As an inspector, we sometimes have to recommend installing an anti-syphon loop in your dishwasher drain line. The reason why you need to install this is to prevent any backflow of water between the kitchen sink and dishwasher or visa-versa.

The loop can be accomplished by two methods. One is the flexible drain hose from the dishwasher goes to an antisiphon valve to prevent back siphoning (this looks like a little air inlet valve through the top of the counter about the size of a salt shaker – usually placed close to the sink). The other method and more simpler method is to take the drain line and make it into a big loop. This loop should go up right under the countertop and then back down to the garbage disposal. This loop of the drainline with an upwards loop helps prevent back siphoning.

 

 

 

WHAT IS INVOLVED WITH POOL OWNERSHIP?

A swimming pool can be a fun way to escape the Texas heat, get some exercise and entertain the kids. However, pools also take time and money to properly maintain, and they must be properly secured to avoid drowning accidents. So if you’re considering a pool, just be sure you know what you’re getting into!

Even in Texas, you may not use a swimming pool very much in the winter time. But if you’re considering adding a pool to your home, winter is the slow season for swimming pool companies and you may be able to negotiate a better price on a new pool. Whether you add a pool to your existing home or buy a house that already has a pool, below is some information to consider about swimming pool maintenance.

MAINTENANCE:

Maintaining a swimming pool takes time and money. Pools consist of many systems; the structure itself, electrical, plumbing & mechanical systems. So there’s alot to maintain including pumps, filters, lights, valves, sometimes a heater and other features. Each pool is different, therefore the exact cost of maintaining your pool will depend on many factors such as the pool’s age, surface area, type of finish, water capacity, type of pump & cleaning system, etc.

STRUCTURE & FINISH:

The pool’s structure will usually last many years provided that it’s built right and the finish is properly maintained. The pool’s finish may be plaster, pebble-tec or fiberglass. All three types will require regular brushing, cleaning and chemicals. Algae is a bigger concern with a plaster finish. This is because algae can actually etch the plaster finish, or pit the surface and make it rough. Also, the type of pool matters…a diving pool usually holds a lot more water than a play pool, and therefore it will probably cost more to maintain.

COST OF CHEMICALS, ETC.

Properly maintaining the chemical balance of the water is important. If you aren’t sure what to add, you can take a sample of your pool water to the local swimming pool supply store for help. They will test it and tell you what chemicals you need and how much to add. Pool water generally requires more chemical maintenance when the weather gets hotter and the pool is used more frequently.

For a pool that does NOT have a chlorinating or soft water system, you’ll have to buy chlorine, acid and other chemicals. The chlorine is by far the most expensive of these chemicals, which will probably cost $200 or more per year (depending on the size of the pool, the amount of water it holds, etc.).

If the pool does have a chlorinating or soft water system, you won’t need to buy the chlorine but you’ll need to buy salt and other chemicals. Also, this type of system is more complex and requires more maintenance.

COST OF FILTERS:

There are several different types of filters:

1. Sand filter – probably the cheapest to maintain, as you’ll need to replace the sand from time to time.

2. DE – the ‘DE powder’ (diatemaceous earth) has to be replaced each time the pool is backwashed.

3. Cartridges – these are the most convenient but are also the most expensive to replace.

Note: ‘Backwashing’ is basically cleaning the filter. It’s usually done by connecting a hose to the pool equipment, and then operating a valve that reverses the water flow so that the water pushes the dirt out and drains through the hose (into the street or wherever you put the other end of the hose).

INCREASED COST OF UTILITIES:

The water bill will generally be higher for a house with a pool. This is because water has to be added to the pool regularly to make up for evaporation. The water level is usually maintained automatically so you won’t know how much evaporation is actually taking place, but the increase in water usage will be much more noticeable in the hotter months.

You’ll also have an increase in your electric use due to the pump running. An average pump might need to run 4-8 hours per day, depending on conditions. It will need to run more in the hotter months. You may also see an increase in your gas or electric cost if you heat your pool. Although Texas doesn’t get that cold in the winter, even a small pool will usually costs quite a bit to heat.

Before you buy a house that has a pool, you can contact the local electric company, water company, etc. and they will usually give you information about the utility bill on that house for the past 12 months.

