Subj: The "T" Word
Date: 04/21/2001 3:42:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time
The "T" Word
As I inspect homes and buildings daily my understanding of reality changes. One of the changes involves the "T" word. This is a little word that home inspectors must be very careful how they use. One mention of it can drastically change the mood of an inspection from one of cordiality to fear. I am told that you should have special credentials to even use this word unless one with such credentials has used the word before you. Attempting to be very careful can be frustrating at times. Sometimes as I crawl out of a crawl space I want to say to the homeowner; "Sir, your center girder is missing, do you think the neighbors Pit Bull may have devoured it?"
Prior to becoming a home inspector my experience with Mr. "T" was very limited. Many years ago I was renovating and expanding a local church. There was a basement below the sanctuary with a center corridor, the walls of which supported the first floor above. We were to remove paneling from these walls in order to install new wiring and drywall. The sizable demolition crew would have ripped this paneling off in short order. As they began, I happened to be walking through the basement and was shocked at what I saw. As the first few boards were removed, I screamed for everyone to STOP. There were no studs for the first two feet of wall below the paneling. My fear was as we removed the paneling that the floor above us would collapse if the damage was extensive.
After a little investigation, it was determined that the damage was extensive creating an unsafe condition. We were forced to install a temporary shoring system below the floor before removing the paneling. After the paneling was removed, to this day, I have no idea what was holding the center of the building up. There was mostly air for the first two feet of this wall. Remember, this was a church where a congregation of hundreds meets every Sunday. Did I witness a miracle? I will let others be the judge of that. Is it possible that the thin paneling alone was supporting this load? I don't think so. Any person educated in structural engineering would tell you that this building should have collapsed. Fortunately, it was not my responsibility to reason how or why, only to make sure that it would not take a miracle to support this structure in the future.
What made this issue even more interesting was that this building had been treated and was under bond by a well know, highly regarded, company for over twenty years. This company paid for temporary bracing of the structure and replacing these damaged walls. This basement contained classrooms occupied on a regular basis, many by children. I had made an extensive inspection of this area prior to pricing the work and before starting the demolition and found no evidence of a problem. The fact is, there are many people, including my employees and me, who a very lucky to not have been seriously injured or "gone to be with the Lord" because of this damage.
Now I see houses almost weekly where major structural members are damaged to the point that I can't determine what is holding that portion of the house up. I have shared this with you in an attempt to help you understand the seriousness of the little "T" devils. Do you think that homes in Florida are constructed with cement block because Floridians like their appearance? Hardly, it's because the little "T" devils devour the wood ones. I have seen similar information in different publications that … under conditions favorable to these "T" devils, a "T" devil colony of 60,000 workers can consume a one-foot length of two by four in as little as four months. Under less ideal conditions, it can take as long as eight years for "T" devils to cause noticeable damage. These little insects infest millions of homes nationwide, causing over $750 million in damage annually, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. If that is the case, I can't even fathom how many of these little "T" devils must have been in the homes I inspected last week where the better part of a 40 foot long 2" x 10" triple girder, plates, bands and floor joist were missing in action on a 80 year old home and major damage to the bearing ends of joist and plates on a 18 year old home.
If its difficult to find hidden damage, imagine how many millions, I would dare say billions of dollars in damage is present that just simply hasn't been discovered yet. How many are eating away as you are reading this on your or your client's homes? How much damage has already been done that hasn't been discovered yet or that has never been properly repaired.
In the 90's I purchased the 7500 square foot plus "Leinbach House" built in 1907 from Old Salem for one dollar. When you purchase a historic home for a dollar, you don't need to be overly concerned about the fact that the little "T" devils have been visiting. You can probably afford to deal with some repair. But, when you plan on spending three quarters of a million moving, restoring and upfitting it for office use and listing on the National Parks Service Registry of Historic Places you don't want the little "T" devils to make their visit an extended one. I called in the experts to be sure we would be able to eradicate them, and was shocked when I was told I didn't need to do anything. I was advised that the best method of exterminating "T" devils is to move the house. Since I was moving the home 400 yards, they would die or leave and not return.
This leads me to elaborate on the point you may not have caught above. The two different scenarios were "under conditions favorable … and … under less ideal conditions …" The best method of controlling "T" devils is to control the environment. Just like you and every other living being, they must have water, a palatable food supply and favorable conditions to survive. Take away either and they will not come to visit or stay very long if they do. It was explained to me that these insects live in the ground and return there for water and to nest. When we moved the house we took them away from their nest and water supply and they would die. The only other option for them would be if there were a supply of water in the home like a plumbing or roof leak. They don't like light to well, but be aware that these little devils are resourceful and they will construct the Golden Gate Bridge (elaborate mud tubes) if they can have the entire homes in LA for lunch.
Finding extensive damage from "T" devils is not the highlight of my day. Last week the pest control inspector and I had a long discussion about which would have the privilege of advising the widow lady who was selling her prized home and the mature single lady who was purchasing the home of her dreams that a portion of the perfect home, although it was not very old, had been lunch for tens of thousands of those little "T" devils. Why had this home been damaged? The builder, who you know and may think of as a quality competent builder, (if you have not been in a house he built, you haven't been in Real Estate very long) and the owner did not consider the environment. It was not just one issue, but a multitude of issue compounded making this home an invitation for lunch.
I always say if you are going to fight off an enemy in the desert, the first thing you should do is build an elaborate road system to food, water and fuel supplies in the center of the desert and send your enemy a notice that they have free access during the battle. You will not interfere with their access to the resources since they are so much less advanced than you; you want to make this a fair fight. Oh, I forgot, give them a 12-year head start to prepare before you begin the battle. Whom do you think is going to win this fight?
The crawl space of the widow ladies home was constructed below grade without adequate consideration for drainage (crawl spaces must drain per code). The rear yard sloped toward the home (It must slope away from the home 6 inches in the first 10 feet per code). The grade outside was above the top of the foundation (it must be 4" below on a brick veneer home per code). There were no "weep holes" at the foundation (they must be on 4 foot center per code). Considering the amount of water stain on the exterior floor plate, band and ends of the joist their did not appear to be the code required top of foundation flashing to direct moisture to the outside of the wall. The foundation vents were below grade in small wells filled with pine needles (There must be cross ventilation per code). The side porch floor was constructed with a concrete slab near floor level, which means the backfilled dirt was probably above the top of the foundation adjacent to the wood floor band. The builder and homeowner may as well have built an expressway with flashing lights saying "WOOD IN DAMP DARK SPACE, EAT ME."
I sincerely hope you have enjoyed my attempt to make this issue fun and lively. By now you should have figured out what the "T" word is. If not, there is no hope for you. This is serious business, and the damage can be extensive and the repair expensive. I am now attempting to change my position. Before I assumed the little devils were not there unless I found them or their damage. Now I will assume they are present or will be shortly unless the environment is conducive to keep them out.
Are home inspections and pest inspections important to your sellers and buyers? Come crawl through the crawl space of one of these damaged homes with me and you will never question that again. Go with me to Ardmore, Buena Vista, West End, Sherwood Forest or Bermuda Run and we will not need to walk through very many basements or crawl on our belly through many crawl spaces before we witness the problems. Many 10 plus year old homes everywhere haven't missed the bullet either.
Protect your clients both sellers and buyers, DEMAND, INSIST, PERSUADE that they get a home inspection. Not for you or for me, but for their best interest. Do you really want to get that call after the buyers inspection or after the sale saying; "You are not going to believe what we found today. The repair guy says its going to cost thousands, how am I supposed to pay for that? Why did you not insist that I have an inspection?"
Thought for the week
"It is not alone what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable."
--Moliere
