Technology was caught up with heating and cooling thermostats. With more and more Internet based devices coming out, tech savvy people can utilize this technology to save money. Since the heating and cooling of a home makes up the majority of the utility costs, it makes sense to keep a tight rein on how long and often it cycles off and on.

The thermostat has evolved somewhat over the years from simple manual controlled units with a mercury switch to programmable ones that gave people the ability to have their air conditioning or furnace temperatures set back during the night or at work to the newest version that can be controlled through the Internet. Programmable thermostats may not benefit everyone, for example if someone is at home all day it may not make sense to have automatic set back feature. But depending on the lifestyle of the household, having greater control may prove to provide significant savings.

One problem with standard programmable thermostats is that your household may have an unpredictable schedule with people coming and going and leaves programming the thermostat useless. The new Internet controlled thermostats, or "smart thermostats" are controlled through a wireless gateway connected to the home's Internet connection and transmits signals to the wall mounted thermostat to lower and raise temperatures and even switch between heating and cooling modes. This allows you to remotely control the thermostat through any Internet connection from anywhere, even with Internet enabled phones and PDAs. Most of these have the ability to control up to four different thermostats so if you lived in a two story home for instance, you could turn on the air conditioning to your upstairs office before you get there and leave the downstairs set back.

Not all electric providers have the service, but may in the future. TXU is offering these at a low price if you join their energy conservation program. For more information, you can visit their website at: https://www.txupartners.com/thermostat/programdetails/index.php

Kent Keith

www.fortworthinspector.com

Fort Worth / Dallas Home Inspections

Holidays are a very busy time of the year for everyone....including plumbers. In preparing holiday dinners, the garbage disposer gets a workout and if not careful, you may just find yourself calling a plumber and having to pay up to double the normal rates for emergency and holidays. Here are some tips on garbage disposers that may prevent you from calling Mr. plumber.

Tips on operating your disposer

• When placing food in the disposer, take time to put small amounts in at a time. Don't pack the disposer full then try to grind. This will increase the chances of stopping up the unit and puts extra stress on the motor. If your home is on a septic system, it is more critical of the amount of food that is put in the system.
  
• Don't run hot water through the disposer when grinding food. Cold water will keep the food more solid and will allow the disposer to grind the food more efficiently.
• After it sounds like the food has finished grinding, leave the water running for about 15 more seconds to wash the food down the drain.
• When leaving on vacation or for a long period of time, operate the disposer with the water running for about 30 seconds to ensure there is no residual food in the unit. This can prevent you from returning home to a stuck disposer.
• Never put your hand down a disposer with the unit plugged in or the breaker still on.

What to do if the disposer won't turn on

First determine if there is power to the disposer. If you can hear a humming sound from the unit, then there is power and just may be jammed. If you do not hear any sound coming from it, then check these items.

• Is the reset button on the bottom tripped? Most people don't realize there is an overload breaker on the bottom of the disposer. This may trip if the disposer is under too much stress and prevents the motor from burning out in case it gets jammed. The reset button is located on bottom of the unit and is usually red, but not always. After pressing the reset button, see if the unit comes on or hums. If not, check the breaker at the breaker panel and some circuits may be wired through a GFCI receptacle above the kitchen counter, so see if that may be the problem. If you have checked all these and still don't have power, the disposer may be broke or jammed.

How to unjam a disposer

If the disposer makes a humming sound or trips the reset button, then it may be jammed. To manually turn the unit and unjam it, follow these steps.

• First disconnect the electrical power from the disposer for safety. There should be an electrical outlet under the sink that the disposer is plugged into that you can unplug or if it is hardwired, go to the breaker box and turn off the breaker.
• Next get the disposer wrench to manually turn the disposer to loosen it. If you don't have the wrench, look under the sink at the drain pipes. Sometimes I have seen plumbers that installed the disposer tape the wrench to a drain pipe near the disposer. If not you may have a 1/4 hex wrench (allen wrench) in your toolbox or these are available at any hardware store or large department store. The wench is inserted at the port in the middle of the bottom of the disposer. Turn it around a few times then reverse it a few more that that should do the trick. If you simply can't get a wrench, try putting a broom handle or something similar down the disposer opening and try to push the grinder around this way

What if the disposer operates but won't drain?

