https://www.EIslehomeinspections.com/

Emerald Isle Home Inspections, Lake Peekskill, NY (2026)

08/08/2022

Most people don’t realize that maintaining outdoor structures, like decks, porches, garages and sheds is important. Many people think that these kinds of structures are replaceable, so if they get some wear and tear it’s not a big deal; or they don’t need to be maintained since they are outside anyway. But proper maintenance on these structures is crucial to increasing and maintaining your property value, as well as protecting whatever is stored inside or on top of them.
At the end of the day, walkways, driveways, fences, decks and sheds are part of your property. If your house looks great but you have a shabby looking shed right beside it, or a worn out or overgrown walkway leading to the entrance of your home, it can really hurt the overall curb appeal.
And if you haven’t kept up with the maintenance on a shed or fence—which is usually much easier than maintaining a house—most people will assume that the maintenance on your home hasn’t been kept up either.
Bottom line: if you’re thinking of selling your house, repairing any outdoor structures on your property is a smart selling tool and a good investment.

Keep Percipitation Out

Protecting outdoor structures from precipitation and moisture is crucial since they are constantly exposed to the elements—it’s unavoidable. Unfortunately, this can wear them out prematurely if they are not properly maintained.

Sheds

If precipitation is finding its way inside your shed it can damage whatever valuables you’re storing inside, including lawnmowers, furniture and tools.
You can usually tell if moisture is coming in by looking on the inside the structure. If it’s made of wood look for water damage on the ceiling and in corners, if the roof is metal check for rust around nails.

Also check for:

Peeling paint & insect damage. Get rid of any wasp nests.

Animals. Some love to make dens underneath sheds. The burrowing can undermine the soil, which can cause the structure to tip or slant.

Worn out doors. If they’re falling apart replace them, and make sure the hinges are tight. You don’t want the doors flinging open during a storm.

Loose windowpanes. If your shed has windows, check for loose panes and gaps in the window frame.

Gaps. Any gaps should be sealed with caulking—rubberized is best because it lasts longer and it’s flexible. Also seal around the bottom edge of the structure, where the siding meets the concrete pad.

Loose shingles. If the shed has a shingled roof makes sure that any loose shingles are properly secured.

Overhanging trees. Too much shade can lead to things like mould, rot and algae. Overhanging branches can also cause extra precipitation to run off onto the roof, or if they break during a storm they can damage the roof

Outdoor structures made of wood require more maintenance. Cedar is naturally resistant insect damage and rot, whereas pressure-treated (PT) lumber is chemically treated to make it weather-resistant. Both are top choices when it comes to outdoor structures but they both require maintenance. Look for signs of water damage—things like mould and rot. If any of the wood has started to rot those boards need to be replaced. If not, you could be looking at replacing the entire structure.

07/30/2022

Here are some tips to improve your air quality:

To deal with poor indoor air quality, you need to look into source control, improved ventilation and air cleaners.

#1 Get an indoor air quality test

#2 choose materials that off gas a small amount (or no) VOCs

#3 regularly change the filters in your HVAC system.

#4 Have your ducts professionally cleaned

#5 Open your windows for about 15 minutes every day

#6 Invest in an ERV or an HRV

#7 Invest in an air purification system

#8 Use your kitchen extractor fan

How Do You Know If You Have Poor Indoor Air Quality?

Poor indoor air quality may cause the following symptoms:

headaches,

tiredness,

coughing, sneezing,

sinus congestion,

shortness of breath,

dizziness and nausea.

It can irritate the skin, eyes, nose or throat.

Allergy or asthma symptoms could get worse.

Sources Of Indoor Air Pollution

There could be many sources of indoor air pollution in your home. Good air quality starts with source control. Some of them are:

Building materials and furnishings such as:

Deteriorated asbestos-containing insulation

Newly installed materials such as flooring, upholstery, or carpet

Cabinetry or furniture made of certain pressed wood products

Household cleaning and maintenance products

Central heating and cooling systems and humidification devices

Fuel-burning combustion appliances

To***co products

High levels of humidity/moisture

Outdoor pollutants coming into the house such as:

Radon

Pesticides

Outdoor air pollution.

07/25/2022

Homeowners Maintenance Checklist for Summer 2022

1. Perform a thorough inspection of your home.

A home takes a beating from the elements over the course of the winter and early spring. Snow, ice, and fluctuating temperatures can damage wood, siding, shingles, paint, stone, and more. Even minor damage can worsen over time, turning into a multi-thousand dollar renovation project in a few years’ time.
Check the exterior of your home for rotting wood and chipping paint. Look for signs of mold and water damage in damp places. Inspect your home’s foundation for cracks and fissures. Examine gutters, downspouts, and other fixtures to ensure they are not loose.
Keep a log of what you find so you can refer back to your notes as necessary when you perform another inspection in the autumn or winter. If you notice anything amiss, perform the appropriate repairs as soon as possible.

