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Home Inspector Tells All
Q: Our furnace has an old humidifier. I don’t think it works any more, do we need to replace it?
A: Most old furnace humidifiers no longer function due to the hard water we put through them. Most have a float system that is on an arm. When the float is down it opens a water valve to fill the tray. When the water comes up sometimes the float gets stuck and water...
Q: Our furnace is old. Are there certain parts of a furnace that tend to wear out a lot?
A: I know of one insurance company that says the motor and belt is the most likely parts to cause a fire within your furnace. This company will treat even an old furnace as new if the motor and belt are new. I am sure statistics will bear the fact that most fires are...
Q: Is it true that insurance is cheaper if we install an alarm system?
A: This is what I have been told by several customers but I honestly have not asked an insurance company. I would guess you would be a preferred customer if you have an alarm system that protects your home. These days it is easy to install a system that monitors your...
Q: Last week our windows on the south side leaked during a driving rain. We rarely get rain from this direction and have never seen a leak here before. Do you recommend replacing the windows?
A: This sort of thing happened to me as well. I have lived in this home for over four years and never experienced any issues. All of a sudden there was a lot of water leaking in and around the window during the storm. I immediately associated the leak with the...
Q: Our house roof drains on our garage roof. Is this common and is it ok to do this?
A: I see this all the time. Builders are still doing this on new builds but I don’t recommend it. I can show you multiple examples of a roof that is otherwise in good condition but has a section under a downspout that has been ruined by the added water of an upper...
Q: We are deciding upon which shingles we should buy for our roof. Do you have any suggestions?
A: From experience I would say you need to have shingles that are wind resistant in this part of the prairies. Just a few weeks ago we had winds in excess of 100 km per hour. An un-tarred 3-tab shingle will often blow off in such high winds. Architectural shingles...
Q: Our insurance company asked us what size electrical service we have in our home. How can I tell?
A: The electrical system in your home has to be sized based upon the weakest link in the entire system. For instance if you have a 200 amp meter on the outside of the home, a service wire that runs from the meter to the panel which is only rated to 70 amps and a 100...
Q: We recently had a fire in our living room because we had too many plugs on one receptacle. Is there a way to know how much is too much?
A: Generally speaking it should be fine to plug one thing into each available receptacle. The problem is that too many people run extension cords and add receptacle adaptors that allow up to six devices to be plugged in at once. The receptacle is designed for only two...
I have been reading lately about the dangers of asbestos insulation in homes. Can you expand on this and explain where we might have asbestos?
Asbestos was used in many forms over the years. In fact Canada still exports asbestos to other countries. The majority of the asbestos in your home is likely either in your attic insulation or your flooring. In order for asbestos to be dangerous it must be friable or...
Our home has gray plastic water lines. Someone said these lines are likely going to leak. Our home is 30 years old, don’t you think if the lines were going to leak they would have already?
The lines you are talking about are likely poly “B” lines. While it is true these lines have had a poor history and many homes have flooded from this type of pipe, you need to consider a couple of things before you get too excited. As you said, your home is 30 years...
I have a high efficient furnace. There is a drain line from the furnace where clear water comes out into the drain. Is it true that this water is pure and good for drinking?
No! The clear water coming from the furnace is very acidic and not safe to drink or allow your animals to drink. In fact the acid level in this water is so high it eats through copper fittings in just a few years. The water is a byproduct of the combustion process...
Our sink in the main washroom is very slow to drain. Sometimes there is also a smell coming from the drain line. What might cause this and how can I fix it?
A slow draining washroom sink is usually the result of hair in the drain line. I recommend taking the trap apart if possible. Remember it should be full of water. Next take needle nose pliers and try to pull out the obstruction. If there is nothing in the drain your...
Our windows are very drafty. They are the winding crank style. What can we do to reduce the drafts?
The best approach to all window drafts is to ensure the window is fully closed. You cannot imagine how many open windows I find. Often the window closure system is not enough to fully close the window. If the window is not closed and the weather is cold outside you...
How can I tell if my boiler is running properly?
When I look at a boiler system I expect to see it running between 130 – 170 degrees F. If the temperature is in this range the pressure in the loops should be between 10-20 lbs. If either of these two things are not in this range I begin to wonder why not. I try to...
We live in the country where there is limited supply of natural gas. We have propane gas instead. Are there any concerns with using Propane?
Propane is a commonly used fuel but it does have a few short comings. The greatest obstacle you may need to overcome is that fact that our climate can become so cold that the propane can gel inside the tank and shut down your heating appliance. When the outside...
I have a boiler that heats our home. Should I consider another source of heat as a backup, if so what do you suggest?
I have a boiler system and I have had some problems with it when it was -40 outside. It does not take long for the house to cool down in that kind of weather. I was a little panicked and wished I had a second source of heat. Since that time I have installed 6 electric...
We are building a new home and want to install in floor heat in the floor of the basement. Do you have any tips on how we should proceed?
I can only answer this based upon my own experience. I have installed in-floor heating lines only once but I did some research and here is how I did it. First of all I laid out a product called insul-tarp under the concrete which is said to have an R-Value of 10. Next...
I am going to change my bathroom sink, should I spend a little extra and put in valves?
I have renovated and changed dozens of sinks in my day. If there are no shutoffs under the sink you will need to shut the main valve off. Much of the time the main valve has not been operated in a long time and it likely to leak. If the main valve leaks and will not...
I have a few metal covers on the walls in my house. These covers are ugly can I eliminate them?
The metal covers are likely there for either future connections of cable or phone or they could be concealing electrical connections. The electrical code states that a junction in an electrical circuit must be accessible. Sometimes a junction box is necessary if a...
I have had several sewer backups over the past few years. Is there something I can do to fix this?
Sewer back-ups are caused by several factors including sags in the line, line displacements, tree roots, debris in the line, cracks in the line, line collapse, and deformed pipe. It is impossible to know for certain what might be the cause of your line backing up. The...
MY CEIILING IS DRIPPING!!!
SEE THIS you tube video It is that time of year we all wait for, an end to winter. With the cold weather disappearance it is also a time for other problems to show up, In the case of today’s topic – Leaking ceilings. You will notice I didn’t say leaking roofs as a...
The hot water tank has a very foul smell. I have been told there is a manganese rod in the tank that can be removed. Can you explain?
The greatest obstacle of a hot water tank is to overcome the destructive forces of the hot water and the impurities in it. One solution to this problem is to place a sacrificial rod made of manganese in the center of the tank. This rod attracts the impurities in the...
My hot water tank is dripping from the valve on the side of the tank. How can I fix this?
The valve on the side of the hot water tank is called a PRV or pressure relief valve. This valve is designed to open if the pressure in the tank gets too high. If the PRV was not in place the tank can explode with as much force as a bomb. So needless to say the valve...
I grew up in the old school where copper pipe was used for water supply throughout the house. These days plastic pipe is used. Is this type of pipe safe and reliable?
There are two primary types of plastic I want to talk about, pex and poly B. I was like you once and was concerned that plastic pipe was not going to be as good as copper. I soldered a lot of pipe over the years because I was afraid of change. About 7 years ago I...
A plumber friend of mine said I should install a back water valve. Can you explain what they do and what I should do?
If you do not have a backwater valve in your basement plumbing you are subject to all the problems the city may have as a backup can happen at any time. The backwater valve is the only protection between you and the city sewer. When the city has high volumes of water...
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