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Jay's Fabulous Fall Home Maintenance List - On Bizarro World

By
Home Inspector with Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC 3380-000723

It's fall here on earth and time to get the house ready for winter.  For some of us the house needs to be ready for cold, and for others maybe only for cool-er or wetter ...

Fortunately for us, it is spring on Bizarro World.  You remember Bizarro World?  From the Superman comics?  On Bizarro World, the cubed planet Htrae (Earth backwards), everything is opposite or backwards of what it would be on earth.  The people are grossly ugly, they try to break things, lose money in investments, wash with dry dirt - well you get it.  And everything they do is considered the right thing to do.

Since it is spring, Bizarro Worlders are trying disrepair their houses in time for the cold weather.  I publish their list, perhaps for the first time in history:

  • CO Monitor - break the test button so it can never be pushed.
  • Pests - why bother?  Let them run free.
  • Moss on the roof - perfect!  Leave it alone.
  • Gutters and downspouts - keep them clogged!
  • Boilers - an unsafe safety-relief valve not tested is the best relief valve.
  • Furnace - never, ever oil anything.
  • What's an HVAC filter?  Don't even check for one.
  • Caulk nothing, leave gaps, don't eliminate mold or muck.
  • Smoke detector - why have them anyway?  But break that button too.
  • TPR valves - testing is always a bad thing.
  • Hose bib - leave on full power at the indoor valve so it freezes.
  • Water heater - it is illegal to hook up a hose and drain a little out.
  • Toilet - hopefully it rocks on the floor so badly it can't be tightened.
  • Septic system - it should be years and years of never pumping it out.
  • Private water system - never add pressure to the blue tank.
  • Smoke detector battery - remove now!  Don't replace!
  • Foundation - slope toward the house and don't extend downspouts.
  • Wood-burning chimneys - let the creosote build.  And build.
  • Kitchen inspection - grease should get thick on everything.
  • Refrigerator - sweep dirt under it and never vacuum the coils.
  • Garage door - should it work at all?  Never oil anything.
  • Disposal - bones clean it really well.  Baking soda and vinegar don't.
  • Fire extinguisher - don't bother checking the pressure dial!
  • GFI's - those buttons should be stuck and don't do anything anyway.

Well, what do you think of the list?  Enjoy!

Hopefully it helps.  Read it carefully! 

Keep it in your pocket and pull it out as you walk around the house.

It should come in handy.

And, as to lists, we all use them and we all need them.

 

And remember, old Realtors and home inspectors never die.

The just grow listless...

 

 

Posted by

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC  

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia.

Office (703) 330-6388   Cell (703) 585-7560

www.jaymarinspect.com


Comments(57)

Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED
RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

HA HA HA this is hilarious!  Bizarro is right, but we've seen this, and still can't understand the mindset.  Which reminds me, I better WD-40 everything today.

Sep 25, 2010 09:09 AM
John Novak
Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace - Las Vegas, NV
Henderson, Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate

Some nice reminders here, Jay. Many people forget about the 'storage space' under the fridge.

Sep 25, 2010 10:04 AM
Russell Lewis
Realty Austin, Austin Texas Real Estate - Austin, TX
Broker,CLHMS,GRI

On the other side of comment #1 When I was younger, I can still remember paying way to much rent to landlords who must have followed the Bizarro code! Great Post!

Sep 25, 2010 10:30 AM
Alan Bruzee
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. - Rockville, MD

Ha! Ha!  Erica, we sold a house that the seller thought it had been converrted.  Boy, was everyone nervous when they did the septic inspection...turned out okay  Good post Jay!

Sep 25, 2010 11:21 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Wow, Ed.  I don't know what to say, except that it's bizarre.

Patrick - I think a lot of it is simply ignorance.  They need a good list!

Kevin - that list comes from my book.  The Bizarro twist does not!

