Direct Inspections

05/07/2024

Not sure what to say about this on the home inspection report. One of the shingles had a fatal wound or unsolved murdered shingle visible?

02/21/2024

I saw this at an inspection about 2 weeks ago. One more reason that radon mitigation should discharge above the roof edge.

10/13/2023

I’ve definitely seen some deteriorated exhaust vents in my day, but this one takes the cake. Nothing like an attic full of carbon monoxide to end my week. Just glad nobody is living at this property at the moment.

09/15/2023

I looked down at my tool belt and one of my pouches was missing. After looking around the property, I looked up and found it. Crap!

12/02/2022

I just wanted to give a shout-out to the painters for the house I inspected today that disposed their extra paint down the bathtub drain. You're killing me smalls!

10/31/2022

This roof is a typical example of inadequate or improper reinforcements that were added to support the weight of the asphalt shingles when the original wood shake was removed. Given the amount of weight that is being added you can see how important it is that the framing is properly reinforced. Exactly how much weight? Well, a 4x8 foot section (32 square feet) of wood shake and battens weighs around 64 pounds. The same size of composite asphalt shingles and sheathing typically weighs around 160 pounds. That’s almost 100 pounds for every section of 4x8 sheathing. Failure won't happen immediately, and visible signs of problems typically do not show up until well after the installers warranty has expired, so most roofing companies put little effort into adding proper reinforcements. By the time sagging is visible from the exterior, multiple rafters are already cracked and pulling away from the ridge. So, when purchasing an older home, take a minute and look at the roof ridgeline for any sagging or buckling to ensure that the roof is properly supported.

10/12/2022

A short clip of our new 360° chimney inspection camera in a smoke chamber from an inspection last week.

https://youtu.be/W2zl4GmMm20
Just added

A short example of our chimney inspection camera in action

10/10/2022

Challenge accepted!

10/07/2022

Does the end of your driveway look like this? Pattern cracking at the end of driveways typically gets thought of as damage from de-icing chemicals or from poor concrete mix, but if the cracking is only on one section of the concrete, typically at the bottom of the driveway, and covers most of the section, it is most likely durability cracking (D-cracking) and has little to do with the mix, salt, or de-icing chemicals. D-cracking at the bottom of the driveway is typically from downspout directing runoff underneath the flatwork that will erode the soil making a path for water to pool underneath the lowest area of the driveway. The trapped water saturates the aggregate making the slab unable to withstand freeze and thaw cycles. Unfortunately, the concrete will eventually crumble to gravel but burying the downspout to discharge away from the flatwork will slow the deterioration and will prevent the problem from reoccurring after the bottom of the driveway has been replaced.

10/04/2022

Nice effort but adding more nails won't change the fact that this joist has less than 1 1/2 inches of adequate bearing on the post below and needs to be replaced and properly installed.