Portland Inspector, Author at Octopus Home Inspections, LCC

7 Questions To Ask A Home Inspector In Portland Before You Hire Them

Getting ready to buy a new home in the great state of Oregon?

Do you need a reliable home inspector in Portland?

Whether you’re buying a new home, considering a purchase or have another reason for getting a home inspection, it’s important to find the right person for the job.

To do this, you’ll want to ask your potential home inspector a few essential questions to make sure they’re the real deal and can perform the job thoroughly and professionally.

If you’re ready to find a home inspector in Portland, below are the 8 questions you need to ask before getting started.

1. What Does the Inspection Include?

First of all, you need to know what will be included in the inspection. What exactly will the home inspector look at and examine when it comes to the condition of your home?

A quality home inspector in Portland will typically look at many aspects of a home. However, it’s particularly important for home buyers that an inspector will be performing a roof inspection, a foundation inspection, and an exterior siding inspection.

A home inspection should be very thorough and give you full confidence that you are understand the state of the property you are considering.

2. What Are Your Qualifications?

Next, you need to ask about the home inspector’s qualifications. Be sure to ask about any special certifications they may hold, and especially check their reviews.

A quality home inspector should at least have the following:

An Oregon home inspectors license
An affiliation with a professional inspection organization (such as the American Society of Home Inspectors or the National Association of Home Inspectors)
Additionally, make sure that the home inspector doesn’t have any complaints against them on the state licensing board.

3. How Long Is the Inspection Going to Be?

You should also find out how long the inspection will take. A home inspection will be completed in three to four hours generally.

Be sure that the home inspection isn’t going to be too short as this may mean that the home inspector won’t be as thorough as they need to be to really determine the condition of your home. A home inspector in Portland shouldn’t take any less than an hour to complete an inspection.

4. Do You Offer Repairs Based On Inspection Results?

While some inspectors may offer may offer to assist with repairs, be wary of this. It’s easy for a conflict of interest to arise in their report and advice. You’ll want an inspector who is unbiased and fully committed to doing what they do best – analyzing the condition of the property at hand.

If an inspector offers repairs this can be a real conflict of interest and greatly reduce their reliability and trustworthiness. In most cases, it is a much better idea to choose a home inspector that doesn’t offer repairs so you can make sure you’re getting an unbiased report.

5. What Do You Charge?

You should also find out about the home inspection cost. Keep in mind that a quality inspection is the most important thing. It’s best that you don’t blindly choose the cheapest option.

It’s important to look for a good mix of both quality and value, and remember that you get what you pay for. Typically a home inspection will cost between $300 and $500.

However, be aware that if you have a larger home and a lot of extra square footage the time it takes to inspect your home will increase and costs will be more expensive. Ask about the specifics of these rates when speaking with a potential home inspector.

6. Do You Have Insurance?

A quality home inspector in Portland should also have reliable insurance. Ask them about what insurance they have for their company before you hire an inspector. Believe it or not, many home inspectors don’t have insurance.

Typically, if a home inspector has insurance it will be errors and omissions insurance. This insurance will help with claims of negligence in the rare case that a mistake is made or damage occurs during an inspection.

It is important that you make sure the home inspector you are considering has insurance before you hire them. Having insurance to back them up will ensure the inspector’s reliability and professionalism.

7. What Kind of Reporting Will There Be?

A reliable home inspector in Portland will offer to report thoroughly on the inspection. You should ask them about their reporting standards and what you should expect to see in a report before getting started.

You may also wish to ask for a sample inspection report so that you will be able to see exactly what you will be able to expect.

If you’re not happy with what is offered in the report you may need to request additional reporting from the inspection. However, if you’re not happy with the reporting standards it may simply be best to go with a different inspector who will be more thorough.

Finding the Best Home Inspector in Portland

By now you should have a good idea of how to properly vet a potential home inspector.

It can take a little bit of effort to find the right home inspector. However, it will be easy enough to find a professional as long as you take the time to ask a few questions first.

Looking for a reliable home inspector in Portland, Oregon? Octopus Home Inspections can help. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for you.

