Anti-Tip Brackets

A defect that home inspectors find at 49 out of 50  houses is a missing anti-tip bracket at the range.  An  anti-tip bracket is a device that is installed at the floor below the range or on the wall behind the range to keep it from tipping over, should a child attempt to climb on an open oven door.  Anti-tip brackets have been used on ranges since the late 1980s, and became mandatory in 1991.  This is an important safety feature, especially for homes where small children live or visit.

To check your range to see if an anti-tip bracket has been properly installed, either look behind the range to see if it's there, or carefully tip the range forward to see if a bracket keeps it from tipping forward more than about 2”.  If you don’t have an anti-tip bracket installed, then your bracket has probably been thrown away – I happen to know that this happens most of the time!  To obtain a replacement bracket for your range, contact the manufacturer.  Click here for a list of phone numbers.

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

I Didn't Kill The Deal, The House Did

I received a phone call from a home seller last summer complaining I killed the deal on his house. I inspected his home for the new buyers, and they decided not to buy it after I inspected it because there were so many issues identified at the inspection.  The owner called me and said that I went overboard with my comments, and wanted to make sure I knew that it was my fault that the buyers backed out of the deal.  That call drove me nuts.

The angry homeowner told me that one of the items I called out was not a problem because the  building official had signed off on the home when it was built.  I actually felt my ears get hot when he told me that – if you’ve read my blog on New Construction Inspections, you know that a ton of stuff gets missed during new construction, and it’s always a good idea to have new houses privately inspected.  Even if the home had been properly built 11 years ago, it’s my job to tell the new buyer that houses aren’t built this way any more because problems can occur. I told the angry homeowner in a passionate, yet professional manner, that just because a building official signed off on something 11 years ago doesn’t make it ok with me.  I should have ended the call instead of getting dragged in to a conversation about my inspection, but I couldn’t help myself – I’m proud of my work, and I stand behind it.

Before ending the call, the angry homeowner wanted to know if I would have bought the home.  That’s a loaded question that I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.  I told the homeowner that I don’t know what his home is selling for, what the terms of the purchase agreement are, or what the property is actually worth.  Without carefully going over all of those things, I wouldn’t know if a property was a good buy or not.  A home inspection is never a pass / fail, and I never give advice on whether or not to buy a house.  My job is to make sure the buyer is making an informed decision.

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

Dryer Safety

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that in 1998, there were 15,600 fires related to clothes dryers.  These fires caused 20 deaths and 370 injuries.  Dryer ducts are one of the items that I most commonly find problems with when I inspect homes, but keeping your dryer safe is usually an easy thing to do.  The two problems I find are improper installations and lack of maintenance.

Improper installations on dryer ducts are rampant.  The most obvious, and possibly most common defect, is plastic dryer ducts.   Plastic is not allowed for dryer ducts because lint can easily accumulate in the duct when it sags, and plastic will not contain a fire.

Flexible foil ducts are allowed, but these are little better than plastic.  Any plastic dryer ducts should be considered a potential fire hazard, and should be replaced with rigid metal.  If flexible material must be used, a maximum of eight feet is allowed.  Use the metal type, like the kind pictured below.

Another common installation defect is the length of the ducting.  The Minnesota State Mechanical Code states that dryer ducts may be no longer than 25 feet, and for each 90 degree turn, you subtract 5 feet.  Most dryer ducts make a 90 degree turn as soon as the duct comes out of the dryer, run up to the ceiling about 8 feet, and then make another 90 degree turn at the ceiling.  This adds up to 18 feet, and the duct hasn’t even run horizontally yet!  Some dryers are designed for longer ducts, and the code allows a longer run if the dryer is made for it, but you need to check the dryer installation instructions.

I find most problems with the length of dryer ducts at condos and townhouses, but I have also come across a few interesting solutions recently.  At a condo in Saint Louis Park, the placard pictured below was attached to the wall – I was very impressed!  At a condo building in Saint Paul, an inline pressure-activated fan had been installed in the dryer duct to allow the duct to be much longer than 25 feet.  Sorry for the picture quality – I only had my phone with me when I came across this.

