ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2013
One year inspections are fun because I ask if there are any things in particular the client wants me to look at. Often I get a response like this: "Until recently there was a puddle on the floor of the furnace room. It leaked all summer. Now it has stopped." When I hear that I am pretty sure t...
11/28/2013
16
Comments
I don't know what it is with me and weird bird findings lately, but this is decidedly NOT a Thanksgiving bird! Opening the furnace cover to look inside I saw what appeared to be a lot of piles of dirt! This house, and unit, are only 10 years old. But I still have a look anyway. Honestly, I have n...
11/27/2013
"There is one, and only one, social responsibility of business - to engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud." Milton Friedman (1912 - 2006) Much ...
11/25/2013
24
Comments
Driving through Woodbridge VA, though not near the Potomac River, I looked off in the distance to see a very large bird on a church steeple across the road. I could see it was a large bird. Was it what I thought it was? Pulling into the parking lot I was still about 200 feet from the bird. This s...
11/23/2013
Pulling into the driveway I could not help but notice that the neighborhood looked like a Hitchcock movie scene. There were crows everywhere! On the roofs, in the trees, walking around in the yards and road. And not a few! Well over 100! They were even flying above in dozens. From the subject...
11/22/2013
This happens now and then - I was called to figure out a single HVAC problem the builder could not. It's the end of the AC season. The builder suggested this homeowner call somebody to determine what the problem is so they can fix it permanently. The one-year warranty deadline is coming up. Wha...
11/21/2013
All along the only two exterior rim joists we could see in an unfinished basement room I saw termite tunnels. Many of them. The lot is dark and wooded and the basement is completely subterranean. When my client's Realtor called the other agent, just to give a head's up, she said, "Your inspecto...
11/20/2013
Whenever I read or hear that there has been substantial remodeling done on a home, I find that one electrical problem leads to others - it did here. Often it has been done by a homeowner.Often it has been done without a permit.Often it has been done by a contractor who is not an electrician.Often...
11/19/2013
PRINTED IN ANOTHER FORUM, THIS IS A VERY POPULAR POST THAT I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE HERE. Friday, November 15, 2013 Do You Recognize What's Happening To Freedom? "The harm done by ordinary criminals, murderers, gangsters, and thieves is negligible in comparison with the agony inflicted upon hu...
11/18/2013
There'e no other way to say it - this is deadly air in being drawn back into the house - in Northern Virginia? Say it ain't so! Well it is. A high-efficiency condensing gas furnace is a wonderful and extremely efficient appliance. I wish my furnace was this efficient. Most gas furnaces, like min...
11/16/2013
Rainmaker
2,053,268
2,053,268
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.