John Villella

Western New York Home Inspector John Villella, of All Pro Home Inspection, comments about if homeowners should attempt a repair or use a professional to do it right.

John Villella, owner of All Pro Home Inspection cautions homeowners about completing repairs on their own. It's always recommended that the homeowner only attempt repairs if they have the technical knowledge and tools to do the job properly. All too often homeowners attempt to do repairs only to find themselves in a much worse position - even if they get the task completed.

Many times the non-professional repairs are completed only to end up costing additional money or even continued deterioration or damage to the system or building component. Plus, many repairs are not completed to provide proper safety to the occupants of the home.

Homeowners should considered contacting a professional home inspector for yearly home maintenance inspections. This type of inspection covers all the major systems and building components. The home maintenance inspection will provide you with a list of areas that may need maintenance or even a repair and the homeowner can use the professional home inspector for guidance for the type of repair is needed and who should be contacted for that type of repair. Having this yearly checkup will be beneficial in a couple of ways. First, major repair issues are controllable because of the yearly checkup and secondly, the home will remain in better condition, which retains the value of the home.

The home inspector will provide you with an unbiased property inspection report and the peace of mind that an contractor isn't trying to sell a job if the contractor were to review the issue. Having the yearly home maintenance inspection will also provide you with a list of honey do's you can complete yourself and keep you well informed what areas should be completed by a professional. Remember, the home inspector is there to provide you with information and not selling you a job.

Western New York Home Inspector John Villella, owner of All Pro Home Inspection, has been providing both residential and commercial property inspection services. Remember, All Pro Home Inspection is WNY's Home of the Original 200% Home Inspection Satisfaction Guarantee.... call John with any questions at 716-772-2548.

All Pro Home Inspection is dedicated to providing you "peace of mind" by educating you to understand the condition of your home. All Pro Home Inspection offers Niagara County home inspection services to not only Niagara County, but to all of Western New York's communities. We understand the stress that is involved in the Buying, Selling, and the Moving process...That is why when your All Pro Home Inspection is complete, you will have...

• A 200% Satisfaction Guarantee
• Customized Computerized Home Inspection Report for YOUR Home that is
• Printed Onsite which includes
• a General Summary of Repairs By Components and
• a Color Photo Journal of the Home
• PLUS a Copy is Emailed to You and Your Agent Immediately from the Inspection
• And much more...

It's Sunday and it's time for the weekly update for the Lockport Thunder/Lightning U10 boys and girls soccer teams.

The Lockport Lightning girls didn't play today... they'll be back in action on Thursday night.

The Lockport Thunder U10 boys team dominated today against the Kenmore U10 boys. My son had a couple of assists and played goal the first half giving up zero goals. The Thunder remain unbeaten with just one tie and remain in 2nd place just a half game out of first.

Until next week -

Here's to your best week ever, may everything you touch turn SOLD,

John Villella, Your Personal Building Consultant from Buffalo - Western New York
All Pro Home Inspection (716) 772-2548

www.allprohomeinspection.com

WOW, another week is gone and another win for the Lockport Thunder U10 Boys. The boys were unstoppable on Sunday and posted a 10 - 0 win. My son finally scored his first goal of the season... remember he plays the majority of the game playing defense or in goal. He was happy to get the goal, now his sister won't be on his back about scoring. The boy just keep on getting stronger as each week passes. Good job Thunder!

The girls played well again this week with a win over Tonawnada. The girls remain in second place with just one loss. Keep up the good work Lightning.

Until next week...

John Villella, Your Personal Building Consultant from Western New York
All Pro Home Inspection (716) 772-2548

www.allprohomeinspection.com

www.wnyhomeinspections.com

"All things, even adversity, have their worthy purpose." ~ Jim Rohn

I had an interesting inspection today that revealed the usual things - some electrical cleanup needed in the basement, you know missing cover plates, loose wiring, a drip at a supply line and a leak found at the tub drain. The usual stuff you would expect to find in a 78 year old home.

As I was checking each building component and system I couldn't help but wonder why the chimney had a water stain running from below the vent pipe. Remember, this is a 78 year old home that has several stains that are commonly seen in homes of similar age. Stains on the block foundation walls, on the floor joists, especially under the kitchen and bathroom areas where years of small drips and leaks have left evidence of the past problems. Everything was dry except the area under the tub drain, but that is a fairly small repair that a qualified plumber can correct in an hour or so. Back to the water stain on the chimney - was it a flashing problem - couldn't be the flashing and roof was just installed in October. Was it just evidence of years of rain and snow that made its way down the chimney because there wasn't a rain cap installed - chances are that was unlikely. As I continued on with the inspection that little voice in my head told me the stains on the chimney just wasn't right. This is where years of knowledge and inspection skills told me to take a closer look.

Yes, I got it. It's the hot water heater vent pipe... there it was another "Orphaned Hot Water Heater". For those of you that don't know what an Orphaned Hot Water Heater is let me give you the short answer. This occurs most of the time when the furnace is upgraded to a high efficiency and vents to the exterior via PVC pipe and no longer uses the chimney. The problem is that the gas hot water heater is left venting into the chimney and the byproduct of fossil flue is moisture and this moisture can be very corrosive. You see by removing the furnace from the chimney the amount of heat that is venting up the chimney is also reduced and the liner size is now to large to properly vent just the gas hot water heater and moisture eventually sticks to the masonry liner and bad things begin to occur.

I've seen this all too often lately. What is occurring is HVAC contractors that install the new furnaces don't tell the home owner that the chimney needs to have I liner installed to reduce the diameter of the liner for the water heater to properly vent. Why is this happening you might ask, because if they quote the job with the liner being installed many times they'll lose the job because the quote is higher and some other dingbat just wants to install a new furnace and get paid and never be heard from again? In the mean time the home owner is left in the dark as to what is occurring inside the chimney. This issue is not a slam dunk solution as an inspector, because some HVAC contractor will state that if the chimney is an interior chimney it will remain warm enough and properly vent. Some of the agents rely on these professional HVAC contractors when this issue is brought up by an inspector and nothing usually ends up being corrected. That's when I usually get a call from the listing agent, who isn't happy about her client having to pay for the HVAC service call just to have the contractor state everything was alright. I usually ask the agent during this phone call if she had the anemometer readings from the contractor to document this claims. That's when I get to laugh to myself, because no is the response 99% of the time. I'll get no he didn't use any equipment...he just looked at it and said it was fine.

Let me share with you the following photos:

And yes this is an interior chimney... so much for the HVAC contractor's theory!

So, should Orphaned Gas/LP Hot Water Heaters have a liner installed if that unit is the only system venting in the chimney...you decide?

Let me give you the sad part of this story. This home had a pre-listing home inspection completed. And yes, the seller hired the cheap inspector instead of hiring a proven professional. My client was very pleased that he listened to his agent when she recommended that the home be inspected by All Pro Home Inspection.

Remember folks you get what you pay for and the cheap inspector is bad for everyone involved in the deal. There's too much liability and risk involved.

Was this luck or was this just good inspection knowledge... I can say with confidence it was nothing but excellence.

John Villella, Your Personal Building Consultant from Western New York
All Pro Home Inspection (716) 772-2548

www.allprohomeinspection.com

www.wnyhomeinspections.com