Insurance Problems Caused By Home Inspection

I received a very odd phone call last year; a customer (I'll call Mary) called to tell me her insurance company was dropping her policy immediately after reading my inspection report for her home.  They told her there were 'too many problems'.  I’ve heard of insurance companies having specific reasons for denying insurance, but never such an ambiguous reason as ‘too many problems'.  I’m wondering if this is going to become a trend.

Mary jokingly told me that she should have hired a crappy inspector, but she was really looking for advice on what to do.  I asked Mary what would have happened if she had not given her insurance company a copy of her report?  Mary said her insurance company requires any house that is over 40 years old to have a professional home inspection performed.  That made me wonder – how do insurance companies define a professional home inspection?  In Minnesota there is no such thing as licensing for home inspectors, so anybody can call themselves a professional home inspector.

Out of curiosity and annoyance with her insurance company, I asked if a one-page document with a few of my recommendations would have sufficed, and she said it probably would have, but it’s too late now.  Once an insurance underwriter makes up their mind, it’s a done deal.  Or so I’ve heard.

I was able to refer Mary to a friend that works for Farmer’s Insurance, and she ended up getting a new policy for her home and car with him the same day (and hopefully saved some money!).  Mary had already tried a couple other companies, but as part of their screening process they asked if she had ever been denied insurance, and she was too worried about getting denied again to go any further in the process.  Farmers Insurance doesn’t ask about that.

While this was a strange situation because there wasn’t anything that specifically made the company deny insurance, there are some specific things that you can look for.  Many insurance companies will require correction of these conditions before insuring the home, or will give you a certain amount of time to have these items fixed:

• A fused electric service.
• Knob and Tube Electrical Wiring.
• Roof problems.  Some insurance companies perform their own drive-by inspection (where they don’t even climb on the roof), and if they don’t like what they see, they’ll require replacement of the roof at the owner’s expense.  There is no arguing with the insurance company about this decision.
• Tree problems.  My friend at Farmers Insurance said that his company is on a big ‘tree kick’, where they get very picky about tree branches being too close to the house.

If you’re in the market for a house, I recommend checking with your insurance agent early in the process for any red flags that you should know about ahead of time.  This quick phone call might save you a lot of hassle in the future.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

Reasons To Insulate Your Minnesota Home

With the cold weather officially here, it’s a good time to talk about insulation.  This is such a huge topic that I hardly know where to start!  There are so many different aspects to insulation that this will have to take up several blogs.  Today I’ll talk about why it’s important to have a well-insulated home.


Perhaps the most important reason to have a well-insulated home is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  While a recent survey conducted by Owens-Corning revealed that most Americans believe transportation and industry to be the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, in truth the largest contributor is buildings!  Buildings use 40% of our energy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.  The number is even higher in Minnesota - 60 to 80 percent! The most cost effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to better insulate buildings.  Yes, this is even better than driving a hybrid vehicle, but it's certainly not as hip.


The most obvious reason to better insulate your home is to reduce your heating and cooling bills – especially here in Minnesota.  Adding insulation to attic spaces is often a project that even unskilled homeowners can tackle, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money. Homeowners will typically see a payback in five to ten years. Adding insulation to poorly insulated walls is also a good thing to do and will surely help to save on heating and cooling costs, but this not as cost effective as adding insulation to an open attic area, as this will often require a professional to blow insulation in to the walls.


Arguably the most important reason to better insulate your home is to make it more comfortable. Even if a thermostat says it’s 70 degrees inside the home, poorly insulated walls will make a room feel much colder as the heat from your body radiates out to the relatively cold walls. In older houses with uneven heat, you may even have parts of the house that never warm up enough. I can tell you from experience that insulation makes an incredible difference in the comfort of a home. I live in a one-and-a-half story home with a finished upper level that used to be so cold in the winter that I couldn’t even use it. After re-insulating the upper level last year, I no longer need to heat the upper level! Enough heat rises up from the rest of the house to keep the upper floor so warm that I can shut off all the heat registers and it’s still comfortable.


