Often in older homes basements are taken advantaged of to create new or expanded living space. With these changes comes requirement for emergency escape and rescue (EERO Requirements). One important item when making these changes to the window is designing a proper well. As you can see in the image Read more…
Most people have heard of Asbestos and there are plenty of sites and literature on the dangers of this material. During a home inspection I found these relics of the past. What we have here is vermiculite, specifically Zonolite which was an insulation material produced by the W.R. Grace company Read more…
Creative lighting in the yard.? Or should we call it the the hanging lights of Babylon? Anyway this is not a proper of safe instillation and there are rules for exterior lighting. The references are from the 2014 NEC but these are very similar the the current edition. 410.36 Means Read more…
An interesting find during a new construction home inspection. As I was performing an IR (infrared) evaluation on the home I could see where the builder had planned to have a window in this wall section. Obviously they changed their mind and they framed in this area and the window Read more…
Here we have an example of an improper vent termination. This happened when an addition was added to the home. This plumbing vent did not extend up to the upper roof where the moisture could escape harmlessly to the atmosphere. Over time this can lead to rot and other moisture Read more…
Feeling hot headed? Do you have a radiant electric ceiling? The main principle with electric radiant heat coils in the ceiling to deliver heat via infrared radiation to objects and people in the rooms being served by these systems. Remember heat does not rise only warm air rises which leads Read more…
Making sure you properly install your hose bibbs with a proper angle and it is very important to remove the hose from the hose bibbs/faucet prior to freezing weather. Every year during a home inspection I will find a hose bibb/faucet that has split and is leaking because people forget Read more…
As home inspectors I find that we often see some conditions that many in a specific trade may not. Recently during a home inspection a truly odd one happened. As I was tripping an exterior GFCI protected receptacles, as I have done hundreds and hundreds of times. I trip the Read more…
Improper hangers used for copper piping. This has a potential for galvanic corrosion though it most likely not happening. ” Galvanic corrosion is caused by self-induced current created by electrical potential of two dissimilar metals in contact with an electrolyte. “ Fresh water is typically free of a lot of Read more…
A photo from a recent home inspection. Here we have a distribution panel. The did not properly isolate the neutral and ground and the bar is bonded to the enclosure. Then in case of working harder to do it wrong, they re-identified the white conductor (should be neutral) to ground Read more…