Why you need a roof inspection

Imagine if you were buying your Dream House and then found out it needed a new roof before you could get insurance. That would be a very nasty surprise. Some people have even moved into their new house with a temporary certificate of insurance, only to find out later that their insurance company won't insure the house's existing roof. If, instead, you had the roof inspected as part of your Complete Home Inspection during the home-buying process, you'd be able to negotiate with the seller and get the roof situation handled ahead of time.

Roof inspections have had most of the fun and excitement taken out of them in the last few years due to changes in homeowner's insurance underwriting. Today, depending on what we find, you may not be able to get homeowner's insurance for your new house.

It used to be that, in a roof inspection, I'd use various clues to ascertain the age of the roof and then weigh all of the evidence to give you an idea of how many years your Dream House's roof might last. Now, if the clues indicate that the roof is more than fifteen years old, you probably won't be able to get homeowner's insurance. It doesn't matter how much life we may think the roof has left. Underwriter's simply won't write the policy.

The same is true if I find that the existing roof has three layers of roofing material on top of each other, or only two layers, if the lower layer is wood shingle. You won't be able to get homeowner's insurance until the roof is replaced. That's something you need to find out during the home-buying process. And that's the kind of knowledge you'll get from your Complete Home Inspection. Then, armed with your home inspection results, you can get, in writing, confirmation from your insurance company that they will cover the roof.

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.

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.

Miki Mertz's Report Writing session

In early January, 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 two years in a row I've presented this topic at ASHI's annual Inspection World. I've also presented the topic to the Great Lakes ASHI chapter and will speak to the Minnesota Society of Housing Inspectors in March.

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 Kansas Radon Action Month

"Kansas Radon Action Month" is designed to educate residents about the dangers of radon exposure and encourage actions to identify and address radon problems in the home. The EPA has also designated January "National Radon Action Month". Radon gas is not a problem unique to houses in Kansas. Radon is a tasteless, odorless, colorless, naturally occurring radioactive gas found in nearly all soils which comes 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). Some areas have higher levels than others, though elevated levels of radon have been detected in every county in the state. As many as one in 15 homes across the U.S. has elevated radon levels that often go undetected.

The best way to ascertain 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". All radon tests done as part of real estate transactions in Kansas must be handled 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_036.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.

Please, join me

For your Kansas City home inspection, it’s best if you follow me through the house during the inspection. Some home inspectors prefer that you show up at the end of the inspection, or not at all. I disagree. Having you with me allows you to see everything I’m seeing, to ask your questions as we go along, and to learn about all of the features of your potential new house. Simply reading the inspection report does not inform you as well as having you witness everything does. And if you follow along during the inspection, the written report will serve as a great reminder of what you’ve already seen and, perhaps, want to address in your negotiations.

My typical home inspection takes only about ninety minutes. If your schedule allows, it could be the most important ninety minutes you spend during your home-buying process. So, plan on it. Let’s go through your house together and see what we find. It’s educational. And, it can be a lot of fun.

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.

But, it has a new roof

Don't make the mistake of concluding that, because the house you're looking to buy has a new roof, the roof doesn't need to be included in your Kansas City home inspection. Recently, I inspected one half of a duplex that had a new roof installed over both sides of the duplex. The half that my client was buying had no ventilation installed with the new roof. Soffit vents had been installed, but there were no other vents in the new roof. The other half of the duplex had a vent installed, but a wall separated the two attic spaces from each other. So, none of that ventilation would reach my client's half of the duplex.

The original roofing had wood shingles and that type of roofing is, essentially, self-ventilating. Perhaps the roofer simply replaced what was already there instead of realizing that new venting needed to be installed. Regardless, an unvented roof leads to many problems, including the formation of mold. So my report says that yes, it has a new roof. But the new roof needs to be fixed. Without an inspection, my client would have felt secure in the knowledge that his new house had a new roof. But when problems began showing up a few years later, he wouldn't have been quite so happy. And checking the roof ventilation is not something you're likely to do when you're looking to buy a house. That's why you hire me.

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.

Your air conditioner is under attack

It's easy to think that you can just let your dog out into your backyard to do his business and everything will be okay. But, Fido might actually be ruining your air conditioner. These photos show damage caused by dog urine to an air conditioner in a recent inspection. This type of damage is found in about one Kansas City home inspection each month.

The acid in dog urine disintegrates the aluminum air flow tubes on your air conditioner's compressor unit, reducing the flow of air that cools the compressor while the air conditioner is running. Not only is your air conditioner now more likely to overheat, but this type of damage can also lead to a freon gas leak. So, while it's great to give Rover free reign in the yard to mark his territory, discourage him from treating your air conditioner like it's a fire hydrant.

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.

People are talking

It's fun to often follow the connections between my Kansas City home inspection clients. Last week, my client worked with a man who had me do two inspections for him. Years ago, I inspected the house he was buying. A few years later, he left town. Then, I inspected the house he bought upon his return to KC. When he found out that this woman in his office was buying a house, he told her to have me do the inspection because I was "very thorough". She told me this story and added, "He was right. You ARE very thorough."

Then, I was hired by a couple who had just seen me inspect the house they were selling. They liked the way I treated my client who was buying their house, and the way I treated them during that inspection. So now, they wanted me to inspect the brand-new house they were buying. They wanted me to do the same thorough job on their brand-new house that I had done of the one they had been living in, though they originally had decided that the new one didn't need an inspection at all.

That's one of the great things about Kansas City - it's a big city and a small town.

Also, this past week, two different clients replied by E-mail when they received their written home inspection reports. One wrote, "Thank you very much for your prompt and helpful report on this condo!" and the other, "Thank you for your thorough report. I feel comfortable in making this my new home."

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.