It's Atomic!   It Might Nuke The Sale, But The House Is OK.     I just got back from a consult. I was called in for a second opinion for an issue to do with a garage floor. In this case I was working for the sellers. The buyers were asking for a price reduction because their inspector had identified the garage floor as being defective and in a substandard state. I did not get to see that inspectors report, but the garage floor is cracked and heaved upward in much of its area. These are large cracks that radiate out from raised areas of the floor and only the central core area near the drain is unaffected. It is still a functional garage in that you can drive cars in there and park them as well as store the usual collection of tools, bicycles and materials. However as a garage floor tha... 06/24/2011

  Just A Handful Of Nails?   On A Million Dollar House? Yup! A handful of nail is the answer to "what's holding the deck on?" That's pretty shocking on a building valued at a million plus. The nails are Ramset type, a heavy duty concrete nail that is shot into place with a 22 cartridge. They are thick and hardened to do this but they are not for permanent use out doors. The will and are rusting. They are not made to transfer weight, and certainly not live loads like people walking on decks. They are made to attach wood framing to concrete but the framing (vertical) parts are supposed to carry the weight. In the photo above the ledger is 'shot' on to the brick. This is not a brick wall. It's a wood framed wall with a single facing layer of brick (called veneer) on the outside. So if late... 05/18/2011

WATER In the Frame and on Display. Most people put up framed photos or art work of some kind, under glass to protect it. Photos are usually people, places or events  that are memorable to the residents. Art is put up for decor, colour or effect. This sort of framed wall decor is rarer. In fact it's the only one I've seen to date.  This 'picture' is memorable to the owners here because they had a plumbing accident and needed to shut off the water. But they couldn't find the valve!. Somebody had enclosed it in the wall! Now its been located, framed and on display 'under glass'. So it's art to those who live there. As it was, it was hidden and because this hardware has a necessary function and was hidden, it was a kind of 'hidden defect'. Most hidden defects are more complex and do not in... 03/23/2011

The Whistling Tap  Oh yeah, this is a first for me. I've never run across this before. Just listen to this; I've never heard anything like it until today. Adjusting the shut off valve made no difference, and it only happened on the cold water side. The video is not actually made on my phone, it's from todays inspection (camera) but it's my first YouTube posting. So that makes it another first. In this business you can never predict what you'll see on any given day. This house had lot of amateur work. Most of it was cabinets and flooring but this weekend warrior dabbled in electrical and plumbing too. Here's the view under the sink.  How many errors can you spot and what appears to be missing? (Hint; a dishwasher is installed to the right of this cabinet.)   N.B The 'whistle' has to be a... 03/13/2011

  Invasion of the house snatchers! They’re not teenagers but they’ll eat you out of house and home! It happened here. At a million dollar estate, a beautiful house in semi rural 'horse' country. With big beautiful evergreens towering behind the home. Picturesque.  The Tree -Up close; -It’s away from the balcony deck, 10' from the house wall, so not perfect but OK.   -Shallow root system - low plumbing or footing interference risk, OK -Within range to hit the house if toppled but healthy free standing tree, seems low risk, but:    I see dust, like saw dust, at the base, now I see holes, ant holes and..........WOW a HUGH carpenter ant infestation. I could see holes in the trunk as far up as I could see. (Last photo is eye level.) Clearly a not so healthy tree and actually a severe risk to... 02/27/2011

Barbara Todaro is a class act, and on top of that, she knows what she's doing. My broker, JJ Jacobs, was contacted by a vendor who had about 65 acres of land that he wanted to sell.  JJ explained that she didn't normally sell land, but that she had a Montreal West Island real estate agent Tanya Nouwens who might be interested in taking this on.  (My broker is very generous that way.) Would I be interested?  Um, yeah! We met with the vendors, toured the gorgeous waterfront lots, -- which are located in Les Cèdres, on the outskirts of Montreal -- and decided we all felt good with each other and about the project.  The vendors asked me to prepare a proposal so that they could weigh their options. And so, as part of my homework, I contacted Barbara Todaro, the queen of selling land and work... 02/23/2010