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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

What To Expect From A Home Inspection

When you buy a home or have an insurance claim there are inspections that are designed to protect all the investors: the buyer, the insured and the mortgage company. Even the city tries to protect the occupants and the neighbors by making sure whatever is repaired is brought up to current codes.

If you leave your old gas lamp alone, and the codes have changed, you are grandfathered in and have to do nothing. If your neighbor's kid drives over your gas lamp and the codes have changed, you better not fix it or the municipal Brown Shirts will come and rough you up, or worse, shut you down, fine you and humiliate you in front of a block party.

If you have code upgrade on your insurance policy and your decking does not meet the IRC for your town, then they'll pay to replace it when hail damages your roof. Ha ha ha...what a laugh if you have State Farm. They're pretty good most of the time but when they decide to ignore the rules they rank up there with the best, or worse if you prefer.

Let's consider the home sale transaction: you get a  Realtor and she finds you your dream home, or at least a great deal. Most can't afford their dream home because they buy a number 6 at McDonald's and don't take a sack lunch. There's also Starbucks, Goody Goody and the lottery. But the Realtor is a professional and knows where to look, who to call and even shows up a night and on weekends. That's why they have nice homes.

The Realtor pulls out the book of vendors acquired over the years and calls a home inspector, a roofer, plumber and anyone else the home inspector has put into motion by questioning the workmanship, age and code compliance of a  particular home widget.
Now the inspector writes "check with a professional licensed roofer...there might be damage." his butt is covered now and he can't be sued (successfully because someone will take the case). If he doesn't write that and something on the roof is bad then he can be liable up to triple indemnity. So he pulls out the caveat card and washes his hands like Pilot.

There is no such thing as a roofer's license for Texas. Municipal licenses for roofers are a one line test: signature on a check that clears. Now you are ordained. Praise the lord. But everyone knows Jesus was not a roofer. He was the son of a Jewish carpenter and fisher of men. So get those symbols off you card right now before I call the Anti Defamation League. Those superheroes can take anyone down.

And no one even knows the new IRC code for ventilation: the 150 Rule if you don't have a vapor barrier between the sheetrock and the ceiling joists. you have to move the insulation out of the way to see that you don't have the mythical vapor barrier. So no homes should ever pass. Not here in Texas, except some of ours. Try to get State Farm to pay for that. Don't even ask Allstate.

If your roof is replaced the mortgage company will want to know that it has been done. The larger the claim the more layers of paperwork they will require also. WW9's, release of liens, signed contracts, the money in their account making interest while they release it in partial payments until you jump through burning hoops and do the Watusi backwards on one foot.

Then comes their inspector. He might even get out of his car. Didn't bring a ladder. Does not smile. Usually it is a wave and a kiss.

Then the city, who extorted one or two percent, on top of the one line test registration (an annual shake down) just because they can. And if you try to get around it they will double fee you. This guy is a law enforcement officer. He has a badge, can fine you, make you rebuild your home, get rid of your pets and have you incarcerated.

Does he see if your felt is over the drip edge on eaves and under on rakes? does he check to see if a venturi has been created in the attic based on the 150 or 300 Rules as the codes they enforce state must be done? How about a wide chimney without a cricket? A low slope roof having two ply felt? (These roofs are only done on weekends anyway.) Four nails, six on a 12/12? Gas flue pipes not cut off and not possessing a double wall kit with a type B cap, collar and base? Soffit vents unobstructed? Even a hole on the other side of the soffit vent?

Not one. Nothing. Some cities do have an attic inspection to make the roofer doesn't kill anyone else by leaving another gas flue disjambled (a very technical construction term not in wide use today) beneath the roof line.

Nope. none of the above by anybody. Did your roofing contractor even check out the roof?

This is a cold and lonely world and you better check for yourself.

Mr. K. is at fault for this rant because he couldn't believe none of the inspectors cared or tried to earn their money. And he bought a better roof for protection.




Jon Alan Wright
Jon Wright Roofing, Siding, and Windows
1915 Peters Rd., Suite 310
Irving, TX 75061
972.251.1818 Office
214.718.3748 Cell
972.554.8090 Fax
    Follow jwrightroofing on Twitter

Friday, June 14, 2013

Roofing and Building Codes

 Over the years the building codes related to roofing have changed and so has the structural requirements for the deck and structure. Yet there is more to it than change. There is procedure.

Worldwide different processes are used. Many countries use central planning, allowing local jurisdictions to modify codes as they see fit due to different conditions like population density, heat , humidity, rainfall and flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes or soil conditions. The United States allows local jurisdictions to accept the model code of choice with addenda as each sees fit. In the past there was a conglomeration of the Universal Building Code, The Southern Building code, the International Standard Building Code, Building Officials Code Administrators International  and, a long time ago The Law of Moses that required a parapet to keep blood-guilt off the owners head because some drunk roofer fell off and got killed. Today the laws we bow to here is the International Code Council (ICC), which sprang from the big three Legacy Codes. I think OSHA came about from Moses crossing the Red Sea. Not to help the Hebrews ( Macho Jewish Beer) but the drowned Egyptian 5th Army. Later they made it past the Red Sea and into Sinai but again were caught circa 1974.

 The ICC is divided into the International Residential Code, International Fire Code, The International Plumbing Code, International Mechanical Code, International Fuel Gas Code, International Energy Conservation Code and ICC Performance Code.

Now, let's make no bones about it: when a code is adopted by a local jurisdiction, it is LAW! Code Enforcement Officials are law enforcement officers with the power to arrest and fine people and condemn properties or part of properties. A Red Card is not to be messed with. There is also a special clause at the end of the code we refer to as "The Gawd Clause." This is where the building inspector can make up any code on the spot as he sees fit.

If your home does not pass code during a sale, the inspector might call it out. You don't have to fix it if it were built that way under a different set of codes but if you change something like a roof, a gas lamp, a sprinkler system or a window, and the codes have changed, then you have to meet new codes. Items not changed and not sold are grandfathered in under the old code but grandpa gets up, then he needs to change his shoes to steel toed boots. If you don't follow the code there is no appeal. It is summary execution. Building officials, OSHA, EPA and other regulatory administrations have carte blanche to keep blood guilt from destroying your salvation.

There is no jury. There is no appeal. There is only pain and grief. So whenever you do some remodeling you need to know the codes or hire someone who does. If you have an insurance claim  you need to update the repairs to meet current code (law). If you have code upgrade in your insurance policy, you need to get it right the first time because the insurance won't pay to redo it. And if they won't pay the first time, it is time to rain holy hell upon them for asking to to be a criminal as State Farm has asked me to do by proving that current building codes are "enforced."

Don't get me wrong here because 95% of the time they are outstanding but they must not know who I am if they ask me to break the law. No saint am I but my ethics are intact and I'm incensed. My moral are okay too but that is a matter of judgement. Ethics can be know through pure logic and are not up to debate when scrutinized by enlightened men. Morals change with time, as do building codes. But a nation of laws must stand by it's laws unless they are tested to be incorrect by a jury of peers. That is another discussion that has been lifted from the courtroom and legal precedent by modern courts: the instruction of the judge to deem a law just or not.

No empowered governmental power, like building departments, concern themselves with right or wrong. It is the letter of the law you must follow, despite what State Farm thinks.





Jon Alan Wright
Jon Wright Roofing, Siding, and Windows
1915 Peters Rd., Suite 310
Irving, TX 75061
972.251.1818 Office
214.718.3748 Cell
972.554.8090 Fax
    Follow jwrightroofing on Twitter