Our video this month shows why it is such a good idea to get an annual inspection done on your home. We want to make sure your home is in the best shape for you and your household, so that it can continue to be the haven it should be. In the long run, you may even be saving money by seeing a problem before it becomes a huge expense. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or to schedule a home inspection with an InterNACHI Certified Home Inspector.
When we think about it, most things benefit from an annual checkup. In some cases, our cars for example, the law requires that we have them inspected once a year to make sure they are in good order. Is it unreasonable then, to thing about how our home would benefit from a yearly checkup? After all, it is in constant use.
Our video this month shows why it is such a good idea to get an annual inspection done on your home. We want to make sure your home is in the best shape for you and your household, so that it can continue to be the haven it should be. In the long run, you may even be saving money by seeing a problem before it becomes a huge expense. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or to schedule a home inspection with an InterNACHI Certified Home Inspector.
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When taking a walk through a house for the first time, you probably have a lot of questions and you may not know what are the right questions to ask. Well, walking through each area there are some things that you can check to find out the basic functions of the house. Let's focus on one area of the house, the kitchen. When doing an overview of the kitchen, the first place you want to go to is the sink. Run the water and check the temperature of the hot and cold water. You can also plug the drain, filling it up and then unplug it to let it drain out to see how the drains are working in that area of the house, if there are any strange sounds or if the water wasn't draining quick enough, you want to take a mental note of it. Check to see if the water seems to be flowing freely. Also, check under the sink, are there any leaking pipes? Is there any sign of water damage? Is there a dishwasher next to the sink? If so, do the walls of the cupboard look they have been damaged by water? A dishwasher is a desirable feature to the kitchen but if they are old or if they haven't been installed properly it could mean that water is flooding the kitchen floor or there is a leak in the inner walls. This would lead to the growth of mold or rotting floorboards. These are just some basics when walking through the kitchen of a home for the first time.
With the new year just around the corner, perhaps you’re thinking of next years home projects. If you have a home with well water, it would be good to add to the project list getting your well water inspected.
Why should you have well water tested? We have a short video to help you get a better understanding of why it is so important. The health and safety of you and your household is of utmost importance, and a crucial part of staying safe is ensuring you have drinking water free of contaminates. If you would like more information on well water testing, please feel free to contact us. When acquiring a brand-new home many people are surprised to find out that a home inspection is necessary even when the home has never been lived in. The same is true if you are building a new home along with a contractor. Although all of the materials that the home is built with have never been used, there can be a lot of issues and problems that arise. Even with newly-built homes, there can be defaults and things that go wrong. In a newly-built house, we can still find leaks, faulty electrical connections, and wires. Also, remember that the home has most likely been used to some extent by the workers in it. Has the sink been used to clean tools? The outlets and electricity to power machines? All of these things can lead to risks and problems if not checked and looked after. Also, before installing finishes or drywall we can do an inspection before our final one. When the structure, pipes, and wires are still exposed we can see the bones of the house and really get a good look at the quality of the work and the potential risks there could be. When we see all of the work being done it's much more difficult to hide the defects in the house. So we hope you remember to call before the new home you are building is finished, and we can help you through the process. When it comes to the construction of new homes, there is always a lot of discussion regarding the many energy saving practices available nowadays. For a large portion of us though, we live in a much older home that was built way before any of these new innovations existed. Does that mean that there is no way to be energy conscious in our older home? For many of us it might be surprising to learn, that older homes can be very energy efficient, in some ways more so than even new homes. How so? Lets consider a few of these ways: Many more historic homes were constructed using brick or masonry. Walls constructed with these types of materials are usually very thick and are good at retaining heat. Unlike in modern homes today, which often have more windows than is needed, just because they look good, historic homes have windows that were positioned for maximum light efficiency and ventilation. This makes them more energy efficient. Windows in historic houses were often designed to have shutters, curtains and drapes, which keep windows better insulated. In warmer areas of the country, exteriors of older homes were painted with lighter colors in order to reflect the hot sun. This makes the interiors cooler. Many historic homes that were built in hotter parts of the country were also built with features such as porches, exterior balconies, wide roof overhangs and well positioned trees good for shade. If you have the joy of living in a historic home, why not look at its various features to see if they are automatically energy efficient? Whether a professional or amateur DIY enthusiast, ladders are a very useful tool. We can all purchase one, but does that mean that we know how best to use one and be safe? Over 164,000 injuries are caused each year in the United States alone because of using a ladder incorrectly or unsafely. Unfortunately many have been fatal, so how can we keep safe on a ladder? A few important safety tips to keep in mind:
We want you all to be safe when using a ladder, please contact us with any questions. In our last article, we looked at the potential causes of air pollutants in our home. In this article, we will look at ways to reduce and treat these pollutants. Here are a few suggestions:
As you can see, there are many ways we can improve the air quality in our home. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have regarding the quality of air in your home. More and more people nowadays are being affected by pollutants in the air. These can cause many different allergies and respiratory ailments. It's important then, to analyze how good the air quality is in our home, especially as it's the place we spend most of our time. The bad news is that every room of our home has potentially harmful pollutants in it and in general, outdoor air is better quality than indoor air. The good news is that something can usually be done about it. Here are a few potential air quality hazards to look out for:
This is a brief overview of the potential hazards to air quality in the home, but as we can see, most of us have at least a few of these in our home. In the next blog, we will look at what can be done to treat these issues, as well as ways to prevent them. Please contact us with any questions you may have about the air quality in your home In recent years Bed Bugs, have become an epidemic. Their hard to see, love to travel and not so easy to eliminate, so what do we know about these pesky invaders, and what can we do about them? Although bed bugs are found in mattresses, they are by no means limited to beds, in fact they can hide in an alarming number of places. Anywhere from furniture, curtains and clothing to picture frames and books What do they look like? Bed bugs are rather small, especially when first hatched. An adult bed bug is flat, oval and has a orangey, rust colored body. See the signs Bed bugs are rather shy in nature, so it is usually easier to look out for the signs of their presence. These include blood spots, and stains from fecal matter, also some crushed bug remnants, they are also known to emit a musty smell (it should be noted though that this is not always present) These little parasites enjoy biting us as well which can leave itchy bumps on our skin. How to treat the problem It is not advised for homeowners to try to treat the problem themselves, as if not careful they can make the problem worse. PMPs or Pest Management Professionals are best for treating the problem as they can look for the bugs at the beginning stages of their development. Trained dogs are also successfully being used in the detection of bed bugs as they can detect an odor that is emitted by the bugs. Please contact us for more information on how to detect the presence of bed bugs in your home Bathrooms are a very important room in the house, most of us like to spend a good amount of time there, so its wise to have a check of the ventilation system to make sure that its functioning properly, thus improving your bathroom experience. If your not sure if your ventilation system is working properly, keep your eye out for these indications:
If you are noticing any of these things, you may want to get your fan inspected. One of the biggest reasons it might not be working properly is that the duct might not reach to the outside of the home, so this is a good thing to check. A simple thing that can be done is to regularly clean the fan as dirt and dust accumulate frequently. If you feel that your bathroom is not ventilated properly, please call us for more advice. We would be happy to help. |
AuthorChris Ivy, Certified Professional Home Inspector Archives
June 2021
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