If water backs up in the disposer and won't drain, try checking the drain pipes for blockage. The easiest way to do this is to remove the 'P' trap. Put a large pan or bucket under the 'P' trap and remove the two pipe nuts. These should only be hand tight, but the may require a large set of pliers to remove. Remove and check for blockage in the trap pipe and the pipe going to to the disposer outlet. A wire coat hanger can be used for this if you don't have a pipe auger. If this is not the problem, the blockage may be further down the pipe and a plumber may have to be called.

What not to put down a garbage disposer

• Grease. Grease will eventually solidify and clog a portion, or all of your drain.
  
• Egg shells. Some people think egg shells will sharpen the disposer blades but will only help in clogging the drain pipes.
• Large bones. Needless to say large bones will dull the blades, could get caught and jamb the disposer and clog the drain pipes.
• Rice, pasta and potatoes. Residual Starchy foods can swell and jamb the disposer.
• Fibrous and stringy foods like celery, asparagus and corn husks can wrap around the motor and jamb it.
• Coffee and tea bags have acid that can deteriorate the inside of the disposer.
• Don't clean your fish aquarium at the kitchen sink. Hard pebbles can get stuck between the grinder and outer lining of the disposer and may permanently jamb the unit.

How to keep your disposer fresh and clean

Here are some ideas to keep your disposer clean and fresh.

• Run plenty of hot water and soap down the disposer daily.
• Grind small ice cubes to clean the grinding teeth.
• Grind orange or lemon peels.
• Flush a cup of baking soda through the disposer.
• Place a couple of drops of mint oil through with hot water.

Kent Keith

www.fortworthinspector.com

Fort Worth Home Inspector

It's always nice every once in a while to get an inspection job way out in the country. The smell of fresh air, quiet...peaceful. It's just nice to get away. As I turned off the country road onto the path toward the house, I notice a creek, 450 acres of beautiful rolling hills, a lovely home with a very large pond for a backyard that makes me wish I brought my pole. As I park near the house something caught my eye to the left and lo and behold...a deer. Wow, what a great place this is. As I parked and got out, I thought how strange it was that the deer was not running away, but was actually coming toward me. Shocked, I just stood there and it came right up to me with a "you can pet me" look in her big brown eyes. So I did just that. It's one of those moments that you wish someone else was around to witness this strange event. I have petted a deer in a petting zoo as a child, but never a wild deer.

After rubbing her head for a while, I grabbed my tool bag and proceeded to the front door and was greeted by the sellers. "Hey, there's a deer in your front yard". "Oh that's Lucy" explained the man. "She's our pet deer" "You have a pet deer?" He told me the story about how they came to have a deer for a pet. They found it very young and the mother may have fallen victim to maybe a hunter, so they took her in and bottle fed her until she was old enough to be on her own. They then took her way out on the land and let her go, but she would always find her way back, so there ya go...Lucy, the pet deer. It then dawned on me that when the inspection was scheduled, I looked up the property listing and noticed that one of the pictures had what I though was a deer in it at the back porch and I remember thinking what a strange place for them to place one of those fake deer....I had to laugh!

As I inspected the outside of the house, Lucy just followed me around hoping I would take a break from my work long enough to rub her head some more. Made me wonder if you could teach a deer to sniff out termites like beagles can, that would be an attention getter!

Lucky for the buyers, Lucy comes with the property. I'm sure the sellers will surely miss her.

Kent Keith

www.fortworthinspector.com

Fort Worth Home Inspector

Each year, there are hundreds of swimming pool related injuries and deaths caused from improperly designed or maintained pools and equipment. Here are some guidelines that I hope will help in keeping you and your family safe this summer.