Sep 25, 2010 11:40 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Anna - maybe if Wallace gave them the opposite list they would do it!?    ;)

Carla - I know I've seen it!  By the way, do you know what WD-40 stands for?  Give you a hint - it was a VERY good year when that came out...

John - I know and I don't understand why...   ;)  There's some good room behind too.

Sep 25, 2010 11:42 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Russell - I think I did too!  Have tha landlords gotten any better since then?

Erica - yikes!  I am surprised at that one!  It could be that when the pump that tank out it collapses.

Alan - how can you buy a house with a septic and not know!?  Glad it pumped turned out OK...!

Sep 25, 2010 11:45 AM
Lane Bailey
Century 21 Results Realty - Suwanee, GA
Realtor & Car Guy

I've always found that painting over the GFI outlets to be a solid practice...  Solid as in making the test button solid in the outlet so that it can't be tested... or so that it can't pop at all...

Sep 25, 2010 01:37 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Lane - that is a solution I happen to see all the time!  Maybe because it is so common on Earth it could not be so on Bizzaro World because they are the opposite or backwards of us!

Sep 25, 2010 01:39 PM
Steven L. Smith
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Jay,

Your superman there has a face kind of like Frankenstein.

Sep 25, 2010 02:21 PM
Barb & Sal Dragotta
Macomb, MI
Macomb County Michigan

Jay...what a perfect way to end this day online..That list is so great; the comments top each other; and your bizarro  comments were clear until #29 answer to Charlie/
By the way, all night on the Rain strange things have been happening: such as flashing words at the bottom of screens where usually only the word "done" appears;  formatting of Rain set up changes from small right hand side & large left hand side and back again.  So-o-o perhaps you are the reason for all these  bizarre items.
Whatever--great post; funny list; and another great posting from your end.[ Blog, I mean]

Barb 

Sep 25, 2010 04:20 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Steve - we are getting toward Halloween in a few weeks, and I guess Superman is gearing up.

Barb - I just read my comments to Charlie, which were in response to his.  And I saw nothing unusual.  Glad you liked the post!  I had not noticed all those goings on here on the Rain, but if I was the cause I guess I wouldn't. 

But, it sure is good having things come out on my end...  so to speak.

Sep 25, 2010 11:07 PM
Elizabeth Baklaich
Virtual Assistant to Steve Baklaich RE/MAX Realty Source MN - Saint Cloud, MN

LOL! I have seen the no smoke detector battery too many times, but why bother putting a new one in when it will just drain down and then start that annoying chirping again, better to just leave it quiet, and "fixed"... (can you do a post with Hong Kong Fooey next?)

Sep 27, 2010 04:04 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

I am glad you liked it Liz!  I had to look up who Hong Kong Fuey is and he must have come after my cartoon time.  But I do have a winter list to come up with and maybe I could weave a little H.K. F. into it!

Sep 27, 2010 08:12 AM
Ty Lacroix
Envelope Real Estate Brokerage Inc - London, ON

Jay, a great list and one I will use not!

Ty

Sep 27, 2010 09:49 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Not good work, Ty, not good!  Not glad you didn't enjoy it...

Sep 27, 2010 11:14 AM
Elizabeth Baklaich
Virtual Assistant to Steve Baklaich RE/MAX Realty Source MN - Saint Cloud, MN

Rocky and Bullwinkle?

Sep 27, 2010 11:44 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Liz - Ha!  I was around for them!  Like every Saturday.  I bet I can come up with lots of characters for the list.  Just don't know to do it yet!  Bizarro World was an easy one.

Sep 27, 2010 11:50 AM
David Swartz
Advantage Inspection Service - Phoenix, AZ

Haha, great post. Sadly many contractors let these things slide!  Do you have a blog located outside of Activerain? We have a home inspection blog here. Maybe you'd like to do a guest post or we could exchange links?

Sep 27, 2010 03:51 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Hi David - thanks!  I would love to post a blog elsewhere!  And you are right, this list is funny, but sadly sometimes true.

Sep 27, 2010 11:18 PM