Hello All,, Well its been months and months since I written anything. Sorry for that,
I would like to touch on Carbon Monoxide Detectors.
I have found more people are inquiring about them since the tragic deaths of a family with kids and a young college student here.
I have found many detectors located in the furnace areas of the home. That furnace doesn't care if it goes off. It will keep spewing CO into the home and cause death if not discovered in time. I ALWAYS tell my clients that they SHOULD have a CO detector and it be placed in their BEDROOM and a second one in the living/family room. You want it to wake you up or warn you that there is dangerous CO levels in the home. Sitting down in the furnace room of a 2 story, multi level and even a ranch style home you will probably NOT hear it and have the time to get out of the home safely.
Remember LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION,
I also HIGHLY recommend the NIGHTHAWK / Kiddie models. They have a GREAT track record. Are reasonably priced and readily available at most hardware stores and Walmart.
So for a modest cost, under $50, you could save a life, perhaps your own or that of your clients, remember you what their repeat business.
Go purchase one today and they make great giveaways for your clients.
Hello again, Your Friendly Home Inspector, Rick McCullough
The TIP this week is about Winterized Properties.
When a home is winterized some companies disconnect the toilet water supply (Risers) and the dishwasher water supply under the kitchen sink. Check that the washer water hook up and the outside water hose faucets (Hose Bibs) are all OFF. And the T & P valve is closed and the water drain is off at the water heater. Then there is perhaps a Ice Maker Water line that went to the Refrigerator.
These again ALL need to be checked BEFORE you restore water to the home.
BEFORE the Water company comes out to turn on the water someone SHOULD turn OFF the MAIN WATER VALVE inside the home and check that the BLEED NIPPLE is secure. That way you can somewhat control the water when it is turned on inside the home.
I always turn OFF the water to the water heater and check the cold water side first and then slowly turn on the hot water side. That way you can isolate which side you may have a leak on, cold or hot.
Twice this week I had a real mess when I showed up for an Inspection.
First one on Monday I found the agent in a frantic way. The water company had left but a few minutes before and the agent was there by herself. I walked in and heard her in the basement raising some commotion. I set my equipment down and ran downstairs to find water gushing from the bleed nipple on the main water shut off. About 50 gallons of water already on the flooring. The bleed nipple cap had blown off the shut off valve.
Got the water shut off and luckily the agent had a squeegee in her car,, I would never had thought of carrying one of those.. Glad she did. Took a couple of hours to clean up the water.
The second inspection today the water company had come by and turned on the water the yesterday. When I arrived today there was water coming from the crawlspace vents. Not a great site to drive up to. I turned the water off and the power, then called the listing agent. She was beside herself. Last I heard today was the Flood Restoration Company was estimating about $10,000- $15,000 damage. They said the BLEED NIPPLE CAP WASN'T THERE.
So PLEASE have someone qualified check BEFORE you have that water turned on.
A Simple Tip From Your Friendly Home Inspector, Rick McCullough
Innocence is priceless > > One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex > standing in the > foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. > It > was covered with > names with small American flags mounted on either > side > of it. The > seven year old had been staring at the plaque for > some > time, so the > pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and > said quietly, "Good > morning Alex." "Good morning "Pastor, what is > this?" > he asked the > pastor. > > The pastor said, "Well, son, it's a memorial plaque > to > all the young > men and women who died in the Service." Soberly, > they > just stood > together, staring at the large plaque. > Finally, little Alex's voice, barely audible and > trembling with fear, > asked, "Which service, the 8:30 or the 10:45?"
It was fun test and told me a bit about myself,, Pass it along to your friends and family,, see where they stand on the GREAT Yankee Dixie debate,, ;-)
Enjoy it and have fun.. I know my kids and friends and I sure did,,
A man walks into a drug store with his 8-year old son. They happen to walk by the condom display, and the boy asks, "What are these, Dad?
To which the man matter-of-factly replies, "Those are called condoms son. Men use them to have safe sex."
"Oh I see," replied the boy pensively. Yes, I've heard of that in health class at school." He looks over the display and picks up a package of 3 and asks, "Why are there 3 in this package?"
The dad replies, "Those are for high school boys, one for Friday, one for Saturday, and one for Sunday." "Cool" says the boy.
