ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2012
Every trick was employed to prevent this pre-drywall inspection. But we finally pulled it off. The builder had previously canceled our inspection twice! It seems the sales office and the supervisor simply couldn't get together on a date. Insulation was going up (it had been going up for about...
06/29/2012
68
Comments
DECK STAIRS SHOULD BE SOLID AND NOT RESTING ON THEIR TIPPIE TOES! Go up a stair case. Do you feel more or less comfortable going up while on your whole foot or tip toes?Go down a stair case. Do you feel more or less comfortable going down while on your whole foot or heel? Suspiciously, this dec...
06/28/2012
It's true - in basketball, double dribble is a foul, but how about with boilers? Frequently, when I see boiler heating systems, which heat up and pump water through radiators all around the house, there has not been regular maintenance. Sure, sometimes certain parts here and there have been repla...
06/26/2012
"There exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level, and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." Alexis de Toqueville (1805-1859) How can you legislate equality of outcome? Or...
06/26/2012
The house was amazing, with the tenants working hard to find an incorrect solution to everything. It had been rented for 3 years. It was a disaster. Half way through the inspection my client's Realtor approached me from behind and said, "Jay, we're going home now. You coming?" I THINK THAT ME...
06/25/2012
39
Comments
Decking should be secure, attaching one member to another in various forms of secure and strong ways that engineers have spent a lot of time thinking about, designing and manufacturing. There are reasons for that! Deck codes change all the time. They do because, typically, there is an accident ...
06/24/2012
26
Comments
When I first looked at it, I was a afraid the duct tape Medusa might turn me to stone. But quickly reaching up and feeling sweat still pouring from my face I knew I was safe. While in the upper chambers of a house, with the temperature 100 degrees outside, and enjoying my 145 degree sauna immens...
06/23/2012
32
Comments
I have heard all the stories about the fabled (some say mythical) blue deer. Boy Scoutmasters Virginia wide get the question a lot: Does it exist? Is there really a blue deer? Well, I can tell you, campfire stories abound. The next thing we'll see here are the researchers, with their night-visio...
06/22/2012
Vegetation growing on or near a house should be removed. I see this all the time. Overgrown vegatation clinging to a house. Or a big tree 6' from the front corner! This is never a good idea! But doesn't it look stately and add interest to the house? It might, but it adds other things too. Veg...
06/21/2012
21
Comments
Oftentimes older houses have older chimneys which are no longer used or needed. So they cap them off. In this case the idea was apparently to cover the chimney, and divert water, but still leave the chimney the ability to breath. From outside the house I saw it and wondered if it was working. I...
06/20/2012
Rainmaker
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Jay Markanich
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia
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An experienced home inspector's look at current home inspection events and conditions along with his useful recommendations.