A Northern Virginia Home Inspector's Perspective

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Home Inspector - Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - 3380-000723

ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS

2014 

After my client shared my report with him, the angry contractor asked, "How did you know there were two crews?  There's no way you can tell that!!" My answer, "Then why would my report indicate that the job makes it obvious there were two crews?" Merely walking around with my client, moving from ...
02/27/2014
      "Free markets are economically optimal, but partially free markets, with endless creation of fiat money and implicit government guarantees of the big boys, can produce perverse and dangerous results."Martin Hutchinson   Fiat money is an interesting term here.  We certainly have seen the "en...
02/24/2014
I always look behind the washer and dryer to see the connections and don't like to say out loud, in front of the clients, "So, where are the washing machine connections?" This is your typical washing machine connection to the left.  I hooked that up 15 years ago when we moved in.  This installati...
02/23/2014
Honey, did you remember to send an invitation to the termites? Having a house party?  Let's say you are, oh, remodeling an old farmhouse.  It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has a listing in both the local county and city. The process has taken a long time and cost a lot...
02/21/2014
And there was a void, devoid, and it was not good.  Insulation anyone? Let there be insulation! Void - adjective - completely empty, free space, free from.  From the Latin vacare  'vacate.'Devoid - adjective - entirely lacking in.  Origin from Old French, devoidier  'cast out.' In the beginning t...
02/20/2014
How many joules is your surge protector rated for? That's an important question! What's a joule?  Does that have anything to do with the family joules? In a way yes, but it has nothing to do with the family jewels. What is a joule?  A joule describes the amount of work needed to derive a given un...
02/19/2014
I run into rusty or damaged electric panel boxes very often and have to ask how much rust in an electric panel box and its components is too much? Sometimes the boxes are indoors.  Oftentimes boxes are in a shed connected to, but behind, the house. This box is outdoors, in such a shed, is receivi...
02/18/2014
    "They would be shepherds over us, their sheep.  Certainly such an arrangement presupposes that they are naturally superior to the rest of us.  And certainly we are justified in demanding from the legislators and organizers proof of this natural superiority."Frederic Bastiat (1801 - 1850)   Is...
02/17/2014
What do you do when historic home siding installation does not follow Best Practices? What do you do when those Best Practices are demanded by the product manufacturer? What do you do when diagrams describing installation Best Practices are available for anyone to see?  That link above is to a pa...
02/16/2014
The client in this inspection only wanted me to look at a fiber cement siding job on a historic home in Northern Virginia. The house is listed in a national registry of antebellum historic homes, and near a Civil War battlefield.  This homeowner is in the process of trying to bring it back.  And ...
02/15/2014
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Jay Markanich

Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia
local_phone(703) 330-6388
smartphone(703) 585-7560
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An experienced home inspector's look at current home inspection events and conditions along with his useful recommendations.