Don’t be a sucker

I just had a friend of my son call to cancel his inspection for this week. I wasn’t upset about this. I think he (and wife and kids) probably dodged a bullet. How?

Reminder: check your oil tank

For those of you who heat with oil (as I do), I suggest that you take a look at your oil tank. Especially do this if you think your tank is older or simply has not been looked at for some time.

Recently I’ve been doing more and more home inspections for both new homeowners and those who have owned their home for some time. If you are a new homeowner, you may be ‘In the same boat’ as the roughly 50 to 70 percent of home buyers over the last year who did not have a home inspection in order to get your offer accepted.

While most home inspections are done for the buyers of homes and properties, home inspectors sometimes also do Pre-sale inspections for the sellers. The rationale for doing this inspection is that if a sellers knows what problems will be revealed by a buyer’s inspection they can deal with these issues ahead of time.

This week I did an inspection for a couple who had lots of questions and concerns about their home. Most of these concerns were not warranted. The walls showed numerous seam cracks where the drywall met the trim. Hairline straight cracks at wall/ceiling intersections – or even just on the walls – are butt (seam) cracks. You can ignore these: they aren’t structural.

While termite control outfits are often called pest control companies, pests are a different thing. Many of the below creatures warrant removal by ‘pest control’ companies.

This blog is from my book, “The Ultimate Homebuyer’s Handbook” (available on Amazon with a free copy at the inspection) just notes the first of the many systems and structures that a home inspection does not cover.

1 Chimney flues and the interiors of chimneys

In my opinion, this may be the most important exclusion from the home inspection. The fact is, home inspectors are required to look at the exterior of chimneys and the venting of heating systems and other

Even if you haven’t spotted it yet, mold is probably in your home right now. Read on to learn which species are most prevalent, where they grow, and when you have a problem.

This chapter covers a number of environmental hazards relevant to your home buying effort that you need to know about.

I’m Ernie Simpson, the proud owner of Evergreen Home Inspection.

I look forward to sharing my story. I hope that you will enjoy getting to know me better.

We are delighted to announce the launch of our new website!

Finding a home inspector… Note: this is a selection from one chapter of The Ultimate HomeBuyer’s Handbook, which I will be finishing shortly and selling on Amazon. I hope you find this useful. Feel free to email me with feedback or questions. Choosing a qualified and diligent home inspector versus an inspector who rushes the inspection and doesn’t take the time to do a proper job can save you a few thousand dollars, or occasionally tens of thousands of dollars in repair costs (or lost value) over the period you own the home. The difference can also be getting an inspector who…

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