While performing home inspections I have run across several houses that have bee hives in the exterior walls. Honeybee swarms can enter walls through small cracks or holes that lead to a cavity, like the exterior house wall. An opening around a light, hose faucet, electrical outlet or a gap between the siding and the… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
You Found The Right Home, Now You Need The Right Home Inspector
How I perform my Home Inspections
I have clients asking how I go about doing my home inspections so I thought I would put together this short article. You can read a more detailed version on my website page “About PrimeSpec”. I start with a general walk through of the house. I am trying to identify major issues like cracks or… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
Customer concerned with PEX water lines during a Home inspection
While doing a new home inspection for a customer in Gilbert I mentioned new PEX water supply lines have been installed in their home. When they saw a picture of the plastic water lines they immediately became concerned it was the older plastic water lines they heard about, polybutylene. I assured them that the… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
Proper grading needed around house foundation
I just did a one-year warranty inspection for house in Gilbert. The owner of the house mentioned that the rear yard flooded this last summer with all the heavy rains we had. Here in the valley and in many parts of the southwest we fence off our rear yards with block walls. The rear yards… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
Should I get a Tankless water heater?
As a Home Inspector I am often asked should I replace the current water heater with a tankless water heater. The answer in most cases is no. Let me try to explain without getting to technical. A tankless water heater can cost 1 ½ to 2 times more than a traditional storage-tank heater. Changing from… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
New Homes Need a Home Inspection
Many home buyers (and some agents) believe newer homes don’t need a home inspection. New houses can be plagued with hidden defects. I do agree that in a perfect world you should not need a home inspection on a new house. But the reality is things are overlooked, sometimes corners are cut, and other times… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
Broken Garage Door Spring Not Always Seen
I recently inspected a home that the garage door would not fully open. The automatic opener appeared to be working and there were no locks observed on the door. This is a newer type of spring that is installed inside a metal tube. You may have seen them installed on newer homes. There are no… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
Swimming Pool Surfaces
During a home inspection this week a customer ask if they should re-surface the plaster pool or update to an Aggregate surface. They also wanted to know the advantages and disadvantages of both. I sent them this article I did last summer and decided to re-run it on my blog. The three main in ground… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
Expansive Soil & Post Tension Slabs
I did a home inspection on a house in Gilbert, AZ that had cracks in the concrete slab and interior walls that appear to be from water getting under the foundation causing the soil to expand. This is common in areas with expansive soil such as Phoenix and the surrounding areas. Expansive soil is a… Continue Reading… Continue Reading
Types of Roofing Materials
As a home inspector in the Phoenix area I see many different types of roofing. The most common are concrete tile, composition asphalt shingles, and rolled asphalt roofing. Some of the other types I see are clay tile, foam, tar and gravel, wood shingles, metal, and EPDM (rubberizes). In this article I am going to… Continue Reading… Continue Reading