BARRIERS

If you have children, you definitely need to consider a fence. In fact, a fence should be seriously considered even if you don’t have them yourself because your friends, neighbors or relatives might have kids. Many localities have barrier laws requiring not only a fence around the pool, but also self-latching gates and auto-closers on all doors leading to the pool. So be sure to check out and comply with pool barrier laws in your area. TREC requires that inspectors check for fencing and clsoures when applicable.

MAINTENANCE & OTHER COSTS:

Pumps and heaters may require repair/replacement from time to time, but they usually last many years if properly cared for. Some pools have a vacuum system that crawls the pool, while others have in-floor pop-up cleaning systems. Both will need to be repaired/replaced from time to time – the vacuums wear out and the pop-up heads sometimes get broken. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. The in-floor pop-up systems usually cost more when the pool is being built, but can reduce the amount of your time required to keep the pool clean. Vacuums need to be serviced regularly, and they still don’t last forever. When they can’t be repaired, vacuums cost several hundred dollars to replace. But the in-floor pop-ups can be even more expensive to repair if you need more than just a head replacement.

TIME INVESTMENT:

You should also consider the cost of your time. Think about how much time you’re willing to spend cleaning and maintaining your pool vs. how much time you will spend using your pool.

BUYING A HOME WITH A POOL vs. ADDING A POOL:

If you’re buying a home that already has a pool, you may have to be less picky about the type of pump, cleaning system and other features the pool has. But financially, it’s usually best to buy a house that already has a pool since the cost of adding a pool is much higher than what it will add to your property value. For example, adding a $25,000 pool might increase the home’s value by $10,000-$15,000. If you do buy a home with a pool, be sure to GET BOTH THE HOME AND THE POOL INSPECTED.

Adding a pool yourself will cost more, but you can choose whatever options you want. In this case, you should carefully consider which type of pool/cleaning system best fits your budget and your lifestyle.

Adding a pool might also affect future buyers. Not every buyer will want a pool, so you might consider how long you are going to be living in the house in order to enjoy the benefits.

But if you have made up your mind to have a pool, enjoy the water!

 

 

Can Inspectors Remove the Covers on Breaker Boxes?

I have heard from several realtors and buyers that their inspector did not remove the cover to the breaker box and sub-panel. Some inspectors say that only a licensed electrician is allowed to do this, and we as home inspectors have no business removing panel covers. This means that the inspection of the electrical panel is limited to looking at the outside… and that’s about it. It would be like inspecting a house, but not looking inside.

The basis for this seems to be claiming that this procedure is actually considered electrical work and we are not licensed electricians.

So to research the terms for this debate is as follows:

Unlicensed individuals. (a) An unlicensed individual means an individual who has not been licensed by the department to perform specific electrical work. An unlicensed individual shall not perform electrical workrequired to be performed by a licensed individual unless the individual has first registered with the department as an unlicensed individual. Thereafter, an unlicense individual shall not perform electrical work required to be performed by a licensed individual unless the work is performed under the direct supervision of an individual actually licensed to perform such work. The licensed individual and unlicensed individual must be employed by the same employer.

So what is considered electrical work? This term actually defines electrical work:

Electrical work: “Electrical work” means the installing, altering, repairing, planning, or laying out of electrical wiring, apparatus, or equipment for electrical light, heat, power, technology circuits or systems, or other purposes.

Clearly, removing a panel cover to inspect the inside does not constitute electrical work, but follows the minimum guidelines set forth by TREC.

There are times when panels cannot be accessed, such as locks, screws, furniture placement, paint, etc. but when clear access is given the panel should be removed.

 

One of the most common questions we get in the home inspection business is “What do you charge for a home inspection?”

Prospective clients ask because they are trying to find the inspector that offers the best deal. When buyers are only concerned with price, they have already made an assumption that all home inspectors offer the same thing, and they assume they’re comparing apples to apples, which just isn’t true.

Here are a few important questions to ask before deciding on a home inspector and to help make sure you are making a fair comparison when it comes down to price versus experience. This is all information that home inspectors typically list on their web sites or will answer for you in a phone consultation.

* Find out how long they’ve been in business and ask for their TREC license number. The lower the number, the longer they should typically have been doing inspections.

