March 26, 2008

Termite inspectors find mummies

I’ve inspected thousands of buildings for termites in the last thirty years. Sometimes I find interesting things that I wasn’t expecting to find. Twice I’ve found large sums of money that had been misplaced. A few years ago I found a valuable collection of heirloom jewelry. Most of the really interesting stuff I’ve found has been in crawl spaces beneath buildings: old tools, handblown bottles, a perfect china teacup. I find a lot of guns in attics of vacant houses. People store them out of reach when their kids come along, then forget that about them when they move. My most interesting find to date was a horseshoe. It was nailed to a beam beneath a Garden District home in New Orleans. The beam had originally been directly beneath the front door of the house, but the home had been expanded over the years, so I was about twenty feet into the crawl space when I found it. The horseshoe and the single nail that held it in place were both handmade and badly corroded. They broke off in my hand when I touched them. I could see the nibs of two other nails in the beam, indicating that the horseshoe had originally been placed with the ends pointing up, to catch luck. It used to be common practice to do that above doors, but I’d never heard of anyone doing it in the nether regions below them. I gave the horseshoe and nail to the homewowner and she had then framed as a part of the home’s history.

It feels pretty good to return something that was lost, even when it wasn’t even known to exist. The things that I’ve found, though, are nothing compared to a recent discovery by termite inspectors in Sao Paulo, Brazil. While tying to track down an infestation in an old mosastery they found two mummies which are believed to be two hundred years old. I found a soundless video , but haven’t been abe to get it to post, so you’ll have to follow the link to see it. Somehow my horseshoe and heirloom jewelry don’t seem quite so special anymore.

Technorati Tags: mummies, odd news, termite inspections

December 10, 2007

The week that was - photo essay

Early last week I had intended to write about my day on Monday. Things got busy Monday and Tuesday and I never got beyond editing some photos and sketching out my post in my head. The rest of the week turned out to be blogworthy, too, but I’m only just now finding the time, so it’s all going into one long post. Pour yourself a glass of you favorite beverage, kick off you shoes and let me tell you about my week.

Monday

I started my day at home in Maili on the Waianae Coast (the west side on the map above.) I drove out Farrington Highway (93), the only access to and from the coast, to H-1, towards Honolulu. In Aiea I picked up H-3 to the Windward side, turning back west at Kaneohe. Kamehameha Highway (83)took me to my destination in Hau’ula. I drove through rain most of the way and the entire trip took over two hours.

The home I inspected had a heavy infestation of formosan subterranean termites, which we don’t see as much since termite baiting systems are providing such good control. I won’t say that they’ve become rare, but I see them infrequently enough these days that there’s an element of fun in it for me when I get to explore an infestation. The more widespead drywood termites were also present in the home, but I see them in probably six or seven out of every ten inspections. Jobs like this one keep my work from becoming boring, so I was feeling pretty good as I left the site, despite wet clothes and soggy shoes.

As I was getting ready to get back on the highway the radio announced that a car had overturned on H-3 townbound and traffic was backed up. Since my second inspection for the day had cancelled I wasn’t in a great hurry, but I decided to take the Windward/North Shore route home rather than sit in freeway traffic. The surf had been reaching spectacular heights, so I expected heavy traffic on this route, too, but at least I’d be moving and would have pretty scenery to look at. Sure enough, surfers and tourists were all moving in the same direction, towards the big surf of Sunset Beach and Waiamea Bay.

Cars were parked all along the shoulder of the highway and each beach park parking lot. I wasn’t in any hurry, so I stopped several times and took photos of tourists taking pictures of other tourists and the ocean.

I made a few new friends. These two men are from the San Francisco Bay area and one of them has connections to the part of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana where I grew up, so we spent a few minutes talking about our common background.

