Does the bath tub overflow leak? There's only one way to find out. - 06/28/11 06:02 AM
Many years ago, I learned about a bath tub leak that I never caught during my home inspection.  The seller didn't have any children and didn't take baths, so they never knew about the problem with the bath tub drain.  I did my standard inspection of the bath tub, which included filling the tub up with about four inches of water and then letting it drain.  I didn't find any leaks and never reported a problem.  
After the new owners moved in, the first time their children used the bath tub water began leaking through the kitchen ceiling.  
Why … (41 comments)

Houses never need cosmetic updates - 06/21/11 06:29 AM
 
Today is going to be a long day.  As I sit here writing this blog post, it's 4:55 am and I just finished doing a little research on the house that I'll be inspecting at 9:00 am.  The online listing for this property says it has lots of square footage and needs some cosmetic updates.
I haven't been to the house yet but already disagree with that description.  Cosmetic updates are never needed. I googled 'cosmetic', and here's what I came up with.  The first two definitions of this word apply to people, and the third applies to objects.  I bolded … (77 comments)

Why municipal inspectors wear blinders - 06/14/11 05:58 AM
 
I've taken many building code classes that were taught by the Building Official for the City of New Hope, Roger Axel.  He's a fantastic teacher.  In his classes, I remember him repeatedly telling us to take off the blinders; what he meant by this was to not miss the forest for the trees.  Sure, the deck ledgerboard has lag screws every six inches... but if the house was built with floor trusses, what are those lag screws going in to? The wall sheathing? Look at the big picture, keep an open mind, don't make assumptions, question everything.

Despite this sage advice, municipal … (29 comments)

Trapping Your Condensate - 06/07/11 06:32 AM
In approximately 99.2% of the houses that I inspect, there's a 3/4" hole in the air conditioner ductwork that lets air blow out where it shouldn't.
Can you guess what it is?  Here's a clue.

Do you see it?  It's that clear tube coming off the condensate drain pan on the air conditioner's evaporator coil.  As the air conditioner runs, warm air from the house blows over the evaporator coil, which removes heat and moisture from the air in the house.  The heat gets carried out of the house via the air conditioner's refrigerant lines, where it gets dissipated at … (12 comments)