May 2, 2012

The Home Inspection Profession: A diversified field with plenty to offer besides just buyer-ordered inspection services.

Filed under: Property Inspection — Chuck @ 10:00 am

Home inspectors play a key role in the real estate industry, and their expertise covers a pretty wide range of knowledge, skill, and insight. In some ways they share a lot in common with many other building industry professionals, including general contractors, architects, and engineers. Home inspectors have to understand a great deal about the mechanical and structural components of homes, for example, with a good grasp and overview of everything from HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems to building codes and safety procedures.

There are lots of different categories of home inspectors, too, because it is a broad and diversified field. So while most people use a home inspector when they want to find out the condition of a home they are interested in buying, there are plenty of other reasons to enlist the help of a home inspector. Depending upon their specialty, they may also know to how to detect the presence of termites and carpenter ants or how to spot asbestos fibers in siding or insulation. They sometimes have extra training that enables them to perform swimming pool inspections, for instance, or they may have the high-tech gadgets and expertise to conduct an energy audit and find out ways to save money on heating and air conditioning.

Homeowners soon learn that there are plenty of projects around the house that require professional help. Home maintenance is frequently a do-it-yourself endeavor, and doing routine repairs and improvements to your house or condo or its outside landscape can be rewarding and satisfying. You can save money, learn some new skills, get some extra exercise, and even have fun doing projects to maintain or enhance your home. But ever so often you realize that you can save more time and money – and be safer and more confident about the outcome – by calling in a consultant to help diagnose or solve a problem. The great thing about having a qualified home inspector to turn to at times like those is that they can give you lots of information and guidance across a whole spectrum of issues without you having to invest a exorbitant amount of money.

If you call in a handyman, for instance, before you know exactly what is going on with your home you may wind up with one who charges you to do work that was not really necessary. That could cost you a great deal of money and still leave you in a position where you need to hire someone else to come back and address the problem. Or you might have a leaky roof, for example, and call a roofing company that prescribes a whole new roof. How will you know whether you need the new roof or just need some relatively minor and inexpensive repairs and roof maintenance procedures? You could always hire a certified engineer or architect, because once they put their stamp on a report they are staking their profession on it. They have advanced degrees that make them the professors of the construction world, too, which is why they are often used for major projects or to oversee the construction of expensive commercial developments. But they charge a great deal for their time, too, and unless you have a really serious and potentially catastrophic problem on your hands there is probably not justifiable reason to hire an engineer or an architect. If you just need your annual physical checkup, in other words, you do not make an appointment with a brain surgeon. When your pickup truck gets mud on it you take it to the car wash, you don’t take it to the body shop or back to the dealership’s service department.

Similarly, when you have a homeowner question that demands a professional answer and you don’t want to risk getting ripped off or paying for services that are much more elite and expensive than you might need, a home inspector is the right person to call. That’s why many homeowners have their inspector perform a routine general visual inspection once every year or two. For around $200-$400 bucks they can get a complete written report, including photographs, checklists, and expert recommendations. By going through the report they can isolate potential problem areas or find out about suggested repairs, and then call the appropriate subcontractor or other professional if and only if additional attention and work is needed. In lots of instances the cost of hiring the inspector to find out the condition of the home pays for itself many times over, because the homeowner is able to make informed decisions while also doing the kind of preventive maintenance that is affordable and preempts the need for more invasive or complicated repairs.