As I neared Sunset Beach I could see a group of surfers straddling their boards out in the wild water, all hoping for one more good wave to emerge from the sloppiness, I’m sure. The O’Neill World Cup of Surfing had kicked off early Monday morning with waves in the 24 to 30-foot range, but was cancelled about noon when the conditions got too dangerous. (Click photo to see a larger version on flikr. The little black dots in the circle are our daredevils.)

Spectators and competition officials were still trying to exit the grandstand area when I passed Sunset Beach. The parking lot was reserved for the elite, so the shoulder of the road was lined with parked cars and people were dodging in and out of traffic on foot. A police office was working his way down the lines of illegally parked vehicles with his ticket book.

I pulled into the parking lot at Waimea Bay, but there were no slots available so I had to circle the lot and climb back up to the highway. Traffic had slowed to a snails pace, but finally began to move as I approached Haleiwa, where I turned south. I cut across the island through the pineapple fields, Wahiawa and Mililani, with H-2 taking me to H-1 for the last leg of my trip home.

I hit heavy traffic again on Farrington Highway in Nanakuli. I was weary, but reminded myself that there was nothing urgent on my agenda, so I relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. It took about forty minute to travel that last five miles or so to home. The entire trip, counting the hour and half I spent actually inspecting, took almost six hours. I spent a little time chilling with the boys, then ate a very late lunch and wrote up my report and a couple of blog posts. It was bedtime before I realized I hadn’t remembered to look for Tuesday Teaser possibilities while I was out. I took several unsatisfactory photos of household items and finally settled on the oven shot that I used. I wrote the post and put my blog and myself to bed at 2:00 a.m. Tuesday.

Tuesday

Office work, some customer relations calls and Tuesday Teaser comments kept me busy for much of Tuesday. The weather was still rainy and windy, so I was happy to stay in. I watched Bones and House in the evening. We were being warned to expect much worse weather overnight. I unplugged my computer and fax machine, forwarded my office phone to my cell and readied flashlights, lanterns and radio before I went to bed. Storm noises and blowing debris crashed around all night and woke me several times.

Wednesday

I awoke around six without an alarm, as usual. It took me a few minutes to realize what felt “off.” It was the quiet. I could hear rain falling, but the wind had settled down. There was no air conditioner noise from my office and I didn’t hear the usual hum of traffic from the highway. Aha! No power! I stumbled into the kitchen and made a single cup of coffee in the little campfire pot from my evacuation kit. I read by lamplight while waiting for the sun to come up. When I felt awake enough to handle the noise I turned on the radio and discovered that Farrington Highway was closed. Utility poles had fallen across traffic lanes in several areas. There was no way to leave the coast. I called the client I had planned on meeting for an inspection. He was fine with the delay, considering that he was stranded in his own neighborhood on the Windward side. We agreed to move the inspection to Thursday. I spent much of the day putzing at housework, reading, and monitoring the radio for more news. No computer, no TV, no going anywhere. The rain continued to fall. By mid-afternoon the callers to the radio station were getting agitated about being stranded. The refrigerator was reaching unacceptable temperatures and I moved my dairy products into the freezer. I went to bed early with a flashlight and a book, fully expecting to have power by the time morning came.

Thursday

I awoke to an unnaturally quiet house again, but could hear several portable generators powering neighbors’ homes. The rain was still falling, sometimes quite heavily, and gusty winds had the boys on edge for the third day in a row. My Wednesday client was fine with waiting patiently for better conditions before I should attemp his twice-delayed inspection. By noon I was running out of ice. My freezer was packed with chicken, beef, pork, sausage and fish in addition to vegetables, a few leftovers and some ice cream. I drank a glass of French vanilla slush before pouring the rest down the drain and putting stewpots of chicken and beef on to cook. I tried to turn on the oven, but there’s apparently a safeguard that won’t let the gas flow until the electronic ignition fires, so I couldn’t get it to light with a match. I had wanted to cook as much as possible and try to get the excess to the folks who camp on the beach, but the lack of an oven limited what I could do. It was too wet and windy outside to attempt grilling. The inside of the freezer was sweating by mid-afternoon, so I cleaned out both the fridge and freezer and hauled most of the contents out to the rubbish bin for Friday morning pick up. The kitchen floor was a mess by the time I’d gotten three rubbish bags of ripe meat and fish, soggy vegetables and a couple of mushy pizzas out, so I mopped the floor. The highway had opened up for one lane of traffic in each direction with delays of three hours or more being reported by those brave enough to attempt entering and leaving the coast. I could not have gotten to the homeless encampments even if I’d had a way to cook all of my food. Shortly before sunset a neighbor and her two boys called me out to the gate. The local school had invited the community to load up on ice and they’d brought me three precious bags. I cooked some rice and had it with chicken adobo for dinner, then spent the evening reading by lamplight again and went to bed early.

Friday

I knew as soon as I woke up that we were still without power. My phone had died the previous day - maybe the folks re-installing the utility poles had done something? - and my cell phone battery was dead, so I was out of touch with everyone. The radio advised me that traffic was flowing through one lane in each direction on Farrington Highway and still moving at a creep. I pulled the brew basket out of my coffeemaker, put a filter and coffee in it and poured water boiled on the stove through it. Two days of brewing one cup at a time (and having “chewy” coffee full of grounds) had convinced me that it was worth it to stand with my finger holding the brew-stop valve open while the coffee dripped. After I finished my coffee I opened the freezer to get some ice for tea. The bag of ice sitting on my butter and cheese had dripped down the walls into the bottom of the freezer, where a drain hole allowed it to exit gracefully. The bag in the bin at the bottom of the freezer had to be “bailed out” so it wouldn’t overflow. There were puddles on the floor by the time I finished so I mopped again. I needed to go the grocery store, but hesitated because of the traffic tie-ups in each direction. Still, I hadn’t been out of the house since Tuesday and was going a little stir crazy. I showered and put on a work uniform, intending to call the realtor-on-hold from a pay phone.

Just as I was ready to take Lance out to the kennel, the power came back on. After the boys were situated I called the realtor. His own work was backed up and he didn’t have time to meet me, so he gave me the lockbox combo and his blessings to do the inspection at my convenience. Unplugging my office machines ahd saved them from power surge damage when things went live again, so I didn’t need to arrrange a computer rental before booting up and checking in with folks before I went out. Knowing that the retailers on the coast had lost all of their fresh foods, I put my ice chest in the trunk and took off. At the intersection where I enter the highway I saw power crews working to get lines reinstalled, blocking one townbound lane as I looked towards Waianae.

More crews were working on downed lines in the Waianae Bound lanes a few hundred yards away in the other direction. Traffic was slow but moved steadily until I got into Nanakuli. The usual drive at that time of day would take twenty or thirty minutes to get me to H-1. I knew that the hour it took me on Friday was a blessing considering what drivers had contended with the last two days. The inspection in Ewa Beach was uneventful and only took about half an hour, so I was soon at the Safeway in Kapolei. I had chicken adobo and stewed beef in the fridge, but stocked up on vegetables, dairy products and bread. I remembered sandwich rolls and mayo, but forgot that I’d thrown away all of my deli meats. Ah, well - I needed to eat the cooked meats at home first.

Traffic coming back to the coast was heavier than it had been when I was leaving, but I was back in Maili about an hour after I left the grocery store. Crews were still hard at work in the Waianae-bound lanes near Maili Stream, just before my turn-off. Neighbors were out with chain-saws cutting up downed trees, but everyone was in a cheerful mood now that we had power and were no longer stranded. I moved the butter and cheese from the freezer to the fridge, removed the now-empty ice bags and bailed out the freezer one last time before putting away my groceries. The beef that had braised for two days in balsamic vinegar and herbs was delicious and falling-apart tender with left-over rice for my late lunch. I generated my inspection report, made some calls to schedule work for the coming week and acknowledged that life was sweet, despite the rain that continued to fall. Eh - no rain - no rainbows!

Image credit for map: hawaiicity.com

Technorati Tags: Hawaii, isolation, power-outage, storm, surf, termite inspection

August 30, 2007

What I do

Some days are more fun than others. If I do an inspection on a property where the homeowner already knows there are termites in the house or where the buyer has seen the evidence, that’s not very challenging. My job is to make sure as much evidence as possible is recorded, the problem is diagnosed and recommendations are made to control active infestations. A job like the one I did yeterday is much more interesting. The inspection was in a condo on the eighth floor of a concrete and steel building. It was occupied and heavily furnished, with boxes half-packed for the seller’s impending move. There were a lot of areas I couldn’t get to at all. One of the kitchen cabinets was partially cleared out. The bottom shelf was cluttered with the usual stuff, the next shelf up just had a few items on it and the top shelf was empty. I saw a little bit of debris in the front corner of the bottom shelf. The usual stuff - tiny bits of herbs and spices, a few cockroach droppings - and four tiny, suspicious specks mixed in with the other detritus. An average or less experienced inspector would probably have not even noticed them. I’ll toot my own horn here and say that I’m not average. I’m very good at what I do. I frequently find infestations that have been missed by other inspectors.

I tapped and probed the cabinet door. Nothing. Solid as a rock. The cabinet wall above the debris. Still nothing. I started removing the packages from the lower shelf. In the back corner I found a few more pellets, but the walls and the entire bottom of the shelf above seemed solid and intact, so I emptied that shelf also. It was a removable shelf so I pulled it out.

Aha! Success! The edge of the shelf against the back wall was was the source I was looking for. Those are called kick holes. Drywood termites live inside wood (as opposed to subterranean termites, which usually live in the ground and can travel to above ground sources to feed.) Since they don’t leave the wood that they live in, their galleries can get cluttered with their droppings. Thus the kick holes, through which they expel their fecal material. Actually, though, I didn’t need to see those little kick holes to know I had found what I was looking for.

There were several drywood termites visible in the cavity when I removed the shelf. I called the realtor in from the living room and showed him what I’d found before the termites had a chance to withdraw out of sight. He was impressed. He thinks I’m a goddess. He was thrilled to have me carry the infestation away so I could issue a clear report for his real estate transaction (and so I could stage the photos for you. )

So that’s what I do.

Technorati Tags: drywood termites, drywood termite damage, drywood termite evidence, photos, termites, termite inspection

June 27, 2007

I love my job - sometimes

I got a call late yesterday to do a hurry-up inspection today. The seller’s agents are supposed to arrange these things in a timely manner so that the real estate closing won’t be held up, but they frequently “forget.” The request this time came from a transaction coordinator for the escrow company. She was gathering documents for the closing, noted that the buyer had requested that I provide the inspection and that the seller’s agent had never ordered it. I’ve never spoken to the seller’s agent and probably never will. He’s “unavailable,” probably off-island on some leisuretime vip vacation. That’s why he has minions, I guess. It worked out okay. I didn’t have an overly-burdened schedule for today and the condo is here on the coast, quick and easy for me to get to.

The entire interior of the condo had recently been gutted. All new cabinets, floors, fixtures and appliances. When the nails were driven to install the quarter-round for the floor, one of them penetrated damaged wood at the base of a window and caused it to split.

It didn’t need much of an expert to discern that the bottom sill was toast. I probed along the framing on one side of the window and saw that damage had been inexpertly filled prior to the recent paint job. I opened up damage, concealed under a thin layer of fill and paint, all the way around the window.

