ashi certified: An Unusual Discovery In The Attic
- 12/30/10 08:13 AM
Attics are one of those places in a house where things get put and forgotten. Because of that walking (or crawling) through an attic one can happen upon the strange and unusual. I found something unusual in the attic on my last inspection, snow.
We had a big snow storm here in Connecticut Sunday into Monday. High winds and a blizzard warning made this an unusually dangerous storm. The wind does weird and wonderful tricks with snow. In this instance it blew the snow into the attic through a roof vent. This is a great example of a freak occurrence that … (17 comments)
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ashi certified: The Plumber Should Be Given The Boot
- 12/16/10 01:29 AM
When one hires a professional to perform work on their home, one would thus expect the work to be done professionally with competence and care. Oh yes and for a fair price. Yet this is not what always happens. Sometimes professionals perform their jobs like trained chimps, demonstrating no skill or care and at an exorbitant price.
Recently I inspected some new work done on a home. The homeowners had hired a contractor to add a shed dormer off the back of their house to enlarge the attic and some other smaller projects. This meant that some existing plumbing would need … (15 comments)
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ashi certified: I Forgot - Twice
- 11/27/10 12:11 AM
We all forget things, it is part of being human. We get older, life gets more complicated, and so the memory banks occasionally lose stuff in the shuffle. As a home inspector there are many things that I need to check through out a house. I jog my memory by carrying a computer and entering information into each appropriate area, this serves to remind me of what needs to be checked. It's kind of like having crib notes, but not having to worry about getting detention.
Recently I did two inspections where I found the exact same defect in new electric … (18 comments)
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ashi certified: It All Adds Up
- 11/01/10 10:50 AM
Being a home inspector most times is using basic science or simple detective work. Cause and effect or follow the clues. There is also more than a bit of experience involved.
Take for example this flat roof. If there is one thing that is certain about flat roofs; they almost surely will or are leaking. When I was inspecting this flat roof it was a rainy day, perfect inspection weather.
While looking at the exterior I saw that the gutter off the back of the flat roof had a dark stain. Water was pouring over the stain because the gutter was … (8 comments)
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ashi certified: Super Sized Nailing
- 10/28/10 02:39 AM
It seems to me that our society has the thought that if a little is good more is better. You know how it goes; why have a regular size meal when you can super size it. Or a small affordable house when you can streeeech your budget and get the mini mansion.
While inspecting a garage the other day I found that same sort of thinking with a contractors work. The garage had been lengthened off the front adding about five or six feet. It was already a large two car garage, but now it was huge. I just love big … (8 comments)
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ashi certified: This Is Not What It Looks Like!
- 10/23/10 01:06 AM
A case of mistaken perception, it happens form time to time. We see something that looks familiar and assume it is what are mind has told us it is. There are times when we never realize we have made a mistaken and go blissfully about our lives unaware of our error.
Case in point. How many times has any one seen a plastic clothes dryer vent? Lots of times, right. You may even have one in your house right now. Did you know that is not a dryer vent, but a bathroom fan vent? That's right, there is no longer a … (8 comments)
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ashi certified: This Would Be Cool...If You Were 10
- 10/17/10 01:31 AM
Building forts and having secret tunnels was great fun as a kid. Some blanks thrown over a chair and a couch was the best! I always envisioned having a secret passage way out of my room. It would be great when I was sent to my room for some offense or other I could sneak out and back in before I was discovered missing. Kind of like the old TV show Hogan's Heroes. The simple thought of getting away with that was exhilarating.
I was in an attic the other day and was surprised to find a secret passage into the … (14 comments)
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ashi certified: Hey You On The Right
- 10/16/10 08:36 AM
I fortunately do not have too many crawl spaces to inspect in Connecticut. Today happened to be one of few days where I had get down and dirty. Actually this crawl space was not bad at all. Concrete floor, dry, but a bit dusty and dirty.
The heating/cooling ducts had been installed on the floor which in my opinion is not ideal. This made traversing the space more difficult. I had to wend my way around the ducts. As I was moving along I caught a hot breath on my cheek. I was either not alone, which was very unlikely or the … (10 comments)
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ashi certified: Being Green Isn't Always Good
- 10/11/10 12:21 PM
The last few years being "Green" has become all the rage. It's sort of funny how being responsible for the environment can be a fade, the thing to do, nevertheless that is the world we live in. As a Connecticut home inspector seeing or finding green is not always good. I have yet to find a stash of greenbacks which would be good, but I'm not planning my retirement on it.
Take a look at this micro garden growing on the edge of these cedar shingles. The rain gutter is right below so between the water flowing over the edges and … (17 comments)
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ashi certified: Turning Over Rocks
- 10/10/10 01:10 AM
One activity I remember doing as a kid was turning over rocks. In my yard I had some favorite rocks I would turn over regularly. They would at times yield a great treasure like a toad so I would return to them again and again. As young boy finding a toad was like finding the Hope Diamond. I wasn't limited to turning my routine rocks, any rock, anywhere at anytime was perfectly fine with me. As long as I could move it, I would flop it over.
The other day while inspecting an antique home I spied a strange looking rock … (14 comments)
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ashi certified: Sometimes It's Okay For Little Johnny To Copy Suzie's Homework
- 10/08/10 02:22 AM
I find it distressing as a Connecticut home inspector at times how awful a bit of work can be done. On the same token I fully admire and appreciate good work. In fact when something is done extremely well I examine it closely to see what I can learn. Of course not every one is like me, good thing, but I believe most us of learn more or less through example.