There are many more reasons to properly insulate your home, but I’ll just mention one more that you’re surely aware of if you live in Minnesota; ice dams. While ice dams are a large subject on their own, suffice to say that lack of insulation can lead to large accumulations of ice at the edges of roofs that cause leaks in the home and destroy gutters.

In my next blog I'll talk about how to determine whether more insulation is necessary, and what critical steps need to be taken before adding insulation. Hint: the photos throughout this blog all show homes with major room for improvement!

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections


Related Post: Photos Of Problems With Explanations

Water Heater Replacement Options

When I replaced my first water heater, I was excited to get something larger, more efficient, and maybe even a little sexier.  As it turned out, getting a different type of water heater wasn’t my best option, and now I end up telling my customers the same thing.  If you’re in need of a new water heater, chances are pretty good that you have a 40 – 50 gallon gas water heater, and your best option for replacement will be with the exact same type.

A standard gas water heater is a pretty simple device – there’s a tank that holds water, a burner at the bottom of the tank, and a vent that takes the exhaust gas out of the house through gravity (the warm air rises).  There are several other types of water heaters, and I’m going to list some pros and cons of each type.

Standard Gas - This is what makes up the bulk of water heaters in Minneapolis and Saint Paul – I would estimate 95%.  They have a low cost, they're easy to replace, and they recover hot water relatively quickly.  On the downside, energy is lost by keeping water heated all day.  If you're replacing a standard water heater and there is a problem with the chimney or flue (which usually means it’s not up to code), it can be very expensive to repair the chimney or bring it up to code.

Powervent - These are similar to standard gas water heaters, but instead of the exhaust gases rising up and out of the house, a fan forces the exhaust gases through a plastic pipe out the side of the house.   The biggest advantage is that the exhaust gases don't need to rise up the house through the roof - these water heaters can be vented right through the side of the house.  These are a great option if there are problems with an existing standard water heater flue.  Unfortunately, they cost about twice as much as a standard water heater.  I’ve also noticed that they are frequently installed wrong; I would guess that about 50 – 75 percent of the powervent water heaters that I inspect are incorrectly installed.

Tankless – This type of water heater definitely generates the most interest.  These water heaters only heat the water that you use, so you’re not wasting money by keeping 40 gallons of water hot all day.  They use less energy, take up less space, and provide an endless supply of hot water.  Unfortunately, they cost about three times as much as a standard water heater, and it's very expensive to convert from a standard water heater to a tankless - so much so that getting a payback in energy savings is out of the question.  They also provide a limited volume of hot water; a standard tank will give you all the hot water you want until it's gone, but a tankless water heater produces a limited amount at once.  Click the following link for an in-depth research paper on tankless water heaters.

Electric – Electric water heaters are probably the easiest to install and easiest to replace.  There is no venting required, so they can be installed in small places or in places where it would be difficult or impossible to run a vent.  The biggest downside to electric water heaters is that they take a long time to recover hot water.  Once you’re out of hot water, you’re out for a long time.  I don’t recommend electric water heaters if you have the choice of using gas instead.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

Houses Don't Need CO2 Alarms

There are many common misconceptions about furnaces, water heaters, and carbon monoxide that I hear repeated on a daily basis, and I’d like to clear a few of them up.


False: Carbon Monoxide is also called CO2.  Carbon Monoxide is CO. Carbon Dioxide is CO2.  (Mono = 1, Di = 2)


False: Cracked heat exchangers create CO.  CO is caused by incomplete combustion, period.  A cracked heat exchanger does not create CO.  A heat exchanger is the part of a furnace that transfers heat from the flames to the household air.  A functional heat exchanger keeps the household air and the combustion gases completely separate from each other.  If a furnace has a cracked heat exchanger, the combustion gases can mix with the household air.  It’s usually just a little bit, but this is still unacceptable, and it means the furnace or heat exchanger should be replaced.  The photos below show cracks in heat exchangers (click the photos for full-sized images).

   

False: Cracked heat exchangers can be fixed.  They can’t be fixed.  The heat exchanger or entire furnace needs to be replaced.



