Your inspection report

The written report you receive, by E-mail, following your Kansas City home inspection will be thorough, detailed, easy-to-read, and understandable. It's a summary of your inspection that includes a list of recommended repairs, suggested maintenance tips, and photos. Your report acts as a permanent record of the condition of the house at the time of the inspection. It may be useful as you negotiate with the seller of the house. And, it might help you figure out what needs to be done after you move in. 

Last month, the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) again asked me to teach other home inspectors how to improve their inspection report writing. It's always an honor to be asked to share my knowledge and experience with my colleagues. This is the third time in four years I've presented this topic at ASHI's annual Inspection World. Earlier this month, Indiana's ASHI chapter had me do a four-hour seminar on report writing. I've also presented the topic to home inspectors in the Great Lakes ASHI chapter, Minnesota's Society of Housing Inspectors, and the West Virginia state association, as well as a couple of non-ASHI organizations.

Obviously, I take inspection report writing very seriously. That is just one more benefit of hiring Complete Home Inspection to do your Kansas City home inspection. You can be assured that your report will meet your needs and be the best it can possibly be. Watch a video explaining and describing your inspection report: www.completehomeinspectionkc.com/kansas_city_home_inspection_013.htm

Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.

January is Radon Action Month

January 2017 is both Kansas Radon Action Month and National Radon Action Month, designed to educate you about the dangers of radon exposure and encourage you to identify and address radon problems in your home. Radon is a tasteless, odorless, colorless, naturally occurring radioactive gas found in nearly all soils, resulting from the breakdown of uranium. Outdoors, radon is diluted to low concentrations. But once inside an enclosed space, radon can accumulate to significant levels.

About one out of every three radon measurements performed in Kansas are elevated, being above 4 pCi/l (picoCuries per liter). This is true for Johnson, Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties in Kansas, each recording average radon values in excess of 4.5 pCi/L from all tests conducted.

The best way to find out if your house, or the house you're looking to buy, has a radon problem is to have a certified radon professional, such as Miki Mertz of Complete Home Inspection, do a test for you. Complete Home Inspection uses a continuous radon monitor that takes samples over a period of two full days, with the test unit placed in the lowest livable level of the house. Windows are kept closed throughout the time of the test. The test results are then averaged into an overall number for your final report. As mentioned earlier, if the radon level is higher than 4.0piC/l, then it should be fixed, or "mitigated". In Kansas, all residential real estate contracts include a recommendation that home buyers include a radon test on homes purchased. All radon tests performed during real estate transactions in Kansas must be conducted by a state-certified radon tester, such as Miki Mertz of Complete Home Inspection.

Additional information about radon can be found on the Complete Home Inspection web site at http://www.completehomeinspectionkc.com/kansas_city_home_inspection_055.htm, at www.kansasradonprogram.org, and at www.epa.gov/radon.

Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.

Flip-itty-doo-dah, again

Some houses marketed as having been "newly remodeled" are in the process of being "flipped" - someone bought a distressed house at a bargain price, did some fix-ups, and is now selling it to make a profit. That's fine, but you really need to make certain that the remodeling and the flipping are being done correctly. And the best way to be certain is to schedule your Complete Home Inspection before buying such a house.

Twice in one week, houses listed as having a "New Kitchen" had dishwasher problems. In the first, the "New Dishwasher" was just that, "new". It had been taken out of the box, slid into the dishwasher slot under the "New Granite Countertops", and left there. It wasn't plugged into electricity, wasn't connected to the water supply pipes, and had no drain pipe installed. The "New Dishwasher" was actually a "Useless Dishwasher". You wouldn't discover any of this until AFTER you had moved in and had a dishwasher full of dirty dishes. The second house had a "Newly Remodeled Kitchen" with a dishwasher that had power and water, but no drain pipe had been attached. You wouldn't have discovered that until water began running all over your kitchen floor.

And, the second house also boasted of a roof that was less than a year old. No need to inspect that, right? Sadly, the new roof had been installed over the two existing layers of roofing. Most, if not all, insurance companies will not give you homeowner's insurance on a house with three layers of roofing. In this case, the less-than-a-year-old roof, and the other two layers, will have to be stripped off and yet another new roof will need to be installed.