Safety barriers. Designed to keep small children from entering the pool area, safety fences and gates need to be installed to certain specifications. The fencing surrounding the pool access area needs to be at least 48 inches in height, any horizontal members should be on the pool side of the fence, vertical members should not exceed 1-3/4 inches apart and all openings should be small enough so that a 4-inch diameter sphere cannot pass through.

The gates to the barrier needs open out away from the pool and have a self closing and self latching mechanism. If the gate latch mechanism is less than 54 inches from the bottom of the gate, then it needs to be installed at the top on the gate on the side facing the pool.

Drain covers. Pool drains can have a very strong suction and there have been cases of drownings and children being disemboweled from being caught in the pool's drain. The suction of the drain can be powerful enough to have hair caught in the drain and have backs and stomachs held down when covering the drain. There have also been reports of children sitting on the drain and having their intestines pulled out of their rectum. To avoid this, install an anti-vortex drain cover. An anti-vortex drain cover is designed to distribute the intake water in the sides as well as the top to lessen the pressure at any one given area in the cover. It is also dome shaped instead of flat so that a person's back, stomach and buttocks has more difficulty covering the entire drain cover.

Deck and coping. Inspect all walking surfaces around the pool to ensure that there are no sharp edges and protrusions to the decking, coping and plastic decking drain channels that may cause foot and toe injury.

Diving boards and slides. Diving boards and slides are dangerous by nature and are advised against in the first place. If you still want to have these, inspect them regularly to make sure that they do not have cracks in the board and slide surfaces and that the bolts and any hardware are not rusted and deteriorated. Always keep any exposed nuts and bolts painted with a rust inhibitor paint to prevent rust from forming.

Pool light protection. Pool light electrical circuits need to be protected with a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) device. These are the electrical outlets you may have seen in kitchen and bathrooms that have the test and reset button. GFCI protection can also be a breaker in the breaker box that controls the pool light circuit. The GFCI protection is designed to trip the electrical power to the light in case the pool light gets broke or develops a water leak and to avoid an electrical shock. If you know where the GFCI is located, be sure to periodically test the device by pressing the test button to ensure that it is operating correctly and if you can't locate it or do not have one, consult an electrician.

For more detained information on pool safety barriers, go to my website at: http://www.fortworthinspector.com/Pool_safety.html

And for pool drain cover dangers, go to: http://www.fortworthinspector.com/Swimming_Pool_Drain_Dangers.html

On a home inspection the other day, I ran across this electrical outlet cover that I thought was pretty simple but ingenious.

It is a cover plate with just the hot, neutral and ground cut in it instead of the oval holes that exposes the outlet itself. That way if you are painting a room, remodeling or rehabbing a home and have old dingy and dirty outlets that stand out, you don't have to change them. Just replace the cover and you're done. I wrote an article a while back.....http://ezinearticles.com/?Rehabbing-a-Home-That-Has-Aluminum-Wiring----How-to-Cover-Your-Costs-and-Reduce-Liability&id=2095828 on the high costs of replacing outlets on houses with aluminum wiring and this would be a very cost effective altermantive. I did some research and found a company that sells these as well as covers for wall switches.

http://www.azpartsmaster.com/Products/Taymac-Masque-2000W-Decorator-Duplex-Wall-Plate__EA2000W.aspx

Or go to the manufacturer's website at: http://www.taymac.com/

Kent Keith

www.fortworthinspector.com

Fort Worth Home Inspector

On one of my inspections yesterday, I found this on the roof.

I only saw the round end and dug it out and saw that it was a bullet. (I keep a tube of sealant in my truck and sealed the hole) It amazes me at the ignorance some people have when it comes to shooting guns in the air, as if they think the bullets disintegrate in midair. Or maybe they just don't care. About 10 feet from this area was a backyard equipped with a swing set and other play equipment....scary. Just last November a lady I know, Jill King was injured when a high powered rifle bullet came down through her motor home at the Texas Motor Speedway and severely injured her arm. If she had been standing another six inches in the other direction, it would have shot through her head. I wish people would realize the damage that can be caused from falling bullets, they don't just float down. I could not help but think as I was standing there that if I were to take that bullet and throw it down onto that roof with all my strength, it would not even put a dent in it, this one went in a half an inch! Many people each year are injured and even killed from stray bullets, problem is trying to find people who is responsible.

