pacific coast inspections: The Dark Side of Ivy
- 03/07/12 11:28 AM
Ivy can look beautiful on house walls and brick chimneys, if maintained. The thick, green texture gives your home a woodsy feel. It can provide a canopy over a trellis or pergola.There is a dark side to ivy, though. As the ivy tendrils (a slender, whiplike or threadlike plant strand specialized to anchor and support vines) dig deep into brick; it can actually grow through the brick and mortar, damaging your home and chimney.Ivy had fully engulfed this chimney. From the roof, the home inspector could barely make out the spark arrestor/raincap assembly on top; and could not see the … (6 comments)
pacific coast inspections: What's in Your Closet?
- 12/22/11 04:08 PM
Googling 'light bulb temperature'... states a 60 watt bulb can reach 260 degrees at the surface... a 100 watt bulb is in the neighborhood of 390 degrees. Closet light fixture clearances require all incandescent light bulbs be enclosed (glass globe) and that the light fixture be installed at least 12" from storage. It's common to find unprotected light bulbs in older bedroom closets. Today's construction will include fluorescent, CFL or LED light fixtures or ceiling recessed lights... these lights operate at much cooler temperatures. In this photo, the glass globe is missing... not good. Say you're running late in the morning and leave this closet … (7 comments)
pacific coast inspections: Seeing Double
- 12/19/11 03:10 PM
Double-wiring, also known as “double-lugging,” is a condition where there's two wires under one lug screw on a circuit breaker in an electrical panel. The photo shows there are three instances of double-lugging in this electrical panel. Double-tapping typically occurs when a non-professional is adding an additional electrical circuit... and a new circuit breaker wasn't purchased or there's no room in the electrical panel for another circuit breaker. Why is double wiring/lugging a problem? A little technical talk now... If a wire becomes loose, it can arc. As it arcs, there is a buildup of carbon. Carbon creates resistance making it more … (6 comments)
pacific coast inspections: What Happened Here?
- 12/18/11 02:49 PM
At the top of a water heater, there are two pipe nipples (short lengths of pipe) for attaching both the cold water supply line and the outgoing hot water line. In California (and maybe in other states), the water lines are typically flexible copper pipe to meet earthquakes requirements. Not to get too technical, but the steel pipe nipples and the flexible copper pipe are dissimilar metals... If allowed to touch each other without an insulating material (neutral) between them... electrolysis occurs (corrosion caused by dissimilar metals touching each other). In the photo, flexible copper pipes were threaded onto steel pipe nipples. It is unknown … (0 comments)
If something goes wrong with the water heater (i.e., the water heater doesn't turn Off after reaching the set temperature)... the valve is designed to open when a certain internal tank temperature or pressure is reached... and the hot scalding water under pressure flows out a discharge pipe to the exterior per today's requirements.
In this photo, there's no installed discharge pipe and the TPR valve has been plugged... Defeating the purpose of a safety valve... Not good.
Water … (1 comments)
pacific coast inspections: Duct Tape Band-Aid
- 12/14/11 02:47 AM
As a home inspector at Pacific Coast Inspections, I encounter grey duct tape being used all the time - mainly on heating and cooling ducts - which turns out to be a non-compliant use of the tape. It's probably true, that duct tape has a 1001 uses. There's even a book about duct tape that you can buy this year at Amazon.com called... you guessed it... the Duct Tape book. In the photo, I spotted a single rust-streak on the duct tape on a water supply pipe above the 2005 model water heater. The tape above the streak was peeled away … (1 comments)
The story of Santa Claus in America begins with the history of St Nicholas.
In America the history of Santa goes back four centuries.
The evolution of the character as we know him today is a remarkable one with world-wide implications... enjoy reading.
Seasons Greetings,
from Glenn Stewart, The House Whisperer member of Pacific Coast Inspections in the San Francisco Bay Area
… (1 comments)
pacific coast inspections: Just When You Think You've Seen It All
- 11/05/11 07:00 AM
Take one oscillating fan, wire for attachment and an extension cord... And you have all the makings of a low cost attic fan in the truest sense. On the plus side: very creative thinking... On the downside: a portable fan at one exhaust vent is not effective... consumes electricity... adds more heat from the fan motor... and creates an electrical safety hazard using extension cord wiring. Attic ventilation is one of the single most important aspects of your home when it comes maintaining high energy efficiency and interior comfort levels. A good attic ventilation system is designed to expel solar heated hot air … (1 comments)
For most home inspectors, double-tapping or double lugging is one of the top observations found in electrical panels.
In the photo, there are 4 pairs of double-tapped electrical wire.
What’s the problem? It’s not allowed. Only 1 wire should be connected to any single circuit breaker lug, Double-tapping can cause one or both wires to have poor contact and/or cause circuit overloading.
What’s the correction? Contact a licensed electrician. The electrician’s options for repair include ‘pig-tailing’ the … (1 comments)
pacific coast inspections: A Sight To Behold
- 09/20/11 07:11 AM
Pacific Coast Inspections covers the entire San Francisco Bay area. Today, I found myself in a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of Walnut Creek. The older house had been completely upgraded: new roof, new stucco, new kitchen and bathrooms.
While walking on the roof… I saw that the spark-arrestor/raincap assembly was mising from the top of the chimney flue. The spark-arrestor or screen mesh of the assembly keeps hot ash and sparks from landing on a roof. The sheetmetal cap keeps out most of the rain from going down the chimney and corroding things. As I walked up and … (3 comments)
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