* How available is the inspector or his office staff to answer questions and provide you with the information you need to feel comfortable in the booking process? Did they return your call in a timely fashion if you left a message? You should feel you are in competent hands and that all of your concerns have been met. One of the top “pet peeves” that we hear of from buyers is to feel they have been treated as if they are incapable of understanding the inspection process and terminology and that they are wasting the inspectors time by asking simple questions.

* Is this the inspectors primary job or is this just a part-time hobby?

* Read client testimonials or request references.

* Ask about their qualifications and experience. Twenty-five years of industry experience doesn’t equate to twenty-five years of “Home Inspection” experience.

* View a sample inspection report. Most inspectors will furnish one upon request or have one posted to their websites.When reviewing a sample report, there is much more to look for than just the form and photos. Watch out for “fillers” such as maintenance tips or DIY items that make the report seem longer but can confuse the buyer as to which items are actually defects.

When picking out a home inspector, spend some time researching inspectors, even if you receive several different names of inspectors from your real estate agent. Ask the agent if they have used this inspector (or would they) on their own property. Ask friends, neighbors, co-workers and relatives if they have used an inspector recently that they would use again to purchase their next property.

The fee for an inspection should be based on the job completion itself, not hourly. We base our price on age, square footage, type of foundation and extra systems such as HVAC, sprinkler, pools, etc. That can determine how long an inspection will run. Of course, every house is maintained at different degrees and a house in better condition and well-maintained will inspect easier than a house that has fallen into disrepair even at the same age.

If you’ve narrowed down your search to several inspectors and still can’t decide, go with experience and price to value. Some inspectors with lots of experience may have very little overhead, such as a home office versus a professional building, so they can afford to pass the savings on to you. The most expensive doesn’t equate to the most experience if they charge more because they only do several a week. The cheapest doesn’t equate to the best value if they don’t have the experience and they are just trying to build up the business.

You should feel by the time you have booked your inspection that you are comfortable with the price, standards and experience of your home inspection company.  Now you are ready for the next step, the inspection itself.

There’s a ton of web sites out there offering all the same basic advice on Christmas light safety; don’t use frayed cords, don’t use damaged lights, etc. I think most people have this basic knowledge of Christmas Lights 101. I was curious what could really pose a threat if you’re using new lights and new extension cords, so I thought I’d do a little math and figure it out.

There are three main places for potential failure when installing Christmas lights – extension cords, power strips, and light cords. I’m assuming the lights will be plugged in to a standard 15 amp outlet, and nothing else is running on that circuit (lighting, TVs, radial arm saws, etc).

Lights: I took a brand new string of 150 lights and examined the fine print on the warning label. The lights draw .54 amps. This means that you could theoretically have 27 sets of lights plugged in to one circuit, and you would use 14.58 amps – just below the tripping point of a standard 15 amp breaker. Each string of lights has a 3 amp fuse built in to the plug, so you could potentially have five strings of lights plugged in to each other, end to end, to get 2.7 amps. For the record though, I’ve always heard that you shouldn’t use more than three.

If you notice the date code on lights, you noticed more than the average person does. Most lights have been sitting in attics and closets for years. When lights and decorations go on clearance, most people buy for the next year to just leave in storage.

 

 

Power Strip: I just took a look at a cheap power strip that I had lying around in my garage and was surprised to see that the power strip was rated for 15 amps! This means in theory that the power strip should be able to deal with anything I plug in to it – if I overload it, the circuit breaker in my electric panel will trip.

Extension cord: I expected this to be the weakest link, but it’s not as weak as I thought; the smallest extension cord I could find online or in the store was rated for 13 amps. This means that if you plugged a power strip in to the end of the extension cord and ran 5 strings of lights (with 5 sets to a string), you would have a total of 25 sets pulling13.5 amps. This could start the extension cord on fire. Twenty-four sets of lights would probably be safe at 12.96 amps, giving you a total of 3,600 lights.  Most fires are started by improper use and overuse of an extension cord.

The bottom line? All the advice you hear/read on basic light 101 is right on. As long as you’re using new lights, new extension cords and new power strips, you shouldn’t have much to worry about, and you shouldn’t have to do any math. Just remember to read the safety labels and do some simple calculations if you think you’re using too many lights.

