Essay- Stairway Inspection Article: I learned that stairways can pose a serious safety risk for building occupants or any vistor who uses the stairway. Inspecting a stairway requires checking many details. Besides the ovious issues of missing, broken, worn, repaired, loose, slippery or not installed properly potential issues, an Inspector should look for poor lighting and a light switch installed at the top and bottom of each staircase, loose handrails with insufficent finger space, insufficient headroom, Balusters that are properly spaced more than 4 inches apart, inspect treads for cracks, uneven, worn, loose or poorly supported, proper and consistant riser height and check stairway for an ergonomic design. There are many more potential safety issues an Inspector could experiance inspecting a stairway.
All stairs have a minimum and maximum riser height, and tread depths. Spiral stairs have slightly different measurements because there is a narrow side and a wider side to each tread. minimum riser height is 4" and maximum for a spiral staircase is 9 1/2". All treads on a spiral staircase should be identical and should have a minimum of 7 1/2" is depths measured 12" from the narrow side.
The article I chose was on “Backflow prevention”. “Backflow is the reversal of the normal and intended direction of water flow in a water system.” Backflow can occur due to back pressure or back siphonage. Atmospheric vacuum breakers or AVB are used in most residential applications.
As you can see from this picture, the escape door looks like it is in good condition. The door does not have the safety look because there are occupants in the building. The fire extinguisher is also located right by the side of the door.
This artle talks about ants and how they are the most prevalent pests in households. They are anywhere where food and water can be found. This article also talks about the different behaviors of ants and how to distinguish them from termites.
Handrails for the front stairs should be provided. This will allow safe egress and travel from the ground level to the porch level. This is a defect do to the concern of safety and prevention of injury from slipping or falling.
Home Repair Ripoffs!!! I just got done reading this article. It’s an eye opener for our opertunities as home inspectors of what we can offer for clients. Myself not yet a state certified inspector but to be able to share my experience with clients. Does anybody offer a liaison service to guide home owners with repair advice.Possible a niche or would this be a liability? My opinion is a cost of good service goes a lot less longer than the effects of a poor installation.
One of the types of inspections I do for banks with government subsidized loans on the property, is ADA transition plans. In terms of accessibility in or around stairs, properties are required to install cane detection bars between 27" and 84" so that persons with vision impairments will not injure themselves on the underside of the stairs.
When inspecting multifamily apartments buildings, I do a visual inspection of the exterior stairs in building with 3 or fewer stories. One of the most common deficiencies I encounter is a cracked concrete stair tread. Another is the framing around the concrete treads. It is typical for me to see rusting of the steel stair frame. Both situations put residents at risk for injury and should be remedied as soon as possible.
it is always a good decision to join Internachi and abide by their standards of practice to provide a strong defense against a claim that you failed to perform to a level of care or acceptable practice for a home inspect
when power lines are run around trees there should be minimum ten feet clearance to the underside and both lines of the power line. There should be fifty feet clearance minimum to middle are large sized trees: no taller than forty feet.
Egress Door.
The picture show a Egress Door. The dimension of the door and the the landing area meet the minimum dimension required. In this case the floor or landing area is below the top of the threshold 4 inch when shold not be be more of 1-1/2 inches.
The following is a partial list of defects you may find in the stairways inspection:
Handrail is loose, incomplete, missing, splintery, not of a contrasting color with its background, or has insufficient finger clearance.
As deck stairways may be open on both sides, missing handrails there put occupants at serious risk.
Treads are cracked, uneven, worn, loose or poorly supported.
Risers are of uneven height.
Lighting is poor, shadows are numerous, or the corridor leading to the stairs is dark.
Its helpful to have a light switch installed at the top and bottom of each staircase.
Floor is waxed, increasing chances of slipping.
Exterior steps are not sloped to prevent water settlement and icing.
Stair carpeting slides or is not firmly affixed to stairs. Double-sided tape or tacks may be used to prevent slipping.
Balusters are spaced more than 4 inches apart, allowing a child to potentially slip through and get trapped.
Stairs are not ergonomically designed.
Stairs are too steep.
Platform or landing surface is not slip-resistant, and/or has a sharp object, blunt wall, or window located in the direction of a possible fall.
Nosing is missing, broken, worn, patched, loose, slippery, or not installed properly.
Sharp corners are on stair elements.
Headroom is insufficient.
There is no safety gate at the top of stairs in a home with small children.
This is a picture of an egress door in a single family dwelling. The door is signle hinged and upon measuring the door is meets the 3 feet wide and 6 foot 8 inches in height rrequirment. The door is able to be opened without any special tools or knowledge and is equiped with standard hardware.
The illustration I studied was an example showing the rise, run, and tread width of a stair system. The picture shows a rise at a maximum of 7 3/4", a run with a minimum of 10", and a tread width that is usully an inch more than the run. The illustration also shows the nosing usually at 1".
This is an image of a main egress/ingress door of a residential dwelling that has a double lock. This is considered a defect due the fact that you need a key to operate the lock. This is not recommended due to the standard of the egress door not needing a key, tool or special knowledge to be operated.
The image I chose is of the emergency egress window specifications. The window sill height can not be higher than 44 inches and must have a minimum of 5.7 square feet minimum. The window must be minimum 22 wide and 24 inches tall with at least 36 inches of unobstructed area outside of the window in the direction of travel.
The picture shows a standard 3-0 x 5-0 double hung window in a bedroom of a home under construction.The net clear opening exceeds the minimum requirement of 5.7 SF, and the bottom of the window opening is approximately 21 inches above the floor. This window meets the requirement for an secondary emergency escape from the bedroom.
I reviewed the article on child safety as it pertains to stairs. I saw that a 4-3/8" sphere is the maximum size for baluster spacing and that a 6" sphere is the maximum for the space between the tread and bottom of the baluster rail. I was always taught that 4" is the maximum for baluster spacing and will have to remind myself of the change.
In this photo, there are a couple issues with the railing structure on this exterior staircase. The first would be the distance between the newel post and the first baluster. There is more than the standard spacing and a 4 inch sphere would pass through that opening. The second would be the lack of a graspable hand rail.
