I pride myself for taking exceptional care of my clients by performing a detailed and comprehensive property inspection. Same day e-reports with photos.
"Inspected once, inspected right."
Glenn Stewart
Certified Master Inspector
Bay Area Home Inspection
866-570-1222
Welcome to my Homepage Blog. Here you'll find stories about inspections I have done and facts I think are interesting to share with you. Come back often to see what's new.
-Glenn Stewart, The House Whisperer
Curb Appeal - Not
Written by Glenn Stewart
Monday, 24 May 2010 14:23
This not-so-inviting rain gutter was spotted during an Orinda home inspection. A roof is a mini-rain shed. Take a 2000sf room for an example… If it rains 1 inch in 1 hour, approximately 1250 gallons of water runs off the roof.
Gutters capture rain water from a roof and route the water to a downspout and into a drainage collection system. Without gutters, foundations and house siding can be damaged over time.
It’s amazing how much dust and particulate matter falls onto a roof annually. The first rains of the season ‘wash’ this accumulation into the gutters that starts as a fine layer of silt.
If your house is near any trees, leaves wind up in gutters. Over time a soil layer builds up in the bottom of the gutter. Weed and grass seeds are carried in the wind or deposited by birds. The next thing you know, weeds are growing proud in your rain gutters.
Have your gutters and downspouts inspected and cleaned periodically for a weed-free appearance… It will save a lot of headaches and money down the road.
Bright Idea... Not!
Written by Glenn Stewart
Monday, 17 May 2010 19:00
Light is a necessity in the bathroom shower area, so you can see what you are doing... A good thing.
Installing an unprotected light bulb above the showerhead... Is not a good idea.
The surface temperature of a 60 watt light bulb can approach 260F degrees. Water splashing on a hot incandescent light bulb can cause the bulb to explode... littering the shower pan or bathtub with glass shrapnel and possibly injuring someone.
Or it could cost you $1.5 million dollars...
Read Me
Always hire an experienced, certified and insured home inspector.
Last Updated on Monday, 17 May 2010 19:14
How Many Wires
Written by Glenn Stewart
Thursday, 29 April 2010 14:23
Cruising through a dark basement in Santa Cruz during a recent home inspection, we were dazzled by our spotlight as the light beam played on the bright starburst of electrical wires.
Just how many electrical wires can you stuff into a junction box?
All electrical junction boxes (where wires are connected together) have a maximum number of how many wires can fill the box. This volume is generally listed in cubic inches and there are reference tables used by licensed electrician to determine the number of wires.
The reason it is important not to exceed the allowed conductor-fill volume is to allow for the dissipation of the heat, that the electrical current generates as it travels through the conductors... every time you turn on a light switch or plug in the toaster.
There's nothing worse than an electrical fire to ruin your day.
Mushroom Tale
Written by Glenn Stewart
Saturday, 10 April 2010 14:22
We were conducting a home inspection in a vacant Oakland house during this past rainy season. Built in 1948, the sturdy little house was in pretty good shape. We found the typically items... double-hung windows that were painted shut, ungrounded wall outlets, cracks in the plaster walls... Until we went into the bathroom.
What greeted our eyes was a single mushroom growing out from between vinyl floor tiles. Mushrooms are fungi and they grow in damp places. It's not uncommon to see fungi growing in houses.
The most common areas are the bathroom, under the kitchen sink, around toilets, in showers and garages. Most bathroom floors use a particle board underlayment, which is like a sponge when it gets wet... The perfect environment for fungi spores to grow.
The only remedy is to dry things out. If there's a plumbing leak, it has to be repaired. If the floor underlayment is wet, it has to be removed and replaced. In bathroom areas, keeping the floor to bathtub intersection caulked will prevent water from getting under the flooring.
Last Updated on Saturday, 10 April 2010 15:07
Double Whammy
Written by Glenn Stewart
Thursday, 11 March 2010 04:43
This is a photo of a brass flexible gas line installed through the sheetmetal cabinet of a heating furnace at a recent Clayton home inspection.
This installation was permissible during the 1960s and 70s, but became problematic as time went on. There were reports of the flexible gas pipes cracking and/or the soldered connector ends coming apart; and in some documented cases, the leaking gas caused fires and explosions.
In the late 1990s, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) began warning consumers about these dangerous, older brass flexible gas connectors used to connect home appliances to gas supply pipes: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml97/97187.html
We found the typically items... double-hung windows that were painted shut, ungrounded wall outlets, cracks in the plaster walls... Until we went into the bathroom.
