Kent's Blog

I'm still sitting of the fence on whether I want to participate in this program. When I first heard about the passing of this bill, I was excited and thought "cool, more inspection work for us". As of September 1st 2008, the Texas Residential Construction Commission began policing rural construc...

I posted a blog a couple of weeks ago about how to see if your deadbolt is installed right. Here is another blog about door locks that may interest some and bore most.....but hey, what can I say.....I want my fellow Active Rainers to be safe. Many exterior door locks have a security feature and m...

This post is a reminder for inspectors to be so careful when it comes to breaker panels. Yesterday I was inspecting a new home and almost got the shock of my life, and could have lost it as well. We sometimes get in a flow with our inspecting and don't think to check certain things. I now have  n...

I performed a home inspection today on a house that had just been previously inspected by another inspector. I noticed right away that he (or she) had marked defective items such as doors, windows and receptacles with blue painters tape with information on the tape as what the problem was. Unless...

While performing a home inspection today, I was reminded to make sure everyone check their dryer hoses and make sure you don't have one of the old plastic hoses. These are no longer sold or allowed and can be fire hazards. Look behind your dryer and see if it a plastic, nylon or vinyl hose. They ...

With winter just around the corner, it's time to start checking door weather stripping and thresholds, caulking around windows and other areas that cold air can get into your house and warm air inside can escape. A very cheap and easy way to accomplish this is to install receptacle and switch ins...

      You mother in law is coming over and....darn, forgot to pick up more toilet bowl cleaner. If you have Alka Seltzer in the medicine cabinet, just plop in a couple of tablets, let sit twenty minutes, and flush. If the toilet is really bad, here is another way. Shut off the water valve to the...

  I ran across this again today and am wondering: 1. Why they are wired this way. 2. Do they do this in other parts of the country. 3. How many of you have seen this also. The first time I saw this was about 7 years ago when I was inspecting a fairly new home and noticed the dishwasher was not po...

I performed an inspection yesterday on a early 1980s home and found overheating of the main service conductors in the main breaker panel due to no antioxidant paste to the aluminum conductors. As you can see, the left terminal has oxidized and caused enough resistance to cause it to get very hot ...

What good is a lock if it's not secure and properly installed? Here is a simple test to determine if your deadbolt is installed correctly. I inspect many homes where I find the deadbolts not installed correctly and make sure buyers are aware so it can be corrected. All you need is a marker such a...