Owl Home Inspections

Owl Home Inspections Our end goal here at Owl Home Inspections is to provide you with the most complete and comprehensive

09/05/2026

🍂 SEPTEMBER HOME MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST FROM OWL HOME AND SEPTIC INSPECTIONS🏠

The nights are getting cooler, the leaves are starting to change, and autumn is right around the corner. Before the cold, wind, rain and snow arrive, September is a great time to give your home a little attention.

🔍 Here are a few things to check this month:
✅ Clean your gutters & downspouts
Make sure they're clear of leaves and debris and that water is being directed well away from your foundation.

🌧️ Check your roof
Look for damaged or missing shingles, deteriorated flashing, moss growth and areas where water may be getting in.

🔥 Have your heating system checked
If you haven't already, have your furnace, boiler or heat pump serviced before you need it.

🧯 Test your smoke & carbon monoxide alarms
Replace batteries where required and make sure alarms are functioning properly.

🚪 Check doors & windows
Look for damaged weatherstripping and gaps that can allow cold air and moisture into your home.

💧 Protect your plumbing
Disconnect garden hoses and make sure exterior faucets are properly drained before freezing temperatures arrive.

🏡 Walk around your foundation
Check for cracks, water pooling, deteriorated caulking and soil that slopes toward the house.

🌲 Look up!
Check trees around your home for dead or damaged branches that could become a problem during fall and winter storms.

🌀 Check your bathroom & kitchen exhaust fans
Make sure they're working properly and actually exhausting to the exterior.

💨 Don't forget the attic!
Check for signs of moisture, mould, frost damage or inadequate ventilation.

🍁 A few hours of maintenance now can save you a lot of headaches later.

Your home works hard to protect you from the Nova Scotia weather. Give it the attention it deserves before winter arrives, it could help you save on heating cost.

🔎 Owl Home & Septic Inspections
902 891 0444
Homes inspected through keen eyes. 🦉
Call on me anytime for your home inspection needs.

It was hard to get a photo of the crowned floor during an inspection today, so I explained to AI what I was seeing and a...
08/06/2026

It was hard to get a photo of the crowned floor during an inspection today, so I explained to AI what I was seeing and asked it to create a diagram, so I could explain it to my clients.

Little fly over today of a roof inspection. Recommended a new roof.
08/06/2026

Little fly over today of a roof inspection. Recommended a new roof.

Even brand new homes have their quirks and should be inspected.I'm writing up a report on a brand new build and wanted t...
07/22/2026

Even brand new homes have their quirks and should be inspected.
I'm writing up a report on a brand new build and wanted to share something with you all.

Let's have a chat about electrical for a minute, because some of you, new home owners may be experiencing this.

The home has two bathrooms. A main and an ensuite.
If you trip the GFCI outlet in the ensuite, you reset it but it also trips the main bath GFCI outlet, so to get power back in the ensuite outlet, you'll need to wrap yourself in a towel, walk out to the main bath, and reset the GFCI outlet, as it is the master outlet.
This is not a defect as such as it is more of an inconvenience.

This known as Daisy-Chain" Wiring and it is standard practice to wire multiple bathroom or outdoor outlets to a single GFCI receptacle for code-compliant protection.

To stop the adjacent bathroom from controlling the en-suite outlet, you have to change how the upstream GFCI is wired. Right now, the wires leading to your en-suite are connected to the LOAD terminals of the master GFCI; they need to be moved to the LINE terminals so both outlets get independent power, thus eliminating the inconvenience of having to go to the main bath to reset the GFCI outlet.

07/01/2026

Every time I interview someone from another trade who’s interested in becoming a home inspector, I ask them the same question:

“Why do you want to get into home inspections?”

Over and over again, I hear the same answer:

“I’m looking for something a little easier.”

That’s usually when I tell them they may want to pump the brakes.

The truth is, home inspections can absolutely be less physically demanding than roofing, framing, or hanging drywall. Your body may take less of a beating over the years. But don’t mistake that for meaning it’s an easy profession.

Many people find that out the hard way.

Like any career, home inspections come with their own set of challenges. As an inspector, you’re often trying to manage chaos while simultaneously performing a detailed inspection. You rarely know what you’re walking into until you pull into the driveway. Some days everything goes smoothly. Other days, you’re dealing with scheduling issues, timelines and deadlines, unexpected defects, and problems that seem to pile up all at once if you're not careful.

You’ll spend your days walking roofs under the hot sun, sweating through attics, squeezing into tight crawlspaces, and climbing countless sketchy ladders. I always say that every day is an adventure as a home inspector—and after all these years, I still believe that’s true.

But the physical part isn’t what makes this job difficult.

The hardest part is communication.

You have to explain complex building systems in a way that first-time homebuyers understand. You have to communicate findings clearly without creating unnecessary fear. At any given moment you have to answer questions from buyers, sellers, and real estate agents, sometimes while you are doing another inspection or spending the evening with family. Oh you thought a Home Inspectors job is 9-5? No buddy it's not and that mental workload is something very few people consider before entering this profession.
I spent a week on vacation and my phone didn't stop and neither did I. When I came off vacation I went right to work with the appointments I had taken while on vacation.

Some days, after my last inspection, I’ll drive home for 30 minutes in complete silence. Not because I’m physically exhausted, but because I’m mentally processing everything that happened throughout the day before I sit down to finalize my reports.

A lot of people think being a home inspector is simply walking through a house, pointing out defects, and emailing a report.

If that were all it was, this would be one of the easiest jobs in the world.

Being a good home inspector is something entirely different.

It’s about managing multiple responsibilities at once, thinking critically, adapting to situations you’ve never seen before, communicating with confidence, and treating every inspection as if it were for your own family. It’s about giving your client the information they need to make one of the biggest financial decisions of their life.

That’s not an easy job.

But for those of us who love it, there’s nothing else we’d rather do.

HAPPY CANADA DAY everybody
07/01/2026

HAPPY CANADA DAY everybody

No matter how busy ya get, ya gotta eat. Today's adventure brought me and the Owl to Westville where once we finished an...
06/26/2026

No matter how busy ya get, ya gotta eat. Today's adventure brought me and the Owl to Westville where once we finished an inspection on an older home, we found ourselves hungry. It was Chinese food at Lin's Takeout Restaurant for me and the Owl had some kind of birdseed dish.

On today's inspection....A little bit more and I probably wouldn't have any hair on my head. Lol
06/17/2026

On today's inspection....A little bit more and I probably wouldn't have any hair on my head. Lol

Today's inspection broke my heart. The client had such big dreams for this home. I cannot show the outside of it because...
05/11/2026

Today's inspection broke my heart. The client had such big dreams for this home. I cannot show the outside of it because it is highly recognizable.
The foundation was full of cracks both minor and major. Some were wider than 1.5 inches. I can see one or two cracks being repairable, but in this case the whole structure would need to be raised and a new foundation be put in place. A big burden to bear on an already hefty price tag.

Anyone know this fella? He forgot to pay for the item he left the property with.
05/08/2026

Anyone know this fella? He forgot to pay for the item he left the property with.

Address

709 WILLOW Street
Truro, NS
B2N5H2

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 8pm
Tuesday 8am - 8pm
Wednesday 8am - 8pm
Thursday 8am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 8pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+19028910444

Website

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