So, even in the case of a house being flipped, it is critical for you to schedule a Complete Home Inspection of the property BEFORE you buy so that you'll know condition of the house at the time of the inspection.

Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.

Defect of the Week

Even in the midst of this heatwave, your Complete Home Inspection will include a thorough furnace inspection. The furnace is the furthest thing from your mind when the heat index is over 100 degrees, and that's as it should be. Furnaces are still on my mind, though, and that's why you hire me. Two different furnaces in two different houses this week, were found to have serious problems.

In the first case, the seller of the house had the furnace serviced by a technician last September. So, with the current heat wave and with the technician checking it out less than a year ago, there was probably no reason for me to be thorough, right? Look at the hole I found in the furnace flue pipe. Plus, the furnace was contained in a small, closed room that offered no secondary combustion air. That means that deadly carbon monoxide would be spilling out of this pipe anytime the furnace kicked in.

In the second case, my client was a boilermaker by trade. When we checked the furnace in the house he was looking to buy, I noticed that the gas burner remained lit for only about ten seconds. When the electronic igniter went out  (as it was supposed to), the burner went out, too. This happened repeatedly. Ten seconds of heat just isn't going to cut it in February in Kansas City. Since he has been in the heating business his entire life, he was impressed that I found the problem.

The things you wouldn't even think to check when buying or selling a house are the things that I pay the most attention to in your Complete Home Inspection.

Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.

Defect of the Month

The furthest thing from your mind when you're buying a house is the vent for the clothes dryer. Based on the past couple of weeks, it's the furthest thing from the minds of people selling houses, too. Dryer vents have been found to be disconnected, clogged, bent, and made out of flammable materials.

If the existing clothes dryer is being left in the house for you, I'll check out the venting during your Complete Home Inspection. If you're moving your own dryer into the house, I'll give you tips on properly venting it.

Disconnected dryer vents scatter lint everywhere. Not only is that messy, it's also a fire hazard. That's particularly true if the dryer is near the furnace or water heater. A disconnected vent will also allow moisture from the dryer's air to escape, perhaps leading to mold.

A dryer vent that's clogged with lint, or that is bent, is a fire hazard. And a clogged vent causes the dryer to work less efficiently, increasing your energy costs and the wear and tear on the dryer. Vents need to be cleaned out regularly. And they need to follow a straight path to the outside to allow the lint to be carried along with the airflow.

Finally, older dryer vents were made out of a plastic film-type covering that is actually flammable. Instead, you should use a metal dryer vent, one that will stand up to heat better.

You have so many other things on your mind when buying a house, let me take care of all the little details during your Complete Home Inspection.

Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.

Vote of confidence

A couple of weeks ago, the sellers of a house I inspected for their buyers got a copy of my report on their house. After reviewing it, they called and asked me to inspect the house they were buying for their son. They liked the thoroughness of the report, the inclusion of photos, and the way that the entire inspection process was handled on the house they were selling. So they decided that I was the one to work for their son, as well. It means a lot to earn someone's respect and trust like that.

Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.

Reason #319 to have your house inspected

A house I was inspecting recently had a high-efficiency heat pump that was virtually brand new. Obviously, there would be no reason to inspect it. The old furnace had already been replaced and everything was, of course, up to date now. So why even bother?

Well, let's call it "the ripple effect". When something is changed in a system, you have to make certain that everything else in that system has been changed accordingly. The old heat pump required two separate feeds of electricity, one a 30 amp and the other a 50 amp feed. The new heat pump required a 50 amp and a 60 amp. In the house's electric panel, the 50 amp breaker had been hooked up correctly to the heat pump. But, the former 30 amp feed was now connected to the heater components rated at 60amp, overloading the breaker, causing it to heat up and become a fire hazard. During the inspection, that breaker was buzzing and hot to the touch.

While you would be feeling all warm and cozy next winter, secure in the knowledge that your new house had a brand new heat pump, you would unknowingly be putting your house and your family at risk due to the faulty wiring. No matter the age of the house, no matter the age of the appliances within the house, you need to have a Complete Home Inspection done on the property before you buy. It's not your job to look for these little, but very critical, things, the "ripple effects" in the house. That's my job. You have enough other things to worry about when buying a house.

Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.