Crossroads Professional Home Inspections

11/21/2025

🔥 Fix-It Friday | Thanksgiving Prep Edition 🦃

Thanksgiving is almost here! That means full kitchens, full houses, and HVAC systems working overtime.
Here are a few quick home checks you can knock out today to keep your home safe, warm, and holiday-ready:

✔️ Replace Your HVAC Filter
A clogged filter is the #1 reason furnaces struggle or fail during the holidays. A clean filter keeps airflow strong and guests comfortable.

✔️ Test Your Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Thanksgiving uses a lot of heat and cooking. Make sure your CO detectors are working.
Every home should have a functioning CO detector — even all-electric homes.

✔️ Check Your Smoke Detectors
Thanksgiving Day has more house fires than any other day of the year.
A 10-second test today can prevent a major problem next week.

✔️ Inspect Gas Appliances
If you have a gas furnace, stove, fireplace, or water heater, look for proper venting and anything unusual (smells, soot, or flame issues).

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A few minutes of prep today keeps your home safe for the people you’re thankful for.
Crossroads Home Inspections — Helping you navigate the Crossroads of homeownership.

11/11/2025

10/31/2025

🎃 Fix-It Friday: Haunted Home Edition!

The temps finally dropped, and the real haunts this season aren’t ghosts — they’re the home maintenance issues creeping up as fall settles in. 👻

🧹 Clean Gutters & Downspouts
Leaves and debris trap moisture against fascia boards and can cause water to pool near the foundation — not to mention attract pests.

💨 Replace HVAC Filters
With furnaces cycling back on, restricted filters strain the blower motor and hurt your air quality.

🧯 Clean Dryer Vent Ducts
Lint buildup is one of the top causes of residential fires. A quick cleaning boosts efficiency and safety.

🪟 Seal Windows & Doors
Gaps around frames let in cold air (and spiders). A fresh bead of caulk keeps comfort up and energy costs down.

🪜 Inspect Attic Insulation
Uneven or thin insulation lets heat escape and invites condensation issues.

🐀 Check for Pest Entry Points
Cold weather sends rats, mice, and even possums looking for warmth. Seal around roof vents, plumbing penetrations, and soffit gaps before they move in.

A few smart fixes now can save time, money, and headaches once the real cold hits.

— Mark Prichard
Helping people navigate the crossroads of homeownership.

10/24/2025

🎃 Fix-It Friday with Crossroads PHI 🏡
Your quick tip to keep your home safe, sound, and maybe even save a little cash.

I missed last week’s post while traveling to celebrate my son’s Boot Camp graduation — proud dad moment for sure. 👏🇺🇸

As the fall chill starts sneaking in, don’t let your home feel like a haunted house of drafts. 👻 Take a slow walk around your doors and windows — look closely at the weather-stripping and exterior caulking for small cracks, gaps, or places where the seal has pulled away. These tiny openings can add up, letting in cold air and driving up your heating costs.

Here’s something most folks overlook: windows don’t truly seal unless they’re locked. Make sure each one is fully closed and latched to create a snug compression fit. It’s a simple step that helps keep the warm air in, the cold air out, and your energy bill from becoming a real fright. 🪟💨💸

🍂 Fall Fixes & Frights: Because your house should be cozy — not spooky.

10/10/2025

✨ Fix-It Friday with Crossroads PHI ✨

Happy Fix-It Friday! October means shorter days and longer nights, so let’s talk exterior lighting. 🎃💡

🛠 This week’s tip: Check and replace outdoor light bulbs and test motion sensors. Good lighting not only makes your home inviting for trick-or-treaters but also helps improve security year-round.

10/03/2025

🔧 Fix-It Friday with Crossroads PHI 🏡
Your quick tip to keep your home safe, sound, and maybe even save a little cash.

Dryer vents love to collect lint like candy on Halloween. 🍬👻 Cleaning them out will save energy and help prevent scary surprises. 🔥

🍂 Fall Fixes & Frights: Because your house should be cozy — not spooky.

09/29/2025

“Plumbing problems don’t always just show up you have to really put the system to the test.”

Going Beyond the Basics

When I inspect a home, I want my clients to have the clearest picture possible of how their home will perform. That means more than just running faucets or flushing a toilets.

I test every sink, tub, shower, and toilet individually, and then I take it a step further—then fill them all to the overflows and drain them at once. It’s extra work, but it shows how the system handles real-life demand.

On a recent inspection, everything worked fine when tested one at a time. But once I released the full load of water, bubbling in a toilet and a backed-up shower revealed a sewer issue that would have stayed hidden otherwise.

For me, it’s not about doing more for the sake of it—it’s about making sure families understand the home they’re buying and aren’t caught off guard later.

Message me if you want this level of detail for your home inspection.

Helping people navigate the Crossroads of home purchasing.

09/14/2025

Small Details, Big Impact

What’s Going On

This roof purlin brace (strongback) is only sitting halfway on its beam. The other half is hanging off with no support.

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Why It Matters
• Load transfer is compromised – only part of the wood fibers are carrying the weight.
• Over time this can cause crushing, splitting, or shifting.
• Building standards require full bearing so loads travel safely through the structure.

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The Fix

Simple: the brace needs to be fully supported — either moved over or blocked properly so the entire end is resting on solid wood.

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The Big Picture

These details often get overlooked because “it’s not broken today.” But right vs. wrong matters — especially during your builder’s warranty period. My job is to go the extra mile, catch the small things now, and protect my clients for the future.

Helping people navigate the crossroads of homeownership.

09/05/2025

Grading, Drainage, and Foundation Health

Dry shoes don’t always mean a dry foundation.

That courtyard with river rock and landscape fabric may look clean and low-maintenance, but underneath the soils can stay saturated. Just because your feet don’t get muddy doesn’t mean the foundation isn’t under stress. Over time, that hidden moisture creates pressure, settlement, and costly repairs.

The fix is simple: proper grading or a subterranean drain to move the water out to the street before it becomes a problem.

Caring for clients means pointing out the little things today that could save big headaches tomorrow.

“Helping people navigate the crossroads of safe homeownership.”

09/04/2025

Most homeowners don’t think much about their electrical panel until something goes wrong. But if your home was built between the 1950s and 1980s, you may have one of these — a Federal Pacific Electric panel.

These panels are well known in the inspection industry for a serious problem: the breakers often fail to trip when there’s an overload or short. That means instead of protecting your home, they can let wires overheat and create a fire hazard.

Even if it looks fine, the risk is real — especially since most of these are now 40 to 60 years old. If you see Federal Pacific or Stab-Lok on your panel, it’s worth having it evaluated and replaced.

I’m Mark with Crossroads Professional Home Inspections. My job is to help homeowners spot risks like this — not just for peace of mind today, but for safety tomorrow.

08/28/2025

“Occupational hazard of the day: squatters with wings”

Walked up to a Grapevine property today and the first thing I noticed wasn’t the siding, the roof, or the door… it was the wasp colony guarding the back patio like it was Fort Knox.

👉 Pro tip: vacant homes aren’t always really vacant — sometimes they come with extra tenants that don’t pay rent but will charge you in stings.

Best fix? Catch ‘em early, or call pest control if they’ve already set up camp.
Best prevention? Regular checks around eaves, soffits, and doors.

At Crossroads Home Inspections, we look for everything… even the buzzing hazards.
Because in homeownership, the little things that sting can turn into the big things that hurt.