Residential Inspection Services

Residential Inspection Services Topics of interest to homeowners and would-be homewoners. We are a full time, locally owned home inspection company located in upstate New York.

Our inspections and evaluations are performed to the highest standards and include home and commercial building inspections, energy audits, and indoor air quality evaluations.

A pet peeve of mine, and one I come across all too often is an unsafe clothes dryer duct. So often I find foil colored f...
01/21/2019

A pet peeve of mine, and one I come across all too often is an unsafe clothes dryer duct. So often I find foil colored flexible plastic exhaust duct installed for a clothes dryer. While these are both readily available and easily installed, as well as being found in virtually all home stores with an ambiguous or mis-leading description label, they are considered a fire hazard and are not suited for ducting a heat producing appliance - including clothes dryers. They are intended to duct things such as bathroom exhaust fans.
Clothes dryer manufacturers prohibit their use as do many local fire codes. All codes prohibit their use with gas clothes dryers. Homeowners and many contractors unknowingly install them, however an appliance delivery or repair technician will never install them because they are prohibited. Only rigid or semi-rigid material (metal) is permitted. Semi-rigid duct is made form aluminum and will hold its shape when bent. These are usually displayed right next to the plastic ones.

Inspection today was on a flipped house. All flippers are definitely not created equal. Almost all flippers will make th...
01/12/2019

Inspection today was on a flipped house. All flippers are definitely not created equal. Almost all flippers will make the interior areas nice and new to look at. The quality of the flipper really becomes obvious when looking at the guts of the home such as supporting structure and systems (HVAC, electrical, drainage, etc.).
Todays home had great looks upstairs, but there was widespread mold in the attic, lots of Termite damage and sub-standard repairs, and sub-standard materials used for floor joists and support columns in many areas. Dipping and sagging floors throughout. Someone did not do their homework before attempting this rehab.

12/31/2018

Happy New Year. We wish everyone safety and happiness in the coming 2019.

11/24/2018

Hoping turkey day was good for everyone. A little different subject matter in this post from past posts.
This time of year typically brings volatility to the housing market and this year is no diiferent. What seems different now is that this past year has been somewhat volatile as a whole compared to the last few years, reportedly due to rising home prices and low inventories of homes on the market combining with higher borrowing costs to make homes more difficult to afford.
The largest generation in American history is now reaching typical home buying age and you would think that the level of homebuying activity would be consistently higher than it is, however even though borrowing costs are low by historical standards, they are high to a generation that has grown into adulthood with mortgage rates in the 2 to 3 percent range. My first mortgage was in 1989 and I felt fortunate to get a rate of 10.5 percent with 2 points on a 30 year loan. In 1993 I managed to re-finance to a 15 year fixed rate with 2 points at 6.75 percent. At the time, this was an extremely good deal and stayed that way for over a decade. Rates did not drop significantly until 2008 - 2010 as the fed dropped the associated benchmark rate to near zero as a stimulus to try and help re-start an almost completely stalled economy.
The general prediction among the dozen or so economy / market analysts that I follow is that housing prices will stabilize and begin to recede over the next year as the economy slows to recession levels by the end of 2019. I guess we'll see what happens.

The pic is of a church in our area in 2007. Taken around Christmas time.

Mold continues to be the hot button issue for the time being. Bringing up the 'M' word at a home inspection frequently c...
10/24/2018

Mold continues to be the hot button issue for the time being. Bringing up the 'M' word at a home inspection frequently causes facial expressions to change instantly.
Have to remember - just because it looks like mold doesn't necessarily mean it is. Sometimes mold is obvious and sometimes a test is needed to determine.
With 300,000 variants (and counting) of mold, testing normally classifies them into more generalized categories / species. Some of these species are harmless or even edible, a few are universally toxic (some attack the immune system without showing symptoms), and the vast majority are allergens much like other seasonal allergens. Most of the species found in a home fall into this last category. Also keep in mind that when large areas of growth are present, they are usually located in basements and attics. Mold in a basement is generally more of a health issue to occupants than mold in an attic. This is due to 'stack effect' where air tends to move from bottom to top in a home in this part of the country.