2. Clean gutters and downspouts.

Leaves, twigs, pollen, and other debris accumulates in your gutters over the winter and spring. If your gutters and downspouts stay clogged during heavy summer rains, the overflowing water can lead to flooding and structural damage.
If this is one of the summer home maintenance projects that you would rather not tackle yourself, you can add gutter cleaning coverage to your Liberty Home Guard policy.

3. Inspect your plumbing and waste system.

Routine septic tank maintenance is generally required every three to five years, but the EPA recommends yearly inspections of electrical float switches, pumps, and other mechanical components. It’s a good idea to perform this inspection at the beginning of the summer, as water usage typically increases over the summer months.

4. Service your HVAC system or air conditioner.

You don’t want your air conditioner to cut out just when you need it the most. Before the weather turns hot, replace the filters in your air conditioning units. You could also schedule a service call with a technician to ensure the system is healthy.

5. Check and replace screens and weather stripping.

Examine the screens in your windows and doors for tears. Even small openings allow mosquitoes, flies, and other pests into your home. Mend any tears with screen patches.
If you anticipate running your air conditioner for most of the summer, check the weather stripping and seals on your windows and doors. Small gaps can allow cooler air to escape, making your air conditioner work harder and wasting energy. This is one of the better summer homeowner tips as it can mean lower energy bills and more money in your pocket.

6. Power wash and reseal your deck.

You want your deck, patio, or porch to be in great shape for the summer. Rent a power washer at the beginning of the season to blast away pollen, mildew, and grime. If you have a wooden deck or porch, consider staining or resealing it. This not only makes your home look great—it also extends the lifetime of your outdoor spaces.

7. Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

The change of seasons is as good a time as any to inspect your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Test your devices to make sure they’re working properly. Replace the batteries as needed.

8. Attend to your lawn and garden.

Maintain your home’s landscaping before the weather turns too hot and unwanted plants grow too mature. Pull weeds, trim overgrown shrubs and hedges, examine trees surrounding your home, spread mulch, and turn on your irrigation system.

07/22/2022

Hi,
My name is Clive Cronin, I'm a Home inspector living in Putnam Valley, servicing Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess Orange, Rockland Counties and the Bronx. If you're buying a home and need a home Inspection, please give me a call: 646-491-2665.

06/29/2022

Are Termites A Serious Problem?

The presence of termites is an omen of serious damage in your home. Termites eat wood for food, not just to nest in. They require moisture from soil and soft rotten wood and can tunnel hundreds of feet to find new food sources, like the wood in your house.
They feed on cellulose-based material, including wood, books, boxes, furniture, plants and drywall. They can create nests inside the walls of a home, where they can cause a large amount of damage. They’ll mainly enter through these structural points of the home and forage building materials, insulation, and furniture for food. Termite colonies work 24 hours a day, and infestations can go undiscovered until serious damage is done.

Homeowners rarely see the damage happening because termites eat wood from the inside out. So you usually don’t know you have a termite problem until it’s really serious

What Do Termites Look Like?

There are over 2000 species of termites in the world. Termites can look like carpenter ants, with similar wings and body structures. They tend to have soft bodies with a distinct, hard head region. The color depends on the species and caste of the termites. They could have pale- or cream-colored bodies. Some of them have a large orange or amber head. Other species have dark-colored bodies.

Signs that You Have Termites

If you find cavities in your wooden structures, filled with what looks like sawdust residue, that could be a sign you’ve got termites. By the way, that’s actually their excrement.
If the wood has holes, but looks clean, it may be the sign of something else, like water damage or carpenter ants (they use wood as a place to nest, not a source for food).
Other signs can include:

Hollow sounding wood. If you tap your walls and hear a hollow sound, it means termites may have already eaten a large amount of your wall’s interior.

Even cracked or bubbling paint on exterior walls.

Termites have wings – but once they’ve found a nest, they’ll discard them. If you find a lot of discarded wings around the home, you know they may have found a good place to nest – and that’s bad news for you.

termite droppings that look like sawdust (frass)

Because termites need moisture, when they burrow under the surface, they’re adding the necessary moisture that could cause your Paint to bubble While it could be an unrelated moisture issue – when paired with other termite signals, you will want to call a pest control expert.

If you suspect termites, it’s time to bring in a pest control expert, because they know what to look for and how to find it. They’ll also inspect your structures for any other termite related damage.

How To Get Rid Of Termites

You can use DIY methods to control small infestations. However, in most cases, hiring an exterminator is the best bet. Termites can live within the walls of a home, so it is best to call an exterminator to assess the damage and find the colony. If you have a large infestation of termites, bring in a professional exterminator. They will have the experience, knowledge and the right products to manage this problem.

