Fred Hernden's Blog

Vinyl siding can significantly change the appearance of a home. It can provide cover and protection to the underlying wall material if it is installed correctly. If it is not, it can become your worst nightmare! It is not meant to be a water tight covering, it is like a supplemental rain screen, ...

The garbage disposal... our friend. Well, if you have a septic tank not so much. Grinding up food leftovers and greasy foods and washing them down the drain can mess up your bacteria levels and clog up the drain fields. But, that's not what this blog is all about!It's about the do it yourself-er ...

This is the second time in a row that I have had my whole post go away when I tried to publish it. Very frustrating!! The other day, I just re-typed it and republished it and it worked. Has anybody else had this problem? What did you do to fix it? Arrrghhh! Warning... better back it up before you...

No, not going to break into that song by Lynyrd Skynyrd... just describing the odor I smelled when I opened the bathroom door at an Inspection the other day! The fact that both bathroom doors were closed means they probably knew about it and decided to limit the area that the odors would pass to....

Waterbeds were really popular back in the 80's... and even earlier! Some people still have them today. They are pretty cool, and with the water warm you will never slide into a cold bed! The older ones were just a bag of water, and if you or your mate moved, you would be wiggling for a few minute...

It's getting to that time of the year that everybody has been waiting for.... fire up the fireplace and huddle around the fire with your loved ones and enjoy the warmth and coziness of the fire in your home. But wait... is it safe to use? Lighting a fire in your house may seem to be an oxymoron, ...

It doesn't happen all that often, and it is always amusing to me when the seller leaves notes for explanation when they know a Home Inspection is coming! I had a good one the other day. The guy had a 3 car garage, but he built shelves along the wall all the way to the garage door. The door would ...

I would bet that every Home Inspector here on Active Rain has written a blog about Double Tapped Circuit Breakers. I even wrote one back in 2012, seen HERE! I do see them occasionally, but ran into two of them at the same inspection a few days ago.The problem here was the guy has added on to his ...

Geeze, how many blogs have we posted about shoddy work, contractors or sub contractors not completing work or covering something up with caulk or paint and trying to slide it by the buyer? It is imperative to go back behind workers to insure they have done the things you ask them to do correctly!...

I done an inspection the other day on a house that the owner/seller attended. I don't mind that, I really don't, as long as they let me do my job and report to my client without interference. IMHO the seller should not be there, it can lead to uncomfortable situations and sometimes the seller fee...