real estate: Not White Paint
- 03/28/12 12:52 AM
Not White Paint At first glance, the home inspector thought the bottom of the subfloor had been painted white.Upon closer inspection, the inspector concluded it was a bio-growth. An inspector (unless they’re a certified industrial hygienist) shouldn’t say ‘mold’, as doing so makes them the expert in a court of law.If there’s a bio-growth growing on crawlspace surfaces, there’s a good chance there are issues with inadequate or poor ventilation; leaking toilets, negative grade; no drainage system; downspouts discharging next to the foundation; over-irrigation; leaking water supply or drain pipes; swimming pool leaks; high water table all of which can contribute … (2 comments)
real estate: 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)
real estate: Telltale Signs
- 02/17/12 12:29 PM
A good property inspector is always on the lookout for telltale signs. A door that rubs its frame… Exposed electrical wires… Loose handrails… Missing smoke detectors, etc. High water marks under a house; usually gets people’s attention. In the photo, the bottom of a heating/cooling duct in the crawlspace is rusted in a straight line… A telltale sign that the duct sat in water approximately 6-8” deep. This isn’t good. Who knows what grows inside a duct when water intrudes. Can’t be healthy. High water marks or silt marks can occur when:-There are no installed roof gutters-Downspouts discharge water next to … (4 comments)
real estate: Where There's Soot; There's...
- 02/04/12 11:32 AM
This is an exterior termination exhaust duct for a gas wall heater or decorative gas log fireplace. This is called direct venting.Direct venting uses a 2-layer pipe running through a hole in the wall behind the interior heating unit. The outer pipe draws air in from the outside to create combustion for burning the gas in the heating unit... And the inner pipe takes the exhaust gases to the outside.This design reduces the risks of carbon monoxide buildup within the house.Note the soot above the termination on the the stucco siding... Not good.If there is soot or a ‘scorched’ look … (1 comments)
One of the interesting aspects of being a home inspector… Is that you never know what the next home inspection may bring. Most of my unusual photos come from the garage or under the house. It’s not too often that a sign is posted on a bedroom door: “Do Not open or touch this door Very important that you follow this request Do Not Touch!! Thank You!!” Many things come to mind… If the house is occupied and there’s a Do Not Open sign on a door… does it mean there’s something in the room that will come after … (21 comments)
real estate: 100% Cosmetic
- 01/20/12 03:33 PM
Drywall (sheetrock) panels makes up a large part of today’s house interior walls and ceilings. As home buyers walk through an empty house during a home inspection, they tend to focus closely on the quality of the interior finish. Many people react negatively when they spot a hairline crack in the wall/ceiling; thinking that a crack contributes to the structural integrity of the house. The fact of the matter is that cracks are 100% cosmetic, not structurally threatening and can be repaired.The most common cracks are found at the corners of windows and door frames or straight-line cracks in ceilings. … (1 comments)
real estate: Seeing Red
- 01/20/12 03:21 PM
Today, many heating furnaces and air conditioning evaporator coils are installed in the attic. It frees up closet/storage space in the house and it’s quieter when the heating/cooling is on. When an air conditioning evaporator coil unit is installed in the attic (the silver box in photo), a condensate overflow pan is typically installed under the unit. The condensate overflow pan is a safety device intended to prevent unwanted condensate leakage (water) from spilling onto floors and ceilings, if something goes wrong. In the photo taken during a Walnut Creek home inspection, there's rust colored water in the overflow containment pan and the … (1 comments)
real estate: What Happened?
- 01/20/12 03:03 PM
The crawlspace... You know it as the dark, creepy place under the house, filled with spiders and other critters. For the plumber, the electrician and the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) contractors... It's the shallow unfinished space beneath the first floor to provide access to the plumbing, wiring and heating/cooling ducts.Home inspectors ‘love’ crawl spaces, which is why they save crawling under the house usually as their last inspection step. Put a group of seasoned home inspectors together and ask them what they've seen in crawlspaces. They'll tell you they've seen it all. The shoes...What happened? Do they belong … (5 comments)
real estate: What's This?
- 01/16/12 06:00 AM
This flexible natural gas connector line is installed through the sheetmetal side panel of a heating furnace... A standard practice in the past.Passing through the center of a sheetmetal cutout isn't so much of a concern, but when the flexible connector is tight up against the edge of the sheetmetal... This is cause for action."What's the problem with this?" you may ask.When you turn on your central heating forced air furnace, a large blower motor turns on to move the warm air throughout your house. As the the blower motor bearings wear... mechanical vibrations occur.The sheetmetal edge is thin and 'sharp'. … (1 comments)
real estate: How Many Wires Can be Stuffed....
