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door locks: Best Practices In Door Installation - 10/14/11 06:27 AM
One thing builders have to do is install a lot of doors. It's always a good thing to see Best Practices in door installation!  Particularly when it comes to entry doors!
One thing I see a lot of are entry doors installed with three shims on each side and finishing nails.
If I had to give that a title, I would call it Common Practice.
What's my beef with that?
According to the FBI there are 6,088 burglaries or home invasions every day.  That is 5 homes per minute.  And 67% of these involve forcible entry.
How much protection do three … (16 comments)

door locks: We Don't Need No Stinkin' Door Locks - 12/31/10 08:02 AM
Crutch - noun - /krutch/ - a long stick with a crosspiece at the top, used as a support by a lame person.
My first introduction to a crutch was in reading Uncle Wiggily books as a small child.  He had a barber pole crutch to help with his rheumatism, and was never without it.
I was pretty sure I knew what a crutch is used for.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And if you did too, we were both wrong!
Yesterday, on a home inspection with AR's Renee Montgomery, we ran into this.
Oh, it's a long … (32 comments)

door locks: How To Pick A Lock ... smith - 05/07/10 06:13 AM
No pun intended with the title.  Okay, maybe a little.
I am reading lots of articles about crooked locksmiths.  This problem has cropped up in recent years.  You need a locksmith, look in the phone book or do an Internet search, and a local phone number pops up.  And you think you are calling a local locksmith who miraculously can come right over.
What has happened instead is that you have been routed to a clearing house in another state that sends someone to your house who is not licensed and has no idea what he is doing.  And later your … (63 comments)

door locks: Protected By A Skeleton Crew - 04/19/10 07:30 AM
On a fabulous inspection the other day of a completely remodeled 1880's row house just blocks from the United States Capitol Building, I was impressed by the key that came out of the lock box to get us in.
It was a skeleton key!
I LOVE old skeleton keys!
Skeleton keys are used to open what were called "warded locks."  Sometimes called "passkeys" their shape resembles a skeletal figure and that's likely how they got their common name.
And that is why they were, and are, so effective.  Only one key shape can open the lock.  It could not be "picked."
… (26 comments)

 
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Jay Markanich - Northern VA Home Inspector

Bristow, VA

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Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC

Address: 12315 Sherborne Street, Bristow, VA, 20136

Office Phone: (703) 330-6388

Cell Phone: (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.


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