Jacksonville Home inspector found a House Breaking In Two…

Out of all the home inspections in Jacksonville that I have performed, I have never seen one that had so many structural issues. I knew as soon as I pulled up to the house that it was going to be an interesting day.

The first thing I noticed during this Jacksonville home inspection was that the roof didn’t look right. I have seen truss uplift, low spots and other things but this roof looked like nothing I had seen before. Once I entered the home I saw that the center line of the home was lifting and the ceiling was sagging.

What a mess! The ceiling joists were not tied together in the attic and pulling away from each other in the attic. The foundation was worse. There were multiple floor joists that weren’t resting on the support beams and the support beam itself had been repaired, at some point in time, by someone who must not have known that the beam was supposed to support the home.

This just goes to show that you never know what your getting yourself into until you have a professional home inspector evaluate the home you are considering purchasing.

Check out what some of our Florida home inspection customers have to say at Jacksonville Florida Home Inspection Reviews.

Want to see more about what goes on during a home inspection in Jacksonville FL watch my Jacksonville Home Inspection Videos.
Make sure that you are making an Informed Decision every time you by a home by calling your Jacksonville Home Inspector at 904-891-6309 right now, which will allow you to get the best property inspection possible.

Does Your Roof Leak? Re-visited

During a routine Jacksonville Home Inspection I found that water was entering the home where the roof and wall intersected due to an improperly installed flashing.

Well as part of our Premium and Deluxe Home Inspections we offer a FREE re-inspection of repairs. Good thing I did the re-inspection. What I found was that instead of properly repairing this issue, the person that made the repairs nailed a new piece of OSB over the damaged area from inside the attic.

They had done nothing to stop the source of the problem, which was a poorly installed flashing. This is just one instance that illustrates the importance of having the repairs re-inspected. If they hadn’t had the re-inspection this issue would have gotten much worse!

If you or someone you know is need of a professional home inspector that is looking out for your best interest, make sure that you are making an Informed Decision every time you by a home by calling your Jacksonville Home Inspector at 904-891-6309 right now, and when having your repairs done make sure that you have them re-inspected by us!   

Check out what some of our  Florida home inspection customers have to say at Jacksonville Florida Home Inspection Reviews.  Want to see what goes on during a home inspection in Jacksonville FL watch my Jacksonville Home Inspection Videos.

FREE Re-inspections…

Our clients love the FREE Re-inspection that comes with your Jacksonvillr Home Inspection . Often times when I return to the home I will find that some or all of the items that the client requested to have repaired were not fixed, or the job wasn’t done properly.

Usually the client gets upset at the seller. In most cases it’s not the sellers fault. The seller will usually hire the cheapest person they can find and trust that they will do a good job. It is easy to look at something and tell whether it was done by someone who was competent or not.

If you are buying a home in Jacksonville FL, make sure to get your home inspected by a thorough and detailed home inspector. If you select our Premium or Deluxe Home Inspection packages you can have the repairs inspected for FREE.

CALL 904-891-6309 to schedule your Jacksonville Home Inspection today!

Home Wiring DIY Bad Advice!

As a home inspector in Jacksonville, FL I like being able to share different things with the consumers in Jacksonville Florida. 

This Guy Wrote The Book On Electrical Wiring

The Consumer Product Safety Commission just released a list of books with bad wiring instructions “Posing an electrical shock or fire hazard to consumers”. I can’t tell you how many homes I have inspected and seen these types of books and thought to myself “AHHHH that explains EVERYTHING!”

I am a firm believer that if you don’t know what you are doing it’s best to hire a professional. Doing things yourself or hiring someone who is cheap will cost you more in the long run than if you were to hire a professional. A professional may charge a little more, but it is worth it. If you hire someone that charges less, or you do it yourself and then have to hire a professional later, you actually spent more money. Do yourself a favor and hire a professional and make sure it is done right the first time!

Here is a list of the books and the link to CPSC recall for these items.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10104.html

Title	ISBN	Publication Date
AmeriSpec Home Repair Handbook	978-0-376-00180-1	January 2006
Lowe’s Complete Home Improvement and Repair	978-0-376-00922-7 978-0-376-01098-8	September 2005 December 1999
Lowe’s Complete Home Wiring	978-0-376-00928-9	May 2008
Sunset Basic Home Repairs	978-0-376-01581-5 978-0-376-01025-4	February 1995 January 1975
Sunset Complete Home Wiring	978-0-376-01594-5	December 1999
Sunset Complete Patio Book	978-0-376-01411-5 978-0-376-01397-2 978-0-376-01399-6	January 2006 January 1998 April 1990
Sunset Home Repair Handbook	978-0-376-01258-6 978-0-376-01256-2	October 1998 February 1985
Sunset Water Gardens	978-0-376-03849-4	January 2004
Sunset You Can Build – Wiring	978-0-376-01596-9	January 2009

If you or someone you know needs a professional Jacksonville home inspector to inspect the home right the first time, give us a CALL 904-891-6309. or schedule online here.

Home Inspection Jacksonville

Home Inspector Jacksonville

Urban Myth Of The Neighbors Bad Kid

 
Every time I see this and the owner of  the home is present, I ask them why they put a lock on the main breaker box. I bet you can guess the answer. “Well somebody told me the kids in the neighborhood will shut off the main breaker.” And can you guess how many people I have asked ever had this happen to them? It’s a big fat ZERO. Someone just told them that this could happen. At todays home inspection the seller gave me a perfect example of why you should NEVER, EVER lock your main breaker panel.

Here’s what happened. I asked the seller where the keys were. She told “I knew some day someone would ask me that question. I think they are in here somewhere.” After a minute or so she found the keys. When I went to unlock the lock it was rusted shut. Now the problem is, what if the home is on fire and you need to find the keys, get out of the home and shut off  power to the home?

If you have your main breaker locked because of the urban myth of the neighbors bad kid, make a decision on which is more important to you, the bad kid that may never mess with your breaker or your families safety.

photo by Diego Cupolo

Does Your Roof Leak?

One of the items that we look for during Home Inspections in Jacksonville is signs of water intrusion. At this Jacksonville home I noticed a large section wall sheathing that had wood decay. This was an ongoing problem. The Flashing where the wall and roof intersected was bad and that is what caused the problem.

To make the necessary repairs involved removing the stucco on the exterior and replacing the damaged wall sheathing. Some of the shingles also had to be removed to remove and properly install a new flashing. This repair cost in excess of $8000!

When I went back to do the re-inspection of repairs, you won’t believe what I saw. To see what I found check out this post “Does Your Roof Leak? Re-visited”. You will be shocked!!!

If you or someone you know is purchasing a home in the Jacksonville FL are, give us a CALL today 904-891-6309.

Orange Park Home Buyer Saves $10000+

 

On a home inspection I performed over a month ago in Orange Park I found multiple problems. During the renegotiation process the buyer used the report and was able to get her deposit back because the seller was not willing to make the repairs.

 

Photo by Johnny Vulkan