Tampa Bay Home Inspector Blog

 Childproofing Your Home: 12 Safety Devices to Protect Your Children

7.  Use corner and edge bumpers to help prevent injuries from falls against sharp edges of furniture and fireplaces. Corner and edge bumpers can be used with furniture and fireplace hearths to help prevent injuries from falls, and to soften falls against sharp and rough edges.

Be sure to look for bumpers that stay securely on furniture and hearth edges.

Typical cost of a corner and edge bumper: $1 and up.

8.  Use outlet covers and outlet plates to help prevent children from electrical shock and possible electrocution.

Be sure the outlet protectors cannot be easily removed by children and are large enough so that children cannot choke on them.

Typical cost of an outlet cover: less than $2.

9.  Use a carbon monoxide (CO) detector outside bedrooms to help prevent CO poisoning. Consumers should install CO detectors near sleeping areas in their homes. Households that should use CO detectors include those with gas or oil heat or with attached garages.

Typical cost of a carbon monoxide (CO) detector: $30 to $70. Read the rest of this entry »

Childproofing Your Home: 12 Safety Devices to Protect Your Children

About 2.5 million children are injured or killed by hazards in the home each year. The good news is that many of these incidents can be prevented by using simple child-safety devices on the market today. Any safety device you buy should be sturdy enough to prevent injury to your child, yet easy for you to use. It’s important to follow installation instructions carefully. In addition, if you have older children in the house, be sure they re-secure safety devices. Remember, too, that no device is completely childproof; determined youngsters have been known to disable them. You can childproof your home for a fraction of what it would cost to have a professional do it. Also, safety devices are easy to find. You can buy them at hardware stores, baby equipment shops, supermarkets, drug stores, home and linen stores, and through online and mail-order catalogues. Read the rest of this entry »

The most serious consequence of an improper ventilation setup is the potential accumulation of mold in attics or crawlspaces.   Health problems caused by mold are related to high concentrations of spores in indoor air. “Spores” are like microscopic seeds, released by mold fungi when they reproduce.  Every home has mold.  Moisture levels of about 20% in materials will cause mold colonies to grow.  Inhaling mold spores can cause health problems in those with asthma or allergies, and can cause serious or fatal fungal infections in those with lung disease or compromised immune systems.

In order to grow, mold fungi require that the following conditions are present:

Improper Install on Bathroom Vent.

• Oxygen
• Temperatures between approximately 45° F and 85° F
• Food.  This includes a wider variety of materials found in homes
• Moisture

If insufficient levels of any of these requirements exist, all mold growth will stop and fungi will go dormant. Most are difficult to actually kill.
Even though mold growth may take place in the attic, mold spores can be sucked into the living areas of a residence by low air pressure.  Low air pressure is usually created by the expulsion of household air from exhaust fans in bathrooms, dryers, kitchens and heating equipment.  Read the rest of this entry »

Bathroom ventilation systems are designed to exhaust odors and moist air to the home’s exterior. Typical systems consist of a ceiling fan unit connected to a duct that terminates at the roof.

Bathroom ventilation fans should be inspected periodically for dust buildup that can impede airflow. Particles of moisture-laden animal dander and lint are attracted to the fan because of its static charge.

The most common defect related to bathroom ventilation systems is improper termination of the duct. Vents must terminate at the home exterior. The most common improper terminations locations are:

• Mid level in the attic space
• Beneath the insulation
• Below the attic ridge or roof vents

Improperly terminated ventilation systems may appear to work fine from inside the bathroom; you have to look in the attic or on the roof. Sometimes poorly-installed ducts will loosen or become disconnected at joints or connections.

Ducts which leak or terminate in attics can cause problems from condensation. Warm, moist air will condense on cold attic framing, insulation or other materials. This condition has the potential to cause health or decay problems from mold, or to damage materials such as drywall. Moisture also reduces the effectiveness of thermal insulation.

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Los Angeles Times

Two reports released recently raise hope that the country’s tide of home-loan defaults may finally be starting to recede, but the picture is far from clear. Credit data giant TransUnion said serious delinquencies — home loans on which borrowers are at least 60 days behind on payments — fell slightly across the nation in the first quarter of 2010, marking the first such decline in three years.  More

I’ve inspected quite a few homes lately that have had substantial rodent infestations the attic.  Rats can cause a great deal of damage from chewed wiring to damaged ductwork to destroyed insulation to the most disgusting smell upon entering the front door.

A/C vent filled with insulation and debris from rodent activity

What many people don’t realize is that rodent activity can also cause severe health problems which could even be fatal. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has a list of at least 11 diseases that are spread by rodents and/or rodent urine and droppings.  Even rodent urine, dried in a powder form, can be extremely toxic.  There have been many home inspectors who have gotten extremely sick and some deaths have even occurred from inhaling dried rodent urine during an inspection.  Click to view information on Hantavirus Read the rest of this entry »

3 Deadly Mistakes that every home buyer should avoid…

Deadly Mistake #1:   Thinking you can’t afford it. 

Today, buying the home of your dreams is easier than ever before.  Many people who thought that buying the home they wanted was simply out of their reach are now enjoying a new lifestyle in their very own new home. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m driving to work one morning last week and see this on a home in my neighborhood so I had to stop and take a picture.

Like I find during the course of many home inspections, there were cracks visible on most of the second story walls of this home.  The water had penetrated the cracks, made contact with the metal lath and the rust began.  Peices of stucco were laying on the ground, I measured a chunk only to find out that the thickness was just over half of what it should have been.

Once again, if you have a home with a stucco finish, particularly if the stucco is over wood framing, be sure to keep any cracks sealed and keep the home painted with high quality paint to prevent moisture intrusion.  Most homes have stucco defects…it will just be a matter of time and lack of maintainence before the defects rear their ugly head.

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I got a call last month from a woman in panic mode thinking that she has a sinkhole.  After explaining that I don’t do

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sinkhole investigations and after hearing more about the home, I told her that I would come and take a look…maybe just to give her some guidance on who could best help her.

The home was built in 2005 and in my opinion, a sinkhole is not the problem.  It turns out that the builder did a very poor job installing the stucco finish over the 2nd story framed walls of the home.  In addition, the stucco cracks had not been sealed or painted.  Water has worked its way into the stucco, caused the metal lath to rust/expand and the stucco finish is now falling off of this 5 year old home.

Please be sure to keep your stucco cracks sealed and keep good quality paint on your stucco homes for protection.

5 year old home with stucco problems

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Moisture and Mold Prevention and Control Tips

• Moisture control is the key to mold control, so when water leaks or spills occur indoors – ACT QUICKLY.  If wet or damp materials or areas are dried 24-48 hours after a leak or spill happens, in most cases mold will not grow. Read the rest of this entry »