Newly Enacted Real Estate Rules Help Homeowners

Filed under: Real Estate — Chuck @ 9:57 am

Two new initiatives were recently announced by the Obama Administration, and both of them should help millions of homeowners who have been struggling due to the ongoing housing market crisis. One of the policies will help people refinance their troublesome FHA-insured loans. The other strives to give compensation to members of the military who experienced situations where banks forced their homes into foreclosure or refused them the chance to refinance. Many service personnel were unfairly denied these opportunities, even while on deployment, and the new initiative aims to reimburse them.
FHA Cuts Upfront Refinancing Fees

If you have a federally insured mortgage, a new policy recently enacted in Washington may make it easier for you to refinance to a loan with a lower interest rate and more manageable monthly payments. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has started to trim the upfront fees for refinanced loans it already insures. This applies to borrowers whose FHA loans were issued before June 1, 2009, but that applies to about three million homeowners who stand to save a thousand dollars or more per year.
Borrowers who refinance their existing FHA loans will pay an upfront insurance premium equal to 0.1% of the mortgage amount, which means that refinancing a $200,000 loan will cost $200. They also have to pay an annual fee of .55%. This compares quite favorably to the cost of taking out a new FHA loan. Typically borrowers have to pay a 3.5% down payment for a new FHA loan, plus upfront costs of 1.75% and a 1.25% annual fee.

The new policy makes it simpler for banks to refinance FHA loans because the banks do not have to record the refinance loans in a way that hurts their loan portfolio performance rating. In the past many banks were reluctant to refinance these loans, especially if the homeowner did not have excellent credit, because of high default rates and loan repayment risks. But under these new guidelines banks will be able to offer the refinances to people who may not have such high credit scores.
Members of the Military Get Justice from Banks

President Obama also announced proactive steps that will provide financial compensation to service members whose homes were wrongfully foreclosed upon or who suffered other similar outcomes because of unfair or negligent banking practices.

• Because of this new government initiative, for example, mortgage lenders and mortgage services providers are now required to go back and review the case of every single service member whose home went into foreclosure within the past six years.
• If they lost their home due to wrongful actions then the lender will have to pay them for their lost equity, plus interest, and banks will also have to pay an additional penalty of at least $116, 500 to the service member.
• If a service member was unjustly denied their request to refinance at the 6% interest rate mandated by the government, they will be refunded whatever amount they have been overcharged, plus interest.
• Military members who bought homes between July 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008 but had to sell at a loss because they were ordered to move to a different permanent station may also be eligible for reimbursement for the amount they lost.

These fines and payouts are for the financial loss as well as for the emotional distress that was inflicted upon the borrowers. The United States Attorney General’s office also made it clear that the amounts cited are the minimum compensation, and that overall payouts may go even higher.

Meanwhile the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development explained that it is not yet possible to know just how many service members were affected and will be eligible for compensation. But one of the banks, Bank of America, has already been forced to repay funds to more than 150 borrowers. Experts believe that there may have been thousands of military personnel who were victims of unfair mortgage practices.

Members of the armed services who believe that their rights were unfairly denied by Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank, or Ally Financial can contact the Justice Department (800-896-7743) and file a formal complaint.

Homeowner Tips for Window Washing Season

Filed under: Home Owner Tips — Chuck @ 9:56 am

It’s easy for windows to get covered with a dirty film that diminishes the beauty of a home while also making it hard for you to see out or for the sunshine to get in, especially with all the pollen in the air this time of year. The pollen falls and then the spring showers come, and the next thing you know those sparkling windows are smudged and dull.

The longer you procrastinate and put off the dreaded task of washing the windows, the harder that job will become. But if you do a good job of maintaining the window glass around your home then the windows clean-up faster and easier. That makes the whole job a much simpler routine home maintenance project.
But of course it always helps if you have the right tools and techniques for the job. Washing windows is not rocket science, and it is one of the easiest of all home maintenance tasks. But there are some simple skills involved that make a huge difference in how long it takes to wash the windows and how well they look once you’re finished.

Washing windows may look deceptively easy, in other words, but in that respect it is a lot like house painting. Everyone thinks they know how to paint a house. But once they get into the project they often realize that things can go awry and get really messy in a hurry. It’s usually not their fault; it’s just that they don’t have the same tools and secret tricks of the trade that professional painters use. Even a pro will continue to add new tips and clever techniques to their repertoire, just to make the job go faster and easier. So it helps if you employ the same kinds of methods that the professionals use.

