More pictures and info coming soon, thanks for your patience.

If your home was built in the 60's you might have copper vent stacks. This is one example of what happens to copper when it has been exposed to sewer gases for 50 years. If you have a smell in your home that you cannot explain and you have copper vent piping, I suggest you cut out the wall behind the bathroom vanity and look at the copper pipe. Chances are it will look like this. I have personally changed two vent stacks in this condition.

  This bag shows the name of the insulation ZONOLITE also known as Vermiculite that was used in many homes in the midwest including Lloydminster. Most of this type of insulation in our area is know to contain some asbestos which can be harmful to Humans. 

ASBESTOS TESTING IS NOW AN ANCILLARY SERVICE OF BORDER INSPECTIONS in Lloydminster  - Call for more information.

Not all vermiculite insulation contains asbestos but prior to its close in 1990, much of the world's supply of vermiculite came from a mine near Libby, Montana.  This mine had a natural deposit of asbestos which resulted in the vermiculite being  contaminated with asbestos.  Attic insulation produced using vermiculite ore, particularly ore that originated from the Libby mine, may contain asbestos fibers.  NACHI recommend that I assume vermiculite insulation contains asbestos and so should you.  I strongly recommend that homeowners make every effort not to disturb vermiculite insulation in their attics.  If you occasionally have to go into your attic, current best practices state you should:
1. Make every effort to stay on the floored part of your attic and to not disturb the insulation.
2. If you must perform activities that may disturb the attic insulation such as moving boxes (or other materials), do so as gently as possible to minimize the disturbance.
3. Leave the attic immediately after the disturbance.
4. If you need work done in your attic such as the installation of cable or utility lines, hire trained and certified professionals who can safely do the work.
5. It is possible that vermiculite attic insulation can sift through cracks in the ceiling, around light fixtures, or around ceiling fans.  You can prevent this by sealing the cracks and holes that insulation could pass through.
6. Common dust masks are not effective against asbestos fibers.

Visit Health Canada Website for more information. I will direct you to the Expedia website for their assessment on the issue rather then give my opinion.

Here is a common issue most home buyer will not be aware of until they see the damage coming trough the drywall below. The real issue here is that the wall cladding is too close to the shingles and is absorbing the miosture from the roof. The best practice is to either step flash or fully flash the wall and roof and leave about 1-2" of space between the shingles and the wall. There is potential here for the moss which is moisture to rot the wall out and even cause structural failure. Notice also the evestrough is full. A dirty evestrough can also be a problem area for rot as water rots away the facia and ends of the rafter tails.

  This is the case of a very severe mold development. Hopfully someone would move towards getting this issue cleaned up before it is allowed to go this far. The problem with mold beyond the obvious look is the effects of mold spores on the body. Most of us have been exposed to mold and have come away relitively healthy. I have a brother on the other hand that was over exposed to mold and has become supersensitive to it. When you allow mold to grow in your home you will most likely become sick over time. If you are experiencing headaches and colds more then normal you should consider mold as a possibility. A home must work as a system in order to be safe to inhabit. it is the job of the inspector to determine if there are any red flags that might indicate one or more parts of the system are not properly working. Perhaps later on I will go into the various potential issues that might lead to mold growth. But for now I recommend you do what you can to eliminate mold as a possibility if you are not healthy.

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  This photo shows a transition point where two roofines come together. The resulting valleys that are created here have to be constructed to withstand the extra snow load in these areas. In this case the valleys have sagged considerably and an abnormally heavy snowfall may actually cause the timbers to crack and fail. This type of failure may not be observable right away until the snow melts and rains into the attic and through the ceilings. Many older homes were constructed this way and I have seen other similar issues such as sway backs in the ridge line (similar to the saddledome). Often times this movement happened soon after the home was built and likely hasn't gotten any worse. Having said that I always recommend having a qualified contractor or engineer access the situation to be sure it is still structurally sound.

P.S. Any inspector worth their salt should try their best to gain access to the attic space as it is so important to the whole picture.  I don't often walk in attics for many reasons but there are times when I do in order to get a closer look at a potential problem.