Seller, "What do you mean, there's something wrong"? When inspecting homes I run into all kinds of "issues" that need to be adderessed. Here are a few more that the seller thought was not an "issue". When the seller was contacted by their Realtor to talk about the "issues" the seller responded by saying "what do you mean, there's something wrong"? "My husband did all the work in the attic and there is nothing wrong with what he did. Eveerything has worked just fine since he did the work".  Really? let's take a look. Here is a sky lite tha is not connected. When the installed had installed it origanally, it was connected. But it was connected useing "duct tape". With the extreme heat in the attics in this part of the country, you cannot use duct tape as a feastener. Only as a Duct sealer... 11/22/2011

   Attic's, what are they hiding? Attic's seem to be an anomoly. They are places and areas we don't think much about. This is probably why when contractors do work in the attics they think there will be no one that checks up on the work. That's where having a home inspection comes in. As you can see in the picture. The fan is not hooked up to an exhaust vent. Also the electrical connection is not hooked up with a junction box. The wireing connection was left exposed to the attic. Just another day inspecting homes in SouthEast, New Mexico. Have a great day every one.   11/17/2011

Federal pacific electrical panels and breakers, are they a fire waiting to happen? There seems to be little debate when it comes to this problem that the Federal Pacific breakers will fail. It's not the question of if they will fail but "when they will fail". I inspected a home yesterday and found that the home has a Federal Pacific panel and breakers. These were manufactured from the 1950's through the 1980's. That's 30 years plus of panels and breakers being installed into homes. These are not safe to use. Even though you may have seen or even have these in your home extra caution should be used in order to find the piece of mind all home owners and buyers want and need when owning or buying a home. Here is what I found at the inspection. The red amp ratings on the switch to the break... 11/13/2011

Paying it forward, tires, gas and a ride. I was headed home ready for little rest and relaxation. I came to a four way stop when I noticed an older lady trying to get the hood of the car up. I thought I would give her a hand and even maybe be able to repair her problem so she could get home. I pulled up and asked her if she needed any help. She told me her car just quit running. This lady is I would say about 70 years old. I told her to let me take a look. After about five minutes under the hood I told her to try it. I would not start. Then I tired to start the car, I saw the gas gage was on empty. I asked her if the gas gage worked, she said I think so. I told her I think your out of gas. I told her I would run and get a gas can and would be right back. When i returned she was crying. ... 11/12/2011

Chimney's, inserts, and caps "Oh my"   As we get into the heating season, we need to use common sense when using the fire places we have in our homes. Regular maintenance of these fireplaces do'es not stop by cleaning out the ashes from the fire box. If you use your fire place on a regular basis, then you should have the chimney flue cleaned. This way you can reduce or eliminate the chance of a fire from the soot build up in the chimney flue. Always call a professional to clean your Chimney. They are called "chimney sweeps". Also there is a lot of maintenance that goes into operating and just plain having a fire place or any wood burning appliance within the home. Here are some photo's of what you don't want to have when operating a fire place. Notice this chimney has no protection for ... 11/07/2011

I don't normally do this. But here goes. Every one on Active Rain knows I like to post about a lot of diverse subjects. I like to post about as many things I think the Active Rain membership would like to see. But today I am writing this post with a heavy heart.    Today at 10:30 A.M. I will be at the interment of my Mother in law. Her name was Alberta Duarte. She passed away at 5:00 P.M. Saturday. She was at home with all of her family around her. She was born in May of 1922. And was a life long resident of Eddy county New Mexico. She had a really good and a very hard life. Working the fields as a young mother of five children. Her husband of 50 years passed just before I met My wife and we quickly become good friends. After nearly thirty years of friendship, I have found there are sti... 11/02/2011

More problems from a rental. During an inspection of a rental property, I found a lot of things that needed to be repaired. Here is a look at a couple of them. Notice the drain line ready to fall off the tail piece? The wall is not insulated or covered, where the drain leaves the home to the exterior. Notice the plug that has been broken off on the right of the "tee". It was never replaced. It has a piece of rubber hanging out of it. Also all the drain lines are exposed to the weather. Here I am pointing out to the buyer that the standpipe vent for the kitchen drain terminates under an eave. It should go through the roof and terminate there. Being under an eave can cause septic gasses to be trapped and seep into the home. Plus the standpipe was not supported in any way. This home has be... 10/29/2011

