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Archive for the ‘Inspection News’ Category

Water Heater Inspections – Part 2

Friday, August 14th, 2009

After you give your water heater a good visual inspection, there are some other very important safety items you need to check. The first is the Seismic Strapping. These are metal belts that strap the water heater to a wall. The seismic strapping holds the water heater upright in the event of an earthquake. The straps are not intended to protect the plumbing, or avoid flooding. Instead they are specifically required to protect the gas lines. During an earthquake, the water heater can move substantially. Even if it does not tip, the somewhat fragile flexible gas line could easily be broken, which could leak gas and cause numerous fires.

When the requirement for strapping was first introduced, plumbers used what is known as “plumber’s tape” to secure the water heater. Plumber’s tape is that thin metal strapping that they use to support pipes under a house or in an attic. It is about 3/4 inch wide with holes running down the middle. But due to all the holes, the plumber’s tape easily breaks. Remember that a full water heater can weigh several hundred pounds. Plumber’s tape is no longer considered adequate for strapping a water heater (see picture at left). Instead you

Home inspection should check for proper strapping

should use a water heater strapping kit that is available at any home improvement store. These kits contain two metal bands with mounting hardware, and when properly installed will reduce the likelihood of your water heater jumping around during an earthquake.

The proper way to install the straps is to use two straps. One at the top 1/3 of the tank, and one at the bottom 1/3 of the tank. A general rule of thumps is to install the straps 9 inches from the top of the tank, and 4 inches above the contols at the bottom of the tank. The straps should be secured to a stud in the wall with a 3 inch lag bolt. Do not use plastic anchors in the drywall. The straps should be looped around the tank. And finally, if the water heater stands more than three inches away from a wall at the back, a supporting brace or block should be used.

If your water heater is in the garage, it should be placed on a platform that is 18 inches above the ground.

Proper water heater strapping.

This too is a safety precaution against fires. Many of us store items in the garage that give off fumes. These could include gas for a lawn mower, paints and varnishes, and even some cleaning products. There could also be a leak from a gas line from a clothes dryer or even the water heater. Most of these fumes will sink to the ground in a similar way that oil and water separate. The vents in the exterior walls of your garage should allow the fumes to escape. If your water heater was sitting on the floor and enough fumes collected, a fire could easily start when the water heater ignites to heat the water. It happens all too often. If your water heater is in the garage and on the floor, you need to have it raised.

To determine the age of your water heater, you will need to check the serial number on the tank. Newer water heaters will print the date of manufacture, but older units used a date code included in the serial number. Some are easy to desipher; the year and month or year and week are the first four digits of the serial number. For example a tank manufactured in March of 1999 will have 9903 as the first four digits (or 0399 depending on the manufacturer). Other companies use a date code using letters. If you cannot determine the age of your water heater, call a plumber or a Home Inspector to help you determine the age of your water heater.

We recommend replacing older water heaters. Water heaters become less efficient as they age due to sediment that builds in the tank at the bottom. This sediment acts like an insulation layer which causes the water to heat slowly, and requires the burner to stay on longer using more gas. This can also cause over-heating of the surrounding area which is a fire hazard. The other reason to change an older tank is to avoid leaks. In a perfect world, water heaters would fail with only a little drip. Unfortunately water heaters can fail with catastrophic results. Since your plumbing system – and the water heater – are under pressure, failure can send excessive amounts of water pouring into your house. Even if your water heater is in the garage, the force of the water can quickly disolve the drywall, and end up in your house ruining flooring, drywall, and personal items.

And finally, don’t store items up against your water heater. It is particularly important not to store combustible items such as wood, cloth, cleaning supplies, etc. But even non-combustible items can reduce air flow and cause the water heater to over-heat.

For more information about home inspections in San Diego, please visit www.sdinspections.com

Tags: Water heater safety
Posted in Health and Safety, Inspection News | No Comments »

Water Heater Inspections – Part 1

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

Water heaters are often taken for granted. They sit in our garage or utility closet and perform their assigned duty day in and day out. If installed correctly they will operate with little fuss for many years. Most of us rarely give the water heater a second thought, but they have a life cycle just like every other component or appliance in your house.

At the very minimum you should take a careful look at your water heater at least once a year. One of the most common points of failure is at the top of your water heater where it connects to the house plumbing. If the water heater was not installed with proper dielectric connectors, you will get corrosion where the copper plumbing meets the steel tank. This area is often difficult to see. A tank can be five

Corrosion at the top of the water heater can indicate pending failure

feet tall and when properly installed on an 18 inch platform, the top of the tank is 6-1/2 feet off the ground. This area can easily be over looked.

If you see heavy rust in this area, your tank is ready to leak. remember that your plumbing system is under pressure 24 hours a day. It doesn’t take much corrosion to eat through the plumbing. Even a small leak can flood your house. Even if your water heater is in your garage, a leak can find it’s way to the interior of your house. Water often sprays out of a small breach in the plumbing with such force that it quickly destroys the drywall, and get’s inside the walls, and into your house. Just a small amount of water can destroy wood flooring, baseboards, carpeting, furninture, or personal items that are sitting on the floor.