How Can I Fight Back Against Termites?

Termites need wood, moisture, and shelter to survive, but you can take steps to prevent termites from thriving around your home.

Protect Your Outdoor Structures

If you’re having a deck, or other outdoor structures made of wood built, use a pressure-treated lumber that’s coated with a chemical that repels termites.

Wood should never touch the earth, unless it’s been pressure treated.

Not only that – choose products that are resistant to moisture and rot and make sure you’re giving it the necessary maintenance. It will keep your structure standing strong for a lot longer, and keep the pests away.

Fix Your Leaky A/C Unit

Termites love moisture, so if your A/C unit is leaking, get that fixed.

Inspect Your Gutters

Your gutters can also be a source for moisture if they’re not properly cleared. If your eavestroughs clog often, consider installing a screen over top to keep water moving clearly through your system.

Firewood In Your Home

If you’re like me, you love a roaring fire, especially on a cold night – but if you’ve got a wood-burning fireplace in your home, don’t keep the wood piled up directly against your foundation.
If you find termites, bring in a pro to evacuate your unwanted houseguests. They’ll know what steps to take to get rid of them, and how to keep them from sneaking back in.

Avoid Gardens Directly Against Foundation

I don’t like to see gardens directly against a foundation because it can alter the grading so that water flows towards your foundation instead of away from the property. Garden mulch is attractive to termites because it provides the moist protection they need to survive. Having a garden filled with much directly against your foundation is just begging for trouble, if you ask me

When To Call A Pest Control Expert

It can be tough to be on the lookout for a colony of termites, because often the most prevalent sign that you have them in your home is when you find signs of the damage.
Your best bet is to call a professional pest inspector/contractor. Finding the location and extent of termites in the house is something of an art. Inspectors use a combination of probing, tapping, listening, and looking. Some may use fiber optic scopes that can peer inside a wall.
After finding an insect infestation, a good inspector will recommend one or more options for eradicating the bugs, and discuss the pros and cons of each with you.
When hiring a contractor, do your research and don’t hire the one who offers cash jobs.

06/12/2022

Landscape Design Tips for Beginners (as seen on Mike Holmes' Make it Right website)

Think about these factors when planning your landscaping:

How will you be using your yard? Will children be safe while playing?

Are you looking to protect your home from sun and heat? Think about how you can take advantage of sunlight in the winter and block the sun in the summer.

Do you need to add more privacy features? Do you have kids that you want to keep in view when they are playing outside?

Are you selling your house? The exterior of your home is a big part of the first impression from a potential homebuyer. it pays to make your home as attractive to as many buyers as possible.

05/19/2022

Summertime Tips for Homeowners:

Stop Pests From Becoming Uninvited Houseguests This Summer

Summertime is when most insects make their way indoors looking for cooler places to make their homes. The longer summer days and shorter nights mean more hours of sunlight in a day give many pests more time to feed.
Check the exterior of your home for these possible entry points for pests:

Holes or cracks around window and door frames

Holes in venting

Tears in window and door screens

Cracks in foundations, especially below windows and doorsteps. If the crack in your foundation is smaller than a dime, use an injection repair kit like

Which insect is most prevalent in summer?

Common insects are houseflies and mosquitos, but also don’t forget bees and wasps. Watch out for insect wings. A cluster of wings around the exterior of your home could mean you have termites.
Termites have wings and drop them once they’ve found a good place to nest. Any gaps should be sealed with a rubberized exterior caulking. Any larger gaps can be filled with low expanding polyurethane foam like and small cracks in the foundation can be filled with an epoxy injection.
Torn window screens should be repaired or replaced. If you have any visible gaps in your mortar or loose bricks (also known as tuck-pointing) get them refilled and seek a professional, as this is a special skill that needs to be done properly.

04/22/2022

Homeowners helpful tips.

Deck Maintenance Tips

All outdoor structures require some form of maintenance. Just because it’s not part of your main home, doesn’t mean you can slack on its seasonal maintenance. It’s important to also maintain your deck.
Remember, your deck and other structures are getting hammered by the elements year-round. If you don’t take care of these structures properly, you’re going to find that they begin to fail and wear out a lot sooner than they should.
You don’t want to have to replace a deck after 10 years because you let the maintenance get ahead of you.
Here’s what you need to do keep your deck in tip-top shape.

So what do you look for? Is your ledger board in healthy shape? The ledger board is what connects your deck with the rest of the home. It’s a long board that runs the length of your deck and helps anchor your deck and keep it standing strong.
A rotted ledger board is one of the most common reasons for deck failure. Check the health of the board by looking for visible signs of rot on the board. Then, line your screwdriver near the area with the deck joists attaches to the ledger board and strike it with your hammer. If the screwdriver sinks into the wood, you’ve got dry rot.
In this case, call in a contractor immediately to assess the overall health of your deck and let them make some suggestions on how best to solve your deck problems.