• You’ll want a good quality squeegee that has handle extensions or a telescoping handle so that it can do the reaching for you. A good quality window washing solution is also necessary to cut through the grime.
• Rather than using whatever spray is on the shelf at your local supermarket, go to a home improvement store and ask one of the associates to recommend a contractor grade window cleaning product.
• Then, instead of buying cloth rags or rather expensive chamois to wipe your windows clean, just recycle some old newspapers. News print is ideal for window washing because it tends to leave no annoying streaks behind the way fabric does.
• You just wad it up and use circular movement to wipe the windows down, starting at the top and working your way down. But you can go through a lot of newspaper in a short amount of time, and as soon as it gets soggy you should toss it and start with a fresh wad of paper.
• It is also a good idea to go back over the window, after you have cleaned it with the detergent solution, and rinse it with fresh, clean water – just as you might do when washing your car. Dry the window glass one last time with more newspaper and you’re good to go.
• You may need to remove screens from windows to get to the glass panes, and if you do this remove one at a time and then replace it before moving along to the next dirty window. Otherwise if you just take off all the screens at once you might get them mixed up, and if any of them are not exactly the same fit and dimensions it can be aggravating to try to find the one that matches a particular window.

But before you grab the bucket and rags, the first thing to do is to evaluate the nature of the job. If it involves climbing out on a steep roof or scaling a tall ladder to get to windows that are upper floors, then it is usually cheaper and safer to just hire a window washer who does this kind of work for a living. They’ll have the safety equipment, scaffolding, or extension ladders needed to get to those hard-to-reach windows, and they can come to your home and have the job finished in a jiffy.
Even if you prefer to do all your own home maintenance, contracting this kind of job out is usually a no-brainer because of the basic costs involved. If you have to rent a scaffold, buy a ladder that can cost more than what it takes to pay a professional, for example, and hiring them frees you up to do something else. So you’ll save time and money. Falling off a ladder or sliding off the roof can get pretty expensive too, and you may wind up with a hospital bill and higher health insurance premiums or worse still, a permanent injury or even an untimely death. So be smart, and always do a simple cost-benefit analysis before you begin a potentially hazardous DIY project.

Home Security: Preparing to survive a tornado.

Filed under: Home Safety — Chuck @ 9:53 am

Tornado’s have caused wreaked havoc across the USA this year, causing dozens of deaths and the tragic loss of homes, neighborhoods, and large swaths of community property and municipal infrastructure. They strike fast, often behave in unpredictable ways, and do catastrophic damage in a matter of seconds. More than 1,200 tornadoes strike across the nation every year, and they often hit in the wake of a thunderstorm when the skies are relatively clear and they literally come out of the blue.

Unfortunately most homeowners – including those who live in the most tornado-prone places – don’t have an adequate safety plan to help them survive a tornado. Many rely on tactics that are obsolete or live in structures that are not properly constructed to ensure a greater level of protection. Every family should pause for a moment and review their tornado safety strategies and systems. Sometimes instituting one small and rather insignificant change or doing a minor update or upgrade to an existing plan is sufficient preparation to mean the difference between life and death when tornadoes strike.

For starters, if you live in a community where there are public warning sirens that sound when dangerous weather approaches you should not rely on those for your survival. The sirens may work just fine, but high winds move too fast. By the time they hear the alert many people in the path of a tornado already have it on top of them and it is too late to even cross the room, much less get to suitable shelter. Every household should instead have a weather radio. The simple gadget can notify you earlier than other forms of warning systems can, giving you a critical window of opportunity so that you can get yourself and your loved ones into a more secure place.