False: High CO levels = cracked heat exchanger.  See above.  We test the CO levels in the flue gas, which has nothing to do with a cracked heat exchanger.  Heat exchangers fail when the metal rusts through or when it cracks.  CO does not cause this.


False: High CO levels in the flue gas mean the furnace is leaking CO.  If there is a high level of CO in the flue gas, there is a potential for the exhaust gases to mix with the household air, or ‘leak’.  One way would be for the exhaust gases to backdraft, which means that instead of rising up and out of the house, they come back down the flue.  The other way would be because of a cracked heat exchanger.  If we find high levels of CO in the flue gas, we recommend immediate repair – it doesn’t matter if the gases are mixing with the household air at the time of the inspection or not, because this condition could potentially change at any time.  Higher CO levels can often be fixed.


False: Backdrafting at a furnace or water heater means CO is coming in to the home.Backdrafting means that exhaust gases are spilling back in to the home, rather than going up the flue.  A properly functioning water heater or furnace will not create CO, so you can’t say CO is coming in to the home unless you test the exhaust gases; we do this at every inspection.  Click here to see a video of me inspecting a furnace.  While backdrafting doesn’t mean CO is coming in to the home, this is still a potentially hazardous situation that requires immediate correction.  Backdrafting has the potential to allow CO in to the home, and will always contain CO2 (carbon dioxide), which can cause sickness and headaches in higher concentrations.

Wrong Term: Hot water heater.  Just 'water heater'.  The heated water that comes out is hot.
To summarize, high levels of CO need to be fixed, cracked heat exchangers need replacement, and backdrafting is never ok.  These three things are all independent, but a combination of these conditions is especially dangerous.  When using these terms, make sure you have them correct.  It makes a difference.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

RELATED POST: Commonly Mistaken And Mis-Used Terms, Part II

Gravity Furnaces

If you’re buying a home with a gravity furnace, you should have the furnace replaced.  Gravity furnaces are those huge ‘octopus’ furnaces that can just about fill up a whole room with ductwork.  They are called gravity furnaces because it’s gravity that distributes warm air – the warm air weighs less than cold air, so it rises.  These furnaces don’t have blower fans, and there is little that can go wrong with them.  While I rarely find any safety issues or problems with gravity furnaces, the main reasons to replace them are money, efficiency, and comfort.

The biggest concern for most people is the money it takes to heat a home with a gravity furnace.  Gravity furnaces typically cost about twice as much to operate as a modern forced air furnace, because they are terribly inefficient.  Gravity furnaces just have a huge flame that warms up the air in the ductwork, and all of the exhaust gas that leaves your home through the chimney is wasted heat.  On a gravity furnace, about half the heat generated goes up the chimney, making it about 50% efficient.  Newer furnaces can be as high as 95% efficient.

While money and efficiency go hand-in-hand, I’m listing them separately because replacing your old gravity furnace is also good for the environment; the more efficient your furnace is, the less greenhouse gases get released in to the atmosphere.  Replacing old gravity furnaces is a ‘green’, socially responsible thing to do!

Your home will be much more comfortable with a forced air furnace.  Old gravity furnaces operate by allowing the heated air to rise up the middle of the home, and the cool air falls back down along the outside walls, making the middle of the house warm and the outside walls fairly cold (see diagrams below).  Additionally, with a forced air furnace you’ll now have the option of adding central air conditioning, which is not possible with a gravity furnace because there is no blower fan to distribute the air.

 

With all the benefits of replacing a gravity furnace, why don’t more people do it?  Cost.  A gravity furnace and the ductwork for a gravity furnace will almost always contain asbestos.  An asbestos abatement contractor will need to remove the old furnace, which obviously drives up the cost of the replacement.  The ductwork will also need to be modified, because the new furnace should have smaller supply ducts going to the outside walls, and larger return ducts on the inside walls.  This is the opposite of how gravity furnaces are designed to work.

Besides all of the logical explanations for replacing or not replacing a gravity furnace, you should also consider the emotional aspects; most home buyers that I work with are very nervous about buying homes with gravity furnaces.   I always wonder how many potential buyers already passed on a home just because they were worried about the gravity furnace!

