And if so, what sanctions or penalties have they used with homeowners?
A: The truth is, if you don't get that final sign-off, nothing at all will happen. The critical mechanical and structural inspections are at rough-in stage, which presumably you had done for your project.
The other important stage is the final building inspection, which is a certificate of occupancy on new construction — many banks won't provide the final construction-loan funding without this.
You were getting a reminder notice so they could close out the file for that permit. The utility company or the electrical inspector will not storm into your home and shut off the juice, despite the horror stories you may have heard or imagined.
They have a backlog of work on other critical items, are understaffed and underpaid, and quite honestly don't have the desire to spend time or resources tracking down paperwork outlaws.
Here's the rub, though: Liability-wise, you need to be absolutely clear as you fill out the disclosure statement when you sell your house that you did not receive final inspection.
You are far more likely to get sued by the next buyer of the property for not disclosing these types of issues than to run into trouble with the building department.
That goes double with never pulling a permit to begin with.
Q: My mahogany front door is stained and covered with a shellac coating. Because the door is in somewhat poor condition with gouges, I am planning to putty where needed and then paint.
Two options have been presented to me as to how to prepare the door for paint: 1. Strip with a chemical (messy but effective), or 2. Sand well and then apply an oil primer before the finish coat, which I have been told could be a latex paint instead of an oil.
What is your opinion?
A: When painting, I like strippers. Strippers take it off much better (and I am talking about paint, by the way).
Q: I recently had occasion to check my attic space and noticed about four side-by-side sections of the roof chip-board had small black spots of mold from top to bottom between each section of the rafters.
This is a 2,300-square-foot, 1 ½-story home, built in 1997. The attic space appears to be adequately vented and insulated, with five roof vents and vents at either side of the house just under the roof peak.
The sections in question are on the west-facing side of the roof (the roof vents are all on the east side). I'm assuming: 1. This is not good, and 2. It is indicative of a moisture problem.
A: About half of the attics sheathed with oriented strand board (OSB) in Western Washington tend to have some amount of mold, believe it or not. We didn't have this issue pre-OSB, when plywood was used exclusively.
But how much mold is acceptable? This is purely subjective, as there are no standards. And yes, I will provide my subjective opinion momentarily. So yes, mold of any type indicates an issue of some kind, but there are some questions you can ask yourself before taking action: Is it new mold, or was it that way when built? Is the location of the mold a problem for the health of the occupants of the home? Is it worsening?
One scenario: During construction, the OSB sits outside in the rain and is exposed to heavy amounts of water while on the lumber pile, and as part of the frame before the roofing is installed. It gets saturated, and then warms nicely when the heat is turned on.
A few spores, some moisture, perfect temperature and the mold food that's inherent in the product, and it is off to the races. Once the moisture dries up, the growth slows, but the light staining remains. The spots you describe sound like this.
In another scenario, the mold grows after construction has been completed, and is worsening (or not). This mold is typically because of air or water leaks from above or below.
In an attic, people aren't directly breathing the air, and therefore it is not as time-critical for remediation than if it were in a more sensitive area, such as on a wall above a bed.
Take a picture of the mold and compare it through several seasons to see how it changes or grows.
If the entire space between the rafters is not covered or badly discolored, and it has not spread to the insulation or the rafters, then monitor and consider where the leakage may be occurring (fans lights, etc.), but don't freak out.
But if it has spread beyond a light sprinkling, and become a covering on the OSB, you have a problem and need professional help.
Darrell Hay is a local home inspector and manages several rental properties. |
