Virginia Beach Home Inspector Follows the Trail

Author: Jan 24

Many times when I come across an issue during a home inspection in Virginia Beach it will be the just the start for discovering other issues in the house. This video of a Virginia Beach home inspection illustrates this point. There was a previous failure at a the roof that was the begining of the trail to more damage below.

 

 Make sure your Virginia Beach home inspector follows the trails of issues in your house to ensure you know exactly what needs to be repaired or replaced to protect your home.

Category: Home Inspection Information, Roofs  Leave a Comment

No Gutters Can Cause Major Issues

Author: Jan 18

Gutter inspection virginia beach home inspectionAre the lack of gutters on a home a defect or just a personal choice? There are many that feel gutters affect the aesthetic appeal of their homes. It doesn’t matter if they were never installed or removed on an older home due to renovations and not replaced there are issues to consider when deciding not to use a rain drainage system. Consider this, if you take a 1000 square foot roof as an example. Every inch of rain that falls on that roof means approximately 600 gallons of water has to find somewhere to go.

Now if your home does not have gutters to properly route the water to a safe location that you choose, then it has nowhere to go except down the side of your house to the foundation. This can cause premature wear of the siding and allow water to cause damage to your foundation or enter your crawlspace.

Here are some pictures from a crawlspace during a recent Virginia Beach home inspection where there were gutters on the front of the house, but not at the rear. There was water pooling against the crawlspace walls at the back of the crawl, but not at the front. The efflorescence on the wall are evidence of a chronic issue of moisture intrusion. Having this much moisture in the crawlspace is the highway to a host of different problems.

virginia beach home inspector finds water in crawlspace

crawlspace inspection in virginia beach

Moisture management is important for every house and a proper drainage system is a crucial part of managing where rain water ends up at your house.

 Schedule your Virginia Beach home inspection NOW!

Category: Roofs, Structure  Leave a Comment

After Your Virginia Beach Home Inspection

Author: Jan 10

home maintenance book provided by virginia beach home inspectorThere is something that new homeowners in Virginia Beach need to remember, and that is things can and will eventually go wrong with their house. All homes will break down, wear out, leak, and deteriorate over time. You get a home inspection to get a snapshot of the condition of the home prior to your purchase.  You and your Realtor address the important issues that are of a concern to you before you agree to buy. 

After moving in the responsibility every homeowner assumes is the home maintenance. You will have questions like. “What do I need to look for?”, “What do real concerns or problems look like?”, and “How do I take care of that issue?” 

Make sure you home inspector provides you with a copy of “Now That You’ve Had a Home Inspection” It will inform you about the different systems in your house, how they work, and the maintenance they require. A typical home has over 10,000 different parts, and having these parts work together is what you as a homeowner desire.

                                                                                                                                                             LEARN how your home works…KEEP it maintained….SAVE energy

 “Now That You’ve Had a Home Inspection” is provided to every Virginia Beach home inspection client that uses Safe House Property Inspections.

Category: Home Maintenance  Leave a Comment

Virginia Beach Foreclosure Inspections

Author: Nov 02

Are you looking to buy a home in Virginia Beach, and want to get the best deal available. Maybe you have started to look at the Virginia Beach foreclosure market. Considering the over-abundance of these properties and just how little many of them are going for, it’s tempting to jump right in and buy. It is possible that it could pay off as a long-term investment, but remember just like any other major purchase, you should know as much as you can about a property before you buy it.   

 

Virginia Beach foreclosures

Do not settle for any advice that a home inspection is not advantageous because they cannot be used as a bargaining tool, since banks don’t negotiate on “as is” properties. Remember that banks selling properties “as is” may have no legal responsibility for any defects. Would you even consider purchasing a car without knowing whether it had a motor? Well the same holds true for a house, regardless of whether you intend to live in it, or fix it and flip it. Is it really a deal if in the end you are stuck living in a money pit?

 

It is prudent to remember that long before the previous owners stopped making mortgage payments, they deferred required maintenance tasks. Moisture intrusion leading to leaks and mold are just a few of the major problems commonly found by inspectors in foreclosed properties.  There are plenty of stories of the horrendous condition that some of these homes are left in. Former owners have been known to ransack their own properties, taking with them anything they can pry up or unscrew, and leave behind trash and junk that you have to pay for to have removed.