The last common problem I’ll discuss is blocked or clogged ducts.  This is typically caused by ducts made of improper material or ducts that are too long getting clogged with lint, but can be prevented with regular maintenance.  If there is a screen cover at the dryer exhaust (such as the one pictured below), remove it – these are unnecessary on dryers, and they are not  allowed.

I once inspected a dryer exhaust at a 20 year old townhouse because the homeowner complained that their clothes got very hot in the dryer, but never dried.  I found about three inches of lint packed at the exhaust because a screen was clogging it! Clean the lint filter between each load, and clean your dryer duct periodically, or have the cuct cleaned professionally.
Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections

Are Fuse Panels Safe?

Why are people scared of fuses?  Many people think that fuses are unsafe, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  A properly installed fuse is just as safe as a circuit breaker, but there are many reasons why fused homes can have problems, and I’ll discuss a few of the most common problems.

To start, how can I say that a properly installed fuse is as safe as a circuit breaker?  A fuse will only handle the amount of amperage that it is rated for.  If a fuse is rated for 15 amps and more than 15 amps passes through the fuse, a thin strip of carefully calibrated metal will vaporize, which opens the circuit (in other words, kills the power).  A fuse will never allow more current to pass through than what it is rated for.  Circuit breakers are designed to trip when too much current passes through for too long a period of time.  Circuit breakers can be reset after they trip, which is a huge advantage over fuses, but they don’t add any level of safety.

Today, circuit breakers are used in homes instead of fuses.  The main reason is that a circuit breaker can be re-used.  Once a fuse blows, it has to be replaced. Old electric services will have fuses, and old electric services can have problems.  This is why people get scared of fuses.  A typical 60 amp fuse box might have one 240 volt circuit for an air conditioner or electric range, plus four more fuses for the rest of the wiring in the home.  Compared to the minimum number of circuits required today, this is totally insufficient.

In a new home, a kitchen will typically have one circuit for the dishwasher, one for the disposer, two for the countertop outlets, one for the lights, and another for the microwave and fridge.  This is a minimal installation, and many electricians will also put the fridge on its own circuit, and have another 240 volt circuit for an electric range.  This adds up to nine spaces in an electric panel.  The example I gave for an old 60 amp panel only has six spaces available for the entire house!

With today’s demand for electricity, old services are usually inadequate.  To make up for this, occupants will often use fuses that are too large for the wires, which will keep fuses from blowing, but also creates a fire hazard.  The photo below shows a wire that is only rated for 15 amps connected to a 30 amp fuse.

Many times, people will add several wires on to one fuse, but each fuse is supposed to have one wire.  This is often referred to double tapping, or double lugging.  This is a very common defect for both fuse panels and breaker panels in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, but the repair is usually quite simple at a breaker panel; not so for an overloaded fuse panel. The diagram below illustrates this.

A typical service upgrade from a fuse panel to a breaker panel will be in the $1500 - $2000 range.  The price will continue to go up if new circuits are added to the home.  A good home inspection will identify immediate defects or hazards with a fused electric service, but will not determine whether the service is adequate for the new owners needs.  The bottom line is that there is nothing inherently wrong with fuses, but I do find problems with the wiring in most fused services.

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

Carbon Monoxide Alarm Requirements For Minnesota

Carbon monoxide alarms have been required in new homes in Minnesota since January 2007, and have been required in existing single family homes since August 1st, 2008.  CO alarms need to be installed within ten feet of every room lawfully used for sleeping purposes.  "Installed” means hardwired, plugged in to an outlet, or attached to the wall if battery operated.

Because the requirement for CO alarms is a Minnesota Statute (not a rule), the requirements for CO alarms will not be enforced by building officials - although some may choose to enforce them anyways.
The cities of Minneapolis and South Saint Paul enforce the requirement for CO alarms through their Truth-in-Housing programs.  The cities of Saint Paul and Maplewood require evaluators to list missing CO alarms as a hazard, but homeowners do not need to fix this hazard.

