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QR Codes

Friday, February 5th, 2010

QR codes. What they are, and how they can help sell houses

This is an older article we posted, but it is very useful for real estate agents. If you are one of those agents interested in the latest technology to market yourself, QR codes could give you an advantage over other agents in your area. QR codes are cell phone readable bar codes that can store URL’s, contact info, phone numbers, etc. “QR” stands for

Scan this QR code to see our video on your smartphone.

Quick Results. They are a simple way to link offline printed material to online content with the least effort. The funny looking image is a smartphone readable link to web content. In other words, just like a barcode is translated by computer to a number, QR codes have a website embedded into the image. Instead of typing in a long website address, the image can be scanned in an instant and the user directed right to your content on the internet.

Imagine a potential buyer out gathering flyers on a Sunday afternoon. They see a QR code on your flyer or sign and scan it with their free QR reader app. It takes them straight to your virtual tour where you end with an invitation to show them the house – all while they are standing in the driveway!

Go to your phone right now and find a QR code reader, then scan the code above. (There are stand-alone apps that read QR codes. There is also a QR code reader built into the free Starbucks(r) app.) The code at right will link you to our TV commercial. Just start the app, then point your smartphone camera at the QR code on the screen.

Think of all the places these can be used; post cards, flyers, business cards, and yard signs. Put it on your business cards to link your Facebook page. There are even a companies that will print shirts and temporary tattoos!

Here is a link to a simple QR Code ganerator that you can use for free. It generates an image which you can save to your computer. You can use QR Codes to embed nearly any information such as a URL, contact info, email address, etc.  Be sure to test the image before printing thousands of flyers. You should include a link or web address of a reader for your clients so they can easily find one.

QR-Code Generator by Mobile-Barcodes.com

History of the QR Code

QR-Codes first hit mainstream when they were initially used for tracking parts by vehicle manufacturers. After a while, companies began to see the scope for where QR-Codes could be used elsewhere within the world. The most commercial use for QR-Codes is in the telecommunications industry where the mobile phone seems to be the biggest driver of their popularity.

The codes have been around since the mid 1990’s in Japan, and then made their way to Europe. They are just starting to get used in the U.S. Advertisers use QR codes so that people can quickly scan an advertisement on a bus, a store window, or magazine ads and be taken directly to online content.

QR-Codes are capable of handling of sorts of data, including numbers, alphabetic characters, Kanji, Kana, Hiragana, symbols, binary, and control codes.

A total of 7,089 characters can be encoded in one symbol alone.

So next time you see one of these codes you’ll know what they are. You’ll see them all over magazine ads, in store windows, and even on buses and billboards. Please feel free to pass this on to your colleagues or re-post.

About the author: Philippe Heller is the President of The San Diego Real Estate Inspection Company, one of the largest private home inspection companies in San Diego. The company uses state-of-the-art testing equipment and is a leader in the industry. Be sure to subscribe to the blog on the site, or “like” their Facebook Page.

Posted in On the Job | 1 Comment »

How To – Fixing Slow Sink Drains

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

We are starting a series of short videos to show you easy, do it yourself repairs that can save you substantial money and avoid damage to your house. The first video in the series shows you how to clear a slow-running bathroom sink drain.

Slow drains are a frequent occurence. It is one of the most common defects we report during the course of a home inspection. These slow drains are often caused by hair which wraps around the drain pop-up stopper. Once hair starts to accumulate, toothpaste and soap cause even more hair to cling to the existing hair.

No amount of drain cleaner will fix this problem! Those corrosive chemicals can cause much more damage by corroding metal parts. Instead of spending money on chemicals or a plumber,  you can easily fix the drain.

With a simple pair of large pliers or channel locks, and a little patience, you can fix the drains.

For more information about home inspections, please visit our website.

Philippe Heller
The San Diego Real Estate Inspection Co.
760-203-9682
www.sdinspections.com

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Soils and Settlement

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

By Kenton Shepard, InterNACHI’s Director of Green Building

 Soil is a naturally-occurring mixture of mineral and organic ingredients with a definite form, structure, and composition. It’s composed primarily of minerals which are produced from parent material which is broken into small pieces by weathering. Larger pieces are stones, gravel, and other rock debris. Smaller particles are sand, silt, or clay. Since the original materials vary from place to place, the exact composition of soil varies according to location. A common example of soil composition by volume might be:

• 45% Minerals (clay, silt, sand, gravel, stones).
• 25% Water (the amount varies depending upon precipitation and the water-holding capacity of the soil).
• 25% Air (an essential ingredient for living organisms).
• 5% Organic matter or humus (both living and dead organisms).

Mineral particles give soil texture. Sand particles range in diameter from 2 mm to 0.05 mm, feel gritty and can be easily seen with the unaided eye. Silt particles are between 0.05 mm and 0.002 mm and feel like flour. Clay particles are smaller than 0.002 mm and cannot be seen with the unaided eye. Because of the small particle size, clay soils can sometimes experience large amounts of expansion and contraction in volume with changes in moisture content.
Water and air occupy the pore spaces—the area between soil particles. The final ingredient of a soil is organic matter. Organic matter consists of dead plant and animal material and the billions of living organisms that inhabit soil.
The concern with soil in respect to building is the ability of soil to bear the load of the structure while remaining stable. Ensuring long-term stability requires proper compaction and consolidation of soil before a permanent load is placed upon it. Examples of a permanent load would be foundation footings and walls or a concrete floor or driveway slab.
The excavation process disturbs soil, loosening it and causing spaces between soil particles to become much larger. For this reason, engineering specifications often require that foundations be placed on undisturbed soil.

In areas at which a home is built partially or completely on fill, such as homes built on hillsides, that fill must be made as solid as possible before a permanent load is placed on it. This is done by mechanical compaction of the soil. Soil is placed in layers (called “lifts”). Each layer is mechanically compacted by impact and sometimes by vibration.

When larger areas such as a hillside lot are compacted, heavy equipment is used. For smaller areas like backfill around basement foundation walls, a jumping jack tamper is used which is operated by one person.

Compaction is the process of forcing air from the spaces between soil particles. Compaction with a jumping jack tamper is somewhat inexact. In determining the point at which soil is adequately compacted, the operator listens to the tone of the tamper impacting the soil. When soil is adequately compacted, the tone will have a ringing quality which will not change. A change in tone indicates that compaction is still taking place.

Compaction increases the density of the soil and improves its ability to bear a load. Compaction is affected by a number of factors:

• Soil type (clay, sand, silt, level of organic matter, etc.)
• Soil characteristics (uniformity, gradient, plasticity, etc.)
• Soil thickness
• Method of compaction
• Moisture content at the time of compaction.

Consolidation is the process of forcing water from the spaces between soil particles. Soil is more permeable to air than to water. This means that the compaction process may remove from the soil a large percentage of air, but a significant percentage of water may remain.

Soil undergoes both primary and secondary consolidation.
Primary consolidation is short-term and takes place during the mechanical compacting process. Secondary consolidation is long-term and takes place after the compaction process is complete and the permanent loads are in place.

During secondary consolidation, the weight placed on soil slowly forces water out of the spaces between soil particles. As this happens, soil particles will move close together and settling will occur. The source of the weight would be both the structure and the overlying soil.

The amount of secondary consolidation which can be expected increases with the depth of the affected area. An excavation with backfill 15 feet deep would experience more secondary consolidation than an excavation with backfill 8 feet deep.

A common scenario is when a structure is built partially on undisturbed soil and partially on compacted fill. Soil in these two areas will consolidate at different rates as the weight of the newly-built structure forces water from between soil particles. This is called “differential settlement”.

Settling will be reflected in any part of structure bearing upon the settled soil. In adequately-compacted soil, settling will be so minor that evidence won’t be visible. Extreme differential settlement will create stresses which are relieved by cracking.

Which materials crack depends on the properties of the material and the rate of settling. More brittle materials will crack first. The effects of soil movement are most often seen as cracks in interior and exterior wall coverings like drywall and plaster and in masonry foundation walls.

Even concrete, which most people think of as brittle, can bend if pressure is applied slowly over a long time period. If pressure is applied over a shorter time period, concrete will crack.
 
Compaction and consolidation are affected by the composition of the soil. Fine-grained soils have more interior surface area and can hold more air and water than course-grained soils.
 
Here’s an example. Drywall is made of much courser particles than cement. An ounce of drywall dust contains about 5,000 square feet of interior surface area. An ounce of cement dust contains about 50,000 square feet of interior surface area.
 
This means that fine-grained soils like clays have more interior surface area which can contain water. In order to force water out of the spaces between particles, surface tension must be overcome. “Surface tension” is the tendency of water to cling to a surface. When you fill a glass with water, it’s surface tension that makes the water level slightly higher around the edges where water comes into contact with the glass surface. Water is clinging to the glass.
 
The greater interior surface area of fine-grained soils results in greater surface tension. Fine-grained are also typically low-permeability soils, meaning that water moves through them slowly. These conditions increase the amount of time and pressure required for soil to consolidate. Soils will continue to consolidate until the resistance to pressure of the materials of which the soil is composed reach equilibrium with pressure from the weight of soil and structure above.

