Kevin Welch's (kevin_welch) Blog

I remember my first week as an associate home inspector, that is Massachusetts lingo for Rookie. I had traveled with seasoned veterans for about 6 months and had seen several inspections by that time, but this was only my third as a solo inspector. Usually, young home buyers would bring an older ...

We are almost through the first quarter of 2009, and so far, all is well. It has been a long and sometimes difficult winter with snow storms, ice storms, power outages for extended periods of time, excessive misappropriation of tax payer funds, etc. Even though it rained most of the day yesterday...

     Lets face it, there is no such thing as a perfect home. After all, all houses are built in an imperfect world under imperfect conditions with imperfect materials and by imperfect people. When you really think about it, they don't stand a chance of being perfect. Having said that, many home i...

Missing roof shingles; Missing siding; Leaking boiler; A deck that is not flashed or bolted to the house; A bathtub drain not hooked up; Improperly wired breakers; Improperly vented attic space; Leaking dishwasher; Leaking toilet; Hole in the shower; Broken windows and doors; No water pressure in...

I believe it was Confucius who said "Choose a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life." While I have always had a vague understanding of what that meant, it's meaning was really driven home to me recently as I was standing in line waiting to pay for my morning caffein...

As an industry, home inspection is still in it's infancy. True, there may be some inspectors with 20 to 30 years of experience as a home inspector, but you likely will not find a company that is in it's 3rd or 4th generation. Licensing and certification laws vary widely from state to state, many ...

Unless you have been under a rock for the past 2 to 3 years, you most likely have heard that the housing market has hit a bit of a slump. As a result, many areas of the country have seen a tremendous increase in the number of foreclosures and short sales. This has brought the cost of housing down...

I recently read an on-line article about how to select the best home inspector. One of the writers tips was to talk to several Realtors in the area and find out from them which inspectors have the reputation for killing deals. The name that comes up the most is the one you should choose because, ...

I was recently inspecting a home for a young couple who were buying their first home. At one point during the inspection, I overheard the buyers father explain to his son how to do something. I can't give any more information about that because, since the topic was not related in any way to the h...

Many of you are familiar with the basic tools in the home inspectors tool bag. They include the usual suspect, flashlight, electrical circuit testers, termite probe, binoculars, moisture meter, infrared thermometer, etc. But one tool that I had used in the past which was well received was one tha...