To keep current with today’s requirements and to keep your home safe, I recommend upgrading to today’s standards.   I have hardwired, interconnected smoke detectors throughout my home, so I replaced two of the hardwired smoke detectors with combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.  Of all the ways to install a carbon monoxide alarm, this is the most difficult, but it only takes about 15 minutes.

The full requirements for carbon monoxide alarms can be found at Minnesota Statute 299F.50

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

Break The Attic 'Seal'? Yes, Every Time!

One of the biggest sources of contention I’ve had to deal with doing home inspections is whether or not a sealed attic access panel should be ‘broken’ to access the attic; even more specifically, whether or not I should be allowed to break the seal.  If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, here’s a photo of an attic access panel. To understand this issue, you need to understand why this panel is here and why it has been sealed.

First, the access panel is here because it is required by the Minnesota State Building Code.  The panel is here for me (or anyone else) to use to get in to the attic to inspect it, or to do work.  That’s it, plain and simple.  The Minnesota State Building Code, section R807.1 says

“…an attic access opening shall be provided to attic areas that exceed 30 square feet and have a vertical height of 30 inches or greater.”

This covers just about every attic space.  Outside of Minnesota, the building code will typically read the exact same way, as this is taken from the International Residential Code.

So why is the panel sealed?  In a new home, the panel only gets incidentally ‘sealed’.  The panel does not get attached to anything; it just gets set down on the opening. When the ceiling finish is applied, which is often spray texture, the seam between the panel and the rest of the ceiling gets covered over.  This is what people are referring to when they say the access has been ‘sealed.’  There is very rarely any caulking or adhesive keeping this panel in place.

This can become a subject of contention when I inspect a house where no one has been in the attic since the ceiling finish has been applied… or as most people say, the access has been sealed.  I say ‘sealed’ too, just because it’s easier than saying “incidentally covered over with a finished surface.”  My evaluation of the attic is a major part of a home inspection, and it’s important for buyers to know about any defects in the attic.  This is a place that homeowners may never even go in to as long as they own their home.  For this reason, I break the seal on just about every home I inspect, but I never do this without permission from the buyer.

The biggest sources of contention come from parties attending the inspection that are under the impression that attic spaces in new homes don’t need to be inspected.  Well, by that logic, new homes wouldn’t need to be inspected at all.  Please check out my blog on New Construction Inspections, and you’ll understand how important inspections are on newly built properties.  A large portion of the problems I find in new construction homes occur in the attic.  Just for fun, here's a photo I took at a 2004 built Minneapolis townhouse - yes, this attic was completely uninsulated.  Don't listen to anyone that tells you new attics don't need to be inspected, or that attic access panels shouldn't be opened.  They're not looking out for your best interest, or they've been mis-informed.

Missing Insulation

The other common argument I hear about not going in the attic is that the panel will look bad after I open it.  This just isn’t true.  If a knife is used to cut the panel open, it will usually leave a noticeable scar in the ceiling, but if the panel is lightly bumped open, it will usually set back down and look almost identical to the way it did before I opened it.  Much of the time, you can’t even tell the difference between a sealed and unsealed panel unless you look closely.

The bottom line is that attic access panels are there for the attic to be accessed, and this is something that should be done at every home inspection.


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

New Construction Inspections

One of the most common myths related to new home construction is that new homes don’t need to be inspected.  I personally know several people that have purchased new homes and didn’t have them inspected because they were ‘new’.   I’ve seen far too many problems on new construction homes to think that they’re not worth first inspecting, regardless of the builder.

One common myth that builders will sometimes tell buyers is that the home has already been inspected many times by the city as part of the permit process, so the buyer is wasting their money hiring a private inspector.  While there may have been many brief inspections performed by the city along the way, things still get missed every day.  Did you know that unless a ladder is provided at the site for the city inspector, they won’t even get up on the roof to inspect it?  It’s actually common practice for roofers to leave a few photos for the building inspector to look at to sign off on the roof.  The photos below show a hole in the roof of a new construction townhouse that I recently evaluated, and the builder was a reputable, well known builder that you’ve definitely heard of.  The builder had actually tried to talk the client out of getting a home inspection.

