Home Inspection Industry Articles
Important information about safety recalls, new products and techniques, and changes in the home inspection industry.
Washing machine hose failures
In 1989, Steve Vargo was a property manager for several 40 story luxury condominiums. One average night, an owner on the 34th floor had a washing machine hose burst while they slept. About 5 hours later, an owner on a floor much lower than Mr. 34th stepped...
What is an anti-tip bracket?
The allusive, some say useless, never-the-less a necessary part of your complete oven installation…why it’s the ANTI-TIP bracket! This handy piece of metal prevents your oven from tipping over when a child climbs on the open door or a lot of weight is placed on...
ABCs of GFCIs
”GFI” is slang for ”GFCI” an acronym for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter. These are the receptacles with the funny little buttons on the front of them that are pushed to test and reset the device. They are a safety device to detect a ground fault or an imbalanced...
Improper gas line sediment trap installation
We don't experience a plethora of gas appliance installations in Central Florida. As you may expect, when we do come across gas lines, we sometimes find improper sediment trap installations. And although they may have been present for many years, it doesn't mean it's...
A business differentiator amid a Coronavirus pandemic
If a real estate agent or an investor had this competitive advantage, would they be more or less likely to list and show more houses and close more deals? One of the most relevant topics of our time is Coronavirus, stopping the spread and staying as clean as...
Cast iron piping
Cast iron piping Cast iron piping was used up through the 1960’s in our area for waste lines under a house. Metal waste lines that are now 50 or more years old experience interior scaling, occlusion (blockage), root intrusion, cracks and/or debris accumulation which...
Required safety upgrades during an investor renovation
We see a lot of rehabbed properties and I must say God bless the entrepreneur but…often the work is not performed under a building permit. There are likely several required safety upgrades during an investor renovation. From an inspector’s paradigm, if we...
ABCs of AFCIs
In 1999, the National Electric Code (NEC) required the use of Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs) in bedrooms, effective adoption in January 2002. These are most frequently seen as breakers with funny green, blue or yellow buttons on them in your sub panel often...
The New “Poly”? Cali raises serious questions about PEX piping
If it’s in your house, you’ll want to read this. In a web site article forwarded to me by a concerned client an organization called the California State Pipe Trades Council (and in conjunction with a slew of other State, safety and health organizations) raised serious...
PEX, For non-F1807 Yellow Brass Fittings (YBFs), there is another approved Class Action lawsuit.
The following information briefly covers excerpts from the alleged failure history and the website for official information and claims as well as other fitting warning. Original CASE 0:12-cv-00249-ADM-JJK Document 174 Filed 02/21/14 Plaintiffs bring this matter...