THIS HOME INSPECTOR

Chicago Illinois Home Inspection service

Saving Money

The true cost of Procrastination

Putting things off until later?; well everyone does it for a variety of reasons. I see many homes that were not well cared for and basically neglected for some reason or other. Sure It seems everyone has to do a lot more to get ahead these days, so instead of taking care of that detail, that little project, or chore that’s been on your to do list, you try to put it off until you ‘HAVE TO’ do something about it. You have worked all day and want to rest – nothing bad has happened yet… to your knowledge.

 

That would be okay with most things, but from my experience as a home inspector, it should not apply to home maintenance. When you own a home or anything of value, it needs to be taken care of, ESPECIALLY if it is older- Sadly – it seems out culture has made most things disposable, like kitchen appliances, Televisions, cell phones, computers, lap tops, etc. what do YOU do if one breaks – get it repaired? heck no -NOW you can get the latest one on the market!! 🙂

But homes were built to last – if they are cared for…and honestly, it just takes a little care now to prevent a big problem later. That is the point I want to drive in here.

 

MOST HOMES AROUND CHICAGO LAND ARE BUILT IN 1920s and 1930s…Now it’s easy to see the point of taking care of something that old – I think it is taken for granted with homes but if you think in terms of an automobile, you already understand that a poorly maintained car won’t be on the road too long – It’s the same for that house, but even more so! if you have an antique car, you make sure the oil lines and gas lines, and tires can handle day to day use-  SAME THING GOES FOR A VINTAGE OR ANTIQUE HOME!  (but that’s not to say that new homes don’t need maintenance too)

 

As much as you can say, ‘it’s been fine so far.” I know you are wise enough to know that almost everything in this world is slowly deteriorating. It just takes a little effort and monitoring, and you can care for a house that protects you and your family.

 

1) PROTECT THE OUTER SHELL OF YOUR HOME SO IT CAN PROTECT YOU.

Do not let moisture enter your home where it shouldn’t. The ROOF, EXTERIOR WALLS, GUTTERS AND DOWNSPOUTS, GRADING etc., should all be in good condition and able to be functioning as intended. Look for openings, gaps, weaknesses, wear, damage, and even any signs of moisture, even if you don’t know where its coming from – someone can help.

(water is the most overlooked, innocent thing, but it will cause grievous issues. think wood rot, mold, deteriorating brick and stone, cracks expanding from freeze thaw cycle, rusting metal window lintels the list goes on and on)

 

2) GET PROFESSIONAL REGULAR MAINTENANCE FOR YOUR HEATING / COOLING SYSTEMS

There are some things you can do under the advice of a pro, or on your own – like keeping the equipment clean and checking for appliance recalls (CALL ME TO SCHEDULE A”RECALL CHEK” SERVICE). Nothing will ruin your day faster than your furnace going caput in the middle of subzero temps. Don’t wait for that to happen because there will be typically an additional emergency fee added to the price.

 

3) LEARN EVERYTHING YOU CAN ABOUT YOUR HOME AND ITS SYSTEMS – ESPECIALLY HOW TO CARE FOR IT.

This is where you can greatly benefit from a home inspector doing a maintenance type of inspection and giving you a heads up/ honey do list of things to take care of or keep an eye on.

 

Today it might just be your gutters are full of leaves – but tomorrow it may get so clogged by winter you have an ice dam forming and water is running into your walls.

 

It might be a furnace filter that has not been changed each month- but has choked the system out so bad, it dies on you prematurely.

 

You kind of remember that sump pump worked that one time, but you didn’t know that at some point it died. You only find out after a huge rainstorm and discover a basement full of water – how much would that cost you?

 

In this economy, we need to prevent surprise costs from draining our savings – how do you do that? From being proactive and taking care of that little maintenance task, or repair or call to a pro, do it now before it costs you more than you have saved.

 

If you ever have a concern or a question, call a pro, like me and we can help – BUT don’t be afraid to learn on your own how to take care of your home.

 

House Flipper Fails

 We’ve all seen it, the listing that says they rehabbed, remodeled , or some similar verbiage. The listing is also accompanied with a bunch of pictures. Unfortunately when you get there things look much much different.

I often get disappointed at the wide disparity of what they promise and what is actually the reality of the home.
So I wanted to go through a basic rundown of the most common flipper fails I’ve seen whilst inspecting Chicagoland properties rehabbed by some unknown crew of yahoos.

First off, It’s mostly cosmetic “lipstick” kinda work . There’s going to be some fresh paint, some new ceramic tile,  maybe some new flooring, and by new flooring it’s almost always a cheap wood look laminate style flooring or a cheap boring color of carpeting. The walls might be painted white or gray or something very generic. 
 
