|
|
||
May/June 1986
“Doctor in the House” By Ann Rhodes Rick Pollock wriggled into the crawlspace beneath a luxury beachfront house near Victoria, British Columbia- and wriggled out again as fast as he could. What the veteran house inspector saw in the gloomy underbelly of the sprawling structure confirmed his horrifying first impression: the 3,000 square foot mansion, listed at $325, 000, had not proper footings. Decades of additions had neatly obscured the original building- a small summer cabin- but below grade, its humble beginnings were frighteningly obvious. Instead of a secure concrete foundation, a makeshift arrangement of shimmed wooden poles was sinking into the sand. Pollock wanted out fast, in case the house chose at that moment to take its final plunge. “My client bought the house anyway,” recalls Pollock, owner and operator of Victoria Home Analysis and Inspection Services Limited, “but he got the price shaved by more then $100,000.” Such horror stories are the bread and butter of house inspectors, a new breed of service people that has multiplied rapidly in the past decade. As house prices rise, potential buyers are becoming increasingly wary of committing themselves to a six-figure mortgage on the basis of a 20-minute walk-through with a real estate agent. Before singing a deal, they are often willing to spend a few hundred dollars to hire a professional who can inspect the house for structural and mechanical soundness. The flaws that are uncovered sometimes help buyers negotiate a lower price; equally important, though, the inspector’s report can guide a new homeowner in making the repairs necessary to return a house to its prime. Some inspectors now leave their clients with customized inspection manuals that allow them to become their own “house doctors,” making regular checks on the health of the structure and spotting a problem in its early stages so that it can be corrected before it becomes costly to fix. This makes great sense, of course. Most of us run habitual checks on lesser buys: we have our cars tuned every spring and all and service our chain saws and even our lawn mowers regularly. “But many people don’t run check son what is the largest single purchase they’ll ever make,” Bob Dunlop, a Toronto house inspector. “It’s not only a major investment, it’s their environment for at least 12 hours a day.” And don’t be lulled into thinking that because a house is new, it is in top condition, he warns. Houses built in the last year may have problems as serious as houses constructed a century ago. An adequate house inspection can be done by anyone with a few basic tools, a keen, probing eye and a few hours to spend walking around the property and crawling in the basement and attic. When symptoms are hard to diagnose or when a property is being inspected with a view to purchase, however, it may be wise to hire a professional. Two important tools of the trade- the electrical-circuit tester and the moisture meter- cost $150 and $200 each, more then a layperson may want to invest. Professional inspectors also carry insurance in case their prodding or poking cases damage, as it did the day Dunlop filled a bathtub to check its overflow drain, which was unconnected and emptied into the finished basement. Dunlop is a partner in Carson, Dunlop and Associates Ltd. of Toronto, one of Canada’s oldest house-inspection services, in operation since 1978. The drain incident notwithstanding, he is an acknowledged leader in the country’s fledgling house-inspection industry and a moving force in establishing professional standards for inspectors. Tall, athletic and affable, Dunlop meets me on the sidewalk across the street from the three-storey, 96-year-old red brick house that we have come to inspect. Neither of us looks particularly elegant: in deference to the dirty task at hand, I am wearing rugged corduroys, an old jacket and sturdy shoes that can withstand a few scuffs; for the really grimy parts of the job, Dunlop pulls a one-piece paper coverall over his business clothes. From the backseat of his car, Dunlop extracts a large leather satchel containing screwdrivers of several sizes, a powerful flashlight, binoculars, a spirit-level, a moisture meter, an electrical circuit tester and a small mirror on a swivel joint that allows him to peer around corners and up chimneys. He removed the binoculars, slings the around his neck like a doctor donning a stethoscope and squints through the lenses in the direction of the roof. “We start with the exterior, working from the top down, then go inside and work from the bottom up,” Dunlop explains. The procedure is basically the same whether inspecting a house for purchase or performing an annual checkup. As he scans the roof, he nods his head approvingly. “No snags. But there are layers of asphalt shingles on top of slate ones- far too heavy a load. There should be no more than two layers.” He directs my gaze to patch of balding shingles. The roof will soon be due for partial stripping and reshingling. In central Ontario, where the house is located, a full reshingling costs $1,600 or more. “But the bill would be far higher if the job were put off until moister got in and damaged the