ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2015
12
Comments
Just a Halloween wish from my favorite ghost.From a handsome fellow I captured with my thermal camera.Not that there's much, um, thermal to this guy.He looks pretty cold to me.In fact, when I entered the room and captured him with my camera, he was to my left, and I felt the cold from exactly tha...
10/31/2015
16
Comments
The invoice said, "New HVAC pump sheer 14 with dehumidifier."A real estate company in California found me on line. An agent there contacted me wanting me to evaluate work done by a contractor on a house a client of theirs wants to buy. It was an extensive invoice. Speaking with the agent in Ca...
10/30/2015
Fill'r up! How to not clog your chimney and prevent damage.Seems easy, right? Common sense? Of course everyone does it?You would be shocked at how often I see chimneys that look like this.The spider webs are a clear give away that this flue damper has been open like this for a long time.How do...
10/29/2015
Dimples are cute on little girls, but not on insulation. This will require no explanation. The photos say it all.The house is old, the roof shingles are new.I could determine that the shingles are a second layer over the first.I could tell that the plumbing penetration collar was not repla...
10/28/2015
15
Comments
Truly, we have here the good, and the bad ... and the handsome!This is a 25 year old house, with original windows. Older windows can develop lots of problems with opening and closing properly, or sealing tightly, or the fabled broken seals.Double pane windows are composed of two panes of glass p...
10/27/2015
18
Comments
This does not make it a green crawl space.This homeowner has sealed his crawl space vents with poly-foam.Everyone wants to get into the act, and be modern, and chic, and "save the planet." And he heard somewhere that the "new" trend is to seal crawl spaces and they will magically become "green."...
10/26/2015
Uh oh - trapped goop - the oft-told tale of accordion plastic drain lines.In this "Newly Remodeled Kitchen," or so the MLS and "Special Features" list stated, there was a very old disposal, which was rusted and stuck, and a drain that was very slow.The drain was VERY slow.A drain should always be...
10/25/2015
17
Comments
Hi folks! Your buddy Billy Jays here!It's fall and time to get that roof ready for winter!Yes, it's time for some real roof repair!Have you gone into the attic to pick up those skis for this winter's trip to Snow Powder Land and look up only to see that white tube thing, what's it called again?...
10/24/2015
105
Comments
Even pulling up to the house I saw a tree very near to the corner and it was large! And I thought, trees usually don't get any smaller.I don't know why people get the idea to put a tree so close to the house when it is obvious that even with minimal care it will still grow larger! And some trees...
10/23/2015
9
Comments
It's not often I see this, but during this inspection I ran across an AFCI breaker to provide power to the Smok Detectors.It's true. And it was a very unfortunate thing nobody was wearing a smock and I could not test the device.Home inspectors try to prepare themselves for various finds during t...
10/22/2015
Rainmaker
2,058,168
2,058,168
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.