Reuben's Home Inspection Blog

In last week's blog post about washing machine connectors, I mentioned that I'm not a big fan of the FloodSafe® washing machine connectors.  These are special flexible water supply connectors, aka 'hoses', with a mechanism that will completely shut off the flow of water if the hose bursts.  These...

Burst washing machine hoses have to be one of the most common causes of catastrophic water damage in homes.  When I find rubber hoses used to connect the washing machine, I often mention to my clients that it's a good idea to replace them.  It's downright disturbing how often my client then goes ...

Have you ever noticed roofs with shingles popping up all over the place?  A common reason for this is the use of nails that are too short.  When there are popped nails all over the roof, it might be the sign of a defective roof installation; specifically, short nails. The minimum fastener length ...

While reading a blog post from a good home inspector (a guy I've gotten to know and respect over the years), I discovered an interesting difference between home inspection Standards of Practice (SOP) - specifically, between the ASHI and InterNACHI SOP. The good inspector was writing about finding...

Originally posted at: http://www.structuretech1.com/2012/07/dirty-glass-at-gas-fireplace After years of use, gas fireplaces often develop a cloudy white haze on the glass.  This white haze makes the flames difficult to see, ruins any potential illusion that you're looking at a real fireplace, and...

Originally posted at: http://www.structuretech1.com/2012/06/water-hammer/ Have you ever heard a banging noise coming from your water pipes when the water is turned off quickly?  It usually sounds like the pipes are banging on something inside the walls... and that's exactly what's happening.  Whe...

If your home has a wood chimney chase with wood lap siding, you need to pay special attention to it.  There are a disproportionate number of wood chimneys with rotted siding and wall sheathing, when compared to other types of siding and other locations.  I regularly inspect houses with wood chimn...

A common plumbing defect found in many older houses is an "S" trap.  An "S" trap is named so because it looks like an "S" on its side - it basically consists of a normal trap, and then another trap installed right up against it in an upside-down fashion, as shown below.  These traps are prohibite...

Do you ever get annoyed with how long it takes to get hot water at your kitchen sink?  I do did, up until last weekend.  It used to take a full 45 seconds with the hot water turned on full blast before I would actually get hot water my kitchen faucet.   With my kitchen faucet rated at 2.2 gallons...

Have you ever brushed your hand up against a dimmer switch and noticed that some of them get extremely hot?  I've done this many times while inspecting houses, and whenever I do, I look in to the reason for the heat.  Occasionally I find an overloaded dimmer switch that creates a fire hazard. To ...