Get as low as possible. Lay face down and cover your head and face with your arms and hands. If you don’t have a basement or cellar, go to a first floor interior room, away from doors and windows. Bathrooms are often a secure option, and if you get into the tub that can give you extra protection. Get under a sturdy table if possible. Leave the windows and doors shut. But if you are in a mobile home, trailer, or vehicle you need to get out of there because you are safer elsewhere. Evacuate and seek the lowest possible location – such as the basement of a neighbor’s house, a building with a strong foundation, a ditch, or even a low depression in the ground.
If you are building a home, there are also extra steps you can take to ensure your safety. The minimum standards of the International Residential Code, which is the building code routinely followed in the USA, are oftentimes not enough to resist high winds from tornadoes or hurricanes. To make homes stronger, they should be constructed using what is known as a “continuous load path.” This is a series of connections that basically ties the various parts of a home together to reinforce the entire structure.

Think of how rugby players form a human chain by interlocking their arms when moving down the field or how a lattice holding up your rose bushes will support them better than if you grew them on individual stakes. The idea is to interlock the components of the home to make it harder for high winds to rip it apart. Rafters are bolted to plates, for instance, and the plates are connected to the studs that frame the home. Then the framing itself is attached to bottom plates that are tied into the foundation. That makes the various parts unified from the roof all the way to the foundation to create a more resilient and secure architectural skeleton that is not just tacked together by nails.

To learn more about whether or not your home has special vulnerabilities and how to remedy them, or to just get a good safety evaluation of your property, contact a qualified home inspector who does both structural and safety-oriented inspection work. The price you pay for a consultation or inspection to make your home and family more secure is a mere fraction of what you could potentially save by protecting yourself from the damage that occurs when a severe weather emergency strikes.

Spring Showers and Home Maintenance

Filed under: Home Maintenance — Chuck @ 9:50 am

In America we don’t have a monsoon season (exception of AZ) as they do in many other parts of the world where the majority of their annual rainfall happens virtually all at once. But we do have a lot of rain and thundershowers this time of year, and water is one of the most powerful elements on the planet. That’s especially evident when it decides to start washing away your lawn, invading your basement, or pouring through a roof that is in dire need of repair.
To help avoid the problems that can fall from the sky in the form of spring showers, here are some helpful home maintenance tips.

• Start with a Top-Down Approach

Water follows the path of least resistance as it falls out of the sky and across your property. So the first place to look for problem areas is on the roof. Curling shingles are a telltale sign that your roof needs repair, if not replacement, and missing flashing or roofing caulk around vents, chimneys, and seams is another invitation for water to enter your home.

Next, make sure the gutters are clean and well-supported and that they are pitched properly to allow water to run through them into the gutter pipes and drains. Gutters should drain in such a way that the water flows away from your home’s foundation and doesn’t splash or collect in inconvenient places such as doorways or walkways.

To redirect water when gutter spouts open in the wrong place you don’t have to replace the gutter pipe, either. Just attach a length of corrugated black plastic drain pipe to the spout. You can then run that pipe wherever you want it to go, such as to the edge of the yard or into your garden. You can also bury it to avoid tripping over it and so that it won’t be an eyesore in your landscape.

• Check for Low Level Drainage Problems

After it rains, police your yard to look for problem spots where the water puddles instead of draining as it should. You may need to remedy these areas by adding some dirt to fill depressions in the yard. If the situation is serious enough it may require regarding of the landscape. When water drains toward the building foundation, for example, it can cause serious structural issues, flooding, or damage to your home. In that case the dirt and gravel around the perimeter of the foundation may need to be graded such that water flows down and away from your home.

The same kind of situation can occur when patios, driveways, and other hard surfaces were not properly angled or graded. So if you have a flagstone patio, for instance, and the water puddles or flows toward your house instead of away, that may become a problem. You also don’t want water to flow into your garage or work shed every time there is a hard rain. When you notice that kind of thing happening it is a good idea to consult a home inspector or contractor and find out what kinds of solutions they can recommend.