One of the first issues or problems I’ve come across is that the major systems of the home are ignored covered up or cheaply addressed without any real change. Plumbing, Electric, heating & cooling systems.The online listing is supiciously void of ages / years/ dates.
Furnace is 15 years old , AC compressor older and about to fail at any moment -but if they do work “ok” they run inefficiently.Plumbing is something that they don’t want to spend the money on for a flip.  Instead of replacing the old and leaky plumbing you’ll see some patchwork here and there may be some updated copper piping in very limited runs and mostly limited to the bathroom and kitchen areas.

You can tell a professional did not do the work when they use accordion style flexible connections instead of proper sink drains or may have drain plumbing that pitches upward which of course will lead to a clog. Of course they’re not going to take care of the major issues such as checking the waste pipe from the house to Street. Most inspectors will quickly notice plumbing installations that appeared to have been done with the assistance of a YouTube video, but with terrible results like heaps of caked on silicone at joints and yep look, it still leaks. Or they use cheater venting connection instead of understanding how to tie in the plumbing with the homes plumbing vent system. There are multiple shortcuts that might end up as very costly problems including the potential to have leaks in the walls or ceilings that might start to draw biological growth such as molds. If they are especially froggy they might have slapped on drywall on top of the plaster &  it might be a long time before you even see the leak come through and there would be at a lot of damage. Galvanised water piping can be on its way out, as it rusts out from the inside -you see leaks at threaded connections. There is so much that can go wrong if they don’t properly address plumbing system in a home. Old water heaters can fail but more often i find unsafe venting of the flue and back drafting, that allows carbon monoxide into your air. Unsafe. Then you have the electrical system. Most of the time the so-called rehabbers are not skilled enough to even deal with any needed electrical updates and they will do stupid things,  like: paint over receptacles which is very annoying, ignore super old ungrounded outlets. More so often I will find miswired receptacles they put in backwards, for example ; hot or “live” wire connected to the neutral .  Sometimes they won’t have a proper ground connection. Sometimes they are loose. I find nonmetallic sheathed wiring installed an a very haphazard way , most cities won’t allow it legally as per local regulations.  Electrical issues are the most scary to me because they can cause a fire – which might which may result in someone getting hurt or dying. So that’s why I get especially annoyed when I see signs of do it yourself wiring , like improper connections and cheap workmanship whether it’s in the panel or at the outlet receptacles.

Something I find most often in the attics is that there isn’t any new insulation, most homes have inadequate insulation; often losing heated air and energy through the roof, literally. Couple that with poorly done lighting installations, such as canned lighting and you can see the light going through directly into the attic space & just think; at all the heated air you just paid for is escaping through roof vents. Sometimes you will see the bathroom exhaust fans pointed to the direction of the roof vent but not having its own exhaust vent to the exterior… which means it will build up moisture in the attic at the wood structure and possibly allow mold to form.

Sometimes, but more often than I want to find, I will see that the attic access was covered up by rehabbers.  Now you can not see what the attic aka roof structure or the insulation/ ventilation conditions. The new roof  is the latest of multiple layers of crappy roofing jobs by a crew that cleary didnt care, including the awful tar / caulk patchwork around roof  penetrations that will not last long. 1 layer of shingles is recommended limit. 2 layers is actually pushing it, too heavy and doesnt usually last anyway.
This is just a general collection of some of the flipper home failures I see with focus on mostly the major systems, I will also find various shortcuts done to the cosmetic work, or just a lack of skills showing in the workmanship. The low skilled worker will do everything on the cheap, with cheap materials, and the labor is cheap too.
So before you make an offer on that home that is claimed to be rehab or remodel you should really ask the listing agent or your agent to provide the name of the person or persons that did the work or the company name and whether there’s warranty information. Because while there are very good rehabbers/ remodelers out there – most sellers would rather find a cheaper way & a lot of these flipped homes around cook County & the Chicago region are just a collection of cheats and cheap tricks. Caveat emptor , buyer beware  – GET THE HOME INSPECTED –  protect your investment

10 Easy Ways to Save Money and Energy in Your Home

Saving EnergyCourtesy of InterNACHI
By Nick Gromicko, Ben Gromicko, and Kenton Shepard

Most people don’t know how easy it is to make their homes run on less energy, and here at InterNACHI, we want to change that. Drastic reductions in heating, cooling and electricity costs can be accomplished through very simple changes, most of which homeowners can do themselves. Of course, for homeowners who want to take advantage of the most up-to-date knowledge and systems in home energy efficiency, InterNACHI energy auditors can perform in-depth testing to find the best energy solutions for your particular home.

Why make your home more energy efficient? Here are a few good reasons:

Federal, state, utility and local jurisdictions’ financial incentives, such as tax breaks, are very advantageous for homeowners in most parts of the U.S.

  • It saves money. It costs less to power a home that has been converted to be more energy-efficient.
  • It increases the comfort level indoors.
  • It reduces our impact on climate change. Many scientists now believe that excessive energy consumption contributes significantly to global warming.
  • It reduces pollution. Conventional power production introduces pollutants that find their way into the air, soil and water supplies.

1. Find better ways to heat and cool your house.

As much as half of the energy used in homes goes toward heating and cooling. The following are a few ways that energy bills can be reduced through adjustments to the heating and cooling systems:

  • Install a ceiling fan. Ceiling fans can be used in place of air conditioners, which require a large amount of energy.
  • Periodically replace air filters in air conditioners and heaters.
  • Set thermostats to an appropriate temperature. Specifically, they should be turned down at night and when no one is home. In most homes, about 2% of the heating bill will be saved for each degree that the thermostat is lowered for at least eight hours each day. Turning down the thermostat from 75° F to 70° F, for example, saves about 10% on heating costs.
  • Install a programmable thermostat. A programmable thermostat saves money by allowing heating and cooling appliances to be automatically turned down during times that no one is home and at night. Programmable thermostats contain no mercury and, in some climate zones, can save up to $150 per year in energy costs.
  • Install a wood stove or a pellet stove. These are more efficient sources of heat than furnaces.
  • At night, curtains drawn over windows will better insulate the room.

2. Install a tankless water heater.

Demand-type water heaters (tankless or instantaneous) provide hot water only as it is needed. They don’t produce the standby energy losses associated with traditional storage water heaters, which will save on energy costs. Tankless water heaters heat water directly without the use of a storage tank. When a hot water tap is turned on, cold water travels through a pipe into the unit. A gas burner or an electric element heats the water. As a result, demand water heaters deliver a constant supply of hot water. You don’t need to wait for a storage tank to fill up with enough hot water.

3. Replace incandescent lights.

The average household dedicates 11% of its energy budget to lighting. Traditional incandescent lights convert approximately only 10% of the energy they consume into light, while the rest becomes heat. The use of new lighting technologies, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), can reduce the energy use required by lighting by 50% to 75%. Advances in lighting controls offer further energy savings by reducing the amount of time that lights are on but not being used. Here are some facts about CFLs and LEDs:

  • CFLs use 75% less energy and last about 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.
  • LEDs last even longer than CFLs and consume less energy.
  • LEDs have no moving parts and, unlike CFLs, they contain no mercury.

4. Seal and insulate your home.

Sealing and insulating your home is one of the most cost-effective ways to make a home more comfortable and energy-efficient, and you can do it yourself. A tightly sealed home can improve comfort and indoor air quality while reducing utility bills. An InterNACHI energy auditor can assess leakage in the building envelope and recommend fixes that will dramatically increase comfort and energy savings.

The following are some common places where leakage may occur:

  • electrical receptacles/outlets;
  • mail slots;
  • around pipes and wires;
  • wall- or window-mounted air conditioners;
  • attic hatches;
  • fireplace dampers;
  • inadequate weatherstripping around doors;
  • baseboards;
  • window frames; and
  • switch plates.

Because hot air rises, air leaks are most likely to occur in the attic. Homeowners can perform a variety of repairs and maintenance to their attics that save them money on cooling and heating, such as:

  • Plug the large holes. Locations in the attic where leakage is most likely to be the greatest are where walls meet the attic floor, behind and under attic knee walls, and in dropped-ceiling areas.
  • Seal the small holes. You can easily do this by looking for areas where the insulation is darkened. Darkened insulation is a result of dusty interior air being filtered by insulation before leaking through small holes in the building envelope. In cold weather, you may see frosty areas in the insulation caused by warm, moist air condensing and then freezing as it hits the cold attic air. In warmer weather, you’ll find water staining in these same areas. Use expanding foam or caulk to seal the openings around plumbing vent pipes and electrical wires. Cover the areas with insulation after the caulk is dry.
  • Seal up the attic access panel with weatherstripping. You can cut a piece of fiberglass or rigid foamboard insulation in the same size as the attic hatch and glue it to the back of the attic access panel. If you have pull-down attic stairs or an attic door, these should be sealed in a similar manner.

5. Install efficient showerheads and toilets.

The following systems can be installed to conserve water usage in homes:

  • low-flow showerheads. They are available in different flow rates, and some have a pause button which shuts off the water while the bather lathers up;
  • low-flow toilets. Toilets consume 30% to 40% of the total water used in homes, making them the biggest water users. Replacing an older 3.5-gallon toilet with a modern, low-flow 1.6-gallon toilet can reduce usage an average of 2 gallons-per-flush (GPF), saving 12,000 gallons of water per year. Low-flow toilets usually have “1.6 GPF” marked on the bowl behind the seat or inside the tank;
  • vacuum-assist toilets. This type of toilet has a vacuum chamber that uses a siphon action to suck air from the trap beneath the bowl, allowing it to quickly fill with water to clear waste. Vacuum-assist toilets are relatively quiet; and
  • dual-flush toilets. Dual-flush toilets have been used in Europe and Australia for years and are now gaining in popularity in the U.S. Dual-flush toilets let you choose between a 1-gallon (or less) flush for liquid waste, and a 1.6-gallon flush for solid waste. Dual-flush 1.6-GPF toilets reduce water consumption by an additional 30%.
  • 6. Use appliances and electronics responsibly.

