SafeHome Inspections

06/02/2026

🚨 ATTENTION CENTRAL MS HOMEOWNERS (Jackson, Ridgeland, Clinton, Flowood, Canton, Brandon):

Forecasters are tracking a "Super El Niño" building for 2026. For most of the country, that just means an active winter storm track. But for those of us living on Yazoo Clay, it triggers a brutal, 9-to-18-month "ratchet effect" on our home foundations.

When the extreme summer heat dries out the ground, this highly reactive clay shrinks aggressively, causing foundations to settle unevenly. Then, when heavy winter rains inevitably hit, the clay swells back up with thousands of pounds of pressure.

Over time, your slab doesn't fully recover, allowing minor hairline cracks to turn into expensive structural damage. You don't have to just sit back and watch it happen. Here is your Immediate

Homeowner Action Plan to protect your property right now:

💧 The Slab Soaker Hose Trick: During peak dry summer months (June–August), place soaker hoses 12 to 18 inches away from your foundation. Running them consistently keeps soil moisture levels stable and stops the perimeter from aggressively shrinking away from your slab.

📐 Check the 6-Inch Rule: Walk your perimeter. Make sure years of flower bed mulch haven't built up against your siding. Your yard's soil needs to slope down and away from the house at least 6 inches over the first 10 feet to stop sudden heavy rains from ponding at your foundation.

🍂 Mark October on Your Calendar: Plan a mandatory gutter and downspout cleanout right before the active Pacific jet stream begins steering heavier winter storms across the Gulf States.

🛑 Audit Your Downspouts: Ensure your gutter downspouts extend well past your foundation. Dumping water just 3 to 4 feet away from the house immediately saturates the Yazoo Clay right under your footings.

Want the complete breakdown?

I have compiled a highly detailed, 10-page Structural Risk Playbook that walks you through every single phase of this weather cycle—covering everything from hidden summer shingle damage to crawl space mold spikes and HVAC failures.

👇 Click the link below to download the full, free playbook and protect your home this year!
https://garynsmith.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Weather.pdf

06/01/2026

😴 When is a room a bedroom?

For agents, builders, inspectors, and appraisers, it is important to understand that a "bedroom" is not defined by a single feature. It is the combination of several characteristics that makes a room suitable and safe for sleeping. The following summarizes the commonly accepted criteria found in modern residential building codes, including the International Residential Code (IRC).
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• Minimum Floor Area
A sleeping room must contain at least 70 square feet of floor area. This minimum size is intended to provide sufficient space for occupancy and basic furnishings. For example, a room measuring 7 feet by 10 feet would meet this requirement.

• Minimum Horizontal Dimension
A sleeping room must measure at least 7 feet in one direction and 7 feet in the perpendicular direction. A room that is 5 feet by 14 feet contains 70 square feet but would not qualify because it does not meet the minimum width requirement.

• Ceiling Height
At least 50 percent of the required floor area must have a ceiling height of 7 feet or greater. Portions of a room with sloped ceilings may count toward the floor area if the ceiling is at least 5 feet high, but areas below 5 feet generally do not count toward the required minimum area.

• Emergency Escape and Rescue Opening (Egress)
Sleeping rooms located below the fourth story must have an emergency escape and rescue opening that opens directly to the outside. Current IRC requirements generally include:

✅Minimum net clear opening area: 5.7 square feet (5.0 square feet at grade-floor level)
✅Minimum clear opening height: 24 inches
✅Minimum clear opening width: 20 inches
✅Maximum sill height above floor: 44 inches

The purpose of the opening is to allow occupants to escape during an emergency and provide access for rescue personnel.

• Permanent Heating
The room should be served by a permanently installed heating system capable of maintaining a habitable indoor temperature. Portable electric heaters generally do not satisfy this requirement; heating is usually provided by the home's central HVAC system.

• Natural Light
The IRC requires glazing to be at least 8 percent of the room's floor area. Example: A 100-square-foot room requires at least 8 square feet of window glass. Natural light contributes to occupant comfort and habitability.

• Natural Ventilation
Operable windows should provide ventilation equal to at least 4 percent of the room's floor area unless an approved mechanical ventilation system is installed. Example: A 100-square-foot room requires approximately 4 square feet of operable window area.

• Access and Means of Entry
A bedroom should be directly accessible from a hallway, common area, or other approved circulation space. Occupants should not have to pass through another bedroom to enter or exit the room.
This requirement helps maintain privacy and provides a safer means of egress during emergencies.

• Smoke Alarm Protection
Current standards require smoke alarms:
✅Inside each sleeping room
✅Outside sleeping rooms in the immediate vicinity
✅On each story of the dwelling

In newer homes, alarms are often interconnected so that activation of one alarm causes all alarms to sound.

