Last week I inspected two houses built in the 1930's. One of the houses had unreinforced cripple walls and the sill plate was not bolted to the foundation, which is typical for the age of the home. The other home had some retrofitting done to the foundation. Here's a picture. The plywood is th
...
04/22/2008
I love to laugh and my job as a home inspector provides many opportunities for this. Last week I came across this in a garage. If you look above the spring you'll see the laser sensors for the garage door. I wrote about laser sensors in The Eye of the Tiger. The laser sensors cannot be any mor
...
04/22/2008
This weekend I inspected a home built in 1931. It had a flat roof, so the attic was only about 16-inches tall. I popped my head in the attic (one of very few I couldn't enter) and had to chuckle at what I saw. Isn't that hilarious? Okay, you're probably thinking, "This guys gone a bit wacky."
...
04/22/2008
Have you ever heard that saying, "comparing apples and oranges?" It means you can't compare two things that really aren't comparable, for whatever reason. Well the same thing is true for homes.Specifically this is true when talking about electrical wiring. There is aluminum wiring and copper w
...
04/21/2008
I remember the line from the movie "My Cousin Vinny" where Vinny is examining a witness in court and states, "Well, I guess the laws of physics cease to exist on top of your stove."Well it appears I encountered this during the weekend.If you look right above the microwave, the bottom of the cabin
...
04/15/2008
It's quite common to see the furnace located in the attic in this area. When the furnace is in the attic there should be a light in case someone needs to work on the unit and there should be a platform so you can get to the unit and have access easily.The other day I was in an attic and came acr
...
04/15/2008
Well let me say that another notch in the belt is just fine (except for when there are no notches left and you have to just buy a bigger belt). But that's not what this post is about. It appears that some people treat trusses just like they do a belt... just add a notch. It looks like the HVAC
...
04/14/2008
Most people realize that the purpose of a roof is to get water off of it. You simply don't want water up there any longer than it has to be. Seems like a simple concept, right?Well, some in the roofing industry don't seem to get it. Look at the picture below. The clay colored metal under the c
...
04/14/2008
It sounds amazing, but I did a home inspection in the Amazon. Heres' the picture to prove it. I don't know why they needed electricity in the Amazon? Okay, okay, you got me, I wasn't really in the Amazon, but it sure felt like it when I had to access the main electrical panel. Can you imagine
...
04/14/2008
Sometimes as a home inspector you see things that make you laugh and really wonder what people were thinking when they installed something. Here's a great example.I was inspecting a house the other day and was in the kitchen. I was looking for the air gap for the dishwasher but couldn't find it
...
04/11/2008