Why You Need a Professional Home Inspection Before Buying

by Portland Inspector

Can you attempt your own home inspection? Sure you can. In fact, if you Google home inspection tips, you’ll no doubt find tons of articles listing what to look for and what to check.

But the question you should be asking yourself is not whether a DIY home inspection is possible. It should be, “Can I do as great a job as a professional would?” Because professional home inspection isn’t just a matter of flipping light switches and looking for wall cracks and paint chips.

If you fail to detect a major problem, you could end up paying more to fix it. The few bucks you saved from doing it yourself would most likely fail to cover the repair expenses, especially for things like a leaky roof or a shifting foundation.

To save yourself from future headaches, it’s best to hire a professional. But if you’re still not convinced, here are five more reasons to work with one before buying a home.

1. Objectivity

You see your dream home and it’s just love at first sight. Of course, you’re not going to be objective and see that house as it really is.

A professional home inspector, however, will not care whether you already see your kids having tons of fun in the entertainment room. He or she will take note of everything – good and bad – and make sure you’re aware of all the issues through the report provided to you after the inspection.

If your dream home turns out to not be perfect, that’s okay. No home is. And that’s a good thing because you can either find another house or use the uncovered “imperfections” to renegotiate the price.

2. Beyond The Obvious

A professional home inspection will obviously cover the basics like light switches, stove burners, wall cracks, and so on. But a quality home inspector will do much more. I’ve talked about this in a previous post, where I listed the top three things a quality home inspector checks.

First is the roof. An inspector will not just look at the type and quality of the home’s roof, but will also check how it was installed. He or she will also look at the plumbing to check if there are penetrations, as well as their rubber membranes to see if these are a candidate for replacement.

Second is the foundation. If you hire a pro, he or she wouldn’t just look at cracks. What’s important in a professional home inspection is to see what type of cracks are present. “V” cracks, for example, are a telltale sign that there are issues with the foundation.

Last but not the least is the exterior siding. Now some types like the LP (Louisiana Pacific) tend to swell when they get wet. A good inspector can educate you on how to take care of this type of siding so it will last for years to come if it is not already damaged.

But I always make sure to let the buyer know if this isn’t the case, as replacing siding could get expensive.

3. Not Just for Buyers

If you plan to sell your home, consider getting a professional home inspection every few years or before you put it on the market. It’s basically the same as getting a tune-up for your car. Plus, if you do it this way, there will be no nasty surprises if the buyer’s inspector uncovers something major.

This is known as a maintenance inspection. A maintenance inspection is a is when a homeowner hires an inspector to review their existing property (that they don’t intend to sell) in order to highlight any defects that have developed overtime that the current occupant may not have noticed on their own if they are not knowledgeable on how to maintain a home /structure.

4. Flexibility

One of the reasons why a professional home inspection is worth every penny is it gives you options. If the home’s problems turn out to be too big to fix, you can just walk away from the deal (provided of course that the contract has an inspection contingency).

You can also ask the seller to fix the problems. Or you can renegotiate a better deal. Another option is to ask for a cash credit so you can solve the problems yourself.

If the property is bank-owned and the options mentioned above aren’t possible, getting a home inspection is still a good idea. Once you know the problems, you can get estimates and start planning for repairs when you own the property. Your inspection report can be your source of information for a “to-do list.”

5. No Buyer’s Remorse

Imagine if the home buying process was a lot like ordering something from Amazon. If you didn’t like your new home, you could just return or exchange it!

Obviously, that system’s not going to work for big purchases such as a new home or a car. Both are covered by notoriously strict laws and return policies are non-existent. This is why preparation and research are your best tools for avoiding buyer’s remorse.

With a professional home inspection, you can feel as confident as possible about your purchase. If you skip it or try to DIY only to discover major problems down the road, your only options are to either fix or sell. Both will cost you money and you can bet that the next buyer will be smarter and not offer you the same price you paid for your problematic house.

Don’t Skip a Professional Home Inspection

Saving money is good. But don’t skip a professional home inspection just because you feel you can do a better job or to save a few bucks.