In addition to looking for corrosion, look for evidence of soot at the exterior of the tank. This can be found around the burner compartment cover at the bottom of your water heater. If you are comfortable doing so, open the cover and look inside the compartment. Be careful of hot parts. If the water heater is on the inner cover will be hot. Once you remove the inner cover look for scale and rust inside the burner compartment. Old, damaged parts in the burner compartment can cause the water heater to remain on and over heat. This is a major cause of house fires.

Proper venting is critical to the safe operation of a water heater. Check the flue. It should be properly aligned with the top of the tank. And the sections of the flue should be well seated. Do not use duct tape on the flue. It can catch fire. An improperly installed flue can allow Carbon Monoxide to leak into your living space.

A general rule of thumb is to proactively replace your water heater when it has reached the end of its warranty period. That usually means that if your water heater is more than 7 years old, it should be replaced before you have problems with it. The price ofa water heater is usually less than your insurance deductable. When in doubt, have your water heater inspected by a licensed plumber. It does not cost much and could save your family from injury, and your home from damage.

Part two of this blog will include information about proper seismic strapping, recalled gas flex lines, and determining the age of your water heater. For additional information about home inspections, please visit www.sdinspections.com

Tags: Water heater
Posted in Inspection News, On the Job | No Comments »

REO Listing Brokers Reduce Withdrawn Bids

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

Selling houses in “as-Is” condition seems like a quick and easy way to sell bank-owned properties. Despite the “As-Is” agreement, buyers want to understand what “As-Is” means. Un-expected defects turn up in inspection reports that cause the buyer to reconsider his or her offer. Properties then go back on the market to wait for subsequent offers.

More and more successful REO listing agents are qualifying buyers by requiring them to perform inspections prior to submitting bids. These listing agents reduce lost sales because all buyers are fully aware of the condition of the house when submitting bids. But this is still a time-consuming process as the buyers and listing agents have to wait for the inspections to be performed. It is also a waste of money as each buyer must hire an inspector at an average cost of $375 – $400 per inspection.

The San Diego Real Estate Inspection Company, one of San Diego’s largest inspection companies, has devloped an innovative program that is free to the listing brokers, and saves buyers hundreds of dollars. The REO Pre-Inspection Program closes the gap between pro-active brokers who want to qualify bids, and buyers who don’t want to spend hundreds on an inspection for a house they may not get. The company inspects the REO properties AT NO COST TO THE LISTING BROKER. Inspections are immediately uploaded, and are available for download for a greatly reduced price of $99.

Benefits to REO Listing Agents:

Eliminates negotiations after bid acceptance
Removes inspection from contingency period
Shortens sales cycle
Increases ratio of legitimate bids
Enables REO listing agents to require due diligence prior to submitting offers
No cost to REO listing agent
Saves buyers money
Buyers can evaluate more homes and may make offers on multiple houses
No added disclosure requirements – We don’t give you a report

Benefits to Buyers:

Inspection report is immediately available
Saves potential buyer hundreds of dollars
Inspections performed using advanced techniques including Infrared Thermal Imaging
Independent third-party evaluation of the property
Provides info required to make informed bid
Saves Time and Money

This inspection program is so unique, we have been issued a provisional patent. For more details, please visit The San Diego Real Estate Inspection Company and find out about all of our great services.

Posted in Inspection News | No Comments »

Buying a House Built in the 1950′s or 1960′s

Monday, February 16th, 2009

All homes are not the same. Just like a vehicle, technologies evolve over time. The construction methods and safety items are continuously improving. Older homes may have components that are, well, old. If you are buying a house that was built in the 1950′s or 1960′s, there are some things you must consider so that you are not disapointed once you move in. Your home inspector should identify certain components of the house even if they are functioning properly. They may be old, consist of old technology, or may not be sufficient for today’s modern families. These components include electric service panels, ungrounded circuits, furnaces, insulation, windows, etc.

Old Fuse Box

Older electric panels can be under-sized. An electric panel that provides less than 100 AMP’s may not provide enough electricity for your family. In the 1950′s a house may have had one TV – if they were affluent. In the kitchen, countertop appliances consisted of a percoulator and maybe an electric can opener. That’s it! Today it is common for a house to have multiple large TV’s, AV systems, microwave ovens, large refrigerators, multiple computers, ceiling fans, hair dryers, hot tubs, etc. These items use a lot of power. If the electric system of the house has not been upgraded, it may not be grounded (and not as safe!) and may not be able to accommodate your electrical demand. You may need to budget for an upgrade of the electrical system. Older furnaces have several problems. Due to the moderate climate in San Diego, we often see original furnaces in old house. They may still be functional, but these old units are inefficient, noisy, and a fire hazard. They lack many of the safety features that are now built into furnaces such as over-heat protection, and panel cover shut off switches. Old furnaces use much more gas because they still have a pilot light instead of electronic ignition. Furnaces are expected to last 20 years. Old heating systems may also include components that contain asbestos. Determining the presence of asbestos is beyond the scope of a home inspection. But your home inspector should have the knowledge to identify components that may contain asbestos. Replacing ducting that contains asbestos can incur added costs.

