'm just wondering
if there's something that you see that maybe
buyers don't always think about. Not to reiterate
too much, but sewer scopes tends to be that issue
quite a bit. Then you're basically just, if you're
not getting that sewer scope, you're waiving
that liability of sewer problems. And they're
not too unusual. Yeah. especially with the older
parts of town. We're looking at older materials.
We're looking at older connections, and not everything
is built to last forever. You know, let's say
we're looking at the houses that were constructed
in the 1930s, 1940s. Let's just say in the Fruit
Valley area, the Rose Village area, you know,
the milling neighborhoods were booming, and they're
popping these houses up, all using the same material
types all throughout these neighborhoods. We're
looking at a lot of concrete pipes that have
seen some grading shifting movements we're also
looking at trees that have been planted in the
area you know those roots are now getting further
and further into the ground and they're looking
for water or i guess we can say that safely they're
looking for water and they're going to try and
find it as much as possible which means they
might be cracking open some pipes and trying
to reach in what's in there right so so it's
you know it's often ignored and sometimes it
takes a further discussion jared would you recommend
that we do a sewer scope yeah absolutely Because
we can't see anything from the ground. We can't
see anything from the house. The best way that
we can get a look at how the sewer drain or septic
system, or let me back up, the pipe that goes
to the septic system is operating and what the
condition is. You know, sometimes we're just
scheduled for a home inspection and that's it.
And that's great. I'm glad that they're getting
that information about that really large investment.
and then the question is how is the how is the
plumbing system well you know what we can see
is you know there's this and it's it's doing
great here we're looking at older pipes here
which means that we're probably looking at older
drain pipes as well have you considered about
you know doing a sewer scope inspection no actually
i didn't i wasn't informed by my real estate
agent that we should So we need to be talking
about this more on a bigger scale on why that's
important. Because what we're looking at, at
a very middle cost of repairing sewer drain issues
is roughly, I want to say $10 ,000 to $15 ,000.
Because there's a lot of work that goes on. It's
not just connecting pipes together. Sometimes
you have to rip up the asphalt in the road. Sometimes
you have to rip up the concrete sidewalk. Then
you have to hire the proper experience to shore
the grating so it doesn't cave in on anyone working
down below. Sometimes we see pipes that are 8
to 12 feet down below the surface of the ground.
A lot of that takes experience. A lot of that
takes more work. So it's not as easy as just
going to Home Depot and just buying the right
part, connecting it yourself. We're looking at
some pretty expensive repairs. Yeah, we just
we just looked at that hundred year old place
and I got a had the disjointed sewer pipe where
it was made out of like clay. It was had like
it was clay pipe and concrete and PVC. And it
was like. separate disjointed by a few inches
and you know i got the estimate and it was like
nine thousand dollars so tell me you're not going
to get a sewer scope and then just find that
out later and then you got to drop that money
for the sewer repair when you could have negotiated
that from the sellers so the not getting a sewer
scope or not knowing about it or not telling
your clients about it again fall out of my seat
because that's that's not good so it's not like
some superfluous upsell that you're trying to
do it's it saves you tons of money and it's It's
like an extra $150 or whatever. Yes, please do
it. Get that sewer scope. I'll tie it back to,
I like it when you make analogies in between
health and property maintenance as well. So you
did a great piece on galvanized pipes the other
day. I really liked that one. But, you know,
why do we go to the doctors? Why do we have discussions
with the health specialist? It is to stay proactive
because it's easier to handle problems, whether
it's the human body or a house, it's easier to
handle. problems before they, how do I say this
correctly? It's easier to handle it proactively
than reactively, right? So it's easier to handle
something when it's just about to break or showing
signs of damage compared to when it's just full
-blown damaged. And now it's imminent that we
repair it. So because it's not just, oftentimes
it's not just the material that's damaged that
we need to fix. It's almost everything neighboring
it or installed around it as well. Right, they're
all connected. Absolutely. Amazingly. Well, Jared,
where can people find you? I know you're on Instagram.
Do you guys have a website? I'm going to link
this all down in the description, of course.
But where can people find you? Because you do
some good content, too. I love your stuff on
Instagram. Thank you. Yeah, I try to chain a
little bit of humor into it because, you know.
Home buying is intimidating enough. It's not
all just doom and gloom. I have fun doing my
job, and I really want to provide that for every
inspection as well. I want you to have fun buying
the house. I want you to have fun looking at
the house with me. And so that's what I try to
portray in my social media. But yeah, you can
find me just about anywhere, Instagram, Facebook.
I just found out that I'm on Yelp. And what was
it? Reddit. I didn't know that. But you can find
me there too. Okay. But the best way to find
me would be on the website at barehomeinspection
.com. That's where I write actively blogs to
keep my community informed about home or property
maintenance and just ownership in general. Yeah.
Because I want you to stay informed. I want you
to be able to handle things proactively. And
then also that's the best way to schedule a home
inspection with me. I make it really easy. You
can schedule all of that online. I think I've
last time I timed it is you can, if you're really.
In a pinch, you can get it done within two to
three minutes. Wow. Yeah, that's another thing
like a lot of like service oriented home businesses
don't have is like an easy way to schedule or
like a modern digital presence. So you're ahead
of the game and you do a great job. And I want
to thank you, Jared, for all that you do and
look forward to working with you. You just do
a great job with clients. So I'm happy to have
you on the team. Thank you, Doug. And thanks
for being on the show, Eddie. Yeah, my pleasure.
All right. Take care, everybody.