wood beneath the shingles,” he adds. Had we been on the West Coast, we might well have been looking at cedar shingles, which show their age by cracking and curling. Mossy buildups are also common, and if not removed, they can shorten the life of cedar shakes considerably. We shift our gaze to the chimney. No sag, hence no danger of falling bricks or total collapse. But is has parged- thinly coated- with concrete, an indication that brick work beneath is crumbling or that the mortar between the bricks is deteriorating. “In time, that parging will crack and let moisture in,” observes Dunlop. “When it does, the chimney should be rebuilt from the roof up.” Next, he checks the metal flashing that seals the angles around the base of the chimney and where two surfaces meet. “There is no cap flashing on the parapet,” he says, “so water got in and damaged the brickwork.” Indeed, many of the bricks below the parapet have spalled, or shed their outer layer. “Once the crust if off clay bricks, the soft interior is exposed and moisture goes right in. We’ll see evidence of that indoors: moisture stains on walls, ceilings or woodwork, most likely.” We continue to stare at the roof. House inspection seems to be, above all, an exercise in minute observation. Silently, Dunlop assesses the perimeter of the roof, edged with eavestroughs that are in quite good shape, considering the age of the house. Good eavestroughs, he tells me, should slope slightly towards spouts that project downward every 30 to 40 feet along the roofline; they should discharge the runoff more than six feet away from the building. Although it would not be obvious from the outside, poor eavestroughs cause water to puddle around the foundation and are a primary cause of damp basements. “Fixing faults here might cost a few hundred dollars,” say Dunlop. “Fixing a damp basement might cost many thousands.” Hairline Cracks Before moving in for a closer look, Dunlop gives the whole structure of the house a critical once-over, checking for lean. Even a slight tilt is a grave signal, since a building that is off square indicates uneven settling, a problem which is costly- sometimes impossible- to correct. Once, Dunlop tells me as we cross the street, he inspected a house that listed like a drunken sailor when he observed it from the outside, but when he put his spirit level on the living-room floor, it was absolutely horizontal. “I was mystified,” he recalls. “Then I pulled out the grilles over the heating ducts in the floor. I found that a false floor had been put in over the original, and while it was sandwiched to the old floor on one side, it was six inches higher on the other.” When a house appears to lean, Dunlop advises, inspect its foundation walls closely for cracks. “Hairline cracks in the concrete may be no cause for alarm, especially in older homes. Larger ones, say a quarter of an inch wide or more, are cause for concern.” Cracks from uneven settling may extend upward into the sheathing that clad the shell of the house, cracking brickwork or stucco and cracking or warping vinyl, aluminum or wood siding. If there are cracks in the foundation and sheathing of a house that is not leaning, Dunlop suggests they be fixed right away- the cost will likely be minimal- since they are conduits for damaging moisture. Other cladding problems may be specific to certain regions. Brian MacNeish, a partner in Atlantic Home Inspections of Sackville, New Brunswick, often sees buckled Masonite hardboard siding on houses built in the Maritimes after 1960. There, the cause of the problem is moisture forcing its way out of the house, not in. “The houses have no ventilation,” MacNeish explains, “so moisture inside gets through the aspenite or clipboard sheathing and into the hardboard. We usually recommend adding vents and putting on a low-maintenance siding such as vinyl. And probably insulation too- many homes here have minimal insulation.” He estimates the cost of cladding a 1 1/2-storey house with vinyl over R4 insulative sheathing is about $2,800. Although the brickwork- and the foundation walls- of our Ontario house appear to be sound, Dunlop takes an extra-close look at the front and back basement entrances. He notes approvingly that both doorways have high sills to prevent water from getting into the house and that the retaining walls alongside the steps leading down to them are of poured concrete rather than block. According to Stephen Greenford, president of Caninspect Inc., of Montreal, Quebec, concrete block foundation work is less durable than poured concrete: “Often, 35-year-old-block is in poor shape because alkalines in the soil attack it, whereas concrete poured at the turn of the century is still as good as new.” Near the basement’s back entrance, I notice three plunged holes, each a couple of inches in diameter, drilled in the foundation wall just above grade. “Chemicals were pumped in there; the house has been treated for termites,” Dunlop explains. “This is a bad area for them. A treated house can be re-infested, so we should really watch for the shelter tubes they build.” Although Dunlop has seen them suspended like spaghetti from basement beams to the floor below, termite