• Combat Unwanted Moisture

Then there is the water that is a bit more subtle. It collects as fog or moisture in all the wrong places in your home, like in the basement. When a ceiling fan in a bathroom does its job, for instance, it helps to dry out the space while pulling moist air out of the home. But if it is not properly installed that damp air that collects each time you shower might wind up deposited in the space above the bathroom ceiling or in an adjacent wall where it can create smelly mildew, wet insulation material, and toxic mold.

Basements are notorious, especially if they are not properly ventilated or if the masonry surfaces in them are not sealed as they should be. Water pipes flowing through the basement, water wicked from the ground outside, and rain leaking through cracks and gaps will often create moisture, for instance, that accumulates unless there is a system to stop it or evaporate it. Plants also collect moisture. If you have bushes growing too close to the foundation of your home and shrubbery that touches the sides of your house that means that you have too much water touching your house.

Another problem that springtime showers can cause is accidental falls and injuries. When surfaces underfoot get wet, they tend to get slippery. That’s why is so important that you have adequate drainage and traction on all outdoor walkways, patios, decks, and steps. Sometimes masonry surfaces need to be treated and etched in order to made them less slippery, for example, or special safety treads need to be installed on stairs. A home inspector can check for trouble spots like those found in and around the home, however, and recommend effective remedies. By eliminating the problems that too much water or moisture can create, especially during the rainy season, you automatically prevent unnecessary work, repair, and expense. You also help to ensure that your home is both comfortable and safe, and there is no way to put a price tag on the value of that for you and your family.

April 6, 2012

Real Estate Sales Info: Generate springtime curb appeal for faster sales, without investing a lot of time or money.

Filed under: Real Estate — Chuck @ 11:02 am

Real estate sales have been on the upswing for a while now, fueled by exceptionally low interest rates and renewed buyer confidence. The excess that was built into real estate pricing during the go-go days has been effectively wrung out, providing a stable market and many ready and willing buyers who believe that now they can get a great home at a reasonable price. The trick now for home sellers is to price their property at a realistic level while also competing with other sellers by adding value through such things as cosmetic curb appeal.
Here are some simple but highly effective ideas to help you add visual equity and market appeal without breaking the bank or straining your back from too many days of work:

• Survey the property from the curb, making a list of what needs to be fixed. That includes brown patches in the lawn, clutter at the end of the driveway, neglected bushes along the side yard – or that gutter pipe sprouting a miniature tree nursery because it needs a long-overdue cleaning.

• A coat of new paint or varnish on the door doesn’t cost much, but it can dress up your home and make it look like a million bucks. Replace old, warped garage doors and paint or replace faded mailboxes. Adding new hardware to the front door is also a great upgrade that’s not expensive.

• Be sure the outdoor light fixtures are functioning properly, and tighten any loose handrails while policing the walkways to stabilize any bumpy spots, missing paving stones, or other potential toe-stubbing or tripping hazards.

• Are there are curling or missing roof shingles? Those need to be repaired or replaced because buyers will view them as clues that the house in need of major, costly repairs. They won’t even get past the exterior in order to see the rest of the house.

• Put a crisp, fresh edge along the borders of walkways and flower beds, cutting in the edge with a shovel and then following up with fresh mulch. Or you can buy inexpensive plastic or wooden edging and install it after first trimming back the grass and eliminating the weeds. This gives the yard a manicured and landscaped look.
Before each showing appointment you should open the curtains and arrange for everyone to leave the house for a half hour or so. Buyers feel uncomfortable touring a home when the owners are home, so take the pets for a walk or do your grocery shopping. You don’t want a potential buyer to feel like they are intruding, because the goal is to get them to start seeing your house as their new home. The way to accomplish that is to remove telltale signs that it is somebody else’s home, so they can begin to imagine it as their own – which is the key to closing a sale. Do that by leaving the kitchen and bathrooms clean and free of clutter and making the beds. You should also always put away any valuables like jewelry, purses, and laptops in a safe and secure place. After all you are inviting strangers into your home. Your Realtor will screen them beforehand, of course, but you still shouldn’t tempt anyone to steal by leaving valuables in conspicuous places.