• Privacy and Separation
Although building codes do not specifically require a bedroom door in every circumstance, a sleeping room is generally expected to provide privacy from adjoining spaces. In practice, bedrooms are normally separated from living areas by walls and a door.

• Closet Considerations
Contrary to popular belief, the IRC does not require a closet for a room to qualify as a bedroom. However, local ordinances, appraisal guidelines, lending requirements, and market expectations may treat a closet as an expected bedroom feature. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of bedroom classification.

A practical real estate guideline is: Call it a bedroom if it provides adequate size, ceiling height, emergency egress, heating, lighting, ventilation, safe access, smoke-alarm protection, and reasonable privacy. The presence or absence of a closet is often a market consideration rather than a building code requirement.

As always, local amendments, zoning regulations, appraisal standards, and lender requirements may differ from the base IRC provisions. For advertising purposes, when uncertainty exists, describing the room as a bonus room, office, flex room, or study may be more appropriate until its status can be verified.

04/13/2026

I think this one will resonate with some of my inspector buds.

03/07/2026

Example: The "dew point" for 70°F air at 60% humidity is approximately 55.5°F. That means anything cooler than 55.5℉ will begin to sweat (moisture will form on those cooler surfaces).

However, mold requires more than just damp surfaces.

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Walk into enough attics and you’ll eventually hear the same debate.

02/13/2026

“It worked great… until winter.”

I hear that line every year—about tankless water heaters, showers that won’t get hot enough, and systems everyone swears were “perfect” last summer.

Nothing broke...the conditions changed.

I wrote a short piece explaining why tankless heaters behave differently in cold weather, how shower valves react, and why this isn’t a defect—it’s physics doing its job.

If you’ve ever blamed the heater, the plumber, or yourself… this one’s for you.

Why the same technology behaves differently depending on where you live

02/02/2026

Headline: Stop Using Your IR Gun for Delta T! 🚫🌡️

We’ve all seen it—and many of us were taught it in school: Point the IR gun at the supply, click. Point it at the return, click. Subtract the two and document your "Delta T."

The Problem? Your tool is lying to you. Look at this demonstration.

1️⃣ The IR Camera says the hair dryer nozzle is 101°F.
2️⃣ The IR Spot Reading in mid-air (where the heat is) shows 142°F (and that's just a reflection!).
3️⃣ The Meat Probe (The Truth) proves the actual air temperature is 192°F.

Why the massive 50-90 degree error? Air is transparent to infrared. Your IR gun isn't "feeling" the air; it’s looking right through it and measuring the wall, the register grille, or a reflection. If your $2,000 FLIR can’t accurately "see" 192°F air, your $20 temp gun definitely can’t measure a 15-degree AC split.

The Takeaway for Pros:
🔵 IR Guns measure surfaces.
🔵 Psychrometers measure air.

If you aren't using a probe in the air stream, you aren't getting a real reading.

Are you still using the "Point and Click" method, or have you switched to probes? Let’s discuss in the comments.

02/02/2026

See that purple plume along the wall? That’s air failing the physics test. I’m breaking down why 'sticky air' is the secret to a comfortable home in my latest Substack article.

Watch a mind-bending video of ultrasonic levitation that proves air is a high-pressure pipeline, not a choice, and learn about the "Coanda Effect."

Understanding the Coanda Effect

02/01/2026

The Most Dangerous Myth in Homeownership: "Set-It & Forget-It"

As a home inspector and builder for 50+ years, I see it every day: homeowners falling for the "Set-It & Forget-It" trap. They install a high-tech system, assume it’s a permanent fixture, and then act surprised when it fails three years later.

Take Cable Railings, for example. People love the look, but they don't realize these are mechanical systems. Between the Mississippi humidity shrinking wooden posts, and the cables expanding in the heat, that "safety" barrier can sag enough to fail a 4-inch sphere test in just a few months.

If you aren’t checking your tension, you aren't "set"—you’re just waiting for a safety hazard.

List the components that FAIL the "Set-It & Forget-It" rule. Here are my first three:
1️⃣ Cable Railing Systems (Need monthly tension checks!)
2️⃣ Tankless Water Heaters (Need annual descaling!)
3️⃣ Sump Pumps (Need quarterly testing!)

What else belongs on this list? Builders, inspectors, and homeowners—drop the component you've seen fail from neglect in the comments! 👇

01/30/2026

The flashing isn't UL-listed… but it is road-tested.

06/25/2025

Maintain your home without using tools.

Here's my list of home maintenance tasks you can perform and never grab the tool bag + a few others that require very few tools or effort. I check each one when performing a home inspection. They're incredibly simple to perform.