The home presently have all incandescent light bulbs in the home. A 50% to 75% saving can be had on lighting your home by switching to LED’s or CFL light bulbs. They also will last up to 10% longer, which reduces the cost of replacing the light bulbs when needed. FYI
Building codes require a basement bedroom has a window for fire escape purposes. At a minimum the bottom of the window must be no more than 44 inches from the floor and that the actual opening be a minimum of 20 inches wide and 24 inches high. An egress window is a window large enough, as defined by local business codes for entry or exit in case of an emergency. These are typically required when finishing a basement and are paired with an Egress Well with attached ladder or steps for easy escape.
Building codes require a basement bedroom has a window for fire escape purposes. At a minimum the bottom of the window must be no more than 44 inches from the floor and that the actual opening be a minimum of 20 inches wide and 24 inches high. An egress window is a window large enough, as defined by local business codes for entry or exit in case of an emergency. These are typically required when finishing a basement and are paired with an Egress Well with attached ladder or steps for easy escape.
This is an image of the exterior fascia and gutter. The gutter is damaged and has holes in the bottom of it and does not continue along roof line. The fascia appears to have a large gap in between the boards. The wood soffit is loose, and part of the soffit is rotten due to water damaged. There are defects that need to be further evaluated by a professional contractor. This will help with moisture control and better performance of the building.
When inspecting doors, an inspector must inspect a representative number of doors by opening and closing them. An inspector must report if there are any corrections needed, such as, out of square door frames. An egress door must provide access from the interior of the house to the outside, without going through a garage. The egress door must be no less than 3 ft. wide and 6 ft, 8 in height, and hinged on one side. It must also a have a landing that is a minimum of 36 in all directions.
Home shows signs of many “fogged” windows. “Fogging” of windows means the seal(s) between the panes of glass have failed. This failure is caused by “thermal pumping”, the expanding and contracting of the gas that was injected at the window factory. Window “fogging” is common in houses found in AZ.
When inspecting windows with screens or that are dirty, it can be difficult and sometimes nearly impossible to determine if the thermal seal has failed, causing condensation to collect between the panes. If this condition is important to you, further review by a window contractor is advised.
I read an article about garage inspection and the alterations that homeowners may make that can severely lessen the strength of the roof system. It was a good lesson to be vigilant when inspecting garages where the roofing system is accessible to the homeowner or inexperienced handyman. I wonder if the inspector would have caught the defects/changes if the neighbor hadn’t told him about the roof collapse two houses down?
I did my article on taking mold air samples. Air samples can be used to gather data about mold spores present in the interior of a house. These samples are taken by using a pump that forces air through a collection device which catches mold spores.
This is a photo of attic space from the first floor looking up through an open ceiling. You can see that there is no insulation at all on either the interior roof sheathing or on or near the joists or rafters.
I read the article “Attic Pull-Down Ladders” by Nick Gromicko. The article discusses 13 common defects of pull-down ladders. I didn’t know that most pull-down ladders are built (usually poorly) by the homeowners and not qualified carpenters. The article also cites relevant code language from the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC) as well as providing three helpful tips home inspectors can pass along to clients.
There are many types of insulation and you need to have the proper insulation installed with the right R-values were needed. Insulation helps reduce heat transfer and is an important part of the thermal envelope. This is a pic of fiberglass batt insulation put in between wall studs.
I choose the pic of insulation and learned about the many compositions from natural to synthetic materials.They form batts, blankets, loose fill, spray foam and panels to name a few.They are used to help with the resistance of heat transfer.
These stairs are open on both sides and have a rise greater than 30". As such there needs to be a guard on both sides at a height of between 34" and 38" with ballasters spaced so that a 4-3/8" ball may not pass through and at a height above the stair platform so that a 6" ball may not pass between the bottom of the guard and the stair platform.
Double pane windows are designed with an air-tight cavity between glass layers to prevent higher temperature, higher water vapor containing air on the warm side of the window from coming in contact with cooler air on the opposite side of the window. Over time, it’s ability to maintain the sealed cavity diminishes and fails. This is often referred to as a failed seal. A tell tale sign of this is condensation between the layers of glass or haze on the inside layers. Generally the glass need replacing.
This is a picture of an asphalt shingle roof on a townhome complex. The roof displays multiple penetrations as well as vents. The roof is clearly not tidge vented, rather it utilises the turtle vents located near to the top of the ridge line. Although not visible in the picture there are soffit vents as well allowimg airflow through the attic space.
I chose to do my essay on roof ventilation (ridge vents). As you can see in this picture there is a ridge vent that runs the distance of the entire roof. Ridge vents are important to the ventilation of the attic by letting moist air rise and escape.
The article I chose to use for my essay is regarding the advantages of solar energy. Solar energy offers several advantages over conventional energy such as, it is an unlimited renewable energy, and solar is low-emission. Solar power not only has advantages over most conventional energy, but you can also get help from the government in the form of tax credits.
For the Essay portion of the assignment ,I have included a photo of a load of fiberglass insulation on its way to be installed in a home renovation project I just recently completed. The house itself was originally built in 1933. The only insulation in the entire house was a newspaper from week of the Kennedy Assasanation. It was used to plug a hole in the wall between a bedroom and stairwell. The reason I use this example is to show just how much things in the world as well as the housing industry are ever evolving. Changes in tech. Give us tremendous advantages over our predecessors.
This is a picture of an attic access in the dinning area of the home. This area used to be the garage and is now being used as living space. The attic access pictured is eighteen inches by twenty two inches wide. This access is to small. The access needs to be a minimum of thirty inches by twenty two inches. The attic access will need to be evaluated and framed properly by a professional.
Possible signs of moisture damage in master bathroom near ceiling line. Possible signs of mold evident. Recommend further review by qualified contractor to determine presence of mold. Area needs to repaired or replaced and mold mitigation performed is testing were to come back positive.