NYS enacted new mold laws this past January, turning the mold remediation indistry in NY into licensed profession. This...
08/06/2016

NYS enacted new mold laws this past January, turning the mold remediation indistry in NY into licensed profession. This was long past due as I have personally been witness to several fraudulent activities concerning mold remediation over the last few years. Up to now there have been no rules at all for the industry meanig that anyone with a bottle of bleach (NOT a good disinfectant for mold) could call themselves a mold remediator. This resulted in what I saw as widestpread scare tactics that usually ended up with peaple spending much more money than they shopuld have and sometimes unnecessaruly disposing of valuable possessions.
It was not unusual to have price quotes for a remeiation job vary by 300 to 400 percent, with some quotes given over the phone with no visual inspection first. Rediculous.
Starting this past January, no one can perform mold remediation for a fee without being licensed by the NYS Labor Department. Also, no remediation can take place without the mold issue first being evaluated by a separate, licensed mold assessor. The mold assessor cannot be the same person or from the same company performing the remediation.
Of course, a homeowner can still do whatever he or she wants with their own property. The law applies only to persons or companies that charge a fee, and only applies to projects where the total area to be remediated is 10 square feet or more. Landlords can also use their own full time employees to perform the remediation work.
I received my Mold Assessors license last December.

11/01/2015

Crazy busy Summer season. Just getting sane now and more posts are coming.

The vast majority of issues we find when inspecting a home are due to one or more of three causes. Age related wear, def...
05/10/2015

The vast majority of issues we find when inspecting a home are due to one or more of three causes. Age related wear, deferred repairs, and repairs or modifications performed by unqualified persons. Of these, the last two usually carry the highest potential cost and/or safety risk, and are also the most preventable.
Deferred repairs may be anything from a loose or leaky gutter to deteriorated masonry mortar to a roof flashing leak to damaged siding or trim. Most deferred repairs will result in added expense as they are delayed, especially when moisture plays a role.
Then there are the sub-standard repairs, usually performed by one or more past homeowners. Many persons, particularly guys in their 30's or later, have a high level of confidence in their knowledge base and abilities when it comes to home repairs and modifications. While it is usually obvious whether work was performed by a professional or not, in many cases the work is adequate. Sometimes however, the work is inadequate or just plain dangerous, the most common of which is electrical.
People tend to thing of electrical circuits like plumbing and that is not always the case. I see many mistakes made including undersized wire, improper connections, unsafe grounding and bonding, incompatible components, and more.

Actually, the reason I write on this subject today is because of an issue I found during a recent inspection for a two family home in Albany.
When checking the two old heating system boilers, I discovered that one boiler was missing its TPR (Temperature, Pressure, Relief) valve, and the other boiler had its TPR valve made inoperable - on purpose. Someone, possibly the landlord or handyman hired by him, had left the TPR valve out when repairing some piping on one boiler, and had fabricated a contraption for the other TPR valve to plug it. Apparently the TPR valve was leaking and the person decided that it was too much trouble to replace the 20 dollar valve and just plugged the leak.
I usually do not like to use such terms, but this was a stupid move and could easily result in an explosion under the right conditions.

05/03/2015

Its about time the weather turned for the better. Pretty soon we'll all be talking about how hot it is. In my travels I am seeing a lot of roofing companies at work. More that the usual at this time of year. In talking with some clients, it seems that many people with older but still functioning roof surfaces are opting for a roof replacement earlier rather than later - this after a harsh winter that saw a lot of ice damming and damage. Many people, including myself, had damming and leaks for the first time this past February and March.
Of course, having an ice damming and leak problem does not in itself mean you need a new roof, but it may be worth considering if your roof is older. Older roofs (20 or more years) generally do not have the same level of ice and water barrier protection that is required of new modern installations. This barrier consist of a waterproof adhesive membrane that is installed under the shingles in locations subject to ice damming and prevents water pe*******on.

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