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

Converting Two-Prong Outlets

A common question I get about older homes is whether two-prong outlets can safely be changed over to three-prong outlets.  Most home buyers today don’t want to be stuck with two-prong outlets throughout the house.  Two-prong outlets can always be changed to three-prong, and this can be accomplished a few different ways.  Today I’ll give a very brief explanation of what the third prong is for, and I’ll discuss a few ways to convert to a three prong outlet.  I didn’t consult an attorney before writing this article, so I feel like I should add a disclaimer before giving any electrical how-to advice: Don’t do any of this work if you’re not qualified.  This is only an overview.

The third prong on an outlet is commonly referred to as 'the ground’, and it provides an alternate path for electricity that may stray from an appliance or product.  This is an important safety feature that has been required since 1962, which minimizes the risk of electric shock, and allows surge protectors to

protect your electrical equipment, such as televisions, computers, stereos, and other devices.

The ideal way to upgrade a two prong outlet is to install a three prong outlet that has a continuous electrical path back to the panel.  If the outlet is installed in a metal box, and that metal box has metal conduit all the way back to the panel, this will probably be pretty easy to do.  To test this, you can use an inexpensive pig-tail electrical tester, which is available at any hardware store for about two dollars.  With the circuit energized, touch one end of the tester to the hot wire, which should go to the smaller slot on the outlet, and one end of the tester to the electrical box  (see photo below left).  If the tester lights up, the box is grounded.  Now all you need to do is attach a bare copper wire to the box, and use this as the ground wire for a three prong outlet (see photo below right).

If you perform the test with a pig-tail tester and the light doesn’t light up when you touch the hot wire to the box, the box is not grounded (or you’re not touching a hot wire).  In this case, you could run a ground wire back to the panel, or you could replace your two-prong outlet with a GFCI outlet.  A GFCI outlet provides the best possible protection against shocks, but without a ground wire, this outlet will not provide any protection for your electrical equipment.  A surge protector plugged in to an ungrounded outlet will do nothing, and you could fry your new plasma TV.  You will need to add a sticker to the GFCI outlet that reads “No Equipment Ground” – this sticker comes with every GFCI outlet.

What about two-prong to three-prong adapters?  These can only be safely used on a groundedtwo-prong outlet.  A pig-tail tester will light up on a grounded two-prong outlet if you touch one lead to the smaller slot on the outlet, and the other lead to the screw in the middle of the outlet.

 

If this is the case, you can safely use a two-prong to three-prong adapter, as long as you secure it to the outlet with the cover plate screw.  Any other use of a two-prong adapter is unsafe.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

Inspections, Permits, And Other Public Property Information

While real estate web sites give the most important information about homes to potential buyers, there are many other free, easy to use web sites that give additional information about properties.  Before I inspect houses for potential buyers, I typically do a little research on the property so I can pay special attention to certain areas.  Here are a few of my favorite web sites – if you love looking at properties online, or maybe just snooping on your neighbors, bookmark these sites.

• Minneapolis One Stop – Minneapolis properties have the most detailed property information available.  You can view Minneapolis Truth in Housing reports performed after 2/26/07, and any open repair items.  If you’re buying a foreclosure in Minneapolis, this is a great way to find out what repair items you’ll be responsible for.  Permit history is available for properties going back about 20 years – at the permit page, clicking the blue “i” will give you detailed permit information.  You can also use this site to look up taxes, owner information, rental and business licenses, and more.

• Saint Paul Property Info – This is a great site for property information on Saint Paul homes, but not as detailed as Minneapolis.  This site is not quite as easy to use, but you can use it to look up permit history, Saint Paul Truth in Housing reports, rental and animal license history (have pets lived at this house?), and citizen complaint information about properties, among many other things.  Click here for instructions on how to look up Saint Paul Truth in Housing reports.

• Plymouth My Property Information – For properties in Plymouth, you can view permit details, appraisal history, owner information, and even a photo of the front of the home.