Here, I’ve given you five reasons to consider why a home inspection is a crucial part of the home buying process. But really it all boils down to one thing. If you’re the type who reads reviews before buying a product or trying out a service, why wouldn’t you do the same for such a big purchase?

Consider a professional home inspection as your first and most important review of the home you’re thinking of buying. Get to know the property’s pros and cons and what you can do about them. And if you’re looking for a qualified home inspector in Portland, don’t hesitate to contact Octopus Home Inspections, LLC.

We won’t give you the cheapest or the most expensive rates. But I can promise you that we’ll give you the best education for your hard-earned money. You can check out what our customers are saying about us to get a better idea of how we conduct home inspections.

What Does a Quality Home Inspector Look For?

by Portland Inspector

3 Things That Make a Quality Home Inspector

Often I am asked what exactly is a quality home inspector looking for during a home inspection. I usually go down the list in bullet point fashion, but the top three things that are most important to any home buyer are almost always the first three things I list off.

I wanted to cover these thee topics in greater detail below.

1. Roof Inspection

First, I always start with the roof. Knowing how to read a roof is critical to being a quality home inspector, and it is easy to say the roof is the most important thing I look at on a daily basis. The roof is the protection between you and the elements. Even when you watch movies that are set in exotic places (Blue Lagoon, Tarzan, Castaway and The Beach, etc.) the one thing they all have in common is crudely constructed enclosures with a roof over head. None of those encampments had walls, just a way to keep a roof over one’s head does a lot to keep a person healthy. It shields the sun and keeps you dry when it rains. A roof is by far the most important necessity to any living quarters.

portland roof inspection — A quality home inspector will inform you exactly what kind of condition your roof is in.

While inspecting the roof I look for many different things. The type of covering, the quality of that covering, and how well it was installed. There are different type of roof coverings with some variations. For example, the most common roof covering installed are composite shingles. There are three-tab roofs which have a life expectancy of 20 years from installation, and there is a composite product referred to architectural shingles which carries a 30 year life expectancy. There are different types of architectural composite shingles that supposedly have a longer expectancy than 30 years, but they haven’t been offered long enough to truly test if they are worth the extra expense. Longer than 30 years is a long time to be exposed to the sun’s brutal intensity, not to mention the rains and winds.

Beyond the composition products, there are metal roofs that have a longer life expectancy. Even though these roofs are superior in material, they can still go bad. First, you really have to research the installer. Any roofing company can get into installing metal roofs, but does the crew really know what they are doing? John Deere is a great tractor, but who’s driving it? If I decide to walk a metal roof during my roof inspection, I’m looking for sealants added. If I start seeing caulking applied at the joints, I know the roof’s integrity is blown. Now, there is a big pile of junk overhead that could leak at any time. But since it was already so expensive to install, the owner of the roof is really married to it. If you buy or already own a metal roof and you need to make a modification to it, such as a vent or a skylight, make sure you use the installation company who put the roof on. This way, if there is a warranty left on the roof, you won’t automatically void it by making such changes to the product. Don’t get me wrong, the installer may not stand by the product, but at least you went about it the correct by by contacting them first.

I also come across wood shingles during roof inspections, as well as tile (cement or terracotta). I won’t walk on either one of those. Wood shingles have a life expectancy of 25 years, and if you notice the shingles turn white that means it is time to have them replaced. Most people opt to have them replaced with composition shingles, but you cannot apply composition shingles over wood shake roofing. The composition never lays flat and ultimately the material starts to look wavy and doesn’t usher the water down the surface as quickly as it would if there was a flat surface to glide down. It is against the International Residential Code (IRC) to place composite roofing over wood shingles for these reasons. I can look at a roof and say with certainty that there is a wood shake roof at the base of the roofing layers.

During the roof inspection, I also look at the plumbing penetrations and their weatherized rubber membranes. These are referred to as “no caulk” boots. They fit snugly around plumbing vent pipes and provide a water tight seal depending on how long they have been installed. The sun is a punishing force, and these rubber seals will crack eventually. In fact, they usually need to be replaced before the roof’s service life has ended. The roof covering and the flashings are the common details I look at, but often times there will be exhaust vents, skylights, chimneys and satellite dishes that penetrate the roof covering. I’m not going to go over those now, but they are examined for details that could lead to a leak in the roof.

