Thoughts and ideas from one of the best area home inspectors in the Bloomington Normal area.
Archive for January, 2008
Wood Burning Fireplace
Wood-burning fireplaces are becoming less and less common due primarily to their lack of efficiency. They are still romanticized by many and a fairly common amenity in older homes. As an inspector, my primary focus, as with many things, is 1-functionality and 2-safety. Functionality is typically pretty simple, as long as the flu and chimney are free of obstruction, the flu lining is intact, the chimney chase (typically masonry) appears to wearing reasonably well, and the firebox is free of significant cracking, generally speaking you should be okay. Obviously I’m skipping over a few things here to get to the area I want to showcase, safety. The most significant hazards typically noted in association with wood-burning fireplaces and chimneys are a cracked flue and or significant creosote build up.
A cracked flue presents an opportunity for carbon monoxide to enter the living space. One of the most common indicators that this may have occurred is creosote build up on the exterior of the chimney below the roofline. Creosote typically presents as a black residue that could easily be mistaken for mold. Replacing the terra-cotta flu typically associated with wood-burning masonry fireplaces is a potentially costly proposition.
Creosote build up occurs naturally from the combustion of wood. This is why it is suggested that wood-burning fireplaces are cleaned annually when used with any regularity, by a professional chimney sweep. Creosote is very flammable and potentially combustible, this can be a significant fire hazard especially when concentrated over an open flame, as with a fireplace.
Junction Box
1572 days
I wouldn’t expect the average layman to know offhand, what a junction box is. However I must say I was rather flabbergasted to hear a Realtor say this. The quote actually went something like this – “I’ve been in construction and real estate for 30 years, and I’ve never heard of a junction box!” This was towards the beginning of my career, and I suspect it was simply an attempt to get me to modify a report, but I’ll be happy to share an explanation with the rest of you.
A junction box is simply a metal or plastic enclosure, where electrical wires meet to be spliced together. It is not uncommon to find a junction box missing the cover, this is a really simple and cheap to fix, but maybe an actual safety concern if not addressed.
In the beginning…
1577 days
Starting any company is a daunting task, especially to those who have never been through the process. The same can be said for buying a home. This may be why inexperienced inspectors and first-time home buyers generally do not mix well.
The inexperienced inspector wants to do a good job for his client, so everything is documented thoroughly. The inspector also likely wants to emphasize any issues that they feel could be of real significance. So when the inspector puts together the report, begins to resemble the US tax code (IE it appears to be entirely too thick to actually read, and there are large sections that are completely indecipherable).
While I have yet to have a client complain about my report being too thorough, I have had sellers, seller?s agents, and even buyer?s agents complain of ?nit picking?. Something that comes with experience in this profession is learning to assess the knowledge and experience level of the individual who hires you.
First-time home buyers frequently have little knowledge of common home maintenance and deficiencies, and are much more prone to being ?scared? off a purchase, especially when presented with what appears to be a laundry list of deficiencies.
An experienced inspector should still catch most of the little things, but should be able to emphasize 1-expensive repairs 2-safety issues. As a buyer, these are the findings I am most concerned with when considering a purchase.
That said, these are also the chief complaints I hear concerning?experienced? inspectors. ?He hardly spent any time at the home.? Or ?I can?t believe he didn?t find X!?
You can see of these two perspectives can cause an inspector to be more ambiguous or concise on any given issue, depending on what the client wants or expects and their knowledge/experience level.
Veteran homeowners know that no home is perfect and expect common wear and tear and maintenance issues. They generally want only to know about potentially expensive repairs and safety issues, and really don?t want to wade through the rest of the report that may be in formative and important to first-time home buyers.
Over the years, this company has gravitated towards first knowing the buyer, second providing key observations or a summary page at the beginning of the report and including all the mundane maintenance information in the bulk of the text.
In short I would suggest anyone shopping for a home inspection first express their expectations and second inquire as to what the report contains and how it is laid out, as well as the inspector’s experience level.
What Others Have Been Saying…