A Northern Virginia Home Inspector's Perspective

Look closely.  Which is the manhole and which is the manhole cover?             Take your time.Look over both photos carefully.Now, please do not think I wax chauvanistic by referring to that hole as a "manhole."While I did not see the particular hole in the top photo being dug, I have looked and...

When guardrails are removed they should be put back!Barriers and restrictions are there to avoid consequence. Many people regard laws to be restrictive and to prevent us from "having fun."  Take the speed limit, for example.  Nobody has ever gotten a ticket for staying within the speed limit.  Th...

This is a mouse highway into your house.What is?  A door?  Trees overhanging the house and a roof vent?  A hole beside a window?It's where the AC lines attach to the house!Typically these lines are near to the ground, or easily accessed by climbing mice from the unit.They merely follow the trail ...

This much missing insulation can influence a whole room.It doesn't seem like a lot, but with insulation just a little that is missing goes a long way toward dramatically increasing energy bills.This subject house was advertised to have had a new roof installed just a few years ago.It was an older...

Heat pump or resistance furnace - which one do you want to turn on?A heat pump provides heat two ways:1.  The mechanism is essentially an air conditioner with the ability to work backwards.  To heat a house it literally compresses the heat from outdoors and brings it inside.  When it's too cold o...

When HVAC ducts run under the house.What?  Ducts that run under a slab?  Ducts that run underground? That was very common in the 60s and 70s in Virginia.Can that be a problem?Yes.  Such duct work can break down over time and deteriorate.This house was built with a ground-level slab.  The HVAC duc...

A hole in a fire-protective door is not holy.Fire door, garage access door, fire prevention door - no matter what you call it, as Juliet would say about a certain Montague, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."While Juliet was not referring to fire doors, these doors do have a lot of d...

The HVAC register was not blowing air.  What's up?Was the duct blocked?If air was blowing, where was it going?In this house this particular room was cold.  Reaching up to the register I could not feel any moving air, but I could feel that the register was hot when I touched it.So air was at least...

What could cause so much moisture in a bay window?The underside of the bay window was bulging.Pushing on it the material was very soft and felt wet.  It had rained the night before.Measuring with the moisture meter the needle jumped to >30%, indicating saturation.And Mighty Mo showed how the mois...

Does this James Hardie siding installation look right?All over this new construction I saw things seen in these photos.  If it doesn't look right, you can bet it isn't!  And if you were the buyer what would you think?Siding members should not be fastened, or face nailed, with brads.  And gaps bet...