A Northern Virginia Home Inspector's Perspective

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Home Inspector - Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - 3380-000723

ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS

2011 

I have a client who has noticed an intermittent odor in the house.  Labeling it one would say it smells like sewer or septic gas.  The house is on a septic system, and it might be that somehow that is getting back into the house.  So she called me in to see if I could answer the question - what's...
11/29/2011
"Property is the fruit of labor.  Property is desirable, is a positive good in the world.  That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.  Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligent...
11/28/2011
The house was built in the 60s but the HVAC system was "upgraded" in the 90s.  And the feature list said, "Not just the system, but the duct work was modernized." If the system was replaced in the 90s is may have been upgraded but it is due again.  But that wasn't my problem! As to the duct work,...
11/27/2011
39 Comments
One VERY IMPORTANT thing I do on a one-year warranty inspection is sweep the house with my thermal camera to see if there is slipping insulation. It is important to do this because the camera can definitively determine if the insulation has actually slipped.  Done before the warranty is expired p...
11/26/2011
Jay's Saturday morning haiku - 6 The English form of the traditional Japanese Haiku includes any or all of the following: The use of 17 syllables, in the form of three lines, with 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively.  Some haiku may employ 10 - 14 syllables, but 17 is traditional. The use of a seas...
11/25/2011
98 Comments
There are few things worse than walking into a house that is ill kept and thinking "Roach Motel." Obviously, looking behind a cabinet and seeing this might be one of those things! Seeing is believing. When I see this, I do not set my tool bag down!  Not on the floor and certainly not on a counter...
11/24/2011
25 Comments
What is Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? I like everything we have for Thanksgiving dinner, and we are very traditional.  But I really like pumpkin pie and could live off of it if necessary. All our pies were baked yesterday.  We have a full house, so this year's menu includes one pecan pie, two...
11/23/2011
"New Attic Fan Controlled By Thermostat"  At least that is what the features list said. And it was true.  There was a new attic fan and it was controlled by a new thermostat. I see so many things when looking at this wiring. First, all of the wiring used for this new appliance is old.  Who knows ...
11/22/2011
"If it be taught that all who are born have a right to support on the land [public], whatever be their number, and that there is no occasion to exercise any prudence in the affair of marriage so as to check this number, the temptations, according to all the known principles of human nature, will ...
11/21/2011
You have to understand before I even begin that I am being facetious when I say thank goodness for duct tape. From outside this house we saw a rather large vent covering on the front of the house.  It was rather ugly too, and damaged as if it had been hit by a fallen tree limb.  Of course my clie...
11/20/2011
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Jay Markanich

Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia
local_phone(703) 330-6388
smartphone(703) 585-7560
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An experienced home inspector's look at current home inspection events and conditions along with his useful recommendations.