As part of the research assignment, I read the article on The disadvantages of Solar Energy. While Solar energy has its benefits some of the disadvantages include, inconsistency due to weather and night cycles, the cost And size of panels needed to power a dwelling and the degradation of the panels themselves over time.
Im attaching a photo of the kitchen cabinet under the sink. Here you can see various components mentioned in the inspection of appliances. First, the garbage disposal has a p-trap installed in the outlet. The outer casing and electrical cord appears to be in good shape. The garbage disposal also has a hose from the dishwasher discharge connected directly to it with a highloop. This connection is very good because it is very high inside of the cabinet and it is connected before the p-trap and the high loop avoids waste water to return to the dishwasher. Each drainage component from the sink has a dedicated drain to the wall. In addition, the dishwasher has it own dedicated water supply valves.
The article I chose to review was regarding the hazard of a pool drain. The pool drain covers are often removed or broken. This situation causes a mayor exigent health and safety defect due to the power of suction the drain has which is diferent from the suction in the skimmer. The drain will have a suction of 350 pound of pressure that can trap a small child. This defect is more dangerous on public pools that hold a larger amount of water that increases the suction power.
A thorough inspection of my kitchen waste disposer reveals an absence of any water leakage. With a dual-basin sink, the discharge line is appropriately P-trapped. The power outlet is not GFCI protected, but that is not required by the NEC. The unit produces no unusual noises or vibrations when in use. No repairs or servicing seems necessary.
When I was building new homes in North Carolina, we were required to install anti-tip hardware with all of our ranges. This is apparently NOT required around Nashville, TN, but I believe that it should be.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were 143 incidents caused by range tip-overs from 1980 to 2006. Of the 33 incidents that resulted in death, most of those victims were children.
Small children are especially vulnerable because they may be tempted to stand on an open range door in order to see what is cooking on the stovetop. Without an anti-tip device, the range may accidentally cause the entire unit to fall on top of him, along with whatever hot items may have been cooking on the stovetop. That’s a danger that can be easily precluded.
This dishwasher, brand Americana, couldn’t been tested because it was loaded at the moment of the inspection. However,the dishwasher looked in good condition, we didn’t observed rust in the inside or damaged racks or baskets.
This homes kitchen has several built in appliances that were inspected. The kitchen contains a double door refrigerator, range, cabinet mounted oven, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and above stove microwave.
At the time of inspection all appliances passed functional testing. There was about 1" of space between the back of the refrigerator and the interior wall, recommend creating more space in order to increase efficiency. The top of the range had some scuffing and scratches which were consistent with normal wear. The self cleaning function of the oven was not tested.
This is a picture of the dryer vent ductwork. The dryver vent is conencted to the main duct with a flexible metal duct. This duct connection is kind of long but it is less than 8 feet so it is ok. The main duct terminates outside and has a damper on it.
For this essay topic I reviewed the article - Bathroom Ventilation Ducts and Fans.
Proper installation, operation, and maintenance of bathroom ventilation fans will help to protect your home from moisture related problems including rot and mold.
It is important to ensure the fans are vented to the exterior of the home. Excessive moisture buildup in the bathroom can damage paint, wood, and lead to hidden mold problems. Venting the moisture to another part of the house such as an attic will only serve to transfer the problems elsewhere in the home where it is less likely to be spotted.
Summary of Anti- Tip Brackets for Free Standing Ranges.
An anti-tip bracket is a metal device that can be attached to the floor or wall to prevent a free standing range from tipping over and harming a child or person. Inspectors can visually inspect for an anti-tip bracket but it is easier to tip the back of the range towards you to see if it catches. Inspectors should advise the client to have an anti-tip bracket installed if there is not one present. Anti-tip brackets can be purchased from a hardware store or some manufactures will send them one for free.
The article chosen was “ Can a Real Estate Agent sign the Home Inspection Agreement on behalf of the Client?” by Mark Cohen. It’s interesting to know that Home Inspectors have many tools and ways to avoid costumers’ complains with just 5 minutes of talking before every Inspection clarifying what are inspector are allow to do and what they just can’t, always denoting that it is according to International Standards of Practices for Performing a General Home Inspection.
That short conversation should be finished in a signed paper where the parts agree what they just talked about. Operating and testing appliances or any system that is part a house is very risky because we just don’t know what kind of maintenance it had in the past or that maybe it wasn’t our lucky day and the appliance decide to brake that day and minute you were in front of it. As home inspector, we can’t avoid our responsibility in the work performed but taking time and filling agreements before ever inspection definitely will help us sleep well, at least that night.
My image was of a well pump system
The well head was located 115 feet from the back right corner of the home
It was a new deep well system with 30 gallon pressure tank with electrical square d preset pressure switch of 40 and 60 lbs.
Water was tested at simultaneously both exterior faucets located and the side and rear of the home.
No leaks were noted at the time of the inspection
Inspection Essay:
The garbage disposal shown in the attached image was tested and, at the time of the inspection, appeared to be operating properly with no defects or signs of deficiency. The electrical connections were hardwired and appropriately secured. There were no leaks in the appliance housing and all plumbing connections were securely fastened.
Research Essay:
“Septic System Inspection” -
A septic system inspection is outside the scope of general home inspections, but a general knowledge and understanding of the septic system is beneficial. As an aspiring home inspector, I hope to be adequately knowledgeable in every sphere of the home’s systems in order to better serve and accomplish the inspection. The above article provided great information concerning the necessary procedures for a septic system inspection, which helped to clarify a few questions I particularly had in this regard.
I inspected this side by side stainless refrigerator.
The refrigerator was made by GE - General Electric Company and the model #GSS25WSTA. Serial #HL429450.
The interior lights came on in the refrigerator side and the freezer side when the door are opened. All the shelves appear to be in place at this time. All interior refrigerator drawers are intact. The freezer has ice in the ice maker and operated by dropping more ice during the inspection.
The change filter light is on at this time. the seals around the doors seam to be sealing properly although the freezer door seems to be slightly higher than the fridge door. this may need to be addressed to ensure proper sealing in the future.
I inspected the coils on the bottom of the fridge as best I could. There is some accumulation of dust and lint on the coils that should be cleaned.
I read the article on the pool inspection conducted by InterNACHI Pool & Spa Inspection Checklist Sample.
It gave great examples of the pictures needed to back up the information being used to describe the walk through. Examples of looking out for trip hazards and lack of storage for pool toys.
Typical natrual gas range in good overall condition it was clean and rust free with no signs or smell of gas leak it had a microwave vent hood above the range had a fuel shut off behind it however the anti tip hardware was not installed which raised a safety concern and I would write this up as a defect and recommend it be installed. Thinking as the course stated this is a common problem.
Anti rip brackets I researched this topic because of the gas range I did a essay on did not have one installed it seems like a small detail but is is very important to make sure they are installed the inspector should inspect for there present by tipping the range forward it should stop within a few inches if not it should defiantly be called out in inspection report and recommend it be installed
As you can see in the picture there is Duct Tape on the weather striping on the lower portion of the refrigerator door. This weather strip is a soft pliable rubber with a strip magnet in it. My thoughts are that the corner of the weather strip was cracked and/or the magnetic strip was coming out.
This an older RCA side by side refrigerator. The ice maker works but, doesn’t make ice. The water side doesn’t work either. With no supply of water on the water side, I believe that to be the problem with the ice maker too. Lights work as they should and both refrigerator and freezer hold steady temperatures as recommended. Seals so to be fine. Doors close as they should and open like normal. Possibly recommend having further evaluation done from qualified appliance tech to fix and repair the water to the appliance and possibly find any internal problem if one is needed.