shelter tubes are generally found close to grade level and are often hidden in cracks in the concrete. We take another turn around the house to inspect the exposed foundation minutely for the whitish, pencil-thin tubes but found none. Dunlop checks all the wood work close to grade level, probing now and then with a small screwdriver to see whether apparently sound wood is crumbling inside. He finds some rot along the lower edge of the backyard fencing, but it had been cause by moisture; we see none of the smooth, fluted grooves that indicate termites have dined on the fiber. This is a relief. Termites literally destroy a building from the inside out. According to Dunlop, extermination can cost more than $900 in Toronto. “And they’ve spread out,” he adds. “In Ontario, Guelph, Amherstburg and Kincardine all have termite problems. British Columbia has some too.” More common on the West Coast but found in other parts of Canada are powder-post beetles, which are not as voracious as termites but can also damage wood severely. They make clusters of tiny holes and drop powder-fine sawdust in their wake. To test for beetle damage, push a jackknife into the suspect wood; it will have the consistency of Styrofoam. If the pests are confined to one small area, treatment may cost as little as $100. Septic Systems During our foundation-level inspection, Dunlop points out the homeowners’ attempts to keep moisture out of the house: the ways have been tarred at grade level and a plastic sheet stretched over a basement window. “That’s not surprising,” he says. “See how the backyard slopes toward the house? That often happens with older houses after years of erosion. A load of topsoil and some regarding will fix the poor drainage.” Almost an hour has passed, and we have not yet set foot inside the house. But there are still more exterior symptoms to examine. From our lookout across the street, Dunlop had suspiciously eyed the main-floor windowsills, noting that they had been capped with concrete. Up close, we see wide cracks in the masonry that expose dark mushy wood underneath. A previous owner has chosen the wrong treatment for wet windowsills, and now moisture was getting in again. “I’d cap it with aluminum for maybe $50. If the rot is bad, a new sill is needed. That would cost $500 to $700 per window.” The ideal window, he suggests, is well caulked, has a sloped sill so that water does not stand on the wood and has no loose or missing putty or cracked glad. But the ideal window is rare. Often, one that fails on any of these points can be fixed easily and cheaply. And it should be fixed; otherwise moisture may damage exterior and interior finishes, and the heating bill will certainly be high. Doorsills are equally important. The sliding door that opens onto the deck at the rear of this house has a wooden sill with no metal cap. The wood fibers offer no resistance to Dunlop’s probing screwdriver, and he predicts more water damage inside the house. The house we are inspecting sits on a serviced lot, so there is no well to check, but for rural house buyers, the concerns are twofold: the adequacy of the well, although a well driller’s report, if available, is more reliable. In some areas, potability checks are mandatory before a house is sold, says George Hunt, owner-operator of Huntwright Associates Ltd., an inspection service in Orangeville, Ontario. Enquire at the local office of the provincial environment ministry, and if water tests are not mandatory, take water sample to the local health board for a free analysis. If well water is contaminated, there may be visual clues. The worst story I heard while clues. The worst story I heard while talking to house inspectors across the country came from Steven Greenford. Several years ago, he inspected a 15-year-old house on Quebec’s North Shore, where a widow lived with her children. “First, I noticed they all looked jaundiced. Next, I found a brown coating on the inside of the toilet tank and a block of brown goo on a leaking hose. Then I learned that the woman’s husband had died the year before of unknown causes and that he had liver damage. No wonder. These people were drinking sewage.” Greenford recommends taking water samples after heavy rainfall. Once, he took a sample of a well that had previously tested safe and found the bacteria count 1,000 times higher than normal. It turned out that the well was contaminated by runoff from a dung-studded sheep pasture. Owners and potential buyers of rural property must also be concerned about septic systems, although, unless effluents are actually bubbling out of the ground, there are seldom any visual clues indicating a flaw. As a potential buyer, try calling the owner of the local tank-pumping service, who may have some knowledge of the system; as an owner, consider taking down nearby softwood trees, especially willow and popular- their roots travel far in search of water and may damage the tile bed. (Some roots really travel. A Toronto plumber told me he once found tree roots plugging in a toilet on the third floor of a house.) With the exterior check completed, we are not halfway through the house inspection. Once inside the house, Dunlop heads straight for