All manufacturers I’m familiar with state in the installation instructions, that the roof’s edges should be sealed down to prevent uplift and damage of the shingles. This should be done anywhere high winds are experienced if you have a composite type roof covering
Take a look at the video for more information
There should be a single circuit breaker that will shut off the power to the entire house with this style breaker panel
E3501.7 Maximum number of disconnects.
The service disconnecting means shall consist of not more than six switches or six circuit breakers mounted in a single enclosure or in a group of separate enclosures.
It is very common to find squirrels have chewed on the lead plumbing vent collars on roof tops. This eventually allows rain to enter into the attic then house which is not a good thing. This home owner was creative and decided to fight the squirrels by adding aluminum foil and a gas vent hood.
What a collar
Here in Pensacola, FL and the Gulf Shores, Al area many of the homes we inspect have prefabricated fireplaces and chimney units. It is very common after a short period of time to find them sagging and rust forming on the top. It doesn’t take long for that rust to work it’s way through and next thing you know there are holes allowing water to enter into the home.
A few repair people have had some success making repairs to prolong replacement. A few of those repairs even looked pretty good. It may seem rather petty but…The alternative is to spend $4-600 and have a new cap put on.
Chimney cap
There is lots of controversy regarding the ventilation or the lack of ventilation in crawlspaces under homes. Locally here in Pensacola, FL and Gulf Shores, AL I have seen only a few crawlspaces that are not vented. Of those few homes I saw which are not vented, they were not updated with a completely sealed structure nor an HVAC system installed. The result was no mold (yet).
The pictures are from a crawlspace I inspected yesterday, which is typical for me to see this type of mold / fungus.
Building code says put a vapor barrier down on the ground and add some vents. It is very rare not to see some mold growing somewhere under these homes. I would like to see some sort of retro fit kit that is easy, quick and relatively inexpensive that would close in and condition crawlspaces that do exhibit mold conditions.
International Residential Code
408.2 Openings for under-floor ventilation. The minimum net area of ventilation openings shall not be less than 1 square foot (0.0929 m2) for each 150 square feet (100 m2) of underfloor space area. One such ventilating opening shall be within 3 feet (914 mm) of each corner of the building. Ventilation openings shall be covered for their height and width with any of the following materials provided that the least dimension of the covering shall not exceed 1/4 inch (6.4 mm):
Mold
During this home inspection the other day, I walked into the master bathroom to find a hair dryer, plugged in and sitting inside the sink. This is just one reason why we have safety devices. People not using their heads. I checked the Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI’s) circuits and found it working in the outlet and in the dryer itself. Still…
A home inspection today revealed bad news for the home. I’m sure most people are familiar with different types of stucco. For a short time in this area some builders used gypsum board (a form of sheetrock) as the exterior sheathing and installed a stucco finish coat over the outside. Typically this gypsum was used in combination with plywood or OSB board as the structural panels. As you can imagine, when it gets wet, problems arise quickly. This 8 year old property has no evidence of damage today, but I’m afraid it’s a matter of time.
The view of this panel is from the attic.
Remember to always get a home and stucco inspection. Beauty is sometimes more than skin deep!
Some things don’t seem to change, that is the quality of some work I’ve been seeing. I am wondering if perhaps it has something to do with hurricane Ivan. It’s been over 3 years and some of those homes repaired are likely up for sale again. This is another picture of a poorly installed kick out flashing and a homemade extension.
While entering a crawlspace during a home inspection here in Pensacola, FL I couldn’t help but notice a rank odor. The odor was strong enough to pierce my breathing apparatus. It didn’t take long to see someone had done some plumbing work under the home and didn’t bother cleaning up. By the looks of things it has been some time since work was done.
The picture is not very clear, what it shows is old wet fiberglass insulation laying on top of some broken drain cast pipes. Once I realized what was gong on, I exited and requested they call me to make an appointment to finish the crawlspace portion of the inspection after it was no longer a health concern.
