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northern va home inspection: The Peek-A-Boo Gable! - 11/08/07 12:07 PM
I almost missed it!
Lots of people had missed it. The owner, who had the house built 20 years ago and had lived in it all these years. The builder. The county inspectors. The roofer. The second roofer who installed a new roof one year ago.
Yet there it was. In plain sight! I saw it because I was showing the owner the various components of his attic ventilation system. I was making the point that even with the great full length ridge vent installed last year with the new roof, ventilation was still limited in the attic because nothing had been done … (10 comments)
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northern va home inspection: But Will the House Dance? - 11/06/07 06:54 AM
Selling an older home today can be alot like getting back in the dating game after many years of married life. Lots of updating to do. In today's real estate market, update you must, or more than likely, the house sits, and sits, and sits....like a wall flower at the dance.
This is especially true when the sellers are people who have lived comfortably and happily in the home for 10, 15, 20 or more years. They have become so accustomed to the home's problems that they've overlooked them ... choosing to put off fixing things. They also are unaware of outdated … (9 comments)
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northern va home inspection: Would You Buy this House? - 11/02/07 02:26 PM
"Would you buy this house?" My client asked me this quite sincerely. Evidently I had gained her trust and she wanted my opinion.
The inspection results so far were not helping her make up her mind. The house she had fallen in love with a few days before when she first saw it with her realtor had a new complexion now after she learned about the need to replace the windows, the roof, and the water heater as well as to address a moderately long list of minor issues. As much as I wanted to help her with her decision, I … (45 comments)
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northern va home inspection: Cat on a Hot Roof! - 10/19/07 06:40 PM
"Oh good!" I thought to my self as I drove up the driveway. "A relatively new roof, 30 year shingles, and they threw in a ridge vent."
On a 30 year old house, I had expected to see a roof covering that was not original. Worst case scenerio, they had replaced the original roof at say 15 years, and would be looking at the end of life of a second set of 20 year shingles. Best case, the original shingles had lasted longer and the current roof would be newer. In this case however, the owner had upgraded to a longer … (10 comments)
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northern va home inspection: Hazard Marking - 10/09/07 06:18 PM
Normally when installing an attic fan, you install the fan first, then hook up the electric wire to it, then hook up the wire at a junction box to the power source. However, I recently encountered a case where the homeowner hooked the electric wire to power first and then forgot about installing the attic fan. The wire was left coiled on a nail right beside the attic access hatch where it could ZAP any unsuspecting person who touches the live end. Unfortunately, I find hazards like these more often that you'd expect and I've learned to keep an electrical current … (1 comments)
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northern va home inspection: Shut up Murphy! - 10/04/07 01:57 PM
Murphy rides on my shoulder and tells me what fun he's having. Most of the time he doesn't bother me...just when he can cause some mischief.
Like last week when I was studying an electrical panel and noticed a breaker labeled Sump Pump. That's funny I thought. I've been all over this basement and haven't seen a sump.
"It's nothing", Murphy said. But I was curious and went looking. Sure enough.
There, behind some things, beside the water heater was a sump pit. It was easy to miss because there was NO sump pump, NO sump pump discharge, NO sump pump electrical connection. Nothing. … (1 comments)
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northern va home inspection: Where do we start? - 10/02/07 07:02 AM
I think it's fantastic that some people live together for 30, 40, 50 or more years. When they live together in the same place without moving, sometimes the rest of the real estate world passes their house by. That was the case with this inspection and I've had quite a few like this where the client asks:
"Where do we start?" My client asked me. I had just finished a Home Wellness Inspection for him. His intention was to put the house on the market in about a year. The look on his face told me that he was overwhelmed.
This inspection reminded … (7 comments)
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northern va home inspection: Did You See the Gorilla? - 09/30/07 05:53 PM
Nothing describes a common hazard to home inspectors better than this story, told to me by my daughter-in-law Ravit who has her Doctorate in Education Science.
She describes a study of young adult students who were observed while watching a basketball game. During the action of the game, a man, dressed in a gorilla suit, walked into the gymnasium, casually walked all the way around the court, stood for a while watching the game, and then walked out.
After the game the students were asked about the game and no one mentioned the gorilla. Curious about the unexpected lack of comments, the researchers asked … (9 comments)
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northern va home inspection: The Field Panel - 09/29/07 08:14 AM
His passion was restoring old cars and as I drove up to the old farm house on the hill, I saw several old 40ish clunkers in a field about 300 feet down the hill from the house.
He needed electrical power for a sander and some other small tools so he improvised a sub panel on a stump down in the field drawing from the main panel on the front porch.
Nothing, I repeat, nothing about this sub panel was to code. Not the wire size at AWG 12-2 which was run as a 240 circuit using the ground as neutral. Not … (0 comments)
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northern va home inspection: Tell Tale Signs - 09/28/07 08:38 AM
Some houses scream "Help Me!"...others give up their secrets quietly and reluctantly. After you have home inspected for a while, you learn the language and how to coax out what needs to be known.
For agents, there are several signs that you can use to reinforce with your clients the use of a home inspection in the transaction.
For example, in your initial house visit with your client, as you are walking around the outside, you see black stains on the gutters. This indicates leaves and debris in the gutters and the likelihood that water is flowing over the sides and dropping to … (33 comments)
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northern va home inspection: Federal Pacific Panels - 09/27/07 05:54 PM
The problem with Federal Pacific Panels is that when you find them they are not smoking or spitting sparks. They are just sitting there working as they have for 25, 30, or more years.
Because of this, some inspectors will say that a Federal Panel is OK...I say be careful. I cannot, in good conscience, tell my clients that any Federal Pacific Panel is OK when it can fail 1 out of 4 times it is challenged!
Independent certified lab tests on 240 volt (2 pole) Federal Pacific Breakers have shown that they fail to trip at 150% over current 25% of the … (14 comments)
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Bill Duncan
Haymarket,
VA
More about me…
Home Status Inspection Company, LLC
Address: 4208 High Ridge Road, Haymarket, VA, 20169
Office Phone: (703) 754-9992
Cell Phone: (703) 283-6375
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