Article: 10 Easy Ways To Save Money And Energy In Your Home
By: Nick Gromicko, Ben Gromicko and Kenton Shepard
This is a super handy list and a great resource for home owners. I will probably pass a lot of this advice on to my clients in the future. I especially like the ceiling fan idea, I often forget how cool the basement stays and how much could be saved on air conditioning by just using ceiling fans, or even just turning on the fan in your central air system!
A picture taken of my basement crawlspace. I used ICF (insulated concrete forms) made with a rigid thermal insulation that stays in place as a permanent interior and exterior substrate for walls. Some people refer to them as giant legos. It consists of 2 ½ inch insulation on the inside and 2 ½ inch insulation on the outside plus 6 inch concrete which equals to R30.
Hello Classmates
The photo attached is of a 1939 home. There is no blown or batt insulation on the ceiling joist. Instead they installed 3 1/3" fiberglass batts in-between the rafter. There is no gable or ridge vents or soffit vents.
Hello class
I have encountered many different attic pull downstairs as a inspector. Most of the time the stairs were poorly installed and could cause a hazard to the owner. Always inspect how the stairs are fastened to the truss’s.
The photo above is of a large aluminum framed window.
A LOT of information in this course. Wish me luck on the final.
Here is a great attic with 20"+ inches of blown insulation, all vents leading to the outside and insulated. Good ventilation. No moisture.
Have fun out there.
Denis
Here is a picture of the insulation I inspected in my attic. I am in Michigan (zone5) and need a ceiling R value of 49. I have cellulose insulation and the calculation would be 6" X 3.76 = R val of 22.2. I am not even at half the R value I should be at. I found a couple spots where it was only 4" approx. R14.
My inspection of the attic opening measures 22 x 30, correct. The door is 5/8 fire resistive gypsum wallboard type X, correct. The attic is blown insulation approximately 10 years old and measures 16 inches in depth, correct. There is however no insulation on the door itself which is energy lost. Recommend attaching a bat of insulation to the door itself to help with heat loss.
I just read an article on condensation inspection. I believe looking at pipes susceptible to dew point is very valuable in determining relative humidity levels. I love plants and didn’t realize how much they can contribute to relative humidity.
Hello follow inspectors.
I am sharing 3 different photo today.
First photos was from an inspection I did 2 weeks ago. This are the stairs to the basement. as you can see from the photo, this was done since there was no access from the house to the basement originally so the home owner “design” these stairs on his own. beside not having the correct size steps and no landing (you run into a wall) the risers are not well secured and there is a pitch. At least the home owner mounted a carbon monoxide on the stairs…
The 2nd and 3rd photos are from another house, This one is clearly a safety issue. As you can see the railing on the stairs is too low and if you come out of the bedrooms and you are not careful, you can lean and fall right over this very low rail.
Neil Bunker
Superior Property Inspection Service
www.MySuperiorInspection.com
Pictures of a dogleg staircase with wooden balustrading checking the distance between the vertcal balusters with a 4" (100mm) ball. If you look carefully at the second picture you will see it is also being subjected to a cat scan (joke!).
The picture is of an exterior octagonal gavel end vent. This particular type of vent allows an even amount of natural air flow on an attic in a free standing insulated garage.
Attached is a photo of foundation ventilation screens that appear to be in average overall condition and appear to be functioning as designed. No obvious deficiencies were noted in the number, type or functionality of the crawlspace ventilation screens or openings.
Picture is of a 3 year old house. There is some minor cracking at the bottom corner of this window, which is placed in the shower room where there is very little ventilation.
Hello everyone.
Just a note on attic stairs.
Most of the attic stairs that I have inspected so far are not insulated, thus making for a great loss of heat in the winter and cooling in the summer.
I always recommend to my clients to insulate the back with rigid insulation to help with heating and cooling costs.
Denis
This picture shows a bathroom fan without a protective cover. It should be noted that upon further inspection, this and the other bathroom fan in the house are not vented to the outside, but simply dump into the attic.
Kevin Meyer
Student
Additional Reading was on Attic Pull Down Ladders
Attic pull down ladders need to installer per manufacturers instruction. When installing the person should use the recommended fasteners like 16P nails or 1/4" lag bolts and it is not recommended to use deck or dry wall screws as they do not have the same sheer strength.
Kevin Meyer
Student