Homeowner Tips: A springtime maintenance checklist.

Filed under: Home Owner Tips — Chuck @ 11:01 am

Continual freezing and thawing forces water into the pores of concrete and brick, and each time the water turns to ice it expands, creating a natural wedge that pushes against the masonry. This can weaken brickwork, cause mortar joints between bricks, blocks, and stones to crumble and deteriorate, and it can create large uneven cracks in driveways, slabs, and sidewalks. So one of the most important home maintenance items to be aware of after a long cold winter is cracks and breaks in masonry.

Crumbling mortar is easy enough to spot, because you’ll see gaps between bricks. But another good test is to lightly rake across a few randomly chosen joints with the blunt tip of a screwdriver. If the mortar easily crumbles out like sand pouring through an hourglass, then it needs to be replaced because it has lost its structural integrity. Soon entire bricks will be coming loose and insects will be moving into the vacant spaces. If lots of joints need to be repaired or “pointed-up” as masonry contractors call this kind of job, it is best that you hire a professional. After all, those joints may be your last line of resistance before the structure begins to fall apart.

But if there are only some small gaps, chips, or voids, you can fix that yourself by purchasing a tube of mortar repair caulk at the local home improvement store. The tube looks like the ones that ordinary caulk comes in, and it will fit into a conventional caulk gun. Application is essentially the same too, so the big difference between masonry caulk and other kinds of caulk is that the masonry version contains materials that are compatible with brick and stone. These are usually various blends of polymers or epoxies, and the caulk resembles gray tile grout – so that it is not unsightly when applied between existing bricks or blocks. But be sure that you verify with a resourceful clerk at the hardware store that the product you are buying is intended for use as a joint filling compound to point-up brickwork. Using the wrong material could simply make matters worse.

Small driveway cracks will soon sprout grass and weeks, so tackle them early by using the same kind of masonry repair product from a home improvement store like Lowe’s or Home Depot. Follow the instructions, be sure to apply according to the manufacturer’s recommendations regarding the outdoor temperature and the curing time, and don’t make the mistake of scheduling this DIY job if the weather forecast calls for rain. If you already have weeds and grass growing, pull them or spray them with herbicide and after they die back you can do the repair. A good tool for cleaning out the crack before refilling it is a putty knife or an old hacksaw blade. Sometimes you can also use a shop vacuum – or a portable handheld vacuum – to clear out small pebbles or other debris in the cracks. To help prolong the life of the crack repair, use a good quality all-weather sealer on top of it.

On the other hand, if you have actual potholes to contend with, those can also be pretty easily remedied by using a pothole filler or patch kit. These are also available at home improvement stores, and they usually contain a fast-drying cement or tar that can be plopped into the hole and smoothed over with a trowel for an instant fix. Some states even ask their highway patrolmen to carry these instant pothole repair kits in the trunks of their cars because it is possible to fill a dangerous pothole in a matter of minutes with no special tools or training.

One area that deserves special attention from a building inspector, however, is cracks that appear along foundations or brick walls. These can indicate that your home is settling, which can lead to serious structural damage. Oftentimes telltale cracks appear at the corners of window and door frames, for example, and if you see these it is a good idea to consult an inspector.

Homeowner Tips: How anyone can grow a garden.

Filed under: Home Owner Tips — Chuck @ 11:00 am

This time of year is ideal for planting your own garden, but unfortunately there are many homeowners who will not do so because of the simple reason that they lack the confidence. Maybe you have no experience with gardening, and your houseplants often die on you without warning, so when it comes to having a green thumb you’re one of the people who feel that they are inept. But just because you don’t have a great track record with plants, that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the pleasure of growing your own flowers, vegetables, or culinary herbs this year.
So here are some helpful tips to enable you to minimize the stress and maintenance while maximizing your green thumb success.