• Hennepin County Property Information Search – Great information on Hennepin County properties.  This site gives owner information, information on the last sale of a property, and decent aerial photos (click on “View Map”, and then on the right, click on “2) Click For Oblique Aerials”).  I frequently use this feature if I can’t find a photo of a home I’m going to inspect and I want to know if I need to bring my extension ladder to get on the roof.

*One word of caution for this site – this information is not as reliable as information given by specific cities.  I recently inspected a home that was listed by the Realtor and by Hennepin County as a tri-plex, but it had been illegally converted, and would not qualify for a rental license.  The City of Minneapolis had the property listed as a duplex, and I was told that Hennepin County just publishes the information they’re given – their information is not verified.

• Anoka County, Carver County, Dakota County, Ramsey County, Scott County, and Washington County – Similar information to Hennepin County.

• Zillow – Gives a surprising amount of information about properties whether they’re listed for sale or not.  This gives property estimates for all of the properties in neighborhoods, which is somewhat accurate.  The web site claims to be within 20% of the sale price of 68% of homes sold in the Minneapolis/ Saint Paul area.  This site also gives sale history, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, aerial photos, and Google Street Views when available.  Try looking up your own home to see how accurate it is (or isn’t).

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

Combustion Air Ducts

Everyone knows that oxygen is required for a fire, right?  So where does the oxygen come from for your furnace, gas water heater, fireplace, and other fuel-burning appliances?  Typically, this is supplied through a combustion air duct.  You’ll find combustion air ducts on almost all newer houses, and on many houses that have had new furnaces or water heaters installed.  While it was once thought that these ducts were not as necessary on older, drafty homes, newer research has shown that these leaks are not always reliable, and they are never desirable.

In homes that have bathroom exhaust fans and kitchen exhaust fans, it is especially important to have a combustion air duct installed.  While combustion air ducts are not intended to provide make-up air for exhaust fans, this is really what they end up doing, in addition to replacing the air that gets used by the fuel-burning appliances.  While it’s beyond the scope of this blog to get in to the specifics of how these are all inter-related, there are a couple of simple, but very important things to do as a homeowner.

• Don’t block the duct opening.  This is the easiest, most obvious thing that you can do (or not do?).  The photo below shows a typical combustion air duct, with the opening un-obstructed.  You’ll feel cold air coming out of this duct on to the floor in the winter, and this is air that needs to come in to the house.  I’ve seen people tape the bottoms of these ducts shut, and I’ve seen rags stuffed in to the duct.  This is very bad idea, as carbon monoxide could be produced from lack of combustion air.  To help keep cold air from dumping in to the house, a loop can be created at the bottom of the duct, or a bucket placed below it, as long as it doesn’t reduce the overall opening.

 

• Make sure the intake is un-obstructed.  In Minnesota, the intake is required to be located at least 12” above the ground, to help keep it clear from snow, leaves, and other debris.  If the intake is closer than this, consider having it raised.  If there is a damper installed at the opening at the exterior, remove it.  Dampers allow air out, not in! I’ve seen dampers installed on many homes when the vinyl siding installers didn’t know what the opening was for, so they installed a damper, which blocks the combustion air opening.

• Keep the intake clean.  This is something you should check at least once a year.  The intake will be located at the exterior of your home, and looks like the one pictured below.  There should be a 1/4 steel screen installed, which will keep larger pests from entering in to your home.  If this screen is dirty, clean it with a wet/dry vac.

When I inspect houses, I check for all these things and I share this information with my clients.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

Preparing Your Home For The Inspection

Home inspections can be a major source of stress for people selling their homes.  If you’re selling your home and want to make your inspection go better, the easiest and most obvious thing to do would be to hire your own private inspector to go through your house before the buyers have it inspected.  This is a seller’s inspection.  If you don’t want to have this done, there are still a few simple things you can do to make the buyer’s inspection go better.  This advice also applies to Truth-in-Housing Inspections.

Change your furnace filter. This is the simplest no-brainer.  When I inspect a house and find a nasty furnace filter, I’ll often recommend having the furnace and ductwork cleaned.  A dirty filter also shows a lack of maintenance and care for your home.