Another myth is that because a home is new, there won’t be problems.  While new homes don’t have the same types of problems as old homes (such as components reaching the end of their life expectancy), they can still have serious issues, typically related to improper building and installation methods.  These are the types of issues that an average homeowner will know much less about; it’s easy to look at cracks in a foundation or rust in a furnace and know there’s an issue, but it’s impossible to identify installation defects without knowledge of building, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical codes.  While a private inspection is certainly not a code compliance inspection, an excellent home inspector will be aware of code requirements , and will be looking for any problems.

Below are a few photos of problems I’ve found at new construction homes, or homes that were relatively new.  Remember, these were built by big, reputable builders.

This window was on a second story, and I suspect it had been dropped before being installed.

The two photos below show a whole house fan that was supposed to be exhausting to the exterior; the bottom photo shows the wall that the fan should be exhausting to.  Obviously, the person installing the siding went a little too fast.

 

These photos show where a roofer was going too fast - they forgot to install the damper for the bath fan exhaust, so there was just a hole in the roof.

 

This photo shows the heat duct and the exhaust opening for the HRV, located right next to each other in a basement bathroom (one supplies air, one sucks air out).

I can't tell you how many plumbing vents I've seen with knockout plugs still in place. These are supposed to be removed after the final plumbing inspection, but it's commonly forgotten about.  This means that the plumbing fixtures are not vented.

Many, many, many air conditioners get installed with the wrong size circuit breakers.  Note the text on the label for the AC that reads in all caps "MAX FUSE OR MAX CKT. BKR. - 20"  The 30 amp breaker is what fed the AC unit.

I could go on and on with these photos, but hopefully I've made my point; new homes need home inspections too!

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

Why Do I Need A Vacuum Breaker?

Vacuum Breaker

This is one of the most common questions I get from homeowners that I do Truth-in-Housing Evaluationsfor.  If you're selling your home in Minneapolis or Bloomington, you will likely hear about this.  A vacuum breaker, commonly referred to as a backflow preventer, is a device that prevents the potable water in your home, and possibly even your neighborhood, from getting contaminated.

How could your water get contaminated? Picture this scenario: I want to mix up some vegetation killer, so I buy the concentrated stuff, pour it in to a bucket, then put the garden hose in the bucket to fill it.  I turn the water on, but I get sidetracked with a plumbing project.  I shut off the water to my house, and then open up the laundry faucet to drain the water out of the pipes.  This will create a siphoning effect, which could actually suck the nasty chemicals in the garden sprayer back in to my home, contaminating the potable water.  An even worse scenario would be the city doing work on the water pipes, and the chemical gets siphoned back in to the city's water supply, contaminating a whole neighborhood!

While these occurrences are not likely, it has happened many times throughout the country, and the cost to fix a contaminated water supply for a city is huge. The cost of a vacuum breaker is very small - about five dollars.  While only Minneapolis and Bloomington enforce vacuum breakers, they're still required throughout Minnesota by the Minnesota State Plumbing Code, section 4715.2100 (D).

The two most common places where these are installed are at sillcocks (what you connect your garden hose to) and at laundry sink faucets.  An external vacuum breaker is required at sillcocks if they don't already have one built in.  How do you know the difference?  The photos below show one sillcock with, and one without an integral vacuum breaker.  If a sillcock doesn't have the little mushroom cap, an external vacuum breaker is required.  At laundry sink faucets, a vacuum breaker is needed if there are threads present that a garden hose could attach to.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Truth in Sale of Housing Evaluator

Appraisals vs Home Inspections

When I tell people what I do for a living, a common response I get is “So you’re, like, an appraiser, right?"

No.  I’m not.

While home inspectors and appraisers both look at houses, must be independent, objective, and impartial, our jobs are quite different.

The primary purpose of a home inspection is to educate the buyer about their new home, so they can make an informed decision on the purchase.  The primary purpose of an appraisal is to protect the lender’s assets; this is done by determining the value of a home.  The value of a home will be highly dependant upon what other properties in the area are worth, and whether the subject home is in overall better or worse condition than the comparison homes (referred to as ‘comps’) .

