Ask the Home Inspector

Beautiful, safe deck NADRA.org has a compilation of Inspectors, deck builders, service providers, distributors and retailers that work together promoting the safe standards of deck building and maintenance. When their deck inspections are done, they don't care what the building code was being used when built. They only care that the deck is safe today and tomorrow. It takes just moments to locate all kinds for horror stories on the internet. Remember you can always find what your looking for and scary stuff sells! NADRA has a sample check list most home owners can download to use or you can call the office and we can set up a deck safety check from one of our home inspectors. If you have a deck or perhaps your thinking about building one, check out their website for a full list of articles, news and information

By now you have probably seen a fogged window or two. There are some that can be repaired, however it will not have the insulating gas between the panes of glass as it did originally. The only way to do this is to replace the window assembly.  A typical double pane window here in the south, will have an R value of somewhere between 2.0 & 3.0. After it looses it's seal this diminishes even more. To put this R value in perspective, insulation in your attic built locally here today would be an R38! Huge difference. So, window manufactures also take into account U values which is how well or poorly it transfers heat. R-value, U-value or U-factor – R-value indicates the resistance to heat flow through a window. U-value, the inverse of R-value, indicates a window’s tendency to transfer heat. Both R-value and U-value are measures of heat flow through a window. This is a sample of how a new window might look.

Just like us, cracks come in all sizes and shapes. Some cracks can be serious, this one however is not a structural concern. When I find a crack like this during a home inspection it does peak my interest. I will look inside, under and around the home as much as possible. There are lots of different causes ranging from foundation, slab settling, tree roots gone wild, sand base for the foundation to a lack of gutters are just some to mention.

Incorrect installation of TPR tube It's pretty common to find a water heater installed by non professionals. It's also very common to find incorrect installation of the water heater TPR (Temperature Pressure Relief) In this case the tube for the valve runs uphill when leaving the valve. If the valve starts going bad or gets some dirt in it, and starts to drip a little water, the water can't go anywhere. It will sit in the line until enough pressure builds up to blow it out. This can create an unsafe condition and I have read stories about valve problems and the water heater can literally blow up and out! When this valve starts to go bad you may see water dripping from the end of the tube. If it expels water it can be very hot & dangerous causing severe burns. In extreme cases it's can blow out a ceiling! Check out this episode of Myth Busters and experimenting with a TPR valve & water heater

I did this home inspection a while ago that left no doubt that this was Termites & mold. There were literally thousands of termite tubes dangling from the floor and joists under the home. There was so much damage to the joists, I could easily put my hand all the way through some of them. Near the top of the photograph is a termite tube, or shelter heading toward the ground and it is surrounded by some type of mold growth. The white on the floor joists and sub-flooring is also some type of mold. This is not a healthy environment for anyone to live in or near!

Want to read more? Find older posts at  https://ellishomeinspections.wordpress.com .