Fix electrical hazards. This seems like an easy one, but it’s a very common problem that sometimes has easy fixes. Any extension cords that are being used in lieu of permanent wiring should be removed, and outlets installed if necessary.  The two most common places are at garage door openers and water softeners.  Also, go through your home and look for missing cover plates – look at outlets, light switches, and junction boxes.  Here are the most common places to find missing cover plates:

• The garage, especially at the outlet for the opener
• The kitchen – behind the fridge, behind the stove, above the microwave, and under the kitchen sink.
• In the laundry room
• Unfinished basement areas

Fix plumbing leaks. This should be another no-brainer, but to be sure, go through your home and test all of your plumbing fixtures for leaks.  Repair or replace your laundry sink faucet if it leaks around the stem or the handles.  Fill up every sink with four inches of water, let it drain, and carefully examine the drain lines for any leaks. To test your shower for leaks, read my blog on how to find shower leaks.

Test your garage door opener. Place a 2x4 flat on ground and let the overhead door close on it.  If the door goes back up, it’s working the way it should.  If it doesn’t, adjust the sensitivity settings on your opener so it auto-reverses when it hits the 2x4.  If you can’t get this happen, replace the opener.  Warning: this test could cause damage to your opener, and some home inspectors won’t do this test.

Check your gutters and downspouts. Clean your gutters, and repair any leaking joints.  Make sure all of your downspout extensions are properly connected, and make sure they drain well away from the house – six to ten feet is ideal.

Make everything accessible. If your attic access is in a closet, move whatever personal belongings you have that would prevent access to the attic.  If you have a crawl space, make sure that area is accessible as well.  If it looks like items have been stored to intentionally block access to an area, it raises red flags.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

Gas Leaks

On Sunday, September 21st, a gas explosion demolished a vacant fourplex in north Minneapolis.  This was the second north Minneapolis home to have this happen since March.  I’ll go out on a limb and say I’m sure both explosions were caused by natural gas leaks, which were both the results of copper thieves doing their thing.  In both cases, neighboring residents reported strong natural gas odors before the explosions.  Natural gas is obviously dangerous, but really, how dangerous?

I believe that the utility companies cater to the lowest denominator when it comes to public service announcements about gas.  I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying; “If you smell gas, get out!”  I’ve heard the same radio commercial many times saying not to turn on a light switch, use the phone, a computer, etc… just leave the area immediately.  I’m not going to say this is bad advice – better safe than sorry, I’m sure, but I’d like to share some of my experiences with natural gas.

To start, I find gas leaks in about one out of every three houses I inspect.  These leaks are very small – sometimes so small I can’t smell the leak unless I’m very close to the pipe.  I use an electronic gas detector to find these, and I spray the suspected leak with a soap and water solution to verify that it’s really a leak, and not just a false reading by my detector.  If I see little bubbles, I report it as a minor leak, and recommend repair by a plumber.  I’ve never evacuated a house because of a leak, and I’ve never called the gas company.

How serious are these minor leaks?  To find out, I did a little testing at my own house.  I feel like I need to preface this with Don’t Try This At Home (there).  I started my test by spraying soap and water on a gas fitting and slowly loosening the connection until bubbles started forming (pictured below, left).  At this point, I could barely smell gas by putting my nose to the pipe.  I held a lighter to the gas leak… nothing.  I opened the nut more and more, and was finally able to get a small blue flame about half the size of the flame on my lighter.  At this point, I could faintly smell it from a few feet away, and got a bubble about two inches wide (pictured below, right).

 

With this much gas coming out, about half of what a cigarette lighter would emit, I would recommend immediate repair and would also notify the owner of the leak so they could get it fixed right away.  For the smaller leaks that are barely noticeable, I note them in my inspection reports and recommend repair, but I don’t consider them an imminent safety hazard.  So there, I said it; not all gas leaks are hazardous.  If you walk in to a room and smell gas, that’s a problem, and you should heed the gas company’s advice.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

Buying A Townhouse? Have The Exterior Inspected Too.