The rate of consolidation is affected by the soil composition, levels of moisture saturation, the amount and nature of the load on the soil and state of consolidation of the soil.

Another moisture-related problem is the addition of excessive moisture to the soil. This can create a condition in which water is absorbed into spaces between soil particles. Soil becomes less dense, which reduces its ability to support a load.

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Tags: Foundation Crack, Slab crack
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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 »

Infrared Thermal Imaging and home inspections

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Superman had x-ray vision. Doctors use x-rays and MRI’s to look inside your body. The military and police use infrared to find suspects hiding in the bushes. Each application allows the user to observe things that are not visible to the naked eye and allows them to do a better job. 

A few top notch home inspectors are starting to use Infrared Thermal Imaging Cameras (also know as IR cameras) for the same reasons. With this technology, they are able to detect some problems that are not visible to the naked eye. While it does not give the inspector super-human powers, it does give them an edge on finding anomolies in a house that might not otherwise be discovered. We have been using IR cameras since 2005, and the results are fantastic. Just like smart phones, satellite TV, and MP3 players, the technology is amazingly complex. but using them is fairly simple. So how do we use this technology to do a better inspection? 

First let’s talk about temperature and thermal mass. You can think of thermal mass as the inertia against temperature change. That means items with different thermal mass will change temperature at different rates. In reference to building materials, a dry item will heat up more quickly than an item with more moisture. Dry sheetrock will warm up more quickly than a 2 x 4 piece of wood. Or for the purpose of our discussion, wet areas of sheetrock will change temperature at a different rate than dry sheetrock. The change in temperature is referred to as “Delta T”. So what does all this mean to a home inspection? 

Infrared Cameras “see” in the infrared spectrum, or in other words, it “sees” the heat emitted by items and converts it into an image that humans can see. Since everything has a temperature, the camera is a very effective tool to show us how items are heating or cooling. Even items in your freezer have different temperatures based on their thermal mass. An ice cube has a different thermal mass than a frozen piece of bread, and the bread will heat up more quickly than the ice cube when removed from the freezer. 

Performing an IR scan of a house involves a few steps. First, we run all the plumbing in the house. Running the water in upstairs bathrooms is particularly important because shower pans and tubs are a frequent souce of leaks. At the same time we will turn on the furnace. The furance will start to warm up interior surfaces of the house (obviously). But any areas that are wet will not heat up as quickly. When looked at with the IR camera, the wet areas will stand out as a cold spot when compared to the surrounding areas, unable to heat up as quickly as the dry areas due to higher thermal mass. 

Evaluating the home for leaks with an IR Camera is a simple process, but one that most home inspectors do not use (The cameras are very expensive ranging from $6,000 – $12,000). And with many bank-owned homes getting a quick paint job for a fast sale, water stains may be covered up. Evidence of a leak will be overlooked by most home inspectors. But the IR camera can “see” these leaks even through a new paint job. 

Thermal Imaging of a leaking pipe

 In one example, I was inspecting a newer home that had recently been forclosed. The house was about 7 years old and had been very recently painted by the bank. The house appeared to be a cream puff by all standards compared to most of the bank-owned homes we’ve seen. In this case I ran hot water at the sinks IR image of drain leak from a TV mountand tub in the upstairs master bathroom. After a few minutes I scanned the living room below with the IR camera. The hot drain pipes were clearly visible in the wall. After carefully looking at the image I noticed a very small pool of hot water at the base of the pipe. I looked closely at the basboards and still saw nothing. But on very close examination, I found a small amount of water leaking under the baseboard. 

We looked at the wall closely from different angles and noticed that there were six spackled holes in the same pattern as a flat panel TV mounting bracket. Sure enough it appears that the drain line was pierced with one of the mounting bolts. While the bolt was in place, no leak occurred. Now that the house was vacated, and the mount removed, a leak occurred. This is similar to a nail in your tire that does not leak until you remove it. 

Fortunately I found this leak and avoided a lot of damage. This leak was in an area of the living room that with all likelihood would have been covered with furniture. The leak could have gone unnoticed for months. Besides the physical damage, extended exposure to moisture could easily lead to a mold problem. But a simple fix was all that was required to avert disaster. 

Thermal image of over-heated breaker

Plumbing leaks are only one defect that we search for with the IR camera. It is an effective tool to find roof leaks after a recent rain. It can also be used to find missing insulation, open or leaking ducts, and over-heated circuit breakers. So when evaluating which home inspection company to hire, try to find one that uses the latest testing equipment such as Infrared Thermal Imaging. The inspection may be a few dollars more, but it is worth it.

Tags: home inspection, Infrared Thermal Imaging
Posted in On the Job | 1 Comment »

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