Inspecting Your Deck

You can perform a visual inspection of your deck yourself, looking out for instances of rotting wood, broken stairs or railings, rot, and other signs of damage, but if your deck is older than five years old, you may want to have it professionally inspected every few years to ensure you don’t miss anything.

04/13/2022

Landscape Design Tips for Beginners

Think about these factors when planning your landscaping:

How will you be using your yard? Will children be safe while playing?

Are you looking to protect your home from sun and heat? Think about how you can take advantage of sunlight in the winter and block the sun in the summer.

Do you need to add more privacy features? Do you have kids that you want to keep in view when they are playing outside?

Are you selling your house? The exterior of your home is a big part of the first impression from a potential homebuyer. it pays to make your home as attractive to as many buyers as possible.

04/04/2022

Homeowners maintenance tip:

Improve Indoor Air Quality

The air we breathe has a direct impact on our health. Poor air quality can indicate the air contains unhealthy toxins —like volatile organic compounds (VOCs), mold, lead, and even cancer-causing gasses like radon.

An easy thing for homeowners to do is to properly ventilate the house by regularly opening the windows for a few minutes a day. This is something you can start doing right now. Having fresh outdoor air run through the house is important as studies have shown that increasing the fresh air supply in a home improves respiratory health.

Buying a stand-alone air cleaner with a Hepa filter for each floor of the house is something I recommend. This is relatively inexpensive and will help filter out the dust, spores, pet dander, and toxins, without the need to replace your entire air filtration system.

The majority of furnace filters need to be changed, at minimum, every couple of months. However, you may want to consider having the ducts cleaned if the filter is clogging up sooner.

03/28/2022

Maintenance tip for homeowners:

Prepare your HVAC system for spring

Getting your HVAC systems ready for warmer weather is very important. It is important for your indoor air quality. By cleaning your system and maintaining it regularly, you are guaranteed greater efficiency and a healthier indoor environment.
A professional HVAC technician is key to the longevity of your HVAC system.

Replace furnace filter. I recommend changing your filter every 90 days. If the air filter is dirty, your indoor air is dirty. A dirty air filter also makes it hard for your AC to do it’s job.

Install new batteries in smoke alarms & carbon monoxide detectors. This should be done annually.

Test & dust all detectors. This should be done every season.

Remove debris and gunk from the top and exterior parts of your outdoor air conditioning units. It’s likely that over the winter, trash, foliage and debris has found its way around the unit.

Schedule air conditioning inspection

Consider professional duct sealing. It can improve the energy efficiency of your home and lower your bills. Here is more information on duct sealing.

Adjust your thermostat to welcome the warmer weather. If you have a smart thermostat, you’ll enjoy energy savings through scheduling.

Check out your sump pump. A sump pump needs to be regularly monitored to make sure it will do it’s job when needed. Clear away debris, it could cause a blockage.

03/18/2022

What to look for if paint bubbles:

Say you painted your living room a few months ago and just noticed that the paint has started to bubble. Why would that be? It is most likely from the paint losing its adhesion to the base coat of paint, or the material it is painted on (drywall etc).
The best way to fix bubbling paint is to find out WHY it’s bubbling. I don’t want you to just do a second coat as a fix. You need to investigate the cause of the paint blisters or bubbles, so you don’t run into the same issue again.
Here are some possible reasons why your paint is bubbling:

1 PAINT SURFACE WAS NOT CLEAN

Dirt and grime can collect on your walls, and if you don’t wipe them before applying fresh paint, it could interfere with your new coat of paint adhering to the wall. The fresh coat will not adhere to the specs of dust and cause blisters or bubbles appearing on your painted walls.

2 PRIMER WAS NEEDED

The key to making paint stick is to actually make the wall a little bit rough and uneven. You could sand the entire wall, but that will take forever. Instead, this is when you’d apply a coat of primer to the surface, to help the paint adhere.
Not all primers perform the same function. Some are meant to suppress stains, while others are meant to make your chosen paint colour look more saturated.
It is also important to sand the area thoroughly. This will roughen the base surface, creating peaks and valleys on which paint is more likely to adhere.

3 MOISTURE ON YOUR WALLS

Water filled bubbles can also be a result of high humidity in your home. There are several reasons for high humidity in your home, and it can cause severe issues for you like mold and rot. Don’t ignore that.

4 ROOM WAS TOO HOT

If you painted a room that gets a lot of direct sunlight or has heat generating appliances, the top paint coat could dry at a faster rate. This can cause bubbles.
In kitchens, grease can build up on your walls as well. It’s important to wash your kitchen walls before applying paint. If you like in a smoking home, I also recommend cleaning your walls.
Avoid painting in very hot or very humid conditions.

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