Yesterday I attended a property inspection in San Jose and we found an unwanted resident in the garage: a black widow spider. In case you haven’t seen one, I thought I’d share the pic here (photo courtesy of home inspector Duane Serrano of Tri Star Inspections).

Needless to say, she’s not there anymore!

In Santa Clara County, as in much of California, we have adobe clay soil and it’s expansive.  That is, when the dirt gets wet, it expands, and when it dries out, it contracts. Hence it’s sometimes referred to as “shrink-swell” soils.  (Every state in the union has areas with this problem - a color-coded map on geology.com shows areas with more and less expansive soils.)

Why is this an issue for homeowners and would-be homeowners in Silicon Valley? 

The trouble is that the expanding and contracting soil is far stronger than concrete and the foundations upon which a home sits. A well written and illustrated six page paper can be found online explaining the mechanics involved for those interested in more detail on the hows and whys of expansive soils. (It states that the ground can life as much as 5,500 pounds per square inch!)

What I’d like to focus on here is mitigating the risks and preventing the problems associated with expansive soils. 

The trouble is not so much that the soil is wet or dry.  The problem is in the back and forth, the movement. When the soil is kept at an even amount of moisture, it does not expand and contract.

Obviously, rain is seasonal and we cannot control all moisture on or near the house. We can, though, work to move water away from the house and away from the foundation.

Winter storms can bring an enormous amount of water onto a home’s roof, and when it channels down gutters and downspouts, there can be a large amount of water exiting in just a few places.  Where does that water go?

In 95% of the homes I see in San Jose, Los Gatos and Saratoga, the water simply dumps out at the base of the downspout - right up against the home.  This is typical, but is unwise, as it causes the soils to become excessively damp in one spot.

Ideally, you want to move the water away from the house and foundation, at least by 6 feet or so.   Solutions can be expensive (underground and run all the way to the street) or can be very inexpensive (a plastic extender added to the end of the extra long downspout) as in the photo below.

Leaks that are untended can wreck havoc on your foundation. This photo below displays a foundation crack that includes efflorescence (the white powdery stuff) and rusty discoloration, which is most likely a bad sign for the rebar inside the foundation. The source of the trouble? Probably a combination of a leaky hose bib and water that got under the house from a kitchen faucet leak or from grading issues and heavy rains.

Another main culprit is grading. Too often, a walk around the house in question reveals that the land is sloped toward the house rather than away from it.  When it rains, or when sprinklers run, the water in the yard will come careening toward the house - exactly what you do not want to happen.

Sometimes, it’s inevitable, as in the case with hillside construction. What to do? Specialists find a way to grade the soil closest to the home away from it and to intercept the hill-driven water before it gets close to the home.  Imagine making a tiny valley between the home and the hill, and the small culvert catching the water so it can be diverted. That’s essentially how it works.

High water table areas will require the help of specialists too, as these can cause water to bubble up under or near the home and again create havoc on the home’s stability.

If you’re a current homeowner or home seller in the Bay Area, have a walk around your property and see what’s happening with your downspouts.  In some (few) cases, the downspout may empty onto concrete that is sloped away from the structure, and it may be OK as is.  In many cases, though, that downspout just termitates at the base of the home and empties into soil or landscaping that’s waiting to absorb the moisture and expand.  A home inspector will “call” this.  Are your floors inside out of level? Are the hardwood floors cupped? These may be the result of water not being diverted away from the home - you’ll want to address this immediately, before it worsens.  Having this work done will also give homebuyers confidence that your property has been well maintained when and if you do go to sell it.

If you’re a current homebuyer in the area, watch for this detail. Does the home have downspouts and gutters? If not, you’ll want to add them and then the extenders. If the downspouts are like most I’ve seen and stop at the base of the home, pay particular attention to the concrete nearby, any exposed foundation (watching for cracks), floors inside (looking for “out of level” and if hardwood, any cupping).  Hopefully the floors are level and undamaged.  If undulating, though, you may need to speak with a structural engineer about solutions.

Living History in the West Valley Area of Santa Clara County: Japanese Gardens.  One Is Public, One Is Private, One Is Remodeled Almost Beyond Recognition.

I used to joke with my kids, “history isn’t boring, it’s just taught that way“. Local Silicon Valley history is plenty colorful, and some of it continues on today as “living history”.

