ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2010
68
Comments
Creativity is the bulwark of a society based in free markets and voluntary exchange! Bigger and better is the rule, not the exception. Sometimes, though, you can out create common sense, and the voluntary exchange of, say, your house, becomes involuntary as nobody wants to buy it! Then the ban...
09/30/2010
27
Comments
On the side of a house with rough-sawn, stained cedar siding, I was surprised to see two condos. This puts me in a tough position. Do I charge more for the inspection or just let this go? Never before have I seen where birds have created holes in siding like this. The me...
09/28/2010
18
Comments
"There is far more danger in public than in private monopoly, for when government goes into business it can always shift its losses to the taxpayer." Thomas Edison That was said in the early 1900's when the public (read that government, or ...
09/28/2010
29
Comments
Ever heard of a chimney cricket? Does your chimney have one? If it is at the bottom of a sloping roof and 30" wide or more it should have one. In my opinion, even if it is less than 30" wide it should have at least a small one. What's a cricket? This is a cricket. It is a small, angled roof ...
09/25/2010
It's fall here on earth and time to get the house ready for winter. For some of us the house needs to be ready for cold, and for others maybe only for cool-er or wetter ... Fortunately for us, it is spring on Bizarro World. You remember Bizarro World? From the Superman comics? On Bizarro Worl...
09/24/2010
38
Comments
One of the shady zones of doing home inspections is marginality. Things that "might" be okay, or "might" not. Things that are to a local code, but not "best practice" or conforming to the latest building techniques. Codes, not surprisingly, sometimes lack behind. Things that might be fine in ...
09/23/2010
32
Comments
I thought I would have some fun with the thermal camera and see what it sees. I took two images of two different objects which appear to be exactly the same size but in fact are not. In the thermal images they appear to be the same temperature, but in fact are not. The image on the right was h...
09/23/2010
20
Comments
It was very impressive to walk up to this flipped house and see a permit sticker! After all, it has been a while since I've seen a permit! Reading it was a little odd. All it is a permit for is to install "Plumbing - New Shower." This house, built in 1958, probably had a basement powder room, wh...
09/23/2010
118
Comments
The phone rings and a loud noise blares straight to my eardrum via my blue tooth insert. No introduction, no hello. "YOU SAY THERE'S MOLD IN THE ATTIC AND EVERYONE KNOWS THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS MOLD IN AN ATTIC!" At the same time a finger came out of my phone and poked me on my chest emphasizin...
09/22/2010
23
Comments
I have some time before my next appointment, so I thought I would slip this post in. This has never happened to me before on a home inspection. My client, a former client for whom I did an inspection 10 years ago, asked me to inspect a rural property to which he hopes to move permanently in the ...
09/21/2010
Rainmaker
2,049,643
2,049,643
Jay Markanich
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia
Service Areas
Real Estate Resources
Recent Posts
ActiveRain Community
over 5 years ago
ActiveRain Community
almost 6 years ago
Home Buying
almost 6 years ago
An experienced home inspector's look at current home inspection events and conditions along with his useful recommendations.