What if 3,600 lights isn’t enough? LED lights are a great alternative. They’re initially more expensive, but they use 80% – 90% less , saving money in the long run

What about the heat from the lights? Mythbusters already tried setting a Christmas tree on fire using only the heat from the bulbs and found it was impossible. They ended up using a neon transformer to set a tree on fire.

But all of this just means to keep the basics in mind.  Check and double-check your power strips, extension cords and the age of your lights.  Do not go overboard like the Griswalds in Christmas Vacation.  Safety of your house and family first to have a Happy Holiday Season!

 

Bathrooms need exhaust fans to help eliminate moisture problems.  When people take showers and baths, moisture gets pumped in to the air, which can cause mold, mildew, dampness and humidity.
If you live in a house without an exhaust fan in a bathroom that gets used for showers or baths often, install one.

If you’re going to install a fan, here are a few tips to make sure your fan works properly for your home.

• Choose a quality fan. You’ll want to balance noise level, performance, and price and there are many fans to choose from.  If you buy a cheap noisy fan, you probably won’t even want to turn it on.
• Make the exhaust duct short. A proper exhaust duct will need be as short as possible and take as few turns as possible.  The longer the duct and the more twists and turns it takes, the less air flow. 
• Don’t use a standard switch to control the fan. When a single switch controls the fan, people turn the fan on while in the shower or maybe after the shower, and turn the fan off when leaving the room.  The problem is that the fan doesn’t run long enough to remove enough moisture. Installing a timer that runs for at least a half hour, or installing a humidity sensing fan would be a better solution.

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs)

One of the most common items/defects on our inspection reports are GFCI protection or lack of. We will try and cover the basics of GFCI devices, how to test them, and what some of the newer features are.

The two most common types of GFCI devices are circuit breakers and outlets. A GFCI circuit breaker gets installed at the electric panel, and protects the entire circuit. This is a handy way to make sure everything on the circuit gets protected, and there is no need for individual GFCI outlets anywhere in the circuit. The other type, which everyone has already seen, is an outlet. The most common type of outlet is a duplex receptacle, which is shown below left.

One GFCI outlet can protect several other non-GFCI outlets when wired properly. Every GFCI outlet has screws behind the outlet labeled “line” and “load”. The current coming in to the outlet must always be connected to the “line” side of the outlet. If more outlets are going to be protected by the GFCI, they can be wired to the “load” side of the outlet. Many houses built in the eighties will have the exterior outlets, garage outlets, and bathroom outlets wired downstream from a GFCI outlet in the upper level bathroom. Today it’s common for a GFCI outlet at the kitchen countertop to protect several other outlets. This saves money.

A redundant way to wire GFCI outlets is to wire one GFCI downstream from a second GFCI outlet. This is wasteful, pointless, annoying, and it makes things difficult for the home inspector and anyone else that might trip the outlet, especially if the first GFCI outlet is hidden! Please don’t do this.

GFCI outlets should be tested every month because they can go bad, and a defective GFCI outlet doesn’t provide any life safety protection. To test a GFCI outlet or circuit breaker, simply press the test button. Here are the possible outcomes you can have by testing a GFCI outlet with the test button:

• Acceptable – The reset button pops and the power goes off. The GFCI device is functioning properly. Simply press the reset button to restore power.
• Unacceptable – The reset button doesn’t pop. This means the outlet is defective and should be replaced.
• Unacceptable – The reset button pops but the power doesn’t go off. This means the line and load are reversed at the outlet. This should be corrected. Newer “SmartLock” GFCI outlets that have a little lock symbol on the front have a built-in safety feature that prevents the outlet from getting energized if it’s incorrectly wired.
• Unacceptable – The reset button is already popped, the power is off, and the reset button won’t go in. This can happen on the newer “Smartlock” GFCI outlets if they’re improperly wired or the outlet has gone bad.
• Acceptable, but annoying – The outlet loses power when tested, but the reset button doesn’t move. This means someone wired the GFCI outlet downstream from a second GFCI outlet.

Another way to test GFCI outlets is to buy a tester. This is a great way to test standard outlets that are wired downstream from a GFCI device. Just plug it in to an outlet and press the test button. If the power goes out, the GFCI device is working properly. If the power stays on, it doesn’t mean the GFCI device is defective – sometimes GFCI testers won’t trip GFCI outlets. If this is the case, try the test button at the outlet.