• Select Compatible Plants

One of the biggest mistakes inexperienced gardeners make is that they try to make plants fit into their own agenda and location preferences, rather than letting the plants themselves guide that decision-making process. You need to see what you have to work with and then seek out plants that will adapt in a healthy way to that environment, which is not so difficult to do. But avoid the tendency to come up with an idea of what kind of plants you want – and then expect them to do well despite the inhospitable conditions you force upon them.

• Pick the Best Spot

Growing orchids outdoors in Alaska stacks the odds against you, and trying to cultivate corn or tomatoes in the shade is contrary to nature. So instead of trying to put a square peg through a round hole, accept the fact that you need to try to grow plants that are accustomed to the soil, number of hours of sunlight, and climate that you have available to you to use. Calculate the average number of hours of available sunlight. With six hours of strong sun it is possible to grow everything from tomatoes to sunflowers. But even in shady areas you can still grow attractive plants like Hostas.

• Potted Patio Gardens are Easy

Potted plants work really well for those wanting to grow on a condo balcony or a patio – or if you just don’t want the hassle of digging in an actual garden out in the yard. Put the pots on casters or on a rolling circular dolly if they are heavy, to make moving them easier. Bush tomatoes, especially grape and cherry varieties, make wonderful container plants. You can stake them as they grow larger to keep them from sagging, or you can place a tomato basket or cage over the pot and they’ll grow upright by climbing it. You can even plant them upside down and have them grow like hanging baskets.

• Window Boxes Add European Charm

Window boxes are a great way to capture sun and add charm to your home, and hanging plants are an ideal choice for decks, balconies, and places where floor space is scarce. Perhaps the best way to utilize a window box is for the cultivation of culinary herbs such as basil, parsley, chives, thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary, or sage. These can all thrive in a sunny window box, and may cooks place these containers outside a kitchen window, where fresh herbs will be within arm’s reach for harvesting.
Other excellent container plants include hot peppers and leafy greens such as lettuce, arugula, and winter kale. Believe it or not, potatoes are one of the easiest and most impressive plants to grow in a pot or hanging basket in a sunny kitchen window or balcony, because they produce verdant, leafy vines that grow quickly with little maintenance. Let the spud or sweet potato grow “eyes” and once they have sprouted to about half an inch or more in length, cover them in dirt. Continue to water so that the soil stays semi-moist, and within a week or two shoots will begin to climb out of the dirt. Within weeks a vine will start, and can be trellised or draped.

For Added Safety and Security Check Your Washing Machine Hoses

Filed under: Home Maintenance — Chuck @ 10:59 am

Springtime has returned and most households are buzzing with activity after a long period of dormancy. There are kids running and playing outdoors, gardens and flower beds are being put in, the grass is green and will soon need to be mowed, and there are lots of weekend chores to do. Some of those projects around the home can have a big impact on your safety and security, too, and it is possible to make do-it-yourself improvements, without spending much money, that will deliver invaluable peace of mind.

A good place to start is with your washing machine, because according to the State Farm insurance company, American homes receive about $170 million in damages thanks to faulty washing machine hoses. That’s an awful lot of accidental flooding, and most of it can be easily prevented if homeowners would simply do routine checks to make sure that the hoses are not kinked, brittle, or otherwise damaged or worn-out.

• Make sure that all of the connections are secure and tight, first of all, because as washers agitate – especially older ones that tend to shake and rock – that movement can loosen fitting over time. If the hose pops loose then the only place for the incoming or draining water to go is inside your laundry room where it can do extensive damage to walls, floors, and anything else in its path.

• There also needs to be sufficient space for the housing to reside comfortably between the appliance and the wall, otherwise hoses can get cramped and kinked. There should be at least 4-6 inches of clearance between the machine and any water connections so that if the appliance is inadvertently bumped it still won’t collapse the hose.