That's why the professional trades, plumbers, electricians and HVAC techs, have apprenticeships. The tradesman mentors his understudy by showing him or her how certain tasks are performed. As with all … (6 comments)
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ashi certified: Another Gulf Oil Spill in the Making?
- 09/28/10 12:11 PM
That title might be a slight exaggeration. Okay a big exaggeration, but I wanted to get your attention. For those individuals who have or had an oil heating system, you are undoubtedly familiar with the tank where the oil for your furnace is kept. Some are inside the house some are on the exterior and some are under the ground. Just like anything oil tanks wear out. What happens when an oil tank wears out? It springs a leak. When that happens other little gushers are sure soon to follow. So what's the solution to a leaking oil tank?
Simple call … (6 comments)
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ashi certified: Electrically Stimulating Stretching
- 09/27/10 12:04 PM
I seem to be running into electric service wire problems lately. On this Connecticut house there were two problems, one partially caused by the other.
The first issue was the height of the service wire. Judging by the equipment it would appear this service was never high enough from day one. The electrician who installed the mast oh so many years ago looks to have taken the shortest route to the street, not the tallest.
The wire should be a minimum of 12 feet above the ground to be considered safe. This wire might be 10 feet high at best. On … (5 comments)
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ashi certified: If The Deck Is A Movin' - You'd Better Stop a Groovin'
- 09/23/10 02:06 AM
A deck has to be one of the more sought after features in a home. Relaxing out on the deck on a nice morning enjoying your coffee is definitely one of life's simple pleasures. Unless the deck collapses, now it's a nightmare. Truly the likely hood of a deck falling while one or two people are on it is very slim, but put a group on a poorly supported deck and you greatly increase the odds. Either way there is no need to tempt fate.
Look at this large deck. Part of it is built on the ground and part off … (11 comments)
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ashi certified: Shake And Shimmy
- 09/20/10 12:53 AM
One of the more visible parts of a deck is the guard rails. Guardrails are required for any point on the deck 30 inches or greater from grade level. I am not going to debate the good sense aspect of the 30 inch requirement, 29½ inches is along way to fall when you're not expecting it. I want to discuss another good sense part of guard rail construction, sturdiness.
The standard is the guardrail must be strong enough to resist a 200 lb. point load in any direction. That is a great deal of weight and I feel a good majority … (14 comments)
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ashi certified: Times Change And Now It's Time For A Change
- 09/12/10 09:33 AM
Something that I try and keep in mind as a Connecticut home inspector is that houses and the ways of building them have changed over the years. What was perfectly acceptable or perhaps never thought to be a problem, say 50 years ago, is today no longer a suitable method of construction.
One particular area of the home that probably has under gone and continues to experience the most change is the electrical service. During a training seminar not too long ago the instructor asked if anyone knew how many changes had been made to the newest edition of the electric … (14 comments)
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ashi certified: Is All Mold Testing Necessary... A Follow Up
- 09/11/10 10:46 AM
A few days ago I wrote a piece entitled Is All Mold Testing Necessary. My aim was to give an unbiased look at mold testing and its sometimes perceived necessity. One point of mine is if mold is visible there becomes no need to test it, but to simply remedy the cause and clean up the mold. Another instance I feel is a waste of a clients money is performing a mold test as part of a home inspection without cause.
When I say cause I am talking about having a good reason for testing. For instance is there a musty … (9 comments)
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ashi certified: Weeping is Good
- 09/10/10 01:51 PM
I've heard it said everyone needs a good cry once in a while. Well I don't think that's true personally, I do know that if your brick wall can't weep it could be a problem. Masonry walls need drainage or weep holes along the base or water can accumulate in between the brick and house sheathing. Collecting water inside the wall can lead to some very bad problems. The sort of problems that can make a homeowner weep.
While inspecting a large Connecticut brick home recently, I found or actually didn't find weep holes along the entire home. At the front … (10 comments)
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ashi certified: Despicable Flashers
- 09/09/10 12:47 PM
No, no, not that kind of flashers gutter brain. Roof flashers or roofers who put flashings on stuff that pokes through the roof like this chimney. What a fine example of how not to flash a chimney. Man do I wish I owned stock in roofing tar and caulk. I'd be rich contractors use the stuff so much.
This fine and lovely example of counter flashing is going to leak, leak and leak some more. Which means more tar will be slopped on to stop the leak until it begins to leak all over again. The instruction on the roofing tar … (17 comments)
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ashi certified: Glass Walls Are Not Only in Glass Houses
- 09/08/10 06:55 AM
Glass has to be one of mans greatest inventions. It has so many great attributes, but at the same time has many weaknesses. By far and away the largest and most notably use for glass is windows. Can you imagine what homes and building must have been like before window glass?
The biggest weakness of glass is that it's weak or more accurately brittle. It breaks very easily and has marginal strength. I often joke about glass not being structural, but apparently someone hadn't heard the news.
I found this wall of glass on a recent inspection. The glass is a … (9 comments)
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Attics are one of those places in a house where things get put and forgotten. Because of that walking (or crawling) through an attic one can happen upon the strange and unusual. I found something unusual in the attic on my last inspection, snow.
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