Steve's Blog

Fumes that keep you from waking up.

Steve Vacha (Home Standards Inspection Services) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:35:13 -0600

Being cold is bad, insulation is good, sometimes. Periodically I find homeowners who will use white bead board insulation for ceiling tiles or as insulation in unfinished basement areas. (This white insulation board is what cheap coolers are made of.) This material is called expanded polystyrene . This is safe to use only if it is covered with drywall or paneling, for burn protection.

When this expanded insulation catches fire it will create fumes that will knock us out, or keep us from waking up!

This is a fire hazard and should be removed or covered with drywall.

Sometimes you will see a more dense insulation board used, that is often blue and a more dense material. This material is called extruded polystyrene. This material has a fire retardant applied, but the manufacturers still call for it to be covered inside living areas.

Steve Vacha, Home Inspector

Home Standards Inspection Services, Omaha, Ne

Baby Steps To Blogs Paradigm Shift

Steve Vacha (Home Standards Inspection Services) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:49:20 -0600

Brad Andersohn, Community Builder, for Active Rain presented a 5 hour presentation at the OmahaArea Board of Realtors, OABR. I am an inactive member of Active Rain, not quite believing in the profitability of blogging. Brads presentation and vision pried open my hard head enough to see the significance of this new world of electronic idea sharing.

I've had such a hard time believing in the power of search engines to organize the unfathomable amount of information out there. I'm still catching up on the power of a website and its potential. Now, Brad tells me, blogs and networks like Active Rain are up staging web sites.

I'm stretching Brad. So I went home to google my name as Brad suggested we do. When I did this 11 months ago I was about number eight on the list of Steve Vacha's. Today I found I was in the the top two entries of a google search and listed in 8 of the ten listings on the first page. I realized the two Active Rain blogs I completed 10 months ago and joining several other networks put me at the top of the google search engine for my name. I was impressed. (Don't mention this to the other Steve Vacha's in the world).

I know my business world is all about connections. Brad Andersohn was inviting all of us at that conference into a whole other realm of connections that I need to stretch to fathom. I'll keep stretching one baby step at a time.

Steve Vacha

Home Standards Inspection Services

Pre-Listing Home Inspections

Steve Vacha (Home Standards Inspection Services) — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:57:41 -0500

Why sellers should have a pre-listing inspection.

Your homes problems are often invisible to you. We all get used to our own problems. Other people, potential buyers are not so kind. The unbiased eye of the home inspector will allow him to create an objective report on your homes condition.

Informed with the inspection report you can then choose which issues to address and repair. Repairs completed prior to listing are usually less expensive than when completed prior to closing. Or if larger issues do arise, you can have estimates prepared, so potential buyers know reasonable repair cost. The above concerns will probably arise prior to closing anyway, and in today's market it is important to be proactive.

When you have addressed your issues, this sharpens your homes appeal. Potential buyers can then see the potential of your home and not its problems. Your home will be remembered as the house without repairs to be made or questions to be answered. The selling features of your home will stand out.

Steve Vacha, Home Inspector,

Home Standards Inspection Services, Omaha Nebraska

CSST gas pipe and the concern of lightning strikes.

Steve Vacha (Home Standards Inspection Services) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:51:28 -0500

Corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST) gas pipeis the distinctive yellow pipe that has been installed in thousands of home in the Omaha area and nationally. The bendable pipe replaced the old black pipe and multiple 90 degree angles and joints. CSST was approved for residential use in 1988.

A class action lawsuitwas filed in 2006 against 4 manufacturers of the CSST pipe. The lawsuit claimed the CSST pipe posed a risk of fire due to lightning strikes. A lightning strike can cause an energized charge to move through the gas line, if the line is not properly grounded, the charge can arc to another metal or system. CSST pipe is very thin, and if this arcing occurs and hole can be formed in the pipe leading to a gas leak or fire.

I completed a home inspection at a home in Omaha, Ne. where lightning struck a metal flue on the roof and found the gas line. This arcing occurred in the fireplace and caused a gas leak. Luckily the home owner was in the room at the time, and turned off the gas. The repairs cost almost $2,000.00 and could obviously have been more.

Manufacturers of the pipe did not originally call for the pipe to be grounded. Since the lawsuit all the companies have issued installation instructions that require bonding and grounding. Even though a gas company might have installed the CSST pipe in a home the homeowner is responsible for the pipe in their home.

The manufacturers claim bonding and grounding may provide increased protection for the gas pipe in the building. The bonding and grounding should be done by a licensed electrician or trained professional. One manufacturer, GasTight, released a bulletin for grounding : http://www.gastite.com/include/languages/english/downloads/pdfs/TB2007_01.pdf