A home inspector’s client is the buyer, whereas the appraiser’s client is the lender.  A home buyer is responsible for finding an excellent home inspector, who has only the client’s interests in mind.  The home inspector gets paid whether the home is sold or not.  As a side note, a home inspector should never allow their inspection fee to get rolled in to the closing costs; this means that the home inspector now has a financial interest in the home being sold to the buyer!  As for appraisals, the bank will typically decide who does the appraisal, and the buyer has very little to do with it.

Home inspections are almost always performed with the buyer.  Some home inspectors (such as myself) want the buyer to attend the entire inspection, while others ask the client to show up at the end.  For appraisals, it’s a little more mysterious.  The buyer doesn’t attend the appraisal, they may not be told when the appraisal will happen, and they aren’t given a copy of the appraisal – not to say they can’t get a copy, but remember, the lender is the client; not the buyer.

The bulk of the work for a home inspection is performed at the subject home, while an appraiser will spend a relatively small portion of their time at the property.  A home inspector spends several hours at a home doing the inspection, and must also generate a report, which may be produced on site, or might be produced later from their home or office (or even a restaurant…).  An appraiser’s work consists of much more research about all the other properties in the area, and the report must include detailed information about other comps.  On average, the on-site portion of an appraisal can be done within 30 minutes.

In short, a home inspector determines the condition of the home, whereas an appraiser develops an opinion of value for a home.

RELATED POST:  FHA Loans Require Appraisals, Not Inspections

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections – Email – Home Inspector in Saint Paul

Are Home Warranties Worth It?

When performing Minneapolis and Saint Paul Home Inspections, I frequently inspect homes that are advertised as having a home warranty, or I hear the buyers talking about purchasing a home warranty.  I’ve heard mixed reviews about the home warranties, and recently read a post at an online home inspector forum from another home inspector asking how a warranty company could charge such a low fee for the service that is supposedly provided.  I decided to do a little research on my own.

A home warranty is somewhat of a service contract, which will typically cover the heating system(s), cooling system(s), electrical, plumbing, water heater(s), kitchen appliances, and possibly other items depending on the contract, which may even include the roof and foundation.  The sales pitch for these contracts is that if an item in the home fails, such as the furnace (on a cold, cold day), you won’t be burdened with unexpected expenses, and the warranty will cover the repairs.  A typically warranty costs about $500, but prices vary depending on the options selected.

The warranty company has a list of service providers they will use to perform the repairs, but only up to a certain dollar amount.  For instance, one popular warranty program will cover up to $1,500.00 towards a heating system repair.  While this would obviously cover the cost of the warranty program, this would only put a dent in the cost to replace a boiler.  There is also a deductible that the owner must pay each time, regardless of the cost of the repair.

One of the most important limitations to be aware of is that pre-existing conditions are not covered, lack of maintenance is not covered, and items that have not been properly installed are also not covered.  As a home inspector, I know there are a ridiculous amount of items that are not properly installed.  Just in the past month, I’ve seen three power-vented water heaters that were newly installed with permits and inspected by the city, but were nevertheless improperly installed.  I personally believe that most people don’t obtain, read, and follow installation instructions – they just do enough to make it work.  I’ve even been guilty of this myself… a long time ago ;).

So how can a $500.00 warranty cover all of these expensive repairs?  Many of the service claims get denied due to pre-existing conditions, improper installations, or improper maintenance. The warranty companies will ask their service providers questions for information that could be used to deny a service claim, and will frequently find one.  If the warranties didn’t exclude so many things, the price of the warranty would have to be much higher.

Why is a Minneapolis home inspector writing about home warranties?  Because it’s my job to identify defects with installations and identify items that are not in proper working order when I conduct my inspections, and it’s important to know about these things ahead of time.  Purchasing a warranty to cover repairs to defective household items may sound silly, but I’ve heard of people doing this many, many times.  Home warranties have their worth, especially for items that have been properly maintained and are at the end of their serviceable life, but I would strongly recommend reading all the fine print before purchasing a warranty. For reviews of different home warranty companies, check out www.homewarrantyreviews.com

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections – Email – Home Inspector in Saint Paul