2. Foundation Inspection

The second most important thing a quality home inspector looks at is the foundation. I will always see cracks because poured cement foundations shrink as they cure. Its not the cracks that get my attention, it’s the type of crack that I’m looking for that needs my judgement. The cracks I look for are called “V” cracks. The name says it all. If I see cracks in a foundation that are wider at one end than the other, I know with absolute certainty that there is a foundational issue. If a crack is wider at the top than the bottom, I know the foundation is sinking. And the thing about these cracks is that they must come in pairs.

The most obvious “V” crack I have ever seen was below the end unit of an attached three-story town home. What I believe happened was the ground was dug out too deep at this corner, and the builder allowed the surface to be back filled. It doesn’t matter how much compaction you do, or how heavy your equipment is, you can’t beat Father Time. As time goes by, soils compact more and more. Once the soil is removed, unless a structural engineer is on hand to plan how to install pillars that rest on the undisturbed soil below, it will take decades to get that stability back.

portland foundation inspection — Foundation repairs are expensive. A quality home inspector can easily save you thousands of dollars if they understand foundations.

Now it is up to the builder to decide which is more expensive: the proper repair from an engineer and the time it sets the builder back, or the lawsuit they’re going to end up with once the foundation starts to settle. The most obvious way to know if a foundation is settling isn’t by looking at the foundation itself, but seeing the diagonal cracks above interior doors and windows with the same “V” pattern, wider at one side than the other. I show realtors these cracks when I get the opportunity so they can see them when they tour a house. Nothing better for the realtor than to be the hero and not allow their client to waste time and money on an inspection when there are alternate options available.

3. Exterior Siding Inspection

Lastly, on this most important list is the exterior siding. Any quality home inspector knows that like roofs, the siding is keeping out the elements to protect the wood framing and interior drywall or plaster surfaces. There is one siding out there that all inspectors need to know when they see it. Admittedly, sometimes I need to take a closer look as to not mistake it for something else, but when I see it I make sure the buyer knows as well. The siding is known at Louisiana Pacific AKA: LP or Hardy Board, or wafer board.

This is a wood composition product made of wood shavings compressed to create a siding. If this material gets wet and swells, it will make the fastening nail heads look as though they have puckered in. Once this happens, it will never return to normal. I have seen this LP siding in very good condition as well, and that tells me the owner of this property knows what he or she has and how to properly take care of it.

The key to this siding is painting it properly and not letting it go to long without a fresh seal. The main culprit that causes this siding to fail is the sun, as it will beat on the paint and crack it. Then the rains will come and the water will intrude into those gaps. Next thing you know, the siding has started to swell and more opportunities have developed for exterior siding failure. The key to the paint job is the drip edge. The very bottom of the piece of siding where water tension allows moisture to collect before it gains enough weight to drop to the ground.

When a person has a paint sprayer and is painting the side of a house, it is awesome. It is powerful. It is a big responsibility too. The airless sprayers cover the surface better than any application available, but the one thing that the person spraying doesn’t do is get down, (and I mean way down) onto the ground and spray upward at the last 6 to 8 inches from the ground where the drip edges are. Whether or not it is sheet style siding (4’ x 8’ sheets) or lapped boards with a 7 inch reveal, you have got to paint that drip edge. My advice is to use a roller. Sure you can spray it, but since it is incredibly difficult to actually see that you did it correctly, I advise physically contacting the materials with an applicator such as a small roller or paint brush. And be liberal about it. You’re already out there, you already spent all that time prepping to make sure the outcome is what you want it to be no matter if this a fee based job or you’re a homeowner doing it yourself. And don’t forget the corner trim boards too. They collect water at the base of the materials just as easily, and there are often made of wood, so dry rot can set in.

portland exterior siding inspection — Last but not least, all quality home inspectors should know exterior siding like the back of their hand!