the basement. Like the attic, a basement, where the structural members are exposed, if often a gold mine of clues to the health of a house. Unfortunately, a zealous renovator had obscured most of the information this basement could have yielded: almost all the rooms have paneled walls and tiled ceilings. The exception is the tiny furnace room, where Dunlop begins with a structural check. Using his flashlight, he inspects the doors and windows and the woodwork around them. We find no crumbling wood and no termite shelter tubes. The termite treatment (there are plugged holes in the well here too) seems to have been successful. The foundation wall visible in the furnace room looks sound. So do the beams and joists overhead. According to Dunlop, older joists may sag a little and still be quite safe; even if only about $150 each. In this narrow strip of a house, the joists are supported by the long outside walls and span only 15 feet. “No need for interior load-bearing walls,” says Dunlop. Mechanical Faults This was not the case with a house inspected by Peter Salmon, whose Home-Alyze inspection service operates out of Calgary and Edmonton. The owner had renovated the basement, and in the process, he took the wreaking bar to what he thought was a partial wall, assuming that the ductwork overhead contained a steel beam. But the ductwork was just that: ductwork. The homeowner had removed a load-bearing wall. The floor felt a little spongy upstairs,” recalls Salmon. “But if that fellow had had a party, it would have collapsed.” Look very closely at any renovations, Salmon counsels. “This is where you’ll find 90 percent of the horror stories.” After the structural inspection, Dunlop does a basement moisture check. Here, he finds just what he expected: patches of damp woodwork around the windows and doors and two moisture stains on the ceiling tiles. On one, directly beneath the kitchen sink, the moister meter’s indicator does not move; this leak has been fixed. On the other, beneath the deck door’s wooden sill, the indicator fairly dances. As well, we find a little pile of dead insects in one upswept corner. “Insects thrive on dampness,” says Dunlop. We are doing this inspection in the winter, but if it had been summer and very dry, we would have checked exposed concrete walls and floors for patches of efflorescence- whitish powdery mineral deposits left behind when water evaporates. Before we leave the basement, we take a look at the mechanicals, starting with the forced-air gas furnace. It bears plates and labels showing parts manufactured in 1981, 1982, 1983. “A furnace typically should have plenty of life left,” notes Dunlop. He tries to check its most critical component, the heat exchanger (the metal box where combustion takes place), but it is behind a panel that does not unscrew. AS a last resort, he uses his swivel-joint mirror to peer up inside the combustion chamber from floor level, looking for rust or other signs that the metal might crack or perforate, which could cause lethal gases to pour into the house. Had he found faults, he would have recommended a new furnace (at $1,500 to $2000), since replace a heat exchanger is often as costly as replacing a whole furnace. Dunlop switches the furnace on and listens intently. The fan is a trifle noisy, but after unscrewing its covering panel, he pronounces it sound enough. “Probably the bearings are wearing a little,” he says. “A buyer might consider a new fan for about $400.” Finally, he does a visual check on the ductwork leading to and from the furnace to make sure that it is all attached and in good repair. Oil furnaces are common in rural areas and on the West Coast. Rich Pollock sees many dating back to the 1940’s and land past normal life expectancy. “Unlike gas systems, which only need their filters periodically replaced or cleaned, oil-fired heating equipment must be cleaned and serviced annually, so its condition is a direct product of its maintenance,” he says. Moral: Check the dates on the service stickers before buying the house, and once you own it, do not neglect regular servicing. Although this house does not have a woodburning stove or a fireplace, Dunlop concurs with other inspectors that these heating systems are a prime source of danger and therefore an important part of every house inspection. In the Orangeville area, Hunt found a fireplace lined with half-inch brick veneer. The brick should have been solid, he told the owners, since wood can ignite even if it is never exposed to sparks for flames. “We pulled off the veneer and found a two-by-four behind it that was burned through. A little oxygen and the whole house would have gone up in flames.” From the heating system, we moved to the breaker panel, which in itself show that the wiring in the house has been updates; houses of this vintage would originally have been fitted with a fuse box. Dunlop unscrews the panel cover and peers in. “An amateur should be really careful here,” he warns. “This is all live stuff.” The service is 100amp, considered the norm for a medium sized house with large electrical appliances. Had he found 60amp service, Dunlop would have recommended upgrading, at a cost of a about $600 to $1,000. Because it is relatively new, the wiring is copper, but if the house had electrical system had been refurbished in the 1950’s, it could well have been aluminum. If a homeowner suspects the wiring is aluminum, Dunlop advises taking the cover plates off all the outlets in the house to make sure they are fitted with the special connections stamped CO/LAR, which render aluminum safe. Had he seen knob-and-tube wiring, an even older system that uses white ceramic insulators to support and separate twin wires, he would have recommended replacing it, especially if the buyer were planning a renovation that involved taking our walls; a total rewiring job, including patching the walls afterward, can cost $5,000 to $10,000, but it is money well spent in the cause of safety. During the electrical inspection, Dunlop notices a small rusty patch inside the breaker panel. “There’s a leak where the line enters the house. It needs sealing from the outside,” he says. Using a circuit tester, he finds that the socket which powers the refrigerator is wired incorrectly: the black (hot) and white (neutral) wires are crossed. “If this appliance developed a mechanical fault,” he warns, “its metal casing could become live.” Dunlop also points out several long extension cords. “We’ll find insufficient outlets everywhere,” he predicts. “It’s common in older homes.” Another fixture of houses more than half a century old is galvanized steel piping, which can be identified by its thread joints. It has not been used for many years, but the house inspectors still see it, and because it eventually rusts, says Peter Salmon, “We usually recommend it be replaced.” In a tow-storey house with one bathroom, he adds, the cost is $1,200 to $2,400, a sum that includes changing fixtures that are incompatible with copper. Fortunately, Dunlop and I find a relatively new plumbing system, with copper inlet pipes and plastic waste outlets. “There are little things to fix down hear, but nothing expensive or terrifying,” says Dunlop as we climb the basement stairs. “And we’ve done 90% of the job now.” Because interior finishes can put a good face on fundamental flaws, there is not a lot to see in the primary living spaces of the house, aside from cosmetic blemishes. But there are some subtle clues to watch- and listen- for. Dunlop recommends checking the levelness and stability of the floors by walking back and forth across the room, keeping an ear cocked for squeaks and groans. Place a spirit level perpendicular to an outside wall, and gradually move it toward the centre to test for sags. “Don’t be alarmed by minor sags toward the middle of older homes” he says with a grin. “Houses do that after a while, just like people.” The walls and ceilings of virtually every room in the house are plastered with a swirly stucco finish, a fine way to hide irregularities. Most observers would be fooled, but not Dunlop. He holds his flashlight flat against one wall, Sure enough, lumps and ridges are revealed by the shadows they cast. These prove to be clues to structural changes- a wall taken out, a fireplace closed off- and do not indicate underlying problems. We also find cracked plaster in many upstairs rooms. This combined with signs of uneven settling or dramatic floor sags, would have been cause for concern, but in this case, the damage is superficial. “The wall needs fixing, but it’s just cosmetic,” pronounces Dunlop. Newer houses are often finished with drywall. Minor cracks are usually of small concern, as is the occasional popped nail forced out of the by praying, shrinking studs. A network of cracks or a whole rash of popped nails, however, suggests low-quality construction. If the house is brand-new, wait until the cracks and nails stop appearing before reaching for the hammer and drywall compound. Upstairs, we see moisture stains on walls and ceilings just where Dunlop had anticipated, directly behind the patches of spalled brick on the exterior. “And don’t forget to check the closets,” he reminds me, vanishing into one. “Defeats are often remedied elsewhere but remain visible inside storage areas.” Predictably, we are also finding peeling paint and much wood on several upper-level window sills. We know by now that this is evidence of water seeping in. The solution lies in sealing the windows from the outside and repairing the spalled brick. Had we seen no flaws in the shell of the house, we would have suspected the damage was cause by moisture trying to get out- in other words, an elevated humidity level in a tightly sealed house. In that case, Dunlop suggests putting vents in the roof and/or soffits under the eaves, not too costly a job. A dehumidifier might help too. In the living areas, as in the basement, the inspection progresses from structural elements through moisture problems to mechanicals. As expected, we find far too many extension cords. The kitchen is an octopus of them. Together, Dunlop and I walk through the rooms switching on every light and appliance. If a lamp or radio does not work, Dunlop says, use a circuit tester to find out if the socket is delivering power. We also check the space heating in each room. “Builders 96 years ago didn’t realize heating