Appliances and electronics account for about 20% of household energy bills in a typical U.S. home. The following are tips that will reduce the required energy of electronics and appliances:

  • Refrigerators and freezers should not be located near the stove, dishwasher or heat vents, or exposed to direct sunlight. Exposure to warm areas will force them to use more energy to remain cool.
  • Computers should be shut off when not in use. If unattended computers must be left on, their monitors should be shut off. According to some studies, computers account for approximately 3% of all energy consumption in the United States.
  • Use efficient ENERGY STAR-rated appliances and electronics. These devices, approved by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program, include TVs, home theater systems, DVD players, CD players, receivers, speakers, and more. According to the EPA, if just 10% of homes used energy-efficient appliances, it would reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of 1.7 million acres of trees.
  • Chargers, such as those used for laptops and cell phones, consume energy when they are plugged in. When they are not connected to electronics, chargers should be unplugged.
  • Laptop computers consume considerably less electricity than desktop computers.

7. Install daylighting as an alternative to electrical lighting.

Daylighting is the practice of using natural light to illuminate the home’s interior. It can be achieved using the following approaches:

  • skylights. It’s important that they be double-pane or they may not be cost-effective. Flashing skylights correctly is key to avoiding leaks;
  • light shelves. Light shelves are passive devices designed to bounce light deep into a building. They may be interior or exterior. Light shelves can introduce light into a space up to 2½ times the distance from the floor to the top of the window, and advanced light shelves may introduce four times that amount;
  • clerestory windows. Clerestory windows are short, wide windows set high on the wall. Protected from the summer sun by the roof overhang, they allow winter sun to shine through for natural lighting and warmth; and
  • light tubes. Light tubes use a special lens designed to amplify low-level light and reduce light intensity from the midday sun. Sunlight is channeled through a tube coated with a highly reflective material, and then enters the living space through a diffuser designed to distribute light evenly.

8. Insulate windows and doors.

About one-third of the home’s total heat loss usually occurs through windows and doors. The following are ways to reduce energy lost through windows and doors:

  • Seal all window edges and cracks with rope caulk. This is the cheapest and simplest option.
  • Windows can be weatherstripped with a special lining that is inserted between the window and the frame. For doors, apply weatherstripping around the whole perimeter to ensure a tight seal when they’re closed. Install quality door sweeps on the bottom of the doors, if they aren’t already in place.
  • Install storm windows at windows with only single panes. A removable glass frame can be installed over an existing window.
  • If existing windows have rotted or damaged wood, cracked glass, missing putty, poorly fitting sashes, or locks that don’t work, they should be repaired or replaced.

9. Cook smart.

An enormous amount of energy is wasted while cooking. The following recommendations and statistics illustrate less wasteful ways of cooking:

  • Convection ovens are more efficient that conventional ovens. They use fans to force hot air to circulate more evenly, thereby allowing food to be cooked at a lower temperature. Convection ovens use approximately 20% less electricity than conventional ovens.
  • Microwave ovens consume approximately 80% less energy than conventional ovens.
  • Pans should be placed on the matching size heating element or flame.
  • Using lids on pots and pans will heat food more quickly than cooking in uncovered pots and pans.
  • Pressure cookers reduce cooking time dramatically.
  • When using conventional ovens, food should be placed on the top rack. The top rack is hotter and will cook food faster.

10. Change the way you do laundry.

  • Do not use the medium setting on your washer. Wait until you have a full load of clothes, as the medium setting saves less than half of the water and energy used for a full load.
  • Avoid using high-temperature settings when clothes are not very soiled. Water that is 140° F uses far more energy than 103° F for the warm-water setting, but 140° F isn’t that much more effective for getting clothes clean.
  • Clean the lint trap every time before you use the dryer. Not only is excess lint a fire hazard, but it will prolong the amount of time required for your clothes to dry.
  • If possible, air-dry your clothes on lines and racks.
  • Spin-dry or wring clothes out before putting them into a dryer.

Homeowners who take the initiative to make these changes usually discover that the energy savings are more than worth the effort. InterNACHI home inspectors can make this process much easier because they can perform a more comprehensive assessment of energy-savings potential than the average homeowner can.