Gutters and downspouts come in many materials -- plastic, steel, aluminum. While plastic does not rust, it generally is a poor gutter material. Plastic gutters are usually assembled by homeowners from a variety of parts they find at home stores. The gutters tend to come apart, break and be low capacity.

Then there are steel gutters and downspouts. When these are new they might not be bad. In fact, they might be okay for many years. But, eventually, since steel rusts, the gutters and downspouts will start going the way of the gutter in the photo below.

In my view, the best gutters and downspouts for our wet Pacific Northwest climate, in Bellingham and Whatcom County, would be the seamless aluminum gutters and downspouts that are installed by professionals. Unless they are damaged by falling limbs or other impact damage they tend to last for a very long time. Of course, the homeowner has to keep the systems clean too or they do not work as intended.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

A general guideline, reinforced by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, is that substructure lumber must have minimum clearances from soil. The clearances are defined as 12" from grade to the bottom of beams and 18" from grade to the bottom of joists (they rest on top of the beams.)

These clearances were not dreamed up to be mean, or to give inspectors an easy excuse to duck going in the crawl space. The fact of the matter is that, if wood is much lower than that, it is extremely difficult for workers to do any jobs in the crawl space -- plumbing, HVAC, electrical. And when wood to soil is not in the ballpark as far as clearances, it reduces potential ventilation and proper air circulation.

There is another side to it as well: If the home inspector or structural pest inspector is tenacious and tries to do the job, as best as is possible, even when clearances are tight, it can lead to pretty uncomfortable crawling.

Here is a photo of a friend, average size man, who is, like me, trying to do the best job possible in a crawl space where joists are, at no point, higher than 12" over grade and in some locations they drop down to 7" over grade.

All of this crawl space was difficult access and half of it was inaccessible -- no way to get around safely. Getting stuck is not an option.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

I see this often while working as a Bellingham home inspector who serves all of Whatcom County and the outlying areas. Many builders, often dating back from eons ago, choose to leave old scrap lumber and debris in the crawl space. You know the story: It does not hurt anyone if they cannot see it.

That may not be true in the case of leaving cellulose scraps in the crawl space. Wood destroying organisms, often first rot and then wood destroying insects, tend to be attracted to such materials.

Below are examples of problems:

The bottom photo is an old cross-tie, used in pouring the footing and the foundation. This rots away and not only do you have decayed wood but also a water entry point into the crawl space where the open gap exists, after the wood is gone. Clean is better in the crawl space too.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

In a climate where it freezes in winter, like here in Bellingham and Whatcom County, WA, it makes sense to have the new frost-free  hose bibbs. When I do home inspections and find that the faucets, or worse yet, the pipes to the faucets are exposed to the weather then I know that one of two things will happen in winter. (1) The homeowner is going to have to find a shutoff and drain the pipes or (2) they will end up frozen.

The best tip I can give is for the purchaser to install frost-free hose bibbs or frost-free yard hydrants. It saves lots of hassle. I know that first hand because, up until last year, my wife's outside garden faucets were not yard hydrants and they would freeze prior to yours truly getting the water shutoff in the winter. Happened more than once. This year I can go to Mexico in January and not sweat that one.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

My wife works at the county and today she came home and told me that a fellow I used to be a friend with, in the 1970's, died. This is a man who, like me, worked in radio broadcasting for many years. His name was Joe Bates and he had become the spokesman for Whatcom County.

Joe and I, early 70's, college guys, drove clear up to Diablo Lake, up in the mountains in Washington, to watch them film a movie called Parallax View starring Warren Beatty when he was young. The movie involved Beatty, and the bad sheriff, being flooded as they stood at a river. I will never forget watching all the Hollywood stunts, and how the poor stuntman for Beatty and the camera crew about drowned in filming the movie. The opened a dam and flooded the valley. The movie, which you can rent on Netflix, was a political drama.

Then, for years, Joe and I worked in broadcasting, for awhile at the same station. The ironic thing about it, that has my wife upset, is that he was one of two serious ladder accidents this weekend -- he hit his head when he fell off a ladder. In another one, a Whatcom County judge is now in the hospital. Being a home inspector, my wife is always upset by ladder accidents. I only saw Joe occasionally in recent years but, when I did, he was always friendly, decent and a real honorable guy. I feel bad.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith