Thread: white powdery deposits...???

I found these white powdery depostits on pressure treated wood pads during a mobile home inspection. There were also fine deposits present on the dirt in the crawlspace. Does anyone have a clue as to what this stuuf is???

thank you kindly, Ron

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Nope
Was it attached/growing or loose powder?

It is just a loose powder. It appears to be a secretion from the soil.

Ron,

Pretty strange. Not something I have seen before.

Unless, it is efflorescence from the CMUs.

The pier seems to be wicking moisture from the soil and carrying the dissolved minerals
such as salt leaving a deposit.

Powdered boric acid or another insecticide product?

Jim,

That was what I was thinking. Maybe they had an ant infestation coming in around that pier and placed it (boric acid) around it. Looks like it coming around the other side in the pic.

By the way, when are they going to get through with 75 in Allen? What a mess.

Rick

Rick, I don't think we will ever see the end of construction on 75. As soon as they finish one project, it is out of date and they have to start another.
I think I heard that the region is projected to double in population in the next 10 years or so. Be happy now, 'cause it isn't getting any better!
I heard the new HOV lane is supposed to be ready by Nov.
Jim

Jim, Rick,

You could be right. We cannot comment on pest in Tennessee. Pest control Guy has to make a living too. Seems like if I had a pest problem and that much stuff I'd put it on
all 4 sides. But in Tennessee we are not smart enough to say you have raccoons living in the chimney. Noted possible wildlife in chimney as I shined light down and saw two eyes
looking back. Might want to check with the Meth Lab Guy.

Originally Posted by Billy Stephens

Jim, Rick,

You could be right. We cannot comment on pest in Tennessee. Pest control Guy has to make a living too. Seems like if I had a pest problem and that much stuff I'd put it on
all 4 sides. But in Tennessee we are not smart enough to say you have raccoons living in the chimney. Noted possible wildlife in chimney as I shined light down and saw two eyes
looking back. Might want to check with the Meth Lab Guy.

Hey Billy,

Can you provide the chapter and verse that says we can not report on critters? I know of no law or rule that says I can not report what I see. I'm afraid that this is more home inspector folklore that has been fostered by some of the schools and other inspectors who do not really know.

If I see bugs, or a 30lb pissed off Coon it is reported. Same goes for their droppings or nest that I find in an attic. Now as for telling a homeowner that they have termites? If I find mud tunnels, or the termites I will simple take a picture and include it in my report. I then tell them to have a licensed PC contractor inspect and treat as needed due to what I found.

Ron, I would bet that what you have found is boric acid or something similar. It would not even make my report.

Scott,

Rules Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Division Regulatory Chapter
0780-5-12 page12. Statement in PIA and Written report that excludes Radon, Pest,Lead
Paint, Mold, Insecticides ect. Page 11 states does not exclude you from commenting but
you are required to have the specified exclusions in PIA and Written report. Apparent
evidence of activity suggest contacting pest professional is as far as I go in writing.If client
presses then opinion looks like it to me?

Tried to upload but I'm tech no challenged. Found on Home Inspectors Commissioners web. page.

I'm sure Scott can find it, however, is this the form you're referring to?

http://tennessee.gov/commerce/boards...Rules_0906.pdf

Dom,
Yes Thank you. These are the TN. Rules and read as the enacted revised law. First purposed act as amended right before finial passage. Page 11states does not limit comments.Page 12 is required statement on both PIA and written report.


Billy

I don't read anything in there which says "We cannot comment on pest ... ".

Says you don't have to, and that it is excluded from the standard home inspection, but does not say 'don't do it'.

Mr. Peck,

You are correct page 11 does not limit comment.


Billy

Originally Posted by Billy Stephens

Mr. Peck,

You are correct page 11 does not limit comment.


Billy

Ya see, we have just put a stop to some home inspector folklore. Now if we could just take care of the remaining 3451!

Thanks Billy & Dom for looking it up.

Scott,

Looking froward to learning from your in site thats quite a resume you have posted on your wed page. Just watch out for those Lawyers with their legalize.



Billy

Originally Posted by Billy Stephens

Scott,

Looking froward to learning from your in site thats quite a resume you have posted on your wed page. Just watch out for those Lawyers with their legalize.

Billy

I really enjoy working more for dem lawyers, da pay a heck more than home inspections!!

We have more folks on this site with more credentials than I could ever hope to have. I'm just a little fish in the ocean.
After 12 years in this business you tend to acquire more education certifications and titles than one could ever use in a lifetime.

Guys, don't think you are "Scott" free (pun intended) just because it is not limited in the HI law. Check out the Structural pest rules. That is where the limitation about what we can and cannot do and say in regard to pest in TX. We have been around this bend before for the TX boys.
Jim

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

Guys, don't think you are "Scott" free (pun intended) just because it is not limited in the HI law. Check out the Structural pest rules. That is where the limitation about what we can and cannot do and say in regard to pest in TX. We have been around this bend before for the TX boys.
Jim

Jim,

I suspect that if you read those rules (I'm sure you have - I have not) you will find that "structural pests" does not include raccoons, mice, rats, squirrels, etc.

Termites, Old House Borers, Powder Post Beetles, and the like (wood destroying insects) - Yes, probably. Rodents? I doubt HIs are forbidden from talking about them.

Back to the original topic;
Ron,
Was there, by any chance, a very large Margarita nearby?

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

Guys, don't think you are "Scott" free (pun intended) just because it is not limited in the HI law. Check out the Structural pest rules. That is where the limitation about what we can and cannot do and say in regard to pest in TX. We have been around this bend before for the TX boys.
Jim

They could very well have an obscure rule like that, but I would love to be challenged for telling my client that I found termites and that they need to have a PC contractor inspect and treat. The media would love this one. State licensed home inspector is fined for telling his client that he found termites and that the needed to contact a PC contractor to inspect and treat. Yep, that would be a good headline on the nightly news!

All laws or rules like that are just for protecting the turf of the PC contractor. They do not protect the consumer.

Ron,
I, too, have seen that stuff in the same places you found it. I looked at it with a magnifying glass and noted that it was crystaline in nature, but did not appear to be boric acid. I am also a licensed PC applicator/inspector in our fine state and haven't been able to positively id the stuff.
yet. I just haven't seen it in a while.

For your reading enjoyment:
(Bold is mine)

§ 1951.003. BUSINESS OF STRUCTURAL PEST CONTROL. In this
chapter, a person is engaged in the "business of structural pest
control" if the person performs, offers to perform, or advertises
for or solicits the person's performance of any of the following
services for compensation, including services performed as a part
of the person's employment:
(1) identifying infestations or making inspections
for the purpose of identifying or attempting to identify
infestations of:
(A) arthropods, including insects, spiders,
mites, ticks, and related pests, wood-infesting organisms,
rodents, weeds, nuisance birds, and any other obnoxious or
undesirable animals that may infest households, railroad cars,
ships, docks, trucks, airplanes, or other structures or their
contents; or
(B) pests or diseases of trees, shrubs, or other
plantings in a park or adjacent to a residence, business
establishment, industrial plant, institutional building, or
street;
(2) making oral or written inspection reports,
recommendations, estimates, or bids with respect to an infestation
described by Subdivision (1); or
(3) making contracts, or submitting bids for services
or performing services designed to prevent, control, or eliminate
an infestation described by Subdivision (1) by the use of
insecticides, pesticides, rodenticides, fumigants, allied
chemicals or substances, or mechanical devices.

And from what I have heard, they really mean it.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

They could very well have an obscure rule like that, but I would love to be challenged for telling my client that I found termites and that they need to have a PC contractor inspect and treat. The media would love this one. State licensed home inspector is fined for telling his client that he found termites and that the needed to contact a PC contractor to inspect and treat. Yep, that would be a good headline on the nightly news!

All laws or rules like that are just for protecting the turf of the PC contractor. They do not protect the consumer.

Yep.

Florida HAS that rule - you MUST BE a certified pest control operator OR have a WDO (wood destroying organism) ID card (issued by the state to people working for pest control operators and who do WDO inspections) in order to legally identify them as "termites", etc.

No laughing matter, either. The state HAS come down on HIs doing this as they are practicing pest control without a license.

It's not as silly as it sounds - many HIs were 'identifying' termites and such and issuing reports for same, not full fledges WDO reports, but implying that, like Mold is Gold, they could do it all for a little extra $$ or as another service they did for free to compete with those of us who had our licenses and could do WDO inspections.

When you stop and think about it, it's not silly to have a law like that when you consider human abuses, however, if all humans were upstanding people and did not try to exploit or push the envelope with that, I doubt they would have had a big deal with it.

There is a slight exception that, to my knowledge, the state had to give some leeway to: general contractors are licensed to building to the building code, and the building code addresses "termite" protection, etc., thus, as a general contractor, you are 'obligated' to 'know about them' as, being the general contractor, you are responsible for the entire job.

I know a couple of general contractors who pushed the state back on that and the state backed off, me, I am a general contractor and was also a pest control operator - so it did not matter to me.

Jim,

The wife brought home two cats one afternoon as I was taking a nap. I sure didn't desire
them. One of them MEOWS continually in an obnoxious manner. I've made some recommendations to her on several occasions. Good thing I don't live in Texas.


Billy