As part of my course participation I read the Article - Inspecting a Deck, Illustrated. It reinforced what I find to be most incorrect when I do a deck inspection. Mainly I find the joist hangers are attached improperly, railing are improper and lastly I find a lot of undersized 4 x 4 posts supporting tall decks. This is a good article to learn and brush up on these type of inspections.
There are openings at the rear skirting that appears to be allowing pests to enter the crawlspace below the home. This area needs to be properly sealed and a licensed pest control company ensure that this is not a current problem
Vegetation and tree limbs in contact with manufacture home roof should be trimmed to prevent damage to roofing materials.
Article Review: Ant Inspection
Ants live in colonies and are very social, all working for the colony. Ants are distinguishable from termites by the constriction at their waist. Possible entry points in to the home such as around pluming lines or other openings should be properly sealed. Food sources should also minimized to prevent infestation.
The chimney on his house has several issues. For one it’s missing step flashing. The Flash and his on the chimney is not sealed properly that would result into moisture entering into the house. Is missing pieces of the bricks the mortar is starting to deteriorate. I would recommend further evaluation by a missionary contractor.
Aluminum wire is found in older homes. Aluminum has to be a heavier gauge to carry the same current electricity through it then what copper. Copper wire is known to overheat.
This is a typical manufactured home foundation and crawlspace in my area. The foundation consists concrete cast footers, concrete block piers joined to the steel chassis and shimmed with wood shims as needed. A vapor barrier is attached to the underside of the chassis. The crawlspace is vented and in most cases a poly sheeting material is installed over the soil.
This is a picture of a hole in the vapor barrier where it appears some plumbing repairs were made.Not leaking at time of inspection.Recommend repair keep out moisture,air,insects,and vermin.
I recently inspected a mobile home and remembered a section of the study material relating to shimming. The study guide stated that the vertical height of shimming should not exceed 5". In the attached picture, the furthest pier was just at 5" of depth. While this particular shimming was deemed within the acceptable limit there was a note made about a few holes in the insulation vapor barrier.
I just read about the importance of keeping your inspection vehicle clean just to kinda take a break from all the ed stuff,but having a clean image is important.I just want to share a tip on car washes.Next time you go to through the wash check with the sales clerk to see if they have a monthly rate as opposed to single rate.I was paying $5 per wash 3-4 times a week.That was about $80 month.Now I pay one fee of $40 and not only saves me money but Im more app to keeping my truck clean. A little FYI
just posted about Vehicle Maintanance
I read the article “Modular vs Manufactured Homes” as part of the course assignment. The residential industry often uses the terms interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two that every home inspector should know.
Modular homes are manufactured off site but must conform to the same site built codes and pass inspections. Also modular homes can be of any size, are highly customizable and are treated the same by lenders as site built homes.
Manufactured Homes are also manufactured off site but are held to less stringent standards, are limited in their size and are intended to be mobile. Furthermore, manufactured homes are often placed on rented plots of land and treated as a different lending category.
In summation, modular homes are basically the same as site built homes while manufactured (or mobile) homes are less expensive and mobile options to buying a site built or modular home.
Anchor Straps present around the perimeter of the home and appeared satisfactory:
During this inspection, while in the crawlspace under this manufactured home I noticed that the anchor strapping was present and continuous around the perimeter. In the photo, you will see the down arrow pointing to the embedded anchor that is set in concrete. The strap extends from the ground up to the main frame of the home in a ~45 degree angle, and is wrapped around the frame and tied off with a buckle. The skirting on this home was exterior grade plywood and the home was on a “permanent” type foundation which met the requirements of the lender as a Real Property and funded the buyers’ mortgage
Inspecting fans and some fun facts about them:
We’ve all been there, we go to inspect a bedroom and there above the bed is a fan. Seems easy enough, yet when you go to turn the fan on and it starts to wobble you might begin to write up on your report that the fan is a Safety Hazard due to it wobbling and needs replacement. This may actually not be the case though. A wobbly fan is most likely not going to pull from the ceiling and land on the homeowners in the middle of the night, yet they may get a little annoyed by the sound the fan makes because it most likely is unbalanced and just needs an adjustment. The fan can be balanced by utilizing counterweights and or just tightening up of the blade mounting screws.
On another note, did you know that in the winter, the leading edge of the fan blades should be lower than the trailing edge to circulate the warm air via an updraft and in the warmer months we should change the direction of the blade movement (via the switch on the side of the motor) so that the we now feel a downdraft – yet remember, this is not cooling the room, so when you’re not present in this area, turn the fan off to save energy.
In the interest of full disclosure I retrieved this photo from the internet. As you can see the anchor doesn’t appear to be fully seated in the ground and the strap is left hanging loose. This can allow the mobile home to move freely with enough force. There is no visible vapor barrier under this home to prevent moisture intrusion. The pier in the left side of the picture appears to be shimmed from one side and should be shimmed from both to even out the transfer of weight to the pier. Also the shim on one side promotes the possible shifting of the home away from the already loose anchor. The anchors and straps are intended to work when tight and not designed for a shock load.
I chose to read “Manufactured Housing and Standards”.
In the article it mentions “site preparations”. This is very important in any home not just manufactured homes. I inspected a home in a neighborhood the other day where almost every home in the track had foundation problems because the developer did not prepare the home sites properly. With a manufactured home this is equally important. Let’s say for instance you are lucky enough for the home to settle evenly all the anchors are now loose and are not rated for a shock load in the chance the home moves. On the other hand if the home settles to one side or in a certain area the piers and beams become stressed in ways they were not intended. The wise man built his house upon the rock and the foolish man built his house on the sand. If the base isn’t solid nothing built on it will be solid.
Course: How to inspect Manufactured and Mobile Homes
I recently had to inspect a doublewide manufactured home. The picture is of one of the support piers under the main frame of the house. This home sets on a slab foundation, so there are no footings visible. There is no need of a vapor barrier because of the concrete slab. This is a single 8x8x16 cement block pier with a pressure treated 2x6 used as a cap, shimmed to give support to the frame. The pier is less than 36 inches in height, so there is no need for it to be doubled. The entire home has a vinyl skirt to protect the pipes from freezing in the winter.
In the picture attached, few defects were found. Downspout was missing in the front left side, stair guards were loose, and front slabs were not leveled properly. Also grading seemed a bit leveled.
It should have adequate grading, the contractor should assure that proper drainage is provided around a basement or foundation in a high-groundwater location in compliance with the requirements of the local code requirements.
To resist lateral movement from high winds, earthquakes and flooding, all manufactured homes installed on permanent foundations should have manufactured and approved anchoring devices capable of resisting loads.
When installed, all anchoring equipment, including all anchors, straps and tensioning devices used to secure a manufactured home should be capable of resisting an allowable working load at least equal to or exceeding 3,150 pounds, as well as capable of withstanding 50% overload (4,725 pounds) without failure of either the anchoring equipment or the attachment point to the manufactured home.
I just read the article on manufactured homes. Manufactured homes, formerly referred to as mobile homes or trailers, but with many more style options than in the past.
Manufactured houses are built in a factory. They conform to a Federal building code, called the HUD code, rather than to building codes at their destinations.
Manufactured homes are built on a non-removable steel chassis. Sections are transported to the building site on their own wheels. Multi-part manufactured units are joined at their destination. Segments are not always placed on a permanent foundation, making them more difficult to re-finance.
Building inspectors check the work done locally (electric hook up, etc.) but are not required to approve the structure. Manufactured housing is generally less expensive than site built and modular homes. Manufactured homes sometimes decrease in value over time.