• Some homeowners are overconfident when it comes to their water line connections, because they believe that the higher-end, premium quality washing machine hoses won’t bind, kind, or rupture. But experts tell us that even the so-called burst-resistant or burst-proof hoses and the ones made of strong stainless-steel hoses can and do sometimes break. That’s usually thanks to the weakest link in the water supply chain, which is the coupling – although cracks and leaks may also appear anyplace the hose connects to an appliance or water line.

Hoses will, however, do what they are intended to do, so there is no need to lose sleep worrying about a flood just because you run your washer. All you need to do is to check for cracks, loose fittings, and space considerations about once or twice a year. Your hoses will handle the rest of the responsibility, for about five years. After that time even a great piece of hose pipe will be living on borrowed time, so as a preemptive measure you should then replace it with one that is made out of braided stainless steel. You’ll only have to spend about $25 for a 2-pack of hose, and it’s an easy DIY job that just takes a few minutes to perform with simple tools like a screwdriver and pliers. But in return you’ll get added performance and security that could protect you from thousands of dollars in unwanted accidental damage to your home.

March 16, 2012

How to Select and Hire a Qualified Home Inspector

Filed under: Property Inspection — Chuck @ 2:07 pm

There are many times when a homeowner or home buyer can benefit from the expertise of a professional home inspector, and there are some practical steps you can take to help find a good inspector, interview them, and hire them.

Narrow the Field
First, decide what type of inspector you need. There are some home inspectors who specialize in environmental issues, for instance, whereas others have special skills and training in doing energy audits. Some focus on pests like termites and carpenter ants, whereas others primarily conduct buyer-ordered inspections for those who are about to buy a home and need a general report regarding the home’s mechanical and structural condition. Narrow down your search parameters and then it will be much easier to find the inspector who can serve your needs the best.

Solicit Referrals
Then you can get started soliciting recommendations from trusted friends or from other professionals with whom you have a good working relationship. Many of the affiliated members of the National Association of Realtors aren’t real estate agents but are professionals who offer services related to the real estate industry. So within the ranks of those kinds of affiliated members you are likely to find some excellent home inspectors and home inspection companies. Your Realtor or house painter, for example, might be a good source of recommendations or leads. You can also use the phone book or get a list of inspectors or Google professional home inspectors to find out which ones operate in your area. Almost anyone who works as a professional contractor in the residential housing market will also know local inspectors, so they are another good source of leads, as are mortgage brokers and building appraisers.

Check their Credentials
Regardless of how you find potential inspectors, it is important for you to evaluate each one based on their professional credentials, certifications, customer testimonials, references, and track record within the business community. If there are licensing requirements for home inspectors in the state where you live, for example, you will want to verify those before hiring your inspector. You can also check with the Better Business Bureau and with any professional inspection trade organizations that operate in your jurisdiction.

Interview Local Inspectors
After developing a short list of inspectors you can get down to brass tacks by interviewing them on the phone, by email, or in person. You can ask how much they charge-but that is not nearly the most important factor, find out what kind of structures they have the most experience inspecting. You may find that there is one inspector who mostly inspects brand new construction, for example, whereas another one spends most of the time reporting on vintage homes that are very old. So depending upon what the age of your own home happens to be you can choose between the two.

Review a Sample of Their Home Inspection Report
As a consumer shopping around for an inspector you may also want to review the various inspection report formats and figure out which one appeals to you the best based on how you prefer to absorb information. Some report formats rely heavily on checklists while other formats are more essay-driven and deliver the information in paragraphs you will be able to sit down and read. Then there are inspectors who offer a hybrid, using both styles and incorporating both styles with a combination of checklists and written narratives – plus extensive pictures to illustrate their findings. Don’t be afraid to ask whether your inspector can provide you with the particular kind of report you like. Many inspectors have software that allows them to adjust the format of the report to suit your preferences, with just a few clicks of their computer mouse. Reviewing their report is not an insignificant consideration, a rule of thumb, a “crappy” report probably means a “crappy” inspection.

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