Japanese Gardens are part of that “living history” of California. They are lovely, calm places to visit with immense but subdued beauty. Did you know that we have three of them locally on the west side of Silicon Valley? You may have heard of Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, but there are two others on the west side (Los Gatos, Saratoga or Monte Sereno) that you might not know of - even if you have enjoyed a meal at one of them! (Also, of course, there is the well known San Jose Japanese Friendship Garden at Kelly Park.)

The Saratoga Historical Foundation has a fabulous page about these three places, so I’ll refer you there for more reading:
http://www.saratogahistory.com/History/japanese_gardens.htm. It may not be easy or even possible to see all of them, but if you have never been to a Japanese Garden, go and check them out. You’ll be glad you did.

Pet rats - the kind you buy at the pet store - can make the most adorable friends. Pookie was our daughter’s pet and a close family member for years.

But rats in the roof, attic, crawl space, walls and landscaping are not so adorable. They wreck havoc and can cause damage to home and health. Wild rats gnaw on wood and wires, and they carry fleas that can spread disease. Bubonic plague is not an issue in Santa Clara County now, but it is in Tahoe and other areas, so it’s a risk to take seriously.

What kind of rats exist here, in The Valley of Hearts Delight?

In Silicon Valley, the predominent type of wild rat is the Roof Rat (also known as the Black Rat or Tree Rat). The Roof Rat’s eat ivy, fruit, pet food, nuts and other goodies found in neighborhoods. They are identifiable because their tail is longer than the head and body together.

A lesser seen rat in the San Jose area is the Norway Rat (also called the Wharf Rat, the Sewer Rat, or the Brown Rat). This rat has a shorter tail and is usually seen in less developed areas, creekbeds, and farm areas, which are rapidly disappearing here in the South Bay.

Recently a neighbor of ours found a dead rat in his yard, and he called The Santa Clara County Vector Control District office to come out and help him identify if there was a problem with rats getting into his home or not, and to shed light on the issue of why this critter recently appeared in his home. The officer came out and performed this service for free, enlightening my neighbor as to access points and providing a helpful brochure about rats and what attracts them.

I’d heard that Italian Cypress trees, juniper and ivy were all bad - that is, that they attracted rats. What I did not realize is how many other things do too.
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Recently I had a listing in Sunnyvale where an enormous tree graced not only the front yard of my clients’ house, but stretched over a next door neighbor’s yard and even over the neighbor’s roof. We got the home I’d listed sold quickly,  but prior to closing, the neighbor complained about the limbs.

The sellers, wanting to close escrow on time, agreed to trim the large bough that threatened her roof. They only wish that she had mentioned it sooner so that it could have been a “non issue” during the time of the sale. Ideal would have been a request in spring, which is the better, healthier time for trimming a tree.

And more recently, something similar happened in Los Gatos (with a home not for sale). A property manager of a tenant-occupied house showed up on the doorstep of a tree owner whose large tree arches over the fence. The property manager demanded that the tree be trimmed and that the tree owners pay for it. “It is your responsibility,” she asserted. (Interestingly, she showed up with a gardener - not a tree professional - and had no business card so that she could later be contacted about this issue. So it wasn’t the most amicable approach.)

My understanding of laws around trees and property lines was simple: the neighbors can cut the tree if they want to back to the property line, but the tree owners don’t have to pay to cut it unless it is truly damaging or about to damage the others’ property. If the neighbors harm the tree while pruning it, they can be liable for damages.

But just to be sure, I phoned the California Association of Realtors’ Legal Hotline and spoke with an attorney about it. My understanding was correct: the lawyer cited case law and verified that the tree owners can’t prevent the neighbors from trimming the tree if they want and that the neighbors cannot force the tree owners to trim it unless it is truly causing (or immediately threatening to cause) damage.

The property manager was mistaken and out of line.

A friendly phone call and inquiry about tree maintenance goes a long way toward neighborliness. Most tree owners will take good care of their trees and do pruning in spring, and will discuss the timing with their neighbors so that it is convenient for the arborist to also clean up any dropped branches in adjacent yards. Open communication is always helpful for neighbor relations. It helps when requests come in a pleasant way without rushing or pressuring. But that would be true about any issue, whether it’s trees, fences, noice, odors, junky cars or anything else.

(This topic was also addressed on my Live in Los Gatos blog, if you would care to read more about it.)