If you’re buying a townhouse, have the common areas inspected; not just the inside of the home.  I always quote the same price to inspect a townhouse as a single family home, because I inspect townhouses the same way; the roof, siding, windows… everything on the outside.  Some people feel that these items don’t need to be looked at because they’re covered by the association, but these are well worth having inspected, regardless of whether they’re covered or not.

The most obvious and logical reason to have the common areas at a townhouse inspected is to make sure you know what you’re buying.  Home buyers frequently assume that the common areas, such as the roof, don’t need inspection on a townhouse because it’s not their responsibility.  What happens if the roof starts leaking and causes a big stain on your ceiling?  The association will likely be responsible for repairing or replacing the roof, but who takes care of the water damage in your unit?  Even if you don’t end up spending a dime on the repairs, just the amount of time you could spend dealing with these types of repairs would make it well worth your while to have the common areas on a townhouse inspected.

Another great reason to have the common areas inspected is that the association may not be aware of problems, and may not have repairs in the budget.  If an association is budgeting to replace the roofs 10 years from now, but there’s only two years left on the roofs, who pays for it?  The owners, of course. This is what assessments are all about!  I was once a member of an association where we had several assessments in one year, the largest of which was a $1200 assessment to replace the failing driveways.  The extra money you pay to have these items inspected is a wise investment.

If one of my customers specifically doesn’t want the common areas inspected, I’ll skip them and typically charge $75.00 - $100.00 less for the inspection, but I strongly advise against this.  In the long run, this fee is a drop in the bucket compared to the repair costs that just one failed component could cost.  Below are some photos of a few costly repairs I’ve identified at townhouses just within the last year.  As you look through these photos, just ask yourself if the association is aware of these issues, and has a budget to repair or replace these items.  The answer is often no.

Click any of these photos for a larger version.

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Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Townhome Inspections

Do You Really Need To Test For Lead?

Lead isn't something to be afraid of, but rather something to be aware of.  When people call asking about lead testing in Minneapolis or Saint Paul, I usually end up talking them out of it.  I tell my clients that if their house was built before 1960, it's almost a guarantee that the paint in the house has lead.  If the house was built before 1978, there's a 3-in-4 chance it has lead.  Lead stopped being added to paint in 1978.

Lead is primarily a concern for fetuses and young children.  Elevated blood lead levels in children will lead to lower IQs, shorter attention spans, and developmental delays, among other things.  Infants are more prone to lead exposure because they put everything, including their hands, in their mouth.  Toddlers touch everything and put everything in their mouth, so a child playing on a floor with lead dust is at high risk for lead poisoning.  Window sills are also a great place for children to chew while peering out the window.

 

To keep children safe from lead poisoning or elevated blood lead levels, here are some tips:

• Keep a clean house.  This is the most important one.  Painted double-hung windows rub on the track every time they open and close, and this creates dust.  The EPA recommends using powdered dishwasher detergent (which has a high phosphate content) in warm water to clean floors and windows, which are the two most common places for lead to accumulate.   Ordinary multi-purpose cleaners are not effective at removing lead dust.
• Do not remove old paint yourself; if you need old paint removed, have it tested for lead, and professionally abated if needed.
• Try to keep your children from playing in dirt, and especially from eating it.  Dirt can get contaminated with lead from scraping old paint on the outside of a house.  If they must play with dirt, wash their hands after being outside.

Most parents that call me asking about having lead tested are the same parents that will take the necessary steps to prevent their children from getting lead poisoning.  They are concerned parents that will wash their children's hands, keep them from eating dirt, and keep a clean house.   This is why I don't recommend testing for lead.  To be clear, I'm not telling anyone to not test for lead, I just don't recommend it.

If I perform a lead test and find that the paint contains lead, I recommend to the client the same things I just listed above.  The EPA recommends leaving lead paint alone, or having it professionally removed, which can be quite costly; so much so that it typically isn't done any more.  If your home was built before 1978, assume there is lead and take the neccessary precautions.
For more detailed information from the EPA, follow these links below.

General Information on Lead

Reducing Lead Hazards When Remodeling Your Home

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections