Reuben's Home Inspection Blog

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Home Inspector - Structure Tech Home Inspections
Home inspection topics in the Minneapolis / Saint Paul area.
RECENT BLOG POSTS
I post a new home inspection photo on the Structure Tech Facebook page six days a week, and this year I decided to put together a blog post showing my favorite photos from 2011.   I hope you enjoy these half as much as I do.  As with all of my blog posts, click on any of these photos for a larger...
12/26/2011
I have out-of-state family who are in the process of buying a new home.  I told them I'd find a good home inspector in their area, assuming I would already know someone in their area from an online discussion group or from ActiveRain.  No such luck.  Oh well... the search begins. At first, my sea...
12/19/2011
Have you ever noticed how snow will melt around the foundation on older houses?  This will happen at any house with unheated foundation walls, and it's a great visual indication of how the house is losing heat.   When there's no melted snow up against the house, we can rely on thermal imaging to ...
12/12/2011
I recently had a friend go through a huge hassle to get his water turned on after buying a vacant property in Coon Rapids.  His plan was to buy the house, get the water turned back on, and live in the house while he remodeled it going room by room. Shortly after buying the home, he contacted the ...
12/05/2011
While it used to be common practice to use staples to attach asphalt shingles to a roof, this has been a prohibited method of attachment in Minnesota since 2003.  Today, staples are considered an inferior method of attaching shingles to a roof, but it's easy to understand why roofers like staples...
11/28/2011
Yes, you read that right.  I'm thankful for closed cell foam insulation.  Of course, I'm thankful for my family, health, and all that other jazz, but this is a blog about home inspections and home related topics, so I'm going to stay focused on that.  To fully explain why I'm so thankful for clos...
11/21/2011
That's what a local builder told one of my customers.  The home buyer hired me to inspect her new single family home before she finalized the purchase, and the builder apparently didn't want to end up dealing with any hassles.  The builder's rep told the buyer that having a new construction home ...
11/14/2011
While black stains on roofs are a cosmetic issue, moss growth is more than just cosmetic.  Not only does moss look terrible on roofs, it will also shorten the life of the roof covering and possibly lead to roof leaks.  Whether you have wood or asphalt shingles, moss can grow on the roof if it doe...
11/07/2011
If you have nasty black stains on your asphalt shingle roof, don't worry.  The black staining won't damage the shingles, and it won't make your roof leak.  This black staining is typically caused by an algae, and usually shows up on areas of the roof that don't get much sunlight, such as the nor...
10/31/2011
In last week's blog post, I discussed the amount of money I might save by having a tankless water heater installed, and I concluded that I would never see a return on my investment.  I received a lot of good feedback from that post, both for and against tankless water heaters.  I thought it would...
10/24/2011
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Reuben Saltzman

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Home inspection topics in the Minneapolis / Saint Paul area.