The majority of the older homes, and a few newer homes I inspect have electrical panels with different brand and type breakers inside them.  It seems like I am always writing in my reports this statement, "A breaker in the electrical...

There is no such thing as a maintenance free home, and since home maintenance takes time and energy to properly perform, it can be very burdensome to think about.  Despite the negative feelings toward the effort it takes, we must accept that...

Electrical outlets/receptacles generally have two conductors. One is white and is called the neutral wire. It is to be grounded to the earth. The other is black or red and is called the hot wire that carries the electricity to the outlet. It is not...

  Typical Garbage Disposal Failings Garbage disposals are appliances used for shredding food scrap waste to prevent clogs in the plumbing.  They are also useful in reducing waste if one is not using food scraps to feed animals or use as...

    The Temperature/Pressure Relief (TPR) Valve is a component often found at the top of the side of a water heater or at the very top of the water heater. The purpose of this component is to prevent personal injury and property damage if...

Galvanic corrosion is corrosion that is created when two dissimilar metals are in contact with one another while having water running through them. The water functions as an electrolyte creating an electrical path between the two dissimilar metals,...

Corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST - yellow pipes pictured above) is a yellow or black jacketed flexible gas pipe used to distribute gas from a main steel gas line or from the gas source itself to the gas appliances. It is used because of its...

  Any opening to a home’s envelope creates a potential area to allow water to penetrate the home. Exterior doors are one of those openings notorious for this.     My Job:    My job during an inspection is to...

My family and I have recently purchased a home this past month, and I had the opportunity to perform the home inspection on it during our due diligence. I had always said that if I purchased a home I would hire another home inspector to do the job....

The valleys in roofs are highly susceptible to leaks due to the amount of water being concentrated into them. For this reason, properly installing the shingles at valleys is crucial to maintaining the water tightness of the roof. There are several...

Gas heaters designed to be vent-free use the air in the home for combustion. In order to safely do this without depleting the oxygen in the home they are designed to burn very efficiently and they have an Oxygen Depletion Sensor installed that shuts...

Have you ever seen dark areas on your ceiling or walls that seem to outline the rafters, studs, or even the insulation? If you have, then you have experienced what many call “ghosting.” The photos below are examples of this.   The...

Roof decking is supposed to be installed in such a way that it provides the roof covering with a solid base to attach to and a strong support to transfer snow and wind loads. In order to provide this strong and solid base, the roof decking is to be...

A Short History Behind Crawl Spaces:   To understand when crawl space encapsulation is reasonable, a good understanding of the history and purpose of crawl spaces is needed. “Prior to the Second World War, crawl space con- struction in...

  In North Carolina & South Carolina a common type of termite is called "Eastern Subterranean Termite." Subterranean termites can grow very large colonies with millions of termites, which can do considerable damage in a short...

When buying a log cabin home, there are a few import things to consider related to the exterior of the home. One theme you will notice if you read my blogs is that water is a home’s worst enemy. Most of the defects I find during home...

  If you are buying or if you own a home built in the 2000’s, it most likely has fiber cement siding. As its name suggests, fiber cement siding is a cement based material known for its longevity and decay resistance. However, like...

  Copper plumbing is the one plumbing material that has stood the test of time due to its resistance to corrosion. However, the important word in that description is “resistance.” Copper plumbing, like anything in this temporal...

  Managing Lot Drainage: What You Need To Know   Water is a home’s worst enemy.  Many water penetration issues in foundations are a result of lot drainage being improperly managed. Lot and concrete surfaces catch a great...

If you have a split HVAC system, your system is made up of two basic components. An outside unit, and an inside unit. In this article I am going to focus on the outside unit. This unit is known as the Condensing or Compressor Unit. The purpose of this...