roof damage: The Battle Of The Bulge - Due To Deferred Maintenance - 02/27/13 03:57 AM
It started small, but with a little crack here, separation there, or small hole, it ended up with the battle of the bulge - due to deferred maintenance.
HOME MAINTENANCE PROBABLY COSTS ABOUT 1% OF THE VALUE OF THE HOME EVERY YEAR.
I have heard that, but don't know if it's accurate.  Home maintenance includes everything - a new rose bush or tree, painting the bedroom, replacing the carpet in the basement, or fixing the garage door spring.
One year a homeowner might decide to do things, or need to do things, that add up to more than 1%.  And the … (56 comments)

roof damage: All Hail! Spring Begins The Hail Season - 04/19/12 02:06 AM
All hail!  Spring begins the hail season.  Every year!
Hail is a weather event that can cost us!  It costs homeowners some $1 billion annually in roof and siding claims.
I recently had a "roofer" come to my house saying that I had hail damage on my roof - FROM A HAIL EVENT THAT HAD HAPPENED A YEAR AND A HALF EARLIER!   He said they would do all the work with the insurance company and that it would cost me nothing!
Not remembering such an event, I immediately dismissed him as a scam artist and not a roofer.  But I … (33 comments)

roof damage: "What's That Smell?" - 06/20/11 06:00 AM
Vacant house, for some time.  Walk through and offer a week or so before our inspection.  Lingering smell in the house then.  Lingering smell as we walked in the door.  Standing in the entry everyone turned to me to ask, "What's that smell?"  Well, the smell was moisture, and it was established!
"Let's look around the outside first."  Usually I am at a house earlier than the buyers and have walked around the house a couple of times.  In this instance, they were very early and I hadn't had my usual shot at that!  I love it when the buyers are … (29 comments)

roof damage: It All Flows Downhill, But Especially Water - 10/15/10 08:00 AM
If you give it a place to go, water will go there.  And water is THE killer of houses, inside and out.
You have all seen the rubber membrane roof product, particularly on flat or low-slope surfaces.  That is an EPDM roof, or Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer roof.  Technically, it is a thermoset with high tear strength that can be cross-linked by both peroxides and sulfur (I learned that in Indianapolis!), but I digress.
If you look out a window at a small, flat front porch roof, you will probably see it.
It comes in different thicknesses, principally a 60 weight … (14 comments)

roof damage: Get Yer Gutter Garden! - 07/03/10 08:10 AM

Ever look up and see your gutters just sitting there?
And don't you think, "Hey, they aren't doing anything! How can I make them more useful?"
Well, think no more!  Hi, Billy Jays here!  Have I got a product for you!  Call now to
Get Yer Gutter Garden!
No more will you ever think your gutter is useless!
Now your gutter can be something that is used all the time!  Forget the rain storms!  Forget the downspout discharge next to the house!
Now the rain that falls on your roof will be useful too!
Get Yer Gutter Garden!
Imagine what … (29 comments)

roof damage: One Way To Tell An Aging Roof - 06/16/10 07:32 AM
As roof's age, the shingles begin to shed the granules that make up the color and provide UV protection.  This shedding contributes toward the demise of the roof as the shingles dry out, curl, cup, crack and break.  As they get drier, the shingles become more wind vulnerable and blow off more easily.  Often, when that happens, they do not blow off singly but en masse, a little neighborhood of shingles all blowing away at the same time.  This vulnerability exists on the windward and leeward side of the roof.  These granules are important!  But they come off.
Such was the … (23 comments)

roof damage: Squirrel Alert!! - 01/14/10 06:27 PM
Every now and then I run into squirrels in an attic.  Sometimes I have advance warning that they might be there.  This is what advance warning might look like, at least it did today:

This cute couple had made a fine home in the attic by pushing insulation into a little igloo.  They were pretty safe.  The house has been empty for some time.  They could come and go at will through the hole you see here.  They had done a lot of damage to the wood inside and outside the attic.  They can also do damage to wiring, although … (13 comments)

 
Jay_light_ar_photo Rainmaker_large

Jay Markanich - N. Virginia Home Inspector

Bristow, VA

More about me…

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC

Address: 12315 Sherborne Street, Bristow, VA, 20136

Office Phone: (703) 330-6388

Cell Phone: (703) 585-7560

Email Me

An experienced home inspector's look at current home inspection events and conditions along with his useful recommendations.


Listings

Links

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog

Find VA real estate agents and Bristow real estate on ActiveRain.