ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2012
27
Comments
Hi Folks! Billy Jays here! I am just like you. I live in a neighborhood. I drive through neighborhoods. I look at the houses in neighborhoods. Just yesterday as I was driving through my neighborhood I noticed another satisfied customer of one of my most popular products, Get Yer Gutter Garden...
05/16/2012
I was called by a single girl buying her first house to investigate another issue and saw a letter from the condo association that said, "The Condo Association Found Nothing Needing Repair On Your Property." Well, just pulling into to the driveway I saw three things that bothered me before I even...
05/15/2012
"Every innovation makes its appearance as a 'luxury' of the few well-to-do. After industry has become aware of it, the luxury then becomes a 'necessity' for all." Ludwig von Mises (1881 - 1973) Ironically, the very year Dr. von Mises died, I was studying economics in college and really, really...
05/14/2012
22
Comments
It doesn't matter how small or large, how inexpensive or expensive or how high or low your house is. You can always have unwanted guests that don't pay rent. In this case, it was a very high window, on a very expensive house, with a piece of trim that must have fallen off at some point. And it w...
05/13/2012
35
Comments
Yesterday while inspecting a little bungalow in Northern Virginia, I ran across a bonus room - a bomb shelter! Pulling up to this little bungalow, highly fenced, electronic gate with camera, speaker and key pad, and cameras all over the house and property, I was impressed by many things! First, y...
05/11/2012
While sitting in the car, listening to the radio and waiting for my next client to arrive I received an email. It said, "Jay, not sure if you remember us, but you inspected our home about one year ago. I hope all is well. Do you have an electrician you could refer to us? The electrical outlets...
05/09/2012
19
Comments
"Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences." C. S. Lewis (1898 - 1963) Notice how those who would interfere with the free market, thinking they can do it better themselves, make life more difficult in doing so? Notice ...
05/08/2012
32
Comments
It was a big house, 15 years old, wood siding, wood windows, wood window sills and lots of rot. How far the rot extends under the siding, or around the windows and doors, or under the gutters, and so forth is UNKNOWN. That will certainly need attention. My client wanted to change the siding to ...
05/07/2012
26
Comments
Last fall we went to Disney World. On the Jungle Adventure ride in the Animal Kingdom, we stopped to watch a group (herd?, pod?, flock?, cathedral?) of gorillas sitting and eating. The big male looked at our bus. Looking directly at me, and snorting, he got up and did this. Now, looking at me o...
05/05/2012
37
Comments
Some roof designs are designed for heavy loads, not only because of the style of the roof, but its size. One thing you don't want to see is a cracked roof truss. This is a hip roof, with two large gable penetrations. This creates a lot of valleys on the roof. So many valleys sets up a design f...
05/03/2012
Rainmaker
2,017,131
2,017,131
Jay Markanich
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia
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Real Estate Resources
An experienced home inspector's look at current home inspection events and conditions along with his useful recommendations.