We have long been advocates of using home inspections or a home inspection company as a tool in effective home maintenance and ownership. Although there is no hard data that supports our position I now have a very good case in point to support why it is important to stay on top of your home and routinely check on its condition. I was at my brother’s home this past weekend to help him move some furniture. He asked me to take a look at his guest bathroom vanity as he thought there might be a leak. I looked around the vanity and didn’t see a leak but told him I’d go through the crawlspace and see if there was anything leaking underneath the house. The house is only two years old and these are some of the things I saw when I went into the crawlspace.
About 50% of the insulation had fallen away from the subflooring underneath the house and needs to be pushed back up to maintain the thermal envelope of the home. There was no way to tell how long the insulation had been out of place but, there was a significant loss of efficiency just from this simple maintenance task not being done.
The dryer vent had separated in the crawlspace and all of the moisture from the dryer was blowing into the crawlspace. This had not caused any problems yet but, if it continued to go unnoticed for an extended period of time it could have caused moisture or mold issues that would be costly to remedy.
I did find that there actually was a small plumbing leak underneath the vanity that could only be seen from the crawlspace. The leak was pretty minor but still needs to be corrected.
These items were things that I found by just going through the crawlspace. There’s no telling what other minor issues there may be in his house that could grow to require costly repairs if gone unnoticed. I didn’t really have time to go through and do a complete inspection on his home although we both agreed that it was needed. Check back to see our findings. I may post his original inspection and his home checkup inspection for a comparison.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Foreclosure Inspection Services
Foreclosure Inspection Services
With all the foreclosures and “deals” coming on the market, folks are getting extremely excited about moving forward on their transaction and forgetting about a few minor, but important details. When you reach the inspection stage of the process you are going to want all the utilities functioning in order to get a complete and full inspection. It seems like a daunting task so we have compiled some helpful tips and information to help guide you through the process. Electricity: If you are a current Georgia Power customer they will set up a separate account using all your existing information. They require notice at least 24 hours in advance and charge a $22.00 fee. Their phone number is 1-800-409-2545.Natural Gas: You can call White Fence at 1-877-213-1053 to set up service with a number of providers including Georgia Natural Gas. If you are not a current customer they will run a credit check to see if a deposit is necessary but, if you are a current customer they can set up a separate account using your existing information. They charge a connection fee usually less than $50.00. They recommend calling to set it up at least a week in advance.Water: Usually water can be turned on by the inspector for the short amount of time it will be needed for the inspection.Home-Probe, Inc offers a service that includes powering up the house for the time of the inspection allowing the inspector access to all the same abilities that having activated utilities would provide. This special service costs only $150.00 in addition to the inspection fee and saves you all the hassle of calling around and waiting for the utility companies.
With all the foreclosures and “deals” coming on the market, folks are getting extremely excited about moving forward on their transaction and forgetting about a few minor, but important details. When you reach the inspection stage of the process you are going to want all the utilities functioning in order to get a complete and full inspection. It seems like a daunting task so we have compiled some helpful tips and information to help guide you through the process. Electricity: If you are a current Georgia Power customer they will set up a separate account using all your existing information. They require notice at least 24 hours in advance and charge a $22.00 fee. Their phone number is 1-800-409-2545.Natural Gas: You can call White Fence at 1-877-213-1053 to set up service with a number of providers including Georgia Natural Gas. If you are not a current customer they will run a credit check to see if a deposit is necessary but, if you are a current customer they can set up a separate account using your existing information. They charge a connection fee usually less than $50.00. They recommend calling to set it up at least a week in advance.Water: Usually water can be turned on by the inspector for the short amount of time it will be needed for the inspection.Home-Probe, Inc offers a service that includes powering up the house for the time of the inspection allowing the inspector access to all the same abilities that having activated utilities would provide. This special service costs only $150.00 in addition to the inspection fee and saves you all the hassle of calling around and waiting for the utility companies.
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