Ian Niquette

When I need to relax, I am usually heading for the outdoors. This is my girl Sage, and I like to spend time relaxing with her, though not as often as I would like. I seem to spend more time trying to catch her than actually riding her. But, that's why I like her so much, she is a free spirit. Enjoy folks.

I was looking through some home inspection defect photos the other night. I happened to come across a couple of diamonds in the rough. I though I would get some opinions on them from my friends here at AR.

I am wondering what you guys think about this from a realtors standpoint. What would you suggest to the buyer in this situation, and also what would you suggest to the home seller.

This home inspection was from a year or so back, and I just stumbled across the pics again, but they did get me to thinking. I wondered why it hadn't just been repaired before sale, but none of my business.

So, what do you guys think?

Obviously, my report called for the roof to be repaired. I just wonder why this wasn't done before hand. How did the seller let a contractor do this to his home, or did the seller do it himself? Let me know what you think from both sides of the table here guys, I am curious.

Thanks!!

Has anyone noticed the change in weather we are having lately? The mornings are a bit chillier and the cold season is moving in. Is your home ready for the upcoming late fall weather, and especially the frigid temperatures we are sure to be getting with the arrival of winter?

I am sure some of us have already begun to store away items that we use for lawn care. Items such as garden hoses come to mind. For those of you without frost proof hose bibs, you may have put the frost boot over the spigot already.

At this time every year there is a list of maintenance items that we all try to get done before it is too late. We all have our own list, mine is different from yours, and my neighbor has a different routine. What is your fall maintenance list like?

One thing that I focus on every fall is the yearly check up of my heating unit. I don't want to be caught in the dead of winter without it. It can be very cold around the middle of January, and the last thing you want to deal with is a broken down heating unit.

The best place to start is by changing the air filter, which we should be doing every 30 to 60 days the unit is in use. For those with oil burning units, you will need to change the oil filter between the fuel storage tank and the heating unit.

Most people don't give much thought to the furnace, they hit the button and away it goes. To make sure your heating unit is ready for the heating season; have it inspected before you need to use it.

I found a pretty nice product on a recent inspection and thought I would share it with everyone. Do your heating ducts clang and bang when you turn your furnace on. This is due to the contracting in the metal duct work, caused by temperature difference in the ductwork to air temperature.

The product that I found looked a black plastic patch that was placed along the outside of the ductwork. I did a little research and got some opinions from other home inspectors. Overall, it looks like a pretty good product. The name of the product is Duct V Max. And if you click here, you can visit the website homepage.

I do not have ductwork in my home, but if I did and it was noisy, this may be a product I would consider. I hope everyone found this newsletter to be beneficial. Sorry for the delay in this months' home inspection newsletter. Look forward to next months' letter already.

Most of you in the Fond du lac region of Wisconsin have probably heard a thing or two about Mercury Marine possibly shutting down their operations in Fond du Lac. Now don't go all union or non-union on me here. There is more at stake here than most people realize.

It doesn't matter what side of the aisle you are on here. Whether you work on the shop floor or run a department you will be affected by this outcome, as well as many local businesses and families. Turn on your radio or watch the news, and you will hear how this could affect the whole area.

I strongly urge both sides, union and management, to try to resolve this issue and keep Merc in Fond du Lac. Are there other businesses in Fond du Lac? Yes, but as one of the largest employers in town, the loss of this company could be devastating to the city, county, and other outlying areas.

It would not just be the jobs at Mercury Marine that could be lost here. Small businesses will be affected by this decision as well, forcing some of them out of business, closing their doors forever.

Come on folks, get back to the table, and really , I mean REALLY try to get this situation resolved. Fond du Lac needs you.

I saw some really intersting things this week as far as inspections go, but what caught my eye the most was the crazy, stunt-flying, loop-to-loop, barrel rollin', telephone line buzzin', Maverick wanna-be, crop duster.

In all seriousness, when I saw this I just had to get a picture. It really made me think about farmers for a few minutes and how hard they work to put food on Americas' table. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the small farmers of America for all that they do to keep America going. You truly are the backbone of America.

Check out the pics of the crop duster spraying the fileds.

©Square One Home Inspection 2009