He notices a 6 pack and asks, "Then who are these for?" "Those are for college men," the dad answers, TWO for Friday, TWO for Saturday, and TWO for Sunday." "WOW!" exclaimed the boy,
"Then who uses THESE?" he asks, picking up a 12 pack.
With a sigh and a tear in his eye, the dad replied, "Those are for married men. One for January, one for February, one forMarch......."
Hello again,, Your Friendly Home Inspector, Rick McCullough here once again
How SAFE is your Home Inspection going to be? Strange question I know.
And I am at total loss at how to prevent anything like this. I would welcome suggestions, your comments, ideas, anything you think might help. Not only for me but your fellow agents and clients.
I have on two occasions now been where I have felt threatened during an inspection, I'm not a slight man I stand 6'5", 260 lbs, and can't imagine how the client and agent would have felt or what could have happened if I weren't there at the time. Both times the client and agent were ladies. They were slight in stature.
I'll only relate the first one. The scariest inspection I have ever done.
When I arrived the agents, sellers and buyers, and client were waiting in front of the home. We all greeted each other. Then sellers agent related to me this might be a rather uncomfortable inspection. The parents, who were from out of state, were selling the home and the son, who lived there was upset that he was going to have to move and find and pay for his own place now. I thought she meant that he would be following me around during the inspection. I have been in that situation before,, the seller following me around,, watching over my shoulder. Making comments.. It does not bother me in the least. I inspect the home no matter and give the conditions as I see them, as they are.
She waited outside while the rest of us went up to the door. Knocked and a younger gentleman came to the door. Standing behind the screen door he seemed calm and in control. Not threatening in anyway. He let us in and went off to another part of the house. After checking and starting the appliances in the kitchen. We all proceeded outside to check the exterior. I climbed on the roof, walked around the exterior making notes on the conditions and corrections needed or to be suggested, we walk back in to the kitchen and check the appliances.. The dishwasher has been turned off. I know it could not have cycled through in that time. I started it again. We start down the hall and to the bedrooms and baths, turning on the water in the hall bath I proceed to the first bedroom, door is closed, I knock. I don't hear anything and turn the knob and enter. Good condition, carpet in good condition,, all outlets working properly,, windows open, close and latch easily, on to the second bedroom,, knock no answer, the same condition as the first. Good Now I knock at the third bedroom door. No answer again, turn the knob and I am greeted by the young gentleman,, standing inside. He is pleasant. I look over the bedroom and the master bath and then leave, closing the door behind me.
The agent and client are in front of me as we walk down the hall. As we get to the living room and I hear the bedroom door open and a rush of footsteps, as I start to turn I am suddenly tackled from behind. We wrestled to the floor, fortunately I ended up on top. I am yelling at the agent and client to get out. Holding the young man down. I am at a total loss at what to do besides hold him down. Then I see a hand gun laying on the floor a few feet away from us. Apparently he had it when he tackled me and dropped it. It wasn't there before.
The agent and client had run outside and called the police.
I was still holding the young man down when they arrived a few minutes later and took over the situation.
The selling agent showed the police a notarized letter from the owners/sellers that we had their permission to be there and for the inspection of the home. That their son might cause trouble and to remove him from the house if he did. The selling agent had given it to the police outside as they arrived where she had been waiting. None of our party were aware of this letter or what might happen till then.
The police took away the young man and I finished the inspection, a couple of extra bumps and bruises, alone in the house. The agents and client left and waited at a nearby café.
When I left the café the agents were in a heated discussion. I had enough of heated discussions for the day.
So I guess instead of offering a Tip today I am asking for one. How should this have been handled BEFORE we ever got to the inspection. I would have preferred that the young man have been GONE. But as an Inspector that wasn't my call. So any tips and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
City inspects for safety only, not quality THE PERFECT SHOCK | New housing needs a full once-over by a certified home inspector
April 20, 2007 BY SANDRA GUY sguy@suntimes.com
Beware home buyers: Illinois does not require developers to be licensed, and city inspectors are not assessing the construction quality of the residence. The inspectors are responsible only for citing public-safety hazards such as an insufficient number of fire escapes.
"In Illinois, you have 'Wall Street' developers who drive cars and talk on phones and hire subcontractors. They don't build anything," said Nick Gromicko, founder of the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, based in Boulder, Colo.
"Most states have very minimal or no licensing of developers and contractors," he said.
Contractors work with the skilled trades industries, so they don't have to be masons, plumbers or roofers, said a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. A contractor has to be a good businessman, and there is no license for that, the spokeswoman said.