It only took eighteen hours to close a deal. Believe it or not! Yep, it only took eighteen hours to close the first deal from Trulia. It all comes from a post about  Advertising in print. Advice required. There were a lot and I mean a lot of suggestions about how I should proceed with the advertising. There was an overwhelming amount of suggestions about how to try to maximize the Internet for maximum exposure. So I did make a list and yes I did check it twice to see I did'nt miss anything. I did join "Trulia" as many of you know a Real estate web site for the masses. Ginny Goreman was a little concerned about me not being able to join. "I'm not a Realtor". But I joined under the "Real Estate services section". That was the evening of the 20TH of October at 8:00 P.M. It took only eighte... 10/23/2011

With age comes wisdom. Put it to use. Here is some Friday morning humor that should get you thinking. Deer camp. The guys were all at a deer camp.  No one wanted to room with Bob, because he snored so badly.  They decided it wasn't fair to make one of them stay with him the whole time, so they voted to take turns.The first guy slept with Bob and comes to breakfast the next morning with his hair a mess and his eyes all bloodshot.   They said, "Man, what happened to you?  He said, "Bob snored so loudly, I just sat up and watched him all night."   The next night it was a different guy's turn.  In the morning, same thing, hair all standing up, eyes all bloodshot.  They said, "Man, what happened to you?  You look awful!  He said, 'Man, that Bob shakes the roof with his snoring.  I watched hi... 10/20/2011

Advertising in print. Advice required. For some reason there are a large number of home buyer that have not called me. Not even to ask what I charge for a home inspection. That has me thinking about how I can bump up the number of calls I get. This way I can explain my expertise and My inspection process. I have thought of putting an ad in the Realty section of the local news paper. And I have several types of ads at the ready. One problem is "print advertising is so expensive". So I need to keep it short but bold. Here are a few of the ads I might want to run . I will let you decide which one I go with. 1. Don't buy a home without a home inspection. Call Desert Sun Home Inspections, Call Clint McKie 1-575-706-5586 2. Home Inspections. Thinking of buying a home? Call Clint McKie for a f... 10/16/2011

Let's get down and dirty.   There is a home I went to inspect. A manufactured home out of town. When i got there it looked like a really good home. "From the outside". When I got to the portion of the inspection to take a look and pictures of the crawlspace. I was amazed at what I saw under the home. I guess the old saying "out of sight, out of mind" is true. O.K. Let's get down and dirty.   From the view of the front of thwe home it looks like a really good home. And on the inside it was.  But when I get to the crawl space area. Wow. I knew there might be a problem when I saw there was no Permanent door to the crawl space. Water leaks were prevelant and you can see the water marks on the blocks. With all the cable lines the electric line and water lines. It was very hard to get around.... 10/15/2011

I'm the fourth inspector. Really ? When I got the call about a home inspection in my competitor's back yard, I thought great. My competition is always coming to town and inspecting here, so why not go there and do a job close to his office. The family is relocating and needs a home inspection to verify that there are "no Problems" with the home. I found a few issues that were not found by the first three inspectors. Vent missing louvers. I know this does not look like a big deal, but when it do'es rain, it will let the rain in. Need to repair or replace the vent.   In this picture is a water heater stack. A simple "single pipe" with no protection from the heat transfer to the structure of the home. And yes the flue ring was hanging down when I took the picture. This unfinished trim at t... 10/12/2011

There are rules, follow them. Here is one example of how the "free energy audits" are working out.   This duct work in an attic of a home that got a "free" audit and the work completed on it. The insulator clearly states it's a r-11 insulator. The minimum requirements for duct work is a r-19 insulator. The seams are not sealed completly. See top left. if I was the one completing the post inspection, then this home would fail. I checked under the sheating and noticed the seams of the duct work were not sealed with a "mastic sealer". This is also a requirment for the federal minimum standards. The insulation was to be a r-19 minimum but there are areas that there is only 3" of cellulose in the attic. It takes 6" of cellulose to get you to r-19. Plus all the insulation was not uniform at a... 10/07/2011