Cast iron drain

Another system that may be near the end of its useful life is the plumbing system. Older homes were plumbed with galvanized steel pipes which do rust over time. And old cast iron drain lines have a life expectancy of 40 – 50 years. Often these pipes may look OK, but a video scan is recommended. The cast iron drain lines rust from the inside. Upgrading the drainage system can be costly. A video scan is highly recommended in addition to a home inspection, as home inspectors do not perform video scans of the drain lines. Older homes in San Diego may also be lacking any insulation, and older windows are not as thermally efficient as modern windows. Many incentives and tax credits exist to upgrade the components of your house. Be sure to ask your home inspector to report on the age and condition of these items as they can be very expensive to replace. Please read more information about houses built in the 1950′s in our free insider’s guide Buying a House Built in the 1950′s. To learn more about what should be included in a thorough inspection, please visit www.sdinspections.com

Tags: old houses
Posted in Inspection News | 1 Comment »

Buying a house built in the 1970′s

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

One of the biggest disappointments in the home buying process is getting a home inspection report with tons of stuff you didn’t expect. It is one of the main reasons that buyers back out of a purchase. Often it is not the severity of the items in the report, but the realization that an older home may be different from what you are used to.

In this segment, we will focus on some issues related to buying a house built in the 1970′s. This is not meant to alarm the would be buyer. And it is not an exhaustive comparison of the building codes of thirty years ago compared to today, but rather a general discussion of some of the things that you may find in an inspection report if you are buying a home from that time period. If you are considering purchasing a house built in the 1970′s please know that some of these items may come up.

Houses built in the 1970′s generally have modern components, albeit aged. The heating and electrical systems include many of the health and safety components that you would expect in a modern home. Forced air heating, 100 AMP grounded electrical systems, insulation, and ABS drainlines to name a few.

As with any industry, certain techologies that appeared promising turned out to be less desirable with the clarity of hindsight. The 1970′s were no exception. Three items that may turn up on a home inspection report are:

Aluminum wiring
Asbestos (around ducting)
Lead Paint

During the late 1960′s and 1970′s there was a worldwide shortage of copper – the preferred material for making house wiring. The industry turned to the next best conductor – aluminum. The product was readily

Aluminum wiring

available, less expensive, and performed very well as a conductor. After a few years, however, electrical fires began to occur in homes with aluminum wiring. Was the wire to blame? Not exactly. There is a chemical reaction that occurs when you connect two dissimilar metals together. Corrosion.

When the industry switched to aluminum wires, they didn’t make any changes to the receptacles or light switches being used. Many of these had terminals that were copper or other metals that reacted with the aluminum wire connected to them. After a few years the corrosion at these connections deteriorated the wires resulting in small gaps, or very thin sections of wire. As the wire’s capacity to carry current decreased, the result was an increase in heat or even arcing which can cause fires.

Aluminum wiring is still allowed on 30 and 40 AMP circuit which are used for electric ovens, AC condensers, clothes dryers, etc. These circuits usually are run directly from the panel to the appliance without any connections along the way.

Your home inspector should check for aluminum wiring on 15 and 20 AMP circuits. If found, the inspector should recommend that a licensed electrician evaluate the entire electrical system of the house, and make the necessary upgrades to decrease fire hazards. For more detailed information, please visit http://www.inspect-ny.com/aluminum/aluminum.htm.

Possible asbestos-wrapped duct

Asbestos was used as a fire retardant. It performs well as an insulating material, too. So it was common practice to use asbestos on the heating system to protect the surrounding wood and insulate the ducts. It was also added to the “popcorn” ceiling texture to make it less flamable. Of course some types of asbestos were found to be a carcinogenic

so it is no longer used in homes. Your inspector should recognize materials that may contain asbestos. While you cannot confirm the presence of asbestos just by looking at it, your inspector may suggest that you have it tested by a qualifed lab.

Another compound that is no longer used is lead. Lead was used in virtually all house paint up until it was banned as an additive in 1978. Typically if the paint is in good condition and not peeling, you can simply paint over it and seal it. If, however, the paint is peeling or flaking, your inspector may recommend testing or at least a professional paint job to seal the paint and reduce the risk of exposire to lead.

One final thought on buying a house from the 1970′s. That was nearly 40 years ago! Just like a car, parts in the house wear out. You should expect that some items will be worn, and your inspector may recommend repair or replacement. These can include roofing, plumbing fixtures, heating and cooling systems, window hardware, appliances, etc. So when buying an older house, take these things in stride.

Philippe Heller
President
The San Diego Real Estate Inspection Co.
www.sdinspections.com
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