The IDFPR licenses architects, roofers, engineers and home inspectors.
The Illinois Department of Health licenses plumbers.
Gromicko said he believes the model law is Florida's, where prospective developers must pass an exam and take continuing education courses each year.
Chicago requires that general contractors obtain a license from the Department of Buildings. The application requires that the construction company show the appropriate business licenses and a sufficient amount of insurance to cover the size of the proposed project, said department spokesman Pete Scales.
City inspectors, or any other government inspector, will check only for safety issues on new construction.
"A leaking window is something [government inspectors] wouldn't even catch," Gromicko said.
Scales said city building inspectors review basic life-safety issues such as proper ventilation and lighting, and properly installed electrical and plumbing systems.
"They're not able to measure the quality of construction," Scales said.
The developer is responsible for correcting any problems.
New condos need a once-over by a certified home inspector, Gromicko said.
"A brand new home isn't a perfect home. It was built by human beings -- a variety of people who don't know each other and who may differ from one part of the construction to another," he said. "It's not the quality-control assembly line that people believe."
Gromicko recommends that a potential buyer pay $250 to $300 to get a certified inspector to do a once-over on a new condo before he or she closes on the purchase.
The national association requires its members to take 30 hours of continuing education each year. Home inspectors who belong to the national association can be found on the Web site at www.nachi.org
The association's requirements compare with Illinois' rule that home inspectors take 12 hours of continuing education every two years, after they complete an initial 60 hours of pre-license education.
The inspector will come up with a "punch list" of items that need correcting, and the would-be buyer can insist that the developer resolve the problems before he purchases the unit.
Once the problem is disclosed by the inspector, the listing agent must disclose it to every other potential buyer, Gromicko said.
New-construction warranties are good for one year, so a homeowner who failed to get an inspection before closing should get one before his first year of ownership ends, Gromicko said.
Tom Corbett, president of Tomacor Inc., a Chicago-based home inspection company, said he believes developers should be licensed because they have a fiduciary responsibility to the people who've bought homes from them.
He believes such licensing should ensure that the developer be able to read blueprints, be fully bonded for the cost of the construction work, and be certified as to level of competence and understanding of the building code.
Corbett said he has seen some developers remove a "significant amount of money for dubious expenses" from a development's reserve fund just before turning over the building to the new homeowners. "The developer was charging the building tens of thousands of dollars for electrical consumption because ComEd hadn't put in the meters," he said. "Often, there is not good accounting" for the money.
CLICK HERE for full Sun-Times article: http://www.suntimes.com/classifieds/homes/homelife/349615,HOF-News-prairietower20.article
This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It ' s worth your consideration.
Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.
This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.
BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..... not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.
Here's the idea:
For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies, EXXON / MOBIL and CONOCO / PHILLIPS. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. To much surplus in THEIR tanks.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon / Mobil and Conoco / Phillips gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach million! s of people.
I didn't do this yet, I figure to post it here may reach more people faster. but I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at least ten more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE >>>>HUNDRED MILLION >>>>PEOPLE!!!
Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all. (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this one.)
How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!
I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you?
Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL, CONOCO/PHILLIPS UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.50 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.
THIS CAN REALLY WORK.
A large surplus would drive the price DOWN, Doesn't it in Real Estate? It WILL work on Gas also I believe.
They had to bunk two to a room. No one wanted to room with Daryl >because he snored so badly.
They decided it wasn't fair to make one of them stay with him the whole time, so they voted to take turns.
The first guy slept with Daryl and comes to breakfast the next morning with his hair a mess and his eyes all bloodshot.
They said, 'Man, what happened to you?' He said, 'Daryl snored so loudly, I just sat up and watched him all night.'
The next night it was a different guy's turn. In the morning, same thing--hair all standing up, eyes all blood-shot.
They said, 'Man, what happened to you? You look awful!' He said, 'Geez!
That Daryl shakes the roof. I just sat there watching him all night long.'
The third night was Bob's night. Bob was a big, burly, ex-football player - a man's man. The next morning he came to breakfast bright eyed and bushy tailed.
They couldn't believe it so they asked 'What happened? How come you look so rested?'
He said, 'Well, we got ready for bed. I went and tucked Daryl into bed and kissed him good night. He sat up and watched me all night long.'
Now how many others would have thought of that one. ;-)
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