systems would be more efficient if ducts were placed near or on exterior walls, preferably under windows,” says Dunlop, pointing to the grills that perforate several interior walls. We turn up the thermostat to start the furnace and check the amount of hot air coming through the ducts. It is adequate on the main floor, slightly diminished on the second markedly so on the third, Dunlop suggests two solutions: rebalance the air supply by partially closing dampers on the ducts closest to the furnace, thus sending more hot air to remote parts of the house, or install electrical baseboard heaters upstairs. All ducts emit at least some air, however, which is a good sign. Had any not done so, we would have suspected blocked or disconnected ducts, a problem fixed easily and cheaply unless the ducts are inaccessible. In the kitchen and bathroom, Dunlop checks the water pressure by turning on all the taps full tilt, simultaneously. The pressure is good, and the water is clear; there is not rust-clogged galvanized plumbing here. We systematically fill each sink, then pull the plug. The water drains away quickly without gurgling or siphoning sounds, indications of poor venting. In the bathroom, Dunlop notes some patches of mildew on the wall. He taps the tile around the bathtub, feeling for looseness or mushiness. (A moisture meter cannot “read” through tile or metal surface.) “There will be moisture problems here soon,” he predicts. He flushes the toilet, and although there are not telltale water or mildew stains, he crouches to look for leaks around the seal between the toilet and the floor. This bathroom has no exhaust fan, but had there been one, we would have checked it to make sure it vented to the outdoors and not into the attic, where it would create moisture problems. Localized Treatment In fact, this house has no accessible attic space where we can check for evidence of moister- water stains, wood that shows signs of bucking or softening, plywood whose layers are separating. Instead, Dunlop does this part of the inspection from the outside. To my considerably alarm- the day is blustery with high winds- he leaps from the third-floor deck onto the steeply pitched roof, runs up one face and balances astride the peak. I remain on the deck: would be inspectors require nerves as sturdy as their shoes. When Dunlop returns, he reports that the roof structure is well vented and seems firm, with no sags. An attic inspection would offer proof positive that a house is insulated, but there are other signals of a conservative retrofit. Roes of little plugged holes in the third-floor ceiling of this house indicate that the insulation has been blown in overhead. Insulation in the exterior walls is more difficult to ascertain. About the only way to check, says Dunlop, is to take the cover plates off electrical sockets and wall switches to see if any pick fibers, grey cellulose or which foam is visible. The attic may also reveal evidence of two potentially serious health hazards: bat or bird dung and urea-formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI). Cleaning out the feces may precipitate histoplasmosis, a lung disease (see “Bucolic Plague”, Number 66). UFFI, banned in Canada since 1980, also causes poor health in susceptible individuals. UFFI can be removed, or it can be encapsulated by caulking all openings- around electrical fitting and along the edges of baseboards- and installing a mechanical ventilation system to dilute any gases that seep into the house. All options are expensive, but UFFI- insulated wall, but according to Peter Salmon, UFFI does not affect the price of a house in Calgary at all. The inspection over, Dunlop and I stand chatting in the third-floor hall. Altogether, it has taken about 2 ½ hours, although an amateur would be encouraged to take whatever time is necessary to be thorough. And how has this house fared? “Well, I found nothing out of the ordinary,” says Dunlop. “The house needs some tidying up, especially the electricals. In general, you fix the hazardous faults first- dangerous electricals, falling bricks, a cracked heat exchanger, that sort of thing. In this case, the electrical repairs can be done for a few hundred dollars. Next, you should seal up the skin of the house to keep the weather out: repairs to roofing, flashing, brickwork. Those spalled bricks and the deck door should be fixed. Termite treatment ranks right up there too. After that, the house sets its own priorities. Which wheel is squeaking the loudest? Venting a house where moisture is damaging the interior is important, and so is fixing faulty flooring. But if the plumbing is leaking badly, that must be stopped now. “Lastly, after the house is safe and watertight, you can look at the aesthetics: replace some older chunks of plaster, and fill in the cracks, fixing finishes that aren’t symptomatic of underlying structural problems. You could so the whole thing- return this house to its prime- for maybe $10,000, but not much of that has to be done right away.” The 96-year old, a beauty of a house, has passed its mechanical and, with a little localized treatment and regular checkups, has many years of life left. No horror stories here.
|
||