- 01/12/12 02:16 PM
Apparently, a lot of wires can be stuffed into an electrical junction box... However, this installation doesn't meet the National Electrical Code requirements. You could say, the more the merrier... But not in this situation. Too many wires stuffed into a box can cause dangerous overheating, short-circuiting and fire. The NEC specifies minimum electrical junction box sizes to reduce this risk. What I'm talking about is 'box fill'. Electrical junction boxes all have a certain volume that the wires can occupy. This junction box appears to be a 30 cubic inch volume size. My recommendation was to recommend further review by a licensed … (4 comments)
real estate: An Indicator
- 01/05/12 01:32 PM
What are silt marks? Silt marks occur when water rises and then slowly recedes leaving dirt and small debris that was mixed in or floating on the water clinging to the sides of vertical surfaces. Silt marks observed along house foundations, support piers, drain pipes, and/or heating/cooling ducts is a result of rising water that has accumulated in residential crawl spaces and basements. Wet basements and crawl spaces are sources of high humidity, which can produce surface condensation, mildew and fungi, musty odors, rust metal, and can become unhealthy. Excessive moisture can cause deterioration of floor joists, beams, subflooring, insulation, electrical-mechanical systems … (2 comments)
real estate: Amazing Tenacious Termites
- 01/04/12 04:53 PM
Happy new year! Termites have lived longer than the dinosaurs and continue to eat their way through all the wood they can find. Termites are 24/7 bugs, which means they eat non-stop - 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They have hard, saw-toothed jaws that help them to eat lumber, wallpaper, plastics and fabric make of plant fibers. These pests cause up to $2 billion of damages per year. Termite Fact: The total weight of all of the termites in the world is greater than the weight of all the humans in the world... Believe it or not... (don't … (3 comments)
real estate: 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)
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)
real estate: Red Flag at the Air Gap
- 12/17/11 03:41 PM
You’ve seen them… those small chrome cylinders with open slots attached to your kitchen sink deck or counter top. Have you ever wondered what that silver thingy is? It’s called an air-gap device that’s installed between the dishwasher drain line and the garbage disposer. The purpose is to prevent contaminated water (water from the dishwasher contains food particles that'll host bacteria in the hose) from siphoning back into the dishwasher, if there’s blockage at the disposer. It’s a one-way path for water flow and a health safety device. Your dishes come out squeaky clean from the dishwasher, but some of … (7 comments)
The purpose of a plumbing trap under your house sinks is to prevent odorous sewer gases from entering the house back through the sink and tub drains... By having water sit in the trap, it effectively blocks sewer gas. There are two basic types of traps: P and S configurations. Both configurations have a trap section, which is a U-shape pipe where water sits in the U and creates a water seal between the sewer gases found at the street sewer system and the house interior. The P-trap water discharge is a horizontal pipe to a wall, rather than … (1 comments)
real estate: 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)
That U shaped piece of pipe under your sink is called a P-trap. The purpose is to create a water seal and keep sewer gas from entering the household. A requirement of a properly installed P-trap is that it has a water seal of not less than 2 inches and not more than 4 inches (between the two horizontal red lines)... the P-trap depth in the photo is about 12". Over time the P-trap will become plugged with anything that is washed down the kitchen sink. Eventually, the sink will begin to drain slowly, as there's not enough … (2 comments)
Learn about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos Home inspectors routinely encounter asbestos materials installed in older houses. What is asbestos? It’s a mineral fiber. It can be positively identified only with a special type of microscope. In the past, asbestos was added to a variety of products to strengthen them and to provide heat insulation and fire resistance. The photo shows a floor register ‘duct transition boot’ wrapped in an asbestos-like material. Is this a problem? The following information was taken from the EPA publication: Asbestos in Your Home… http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/index.html When asbestos-containing materials (older acoustic ceiling tiles, some popcorn ceilings, linoleum floor tiles, … (2 comments)
During a recent Walnut Creek home inspection, it was discovered that a homeowner had plugged in 5 extension cords and a washing machine into a power strip located in a Walnut Creek garage. Every year, thousands of fires result from surge protectors, power strips and electrical cords. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that about 3,300 residential fires originate in extension cords/power strips each year, killing 50 people and injuring about 270 others. What’s the big deal? The most frequent causes of such fires are short circuits, overloading, damage, and/or misuse of extension cords. Surge protectors, … (3 comments)
Not White Paint At first glance, the home inspector thought the bottom of the subfloor had been painted white.Upon closer inspection, the inspector concluded it was a bio-growth. An inspector (unless they’re a certified industrial hygienist) shouldn’t say ‘mold’, as doing so makes them the expert in a court of law.If there’s a bio-growth growing on crawlspace surfaces, there’s a good chance there are issues with inadequate or poor ventilation; leaking toilets, negative grade; no drainage system; downspouts discharging next to the foundation; over-irrigation; leaking water supply or drain pipes; swimming pool leaks; high water table all of which can contribute … (2 comments)
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