Fort Worth Home Inspector

Home Inspectors Fort Worth Texas

Client: So you say the air conditioning won't turn on. How much will it cost to fix?

Me: I don't know

Client: The shower has very low water flow? How much will it cost to repair that?

Me: I don't know

Client: I noticed that the old wooden windows are in poor condition and most won't open. How much will it cost to upgrade the windows?

Me: I don't know

Client: Why did I hire you?

Me: To inspect the house ma'am

Of all the hundreds of houses I have inspected, I have had clients ask me many times about repair costs and they are understanding when I tell them that I do not give estimates. But today I had a client that thought I was pretty useless because I refused to give her repair costs of some of the defects. In a professional and calm manner, I tried to make her understand that since I don't troubleshoot defective items, and not knowing exactly what is wrong, I would not have any idea what it would cost to repair and I don't keep up with contractor labor rates and material costs. Besides, I would never want to get that phone call from a mad client that got the estimate from the contractor after I gave them a much lower number.

Do any of you give repair estimates to your clients? I keep thinking I have heard of some states that want inspectors to give repair estimate costs.

Kent Keith

Fort Worth / Dallas Home Inspector

www.fortworthinspector.com

This post is in honor of my sister's sore fingers after hanging pictures. Very simple tips that people just don't think of but wished that had. Here are a couple of nailing tips that I hope you find useful.

Tip #1.

Most finger smacks from a hammer occurs when the hammer head skims off the nail head because the hammer head is too smooth. To help avoid this I keep the head of my hammer "roughen up". My Dad taught me this many years ago. Look at the hammer head to see if the surface is smooth like glass. If you can scrape your fingernail across the head surface and it feels smooth, then it needs to roughened. What I do is I vigorously rub the hammer head back and forth on rough concrete a for about 5 seconds. This will make small surface scratches on the hammer head and will reduce the chance of the head slipping off the nail.....this really make a difference.

Tip #2

When driving very small nails (or any nail if you are not a good nailer) just keep a pair of needlenose pliers around.

Needlenose pliers have many uses, one being you can hold the nail in the tip of the pliers to drive the nail and not smack your fingers.

Kent Keith

Fort Worth / Dallas Home Inspector

www.fortworthinspector.com

Did you hear about the discovery scientists made involving Scotch tape? It seems that ordinary Scotch tape, the kind you use to wrap packages, when unrolled can emit enough radiation to make xrays! It seems another scientist back in the 1950s came up with the concept, but was recently proved. They placed a roll in a small vacuum chamber and with a mechanical spool, unrolled the tape at the rate of about a foot every 5 seconds which is about as fast as if you were to pull a piece off and measured the emitted radiation with a geiger counter. One of the scientist  then placed a piece of dentist xray film over his finger and it took an xray of his bone! It should be noted that this must be done in a vacuum chamber so gases can't absorb the radiation before it has a chance to emit. I thought it was pretty interesting, might be a lead on how to make xray machines in the future.

Here is the story: http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081022/full/news.2008.1185.html

Be sure to watch the video.

Kent Keith

Fort Worth /Dallas Home Inspector

www.fortworthinspector.com

Is it just me or is there something just not right about this wheelchair ramp?

I just happened across this pic on the net and thought it was funny. Would love to know the story behind it. If it isn't a wheelchair ramp, not sure what else it would be. Doesn't look like it's been photoshopped or stairs added to the top. I'm sure there are guidelines about how steep and the length handicap ramps can be, but that doesn't make sense either.

Kent Keith

Fort Worth  / Dallas Home Inspector

www.fortworthinspector.com