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FAQ: “What’s that thing on the side of the house?” 27 Aug 2013 | 04:07 pm
One of the most common questions that home inspectors get when walking around the outside of a house with clients is “What’s that thing?” It’s called a doo-hickey. Here’s my list of the most common ...
Chewed Up Plumbing Vent Flashing 20 Aug 2013 | 02:33 pm
I don’t know what the big attraction to lead is, but squirrels seem to love destroying plumbing vent caps. Specifically, they chew holes in the lead portion of two-piece frost-resistant plumbing vent...
Beaver Systems 16 Aug 2013 | 12:29 am
I’ve been blogging about sump systems and downspouts for the past several weeks, but one system I forgot to mention is ’beaver systems’, or more properly, BEAVER® Systems. A Beaver Water Management ...
New Construction Tip: Have Your Builder Plan for Water Management 13 Aug 2013 | 02:43 pm
Water management at the exterior of homes is critical. Most people know this and I probably sound like a blow-hard when I keep repeating the same message… but too bad. The message bears repeating ov...
Don’t connect downspouts directly to yard drains 6 Aug 2013 | 02:42 pm
One of the main jobs of gutters is to direct water away from the building, which helps to prevent wet basements and foundation problems. When downspouts drain right next to the building, water gets c...
Sump Pumps shouldn’t discharge into the sanitary sewer 30 Jul 2013 | 03:28 pm
Discharging a sump pump into the city’s sanitary sewer system is a big ‘no-no’. While this might seem like an easier and more attractive option than running a discharge tube from the sump pump to the...
Five Common Sump System Defects 23 Jul 2013 | 03:47 pm
At almost every home inspection with a sump system, I end up recommending some type of change for safety, performance, or both. Here are five common sump system defects, in no particular order. 1. A ...
Photoelectric smoke alarms are all you need 16 Jul 2013 | 03:14 pm
Photoelectric smoke alarms are the only smoke alarms you need. Forget dual-sensor smoke alarms, and forget ionization alarms. A recent article in the ASHI Reporter by San Bruno home inspector Skip Wal...
Q&A: What Does a Long Home Inspection Mean? 9 Jul 2013 | 02:53 pm
I recently had someone email this question: Is a longer home inspection good news for the seller, or bad news? Or neither? Great question. The quick answer is that there are so many variables that ...
Beware of the Cheap AC Tune-Up 2 Jul 2013 | 02:33 pm
In last week’s blog post about professional AC maintenance, I mentioned at the end to beware of those super-discounted pre-paid coupons for AC tune-ups. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, chec...
