ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2015
10
Comments
Taken by aliens. A true story.Given the multiple hours of face time the television shows want to give to the word "alien," and the apparent popularity of those wild-haired, situation-stretching "professorial" hawkers on the screen, the word "alien" is yet another word in our vocabulary that has ...
12/30/2015
How deep does the water get at times in this crawl space?I report, you decide.All around the foundation wall there was staining consistent with the staining you see here.You can see from the different lines that the water level happens regularly, and at different heights.It had not rained in many...
12/29/2015
14
Comments
On this new construction, to err is oven, to test is divine.When doing a final inspection on a new home, it is good to be able to test everything.That is, after all, why we are there.But with this oven something was wrong.We were unable to get the key pad to respond to anything! The "Press Cance...
12/28/2015
18
Comments
Looking inside a floor register I was forced to wonder how much duct clog is too much duct clog?!It was nasty!Certainly nasty!Air could hardly blow through the duct!In an email I teased Charlie Buell saying that I thought I saw it moving, and morphing, and wondered if it was producing methane gas...
12/27/2015
15
Comments
Turning the corner did Mighty Mo see ghostly thermal footprints on the wall?Now what should we think of that?I have heard ghosts can perch anywhere, so why not on a vertical wall?These spots are unmistakably footprints. Now I remember my instructors speaking of thermal footprints in some of my c...
12/26/2015
It's Leap Year! So there are 365 shopping days left until Christmas!So, put on your PF Flyers and get out there!Start leaping!The sales are everywhere!You should know that I have said for decades that the best time to celebrate the very important gift-opening part of Christmas is December 27 bec...
12/26/2015
My Christmas card - Warning: Seasonal Religious Message!Do not read if you are easily offended by the word Christmas, or what the Christmas celebration represents. If you are expecting a celebratory note about the wondrous winter solstice festivus, read no further. You will be disappointed. Th...
12/23/2015
17
Comments
My best Christmas present ever.The year was 1965, and in September we moved from my grandmother's house in Washington DC to my mother's house in Kensington MD. It was hugely downsizing.The first day after school I went down to the local play lot to see it full of boys my age, playing football. ...
12/21/2015
"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," my favorite Christmas carol.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was appalled by the Civil War, and persistent news reports of the amount of blood and carnage. He felt as though the whole world was consumed by hate.But there was more. In 1861 his wife, Fa...
12/20/2015
17
Comments
Installing new vinyl siding over old wood siding.Can you do this? Yes, it can be done. But there are criteria that should be paid attention to.There are always criteria!This newly sided house looked good from the street. When I got around back I found that the new vinyl had been installed ove...
12/19/2015
Rainmaker
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2,058,268
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.