Proofreading documents, always a good thing. Proofreading is a dying art, wouldn't  you say?  Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter    It took two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was reading was impossible!!!  They put in a correction the next day.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I just couldn't help but sending this along.. Too funny. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says  No crap, really? Ya think? --------------------------------------------- Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers     Now that's taking things a bit far! ----------------------------------------------------- Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over   What a guy! Everyone have a great day,Clint McKie, Desert Sun Home Ins... 10/05/2011

Free energy audits. They are'nt so free after all. The local energy supply company that supplies electric to the area, is offering a free energy audit with free work to your home. But there are strings attached. These strings are, 1. The home must have an A/C unit and it must be working at the time of the audit. 2. The home cannot be a "Mobile home" or a "manufactured home" this disqualifies you from getting the free audit. 3. After getting the "free audit" you must let them go ahead and do the recommended work to the home. Now this does'nt sound like a lot of prerequsites.  But the fact remains that there are a lot of home without a "central air unit". Also there are a lot of manufactured homes that are in need of an "energy audit". To look into this is what I did to ask a few of the q... 10/02/2011

Maintain your home, as if you are living there. Even if you move you should always keep the place tidy and free of debris. Maintain the yard and grounds as if you are still living there. This is a way to help keep the home you are wanting to sell more presentable for the buyer. Here are a couple of shots of a home that the seller did not maintain a thing over two years. This home cries out for help. Yes this home is for sale. This patio has not been cleaned for at least two years. The client "seller" had moved two years ago. Look at all the trash in the garage. This is an invitation for a buyer to offer a lot less for the property. A little maintenance goes a long way and will save you thousands when the offer comes in. This is also an invitation for the "bad guys" to visit.  The bad gu... 09/30/2011

Desert Sun Inspections and Energy Audits. Carlsbad, New Mexico, and surrounding areas.   This post if for all the surfers out there that need to find a Home Inspection Company that will fill the needs of a  buyer or seller. For the most part, there seems to be a lot of home Inspectors out there inspecting homes. I want to be the one company "you call" when you need an Inspection for buying or selling a home. Or if you are thinking of getting an Energy audit performed on your home. If you want to have an Energy audit done, I can do this as well. I can save a home's owner a lot of energy costs with an Audit.   What is an energy audit you ask, it is a diagnostic look at your home. There is a lot that goes into an audit. There is a lot of testing to determine air flow, heated square footage... 09/25/2011

I need help with my computer. (humor) As we Silver Surfers know,sometimes we have trouble with our computers. I had aproblem yesterday, so I called Eric, the 11 year old next door, whose bedroom looks like Mission Control,  and asked him to come over.Eric clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what was wrong ?He replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless enquired,'An, ID ten T error ? What's that? In case I need to fix it again.'Eric grinned....'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before ?'No,' I replied.'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.' So I wrote down:ID10TI used to like Eric, the little @%$#@& Here's hopeing everyone has a very good week ahead. 09/19/2011

Old Stars and Their New Cars. Wow! This is great!  What spectacular photos of an elegant time gone by....never to be duplicated again by today's "jelly-bean" cars and our virtual reality actors and actresses. Rita Hayworth 1941 Lincoln Continental Clark Gable 1934 Duesenberg   Clark Gable 1934 Ford V-8 Roadster Dean Martin 1957 Stutz Blackhawk The stars really loved their cars. Have a great Sunday everyone. Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home inspections, Carlsbad, New mexico 09/18/2011

Active Rain Members can save money! 55 and older that is. Here is a list of just some of the very good discounts you can get as a 55+ person. Growing older does have it's advantages. Take a look at these dicounts, they are everywhere. All you need to do is ask for them. You will probably need to print this list. Way too many to remember. Restaurants    Applebee’s: 15% off  with  Golden Apple Card (60+) Arby’s: 10% off (55+) Ben & Jerry’s: 10% off (60+) Bennigan’s: discount varies by location Bob’s Big  Boy: discount varies by location (60+) Boston Market: 10% off (65+) Burger King: 10% off (60+) Captain D’s Seafood: discount varies      on location (62+)  Chick-Fil-A: 10% off or free small drink or coffee      (55+) Chili’s: 10% off (55+) CiCi’s Pizza: 10% off (60+) Culver’s: 10% off (6... 09/17/2011