Jack Gilleland

What happens if you have a fire in your home? The first thing that happens (hopefully) is your smoke alarms/detectors sound with that annoying alarm that occurs every time I broil meat. The next thing that happens is you evacuate the house or in some cases look for the fire extinguisher and try to handle it yourself. A smoke detector is designed to save lives, but not your home. Don’t get me wrong here I’m not advocating going “detectorless”, quite the contrary, they are a necessary part of a homes safety equipment. I’m just saying your home should have more.

Scenario: You just signed a contract to build your new home and your specifying what is to go into that home. Definitely, you should have sufficient smoke detectors and Carbon Monoxide detectors, but what about a home sprinkler system?

Home Sprinkler System Myths.

When a one sprinkler head is activated, all the sprinklers activate. This is not true. The only sprinkler head that is activated is the one that has sensed the temperature rise. The others will not activate unless they sense the higher temperature.

A sprinkler could accidentally go off, causing severe water damage to a home. This is not true. With 50 years of data to back present information, there is a very remote chance of this happening. In fact, home sprinkler systems are specifically designed to limit this possibility.

Water damage from a sprinkler system will be more extensive than fire damage. This is not true. Sprinkler systems limit the growth of the fire and suppress smoke and heat damage. If the alternative is to let it burn until the fire department arrives the damage in an unsprinkled house is much more costly than a sprinkled house.

Smoking or cooking could set off the sprinklers. This is not true. Sprinkler heads activate at 155 degrees F. Since they are mounted on the ceiling it is almost impossible to activate a sprinkler head by any normal activity. The heads are also covered to prevent accidental damage to the head itself.

These are the usual objections to a home sprinkler system now lets talk money. The average home sprinkler system is less than 1% of the total cost of the house. Depending on the insurance carrier and your location, the savings on your home insurance bill could be as much as 15%.

Jack Gilleland

Home Inspection Services

Clayton, Ohio

Sources: Sources: USFA (United States Fire Administration), FEMA, NFPA

Thought I would put these up before we got more snow tomarrow and I don't venture outside at all. Our local gov't. decided that they would save some money not salting or scraping the roads untill all the snow fell. Not sure if that means April or what.

As you can see we've been working on it some.

Did I ever tell anyone that I hate snow?

Jack Gilleland

Home Inspection Services

Clayton, Ohio

I just hate it. It's snowing (3") and I get a call. Yes it is Sunday, yes I'm doing something other than work, but that doesn't matter. I tell all my clients that they can call me anytime (sometimes I'm not very bright), anytime at all. Clients don't call very often, but friends and relatives now that is a different story.

This morning the phone rings, and to be fair it wasn't early, it is a relative that has a problem. Their roof is leaking and it is ruining the ceiling. This is not what I wanted to do today. It wont take long, just find out where and we can put a temporary fix on it till the weather improves (famous last words). Remember there is 3" of new snow on the roof.

So, with an optimistic outlook and my trusty flashlight I set out to solve the mystery of the ages. Word of warning, you can't find a roof leak during a snowfall from the roof. Therefore, there is only one place to go, the dreaded attic.

When I get there there is a leak and it is definitely ruining the ceiling. It is coming through the ceiling in the middle of the house and looking from outside there are no penetrations through the roof even remotely close to where the leak is showing up. There is nothing to do but to search for the attic access. The only access is in the garage making it a 50+ ft. crawl in and around rafters to general area of the leak. Might as well start where the water is.

Now finding a leak in the roof seems easy. Find where it is coming through the ceiling and look up, right. There is insulation in the ceiling and it is doing it's best to hide the water. But after a series of taps on the ceiling by my relatives I find the water. I note the location and roll over to look up (remember I'm crawling). There are no telltale signs of a leak, no damp spots, nothing. Next, I know water always runs to the lowest point if it has an uninterrupted path. Okay, follow the wet 2 X 4 rafter until you find the leak (more crawling in insulation).

