The photos below are more examples of telltale signs. These are all from inspections that I performed. I will show the clues and describe the outcome. As to realtors, since you are not going to be down in the crawl space (where the clues are seen probably 60% of the time) you should look for outs
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07/31/2007
In this state, probably all of the country, the requirements have become more strict regarding the need for removal of old underground storage tanks. This has taken place over the past few years. Even five years ago, people would decommission them basically by draining the fuel and filling them w
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07/31/2007
It was the norm many years ago: They vented the fossil fuel furnace, the wood stove and maybe the fossil fuel powered water heater all into the same masonry chimney. Many homes like this are still around today. While this is may not be something to panic over, based on modern thinking, this is no
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07/30/2007
I inspected a house recently. The gutters and downspouts had been replaced in the past couple months -- all new and good quality aluminum seamless gutters. The funny thing is, whichever company installed the downspouts, they did so in a manner that helped perpetuate problems that already existe
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07/30/2007
It seems that most people in the real estate field know that wood to earth or soil contact is not good. With pressure treated lumber, the wood might last several years but even pressure treated lumber lasts longer if it is not down in the dirt. The other side of that equation is that many people
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07/30/2007
This post is primarily directed to newer members of AR. As people become serious about building a standing at AR, they have a few ways to do this: Invite points, localism, but most of us rely on blogging and comments as the mainstay of our quest. A person trying to get to the next level will do t
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07/30/2007
Well, it took me more than a week to mull it over but, as of this weekend, I did my meme. On top of that, tonight I selected my three victims -- Michael Eisenberg who is at Fairhaven Realty and quite the AR competitor in this market, also Eric Badgley and Angela Gardner, a married team at Pruden
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07/29/2007
This is a topic that impacts all of us including realtors, home inspectors and home buyers. In new construction it seems to almost always be done correctly, at least in my area. But in older homes and mobile homes, plumbing vent stacks can be really messed up or missing completely. Venting the dr
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07/26/2007
This is one of those things that is frustrating to the home inspector. What you see here is a flex drain. It has ridges in it, like a vacuum cleaner hose. We usually find these under bathroom sinks. If you have ever cleaned a bathroom sink drain and trap, even one with smooth pipe and a proper P
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07/26/2007
Those of us who are home inspectors get used to our own lingo. And the realtors who have been in the business for some time understand most of it. Today, I had a reminder, in speaking to a realtor, that all the technical words we inspectors think are common might not be to others. This word, tha
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07/25/2007