 

You should always get a home inspection in Virginia Beach before buying a property, especially when you’re buying a bank-owned foreclosure.  In such cases, it may be impossible to find out how well the home was cared for, or whether major damage was done right before the past owners left the property. Ask the bank how much time you have after your initial offer to have an inspection performed, and schedule one immediately. If it goes well, you’ll enter into the deal with peace of mind and a better idea of what repairs you’ll have to deal with. That alone is worth the price of an inspection. If the inspection reveals a costly disaster, you can back out of the deal and save tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

 getting burned on a virginia beach foreclosure

Don’t get burned on your foreclosure purchase. Make sure your Virginia Beach foreclosure is a safe house by scheduling a home inspection with

 

Safe House Property Inspections

Category: Home Inspection Information  Leave a Comment

Walk A Roof With The Virginia Beach Home Inspector

Author: Oct 11

 

Here a some interesting roof repairs found while taking a stroll on a roof during a Virginia Beach home inspection.



 

Category: Roofs  Leave a Comment

Fire Prevention Week Reminder From Virginia Beach Home Inspector

Author: Oct 10

 

 

The Virginia Beach home inspector from Safe House Property Inspections wants to emphasize the SAFE in SAFE HOUSE and remind everyone that this is fire prevention week.


Category: Home Safety  Leave a Comment

Virginia Beach Home Inspections 757-418-0944

Author: Sep 29

When you hire a home inspector in Virginia Beach make sure you are getting value for the price you pay.



Schedule a Virginia Beach home inspection

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Virginia Beach Home Inspector Finds What Sucks

Author: Sep 27

OK, it’s not what you think. You see them coming from the backside of most house. Those white pipes, but not always, that protrude from the roof. These are the plumbing vents, and they play a crucial role in the plumbing system.

So what do these vents do for you exactly? When you walk up to your bath room sink and turn on the water it is going down a drain pipe that is full of air. So now you have allowed a lot of water to go down the drain it is pushing that air down. If you do not introduce additional air to the system you end up creating a vacuum. 

When you create a vacuum in your plumbing system you will hear a gurgling sound as the trap servicing the fixture is sucked dry. Without a proper trap you will experience the issues discuss previously in, What is this in my house? The P-trap. 

disconnected vent found during virginia beach home inspection

                                                                                                                                                                     

So the other day during a home inspection in Virginia Beach I came across a setup that I am sure has been causing some issues for who knows how long. The vent is no longer connected in the attic and the vent pipe had some kind of debris stuffed into down into the pipe. 



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            When you are ready to buy a home in Virginia Beach make sure your Virginia Beach home inspector goes into the attic to find out exactly what is going on up there. There are usually something interesting finds.

Schedule a Virginia Beach home inspection

Information about your Virginia Beach home inspector 

Category: Plumbing  Leave a Comment

The Virginia Beach Home Inspector’s Mischievous Kid

Author: Sep 26

Working as a home inspector in Virginia Beach my camera is one of my most important tools. So recently as I upload pictures after a home inspection I always seem to have a few that I did not anticipate being there. Of coure when I ask my kids if they have been using dad’s inspection camera the answer is a big “NO dad” not us. Well after yesterday’s Virginia Beach home inspection I think I know who the culprit was the whole time.


                                                                                                                        Schedule your Virginia Beach home inspection here!

Category: Home Inspection Information  Leave a Comment

Virginia Beach Home Inspector Looks In The Attic

Author: Sep 16

Recently on more than one Virginia Beach home inspection I have test the bathroom ventilation fans as usual and went about my inspection. Bathroom ventilation systems are designed to exhaust odors and moist air to the home’s exterior. A typical ventilation system consists of a ceiling fan unit connected to a duct that terminates at the roof.

 

Usually I will look for dust buildup which can impede the flow of air. Also particles of moisture-laden animal dander and lint are attracted to the fan because of its static charge.

 

I like to see ventilation systems in all bathrooms including bathrooms with windows, since windows will not be opened during the winter in cold climates.

 

The most common thing I will see during a home inspection is vents that terminate in the middle of the attic, usually strapped to a truss.  Also sometimes they will be directed out a soffit vent which is getting the air out of the interior of the house, but kind of defeating the purpose of the soffit vent.

 

Now back to a few recent home inspections in Virginia Beach. Here you can see that the vents were never connected to any ducts whatsoever. 

 

 virginia beach home inspector looks at ventilationventilation issue found during home inspection in virginia beach

                                                                                                                                                             Now all that moist warm air is blowing around your insulation, and right into your attic. So when you hire a home inspector in Virginia Beach make sure that they go into the attic an see what is going on up there.

Category: Interior  Leave a Comment
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