There are a lot of other siding options. I just went into detail about the LP siding because it has the worst Achilles heel of them all. The other sidings I will see are lapped wood plank, usually made of cedar to deter wood destroying insects, or cedar shake shingles, also made of cedar (and very expensive to have installed new due to the laborious nature of the small pieces of shingle), stucco, which is not common in the Pacific Northwest due to our marine climate, T-111, which comes in 4’x8’ plywood or OSB (Oriented Strand Board) sheets, and more.

My most favored siding is Fiber Cement AKA Hardi-Board. This material has made it to my favorite list because it can withstand the most punishment. Don’t get me wrong, I have seen Hardi-Boards in poor condition, but it was only when the crew left them out and they got rained on for two or more days without being installed. Hardi-Board is seen often on new construction and comes in a canary yellow primer color. Once they’re up and installed properly, I’ve seen them never get painted and last many years. When water is able to drip off of the material as it can withstand the elements better than any other product out there. The most common failure I see is when bulk rain water is accidentally directed toward it from a roof’s rain shed and there is no kick out flashing installed to direct the water into the gutter and it is allowed to flow between the gutter end cap and the siding. But under these circumstances all sidings will fail.

Although I covered a lot of information here, and I probably didn’t cover all of it and the different variations that can be experienced. If you’ve read this far, you got a good education from my life’s learnings in by quest to become the highest quality home inspector in Portland, OR.

Every day I go out to inspect homes, and every day I have a new experience. That’s what keeps me going! If you are interested in a quality home inspection from Octopus Home Inspections, contact me here.

How Much Does a Home Inspection Cost?

by Portland Inspector

Determining Home Inspection Cost

When I opened this business, one of the many responsibilities I had was to come to a pricing schedule for my inspection services. One of the first things I did was research how other inspectors were determining home inspection cost, as well as recall the price of the inspections I had performed for me in the past.

For my home inspection cost estimates, I started with a solid price of $400 for anything up to 3000 square feet and then increased my pricing once I got to that mark, but I wasn’t getting any uptake. One real estate professional finally spoke up and said I needed a range of cost via a sliding scale. Well that certainly made sense, so I sat down and put pencil to paper and came up with a sliding scale.

At first, my low end was too low. I did an inspection for $250. When I got home, I swore I would never inspect a house for so little money again. I worked very hard on the inspection, got back to my office and still had the report to write. It was exhausting for very little compensation. After the report was written I sat there and came to a different pricing schedule. I had to figure in the cost of fuel, my time, insurance fees, license fees, and office stuff like computers, phones, software and other miscellaneous items that cost a business as well.

I concluded that in order for me to perform a proper inspection, that the minimum home inspection cost couldn’t be any lower than $350. That price point was assigned to structures under 1000 square feet, which usually meant 2 bedrooms one bath, the kitchen and mechanicals plus the exterior and unconditioned areas such as the attic and crawlspace. That made sense. As the property size increased, my fee would increase as well. Every 500 square feet I increased my fee by $50.

As the opportunities for larger homes came about, my time on site and at my desk increased, but so did my income. This new procedure kept me happy, but more importantly, it kept my clients and the realtors happy as well. I started doing inspections with this new pricing schedule and It worked. I was proving a great service to future home buyers and I felt good about it.

Adjusting Home Inspection Costs

Recently, I had to go through a price increase. Fees were increasing around me, but my pricing remained the same. I chose to increase my fees $25 across the board. At first, I felt awkward about it, but not long after I made the fee increase, it felt right. I was still providing the same great service, and my attitude towards the service brightened as well.

I didn’t realize it, but as the cost of doing business increased and it was harder for me to keep afloat, my attitude towards the inspections soured a bit. I was still doing the same great inspections, but I didn’t feel the joy of helping to educate a buyer on their new investment with the smile and bright eyes I had been offering as my persona in the past.

You Get What You Pay For!

Every so often I get a phone call from a potential buyer asking about pricing for an inspection. This person is obviously looking for the cheapest inspector possible. My price schedule is nowhere near the most expensive, and I certainly have no interest in being the cheapest guy in town, but every time I field a call like that it really makes me think to myself, “What do people expect?”