It has been an hour, I'm cold, now I'm wet, full of insulation, and it is still Sunday. Here it is, this has got to be it, a fireplace penetrating the low portion of the roof. The brick is dry though, I feel all around the chimney and it is dry. A number of expletives escape me, but that doesn't help either. Now I'm intrigued. This is becoming more a quest than a diagnosis. Wait here it is. Warmth coming off the chimney is melting the snow on the edge of the roof and the water is running 15' before reaching a low spot to soak through the ceiling.

The repair is outside. We shoveled the snow off the roof where the leak actually started and then swept it to get it all. Then we put plastic over this area before banking the fire to get rid of the heat source. When I left there were 3 hair dryers drying out the ceiling.

Moral of the story, don't answer the phone on Sunday.

When I was younger I had an Uncle that thought that a clothes hanger was the ultimate tool, the answer to everything that was broken. Later on that Uncle discovered duct tape and this took the load off my aunts supply of clothes hangers. Even later in life he discovered flex-duct and the world was a happy place. He could use clothes hangers and duct tape to install flex-duct. In minutes he could run duct work throughout an entire house. I have seen some of his work and it is, well...... creative, to say the least. He passed away not too long ago, but I believe that I underestimated him. It seems that during his lifetime he taught thousands of homeowners and tradesmen the use of his favorite solutions to repair anything.

This is duct tape. It has a specific purpose. It is not for hanging water lines, caulking windows (no matter what colors it comes in), covering hole in gas lines, or any number of non-duct uses.

This is a clothes hanger. It has a specific purpose. It is not for hanging water lines, coupling round duct, welding beams, supporting duct, or any number of non-clothes hanging purposes.

This is flex-duct. It has a specific purpose. It is not for exhaust vents, venting hot combustable gases of any kind (no matter what the appliance), or any number of other non-duct work purposes.

I tried really hard when my uncle was still here to convince him that most things have a purpose, but to no avail. His perfect hardware store would consist of these three items in different sizes. Oh, also two screwdrivers (straight edge and phillips) and assorted pliers.

The right materials for a job usually makes for a job done right (my grandfater said that).

"I don't understand why a home inspection costs so much?" I hear this so often that I want to record a response and play it back. Numerous times I have listed costs that are required (yes required) for a good inspector to perform just one inspection. For a short time (when I first started out) I included this list with my home inspection packet. I quit doing that a few years ago simply because I felt like I was doing my taxes.

I want to share some (just some) of these so that others beside my accountant can have some idea why a home inspection costs so much.

Education. I'll start with this since it is the first thing that a home inspector has to have. Education is the most important asset home inspectors have and very possibly the most expensive. First of all this is a continuing cost. I personally spend over 1.5k per year in education (yes that's dollars). I could get by on less, but I'm a firm believer in education.

Tools. This is a category that I have difficulty with, because like most home inspectors, I love tools. Therefore, I have to separate tools that I want from tools that I need. The way I do this is, if it will increase my efficiency and my quality of service then it is a needed tool. I presently have 12k worth of tools.

Insurance. I hate this category, it is a necessary, very evil. The insurance companies have convinced me that I need approx. 3.8k of insurance per year. I have "Stupid Remark" coverage, "Just Trying to Help" coverage, "Missed That Lint on the Floor" coverage, "Ten Minutes Late" (due to 12" of snow) coverage, and, of course, the ever increasing G & L, E & O and vehicle.

Truck. For a while I put this in the tools category, but found that I didn't want a new truck as much as I wanted a new tool. Truck is valued at 18k.

Incidentals. This is gas, shoe covers, and all consumables. I didn't, in the past, include these, but I do now.

Advertising. Business cards, pamphlets, web presence and the like cost about 3k a year. This includes my computer and in-house network, etc.

These expenses are variable and are different for every inspector. They aren't even all of the ones I have, but I started to feel like I was doing taxes again. One thing you must consider is that this is the list you have before you can do 1 (one) inspection.

Jack Gilleland

Home Inspection Services

Clayton, Ohio