I don’t know whether it was the seller or his repair contractor who attempted to hide an active termite infestation and damage. If I had missed it, it would have been on my shoulders when the buyer found it (and the buyer would have found it the first time he or she stubbed a toe trying to open the paint-sealed louvers.) I’ve been doing this for twenty-seven years. I’ve never been dinged with an insurance claim for a miss. Today’s find was pretty simple. Sometime the cover-up is more expert. Things like this make me angry, and they also make me wonder how many times I have missed something that the buyer was stuck with because they didn’t know they had legal recourse. There are some things about this business that I won’t miss at all if I ever retire.

Technorati Tags: business, fraud, real estate, termite inspection, termites

June 22, 2007

Pau hana Friday

My Waikiki condo inspection this morning was uneventful. As I was stowing my gear in the trunk I looked up and noticed a small area of damage to some wood framing installed to support the roofing of the low steel-framed carport. One two-by-four diagonal brace was split and there was a scrape on adjacent framing, as if maybe a truck with a ladder rack
had been a little too tall for the structure. I took my probe back out of my trunk to investigate and was rewarded with a face full of drywood termtie pellets falling from the framing. That’s poop, to the uninformed. Detached structures are usually disclaimed in my reports for condominiums, but I asked the realtor representing the buyer if it should be included. Yes, because the stall would belong to him specifically and was not a common element. Not a major problem, but the real estate closing which was scheduled for early next week will likely be delayed until treatment can be arranged. Sucks, but things like that happen when they wait until the last moment to schedule an inspection.

The view is looking out over the Ala Wai Canal from the sixth floor lanai of the condo. Up until recently the scene would likely have been more populated. Fishing and paddling (by canoe clubs) have moved on to other sites because of contaminated water in the canal. Still, a pleasant scene with Ala Wai Field, Ala Wai Elementary School and Ala Wai Golf Course providing a park-like buffer between the canal and Kapahulu. The little slice of Diamond Head, doesn’t hurt, either.

It’s a few minutes before three. I have one report to complete and I’ll be pau hana (done with work!) Let the weekend begin!

Technorati Tags: condominiums, Hawaii, inspections, photo, real estate, termites, Waikiki

June 2, 2007

They’re ba-a-a-ack

I leave my carport light on at night as a security measure. Unfortunately, it was the brightest light in the area tonight when the termites swarmed. Swarmers are attracted to light. These are Formosan subterranean termites and they swarm by the thousands. I first became acquainted with them in New Orleans, where I started my pest control career in 1980. Ironically, they were imported to New Orleans in recycled military buildings shipped from Hawaii after World War II. They’ve spread throughout the Gulf South in the last few decades. I’d like to send these guys to Florida for a Kissimmee vacation, but I’m thinking Mickey probably already has enough swarms in his kingdom this time of year.

While I was working in my garden this afternoon I noticed some damage to my neighbor’s carport shed. I could just barely see it through the fence slats. The carport is a common structure, with his shed on one side, mine on the other and a roof connecting them. I think I might put on my working hat and go check it out tomorrow, as I now suspect that his shed is the source of our swarm. Good thing I have contacts and should be able to get us a professional discount on treatment.

Technorati Tags: Formosan subterranean termites, hawaii termites, photo, termite swarm

May 3, 2007

Art is where you find it

The termites swarmed shortly after dark tonight. They’re attracted to lights, so clouds of them quickly gathered under the carport light. The swarm probably originated from stumps and deadfall in the vacant lot behind my neighbors homes across the street.

I’m glad I took the pictures so quickly that I didn’t have time to look at them between shots.

A single swarmer looking like thistle on a stem.

Here’s one who slowed down enough to pose for a picture. I was covered with swarmers and they were crawling in my hair and clothes after I had been outside for only a few minutes.

I wasn’t the only one watching the show. That protrusion from the gecko’s mouth is his termite snack.

Only the tips of the wings are visible as this guy gobbles down his catch.

This unfortunate visitor may have been also looking for a termite dinner, but ran afoul of a gecko instead.

Technorati Tags: cockroach, gecko, Hawaii, just stuff, photos, termites, termite swarm