Still to this day, when I field a call and the other person on the end of the line is just getting a quote, I hang up and move on. They’re not going to call back because all they want is the cheapest guy.

Folks, when it comes to home inspections, just like everything else in life, you get what you pay for. I am not now, nor will I ever be the cheapest guy. I am college educated and committed to whatever it is that I produce in this lifetime. If it has my name on it, you will know it was done to the highest standard of my abilities.

While my home inspections are priced fairly, I can say with utmost confidence that you receive more value for your money than you will with anyone else.

Now, some inspectors are a bit tired, sore or just plain bored with the vocation they have chosen for themselves. These people have come to charge a large amount for their inspections. I feel it is partially because they feel as though they’ve come to earn that amount of money, or they have some kind of program they are paying for that helps add extra insurance to their inspections to cover themselves should they have made a mistake.

I feel that if the inspector does his job correctly, takes his time to review the structure, especially in those hard to get to areas that most folks would rather not go into, there really shouldn’t be a need for an exorbitant home inspection cost.

I believe it is important to ask oneself who they are and what they want to give. I am an excellent inspector and I want to give any prospective client what it is they really need – a proper education on their next big investment. When you call Octopus Home Inspections, you can expect a cheerful attitude, and the diligence to get it done right the first time. We strive to offer the service you want but didn’t realize it was available or where to find it.

You’ll always be in good hands with Octopus Home Inspections. Read my reviews and contact me to learn more!

Roof Flashing

by Portland Inspector

Roof flashing comes in multiple sizes for every different purpose. The most common of which are “drip-edge”, “L”, “W”, “Kick-out” and “Counter”. As I go through the different, more common, types of flashing you should expect on your home, remember, just because they are common does not mean another professional hasn’t found an alternate way or custom made metal flashings on site to suite the detail he or she was trying to protect.

Drip edge flashing installed (and rusted). Gutter amazingly full below

Drip edge flashing is a strip of metal with a slight bend of the lower side. This flashing is commonly used at the eve or bottom of the roof where water will ultimately drip off the roof covering by way of gravitational flow. The drip edge flashing is installed to inhibit the possibility of water wicking back up (opposing gravity) onto the wood decking supporting the roof covering.

Drip edge flashing missing. Wood exposed

Some metal gutters installed at the eves will have a 90 degree bend applied where the gutter meets the roof sheeting. This style gutter has been approved to be used in lieu of drip edge flashing, but if the gutter sags or detaches, so does the protective feature of the gutter and comes away from the sheeting potentially allowing water to splash onto the edge. If your gutter and roof system was built with this component molded into the gutter, just be aware of it and make sure the gutter stays in place and doesn’t get too heavy.

This is a gable roof. Two planes sloped downward.

“L” flashings are another type of roof edge edge flashing. Usually it is used for the rake edge on the gable side of a roof. This flashing is installed in order to deter water movement from getting between the underside of the roofing material and the wood fascia installed at the roof’s pitched edge (the gable portion of the roof). This flashing is intended to be installed below the roof covering. At times I will observed the flashing installed over the roof covering, and this is regarded as a defect since rain water can be directed sideways and ultimately could seep under the flashing and make contact with the wood fascia. The water could then get trapped behind the materials because it could not evaporate easily. This situation could then promote decay and rot at the rake edge and fascias.

“W” flashing is used is the valleys where a roof is pitched in a concave, or inward, manner. The “W” flashing is not mandatory for this application, and two roofing sections can come together at this location without the flashing installed and the roof covering can be carefully woven together. When the “W” flashing is installed it is known as an “Open Valley” and when the flashing is not installed, but the roof covering is woven together it is referred to as a closed valley.

This area gets a lot of water flow since two roofing planes come together at this line and channel water down toward the gutter, so installing the flashing is regarded as a better installation.

As with any topic, there is more depth to discuss. But I am assuming the reader isn’t looking for any more information beyond the basics. If you would like to discuss further, please call me at my office.