Many people seem to take hand rails for granted. Sure, when you're young you go up the stairs two-at-a-time and hardly every touch the hand rail. But as we mature our bodies aren't what they used to be.So I think the elderly and disabled are many times forgotten when it comes to hand rails. Kid
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03/08/2008
Not many of us want the furnace to heat our attics or the A/C to cool our attics. Why spend the money on utilities to condition a space that you won't be in? I found this yesterday during a home inspection. I was first suspicious of the air register because the readings from the laser thermomet
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03/07/2008
I found this at an inspection today. Even though "curiosity killed the cat," I still decided to lift the piece of cardboard and take a look. There was mineral build up and a leak at the copper water supply pipe under the sink. So of course that went in my report.But it got me thinking... what i
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03/06/2008
My wife and I have 3-boys. James will be 7 at the end of the month, Joseph will be 5 at the end of the month, and John Paul will be 2 in June. My wife is pregnant with our 4th child and yesterday (Monday) was the ultrasound.Our boys say they want a baby sister. As James says, "We have enough b
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03/04/2008
I came across this the other day at an inspection:The two pipes are called flues, one was for the water heater and one was for the furnace. These flues are where the combustion gases terminate to the exterior. However the issue is the openable windows. The flue and window to the right are 4-fe
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03/03/2008
Yeah, that's right, I'm a home inspector and I believe in home staging! SO, you're asking, why would you care what I think? How about this, I have a bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science. So what's the connection?Have you ever noticed that every new home builder (at least every one I've ever
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03/03/2008
Recently there was an excellent featured post about pre-listing home inspections and why they're not more popular. Please read At what point do you throw in the towel? by David Lelak's wife.Some of the reasons sellers don't want to get a pre-listing home inspection were given below. I thought i
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03/02/2008
I came across this today...The bottom of the picture is a mirrored closet door and the door to the bedroom. The door on top?I think it's the perfect discipline for kids. Put them in the room up there and just see them try to get out... it's a long way down, about 7-feet.So what's behind door #1
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02/29/2008
I went from this: To this: And for $1,999.99 and 6-months of your time, you can too!Okay, so where am I going with this? I had been using the first mask shown to go into attics and crawlspaces. Then I read an article about how cheap the first masks are and that they really don't provide very go
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02/27/2008
I've posted about this subject before but I'll keep plugging away until people get it. I just inspected a new construction home this weekend, this one was the model home, the cream of the crop, right? Why would someone waste their money and have it inspected? Here's why:The tiles meeting the w
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02/26/2008
