Scott Patterson - Middle TN Home Inspector

With all of the woes in home sales all we need now is for a hold to be placed on REO or foreclosed home sales... Say it isn't so! Well apparently it is on the horizon in many states and if could be a federal mandate!

Some in Congress have called for a moratorium on all foreclosures until the documentation issue is resolved, though senior Administration officials Monday again declined to endorse that idea. Servicers that have lied to courts by filing incorrect paperwork "need to suffer the consequences for their irresponsible actions," said Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But "where we have not found problems with particular servicers...we do have some risk of going too far."

This type of action will hurt anyone who is in a related profession that is dependent on home sales. Why in the world would the government want to disrupt the sales process of thousands of homes across the country because of paperwork errors.

It is pretty simple that if a person does not pay the mortgage they don't get to keep the house!

OK, it is the first cool snap of the year and you go to turn the heat on and you wait and wait and wait. It does nothing and your first thought is that the system is broken. So what should you do?

Well if you only have gas heat and an electric water heater (like I do) the first thing you want to do is to go and take a look at the gas meter to see if it has been turned off! I know, you are thinking that this only happens if you do not pay your bill. Well, normally that it true, but it could have also been turned off by one of your neighbors kids.... Yep, it is the prank that never grows old unless you are on the receiving end. If you know for sure the gas is on then call a qualified HVAC contractor!

Looking at the gas meter:

Your gas meter will most likely be on one side of your home, it is usually a silver or gray looking box with a couple of pipes coming out of it. Looks for the pipe that is coming out of the ground and going to the meter. You should see a valve that is used to turn on and off the gas in the pipe. It should have one part that turns (you need a wrench) and one part that is fixed to the pipe. Both parts will have a hole that is used by the utility company to lock the meter off. If the two holes are in alignment then the gas has been turned off! NOTE: If it has a lock on the meter, you need to pay your bill!

What to do if it the gas has been turned off?

I would recommend calling the gas utility and tell them that somebody has turned the gas off to your home. Most if not all will respond with a service technician as quick as they can. They will turn on the gas and purge the system of air. Purging the system of air is the most difficult thing and one reason that I recommend calling the gas company.

Hope this might help if your heat is not heating! Oh, and if you do find that you are the victim of a this prank then you might want to tell your neighbors. I have heard of one HVAC service company getting 19 service calls for one street in a subdivision in my area!

I have been inspecting homes for over 15 years and I have never had anyone ask about bedbugs untill this year. I'm not a pest control contractor, but I do know how to research and I have foundout a great deal about these little critters that I never knew.

According to experts infestations of Bed Bugs are up 5000 percent as are the number of reported attacks! The nightmare begins when a Bed Bug finds its way into your clothing; it usually happens at a hotel but can start anywhere.

Finding bed bugs in your home has nothing to do with poor hygiene! It takes only one bed bug to hitch a ride on your clothing (furniture, suitcase, etc) and infest your residence. What's worse is that they can live up to one year without drinking a drop of your blood. Feeding takes about 10 to 15 minutes for adults and less for the nymphs; they feed about every three days. Depending on the conditions, bed bug nymphs can survive for months without feeding.

Bed Bugs are insects, more specifically, 'True Bugs', which have piercing mouthparts that in most species are used for feeding on plants. Unfortunately, there are some species of bugs with mouthparts that have been adapted to feed on human blood while inflicting very little pain (most never feel the blood feeding).

This is a picture of their life cycle and what the adult bug looks like....

The adult bug is about the size of pencil eraser head, but they are flat unless they are gorged with blood from their victim!

We as home inspectors and the professional who list and sell home need to be very aware of this little bug. They are not covered under any WDO clearance letter or even looked for. So who is going to be looking for this little brown bug? They have become such a problem across the country that they have even closed shops and store in major retail areas so that their infestation can be dealt with.

It might be time for everyone to rethink just how Bed Bugs need to be handled. Do we need to add them to disclosure statements? Do we need to have special Bed Bug inspections by the pest control experts? What needs to be done to protect buyers from purchasing a new home that is infested with Bed Bugs?

I have compiled some Bed Bug facts that might help.

Here are the facts about Bed Bugs:

• Bed Bugs are flat, brown, wingless and about 1/4 of an inch
• They have 6 legs, shiny reddish-brown but after a good serving of your blood, they appear dark brown and swollen as in the picture below.
• They can be seen with the human eye, but do a great job at hiding
• Bed bugs are not known to carry diseases as of yet
• They feed on human blood preferring to do it in the dark when you're sleeping
• Simply using chemical treatments will not remove the infestation
• These bugs love to hide in the seams of your mattress including:
• Sofa seams
• Cracks in the bad frame and or head board
• Under chairs, couched, beds and dust covers
• Under rugs, edges of carpets, drawers, baseboards and window casings
• Behind light switches, electrical outlet plates, cracks in plaster
• Televisions, radio clocks and phones
• Backpacks, Sleeping bags, Cloths
• Behind wallpaper, picture frames and other dark areas

I hope that you do not cross the path of a Bed Bug, but if it does happen hopefully this blog post will help you to understand and deal with them. Keep in mind that if you find just one Bed Bug you have an infestation and it needs to be dealt with by a pest control expert.

Scott Patterson

Middle Tennessee Home Inspections by Trace Inspections, 615-302-1113

I promise that it is not my fault and I did not do it!

Boy, I feel like saying that several times a year when I get that call from the listing agent when the buyer did not buy the home because of what was found during the inspection.

As a home inspector we find all types of things that might not be in our area of expertise, but it does not take a rocket scientist to know that it is a problem. Today I received one of those calls from a listing agent who was upset that I reported on what she called minor insect damage to a home.

I'll let you be the judge, this is a picture of what she called minor insect damage.

This is damaged that has been caused by what are commonly called Carpenter Bees! They carve out a hole or channel for their nest. This is a section of soffit on this home.

This poor home was riddled with holes from the carpenter bees. The good news is that they are not like termites. Termites eat the wood and the bees only drill holes in it!

I was then told that I did not know what I was talking about when I reported that the kitchen plumbing needed some correction due to improper materials used to repair it. Well, I guess a car radiator hose is now an approved repair for a kitchen drain trap, oh and duct tape is fantastic when you do not have a proper compression nut!

So please keep in mind that we "the home inspector" is only the messenger! Yes, I know sometimes we are akin to the Grim Reaper when it comes to that home that has been on the market for 623 days!

It does get comical at times when I do get those calls as they have become more frequent with all of the homes that are now on the market.

I relish those rare homes that I have one or two minor items to write up in the report. It makes my life so much easier when I don't have to right a novel on what I found in the home.

Scott Patterson

Trace Inspections a Middle Tennessee home inspection company 615-302-1113

OK, now it is time for the dreaded home inspection! First off, nobody should be dreading the home inspection, unless the house is really in poor condition. The list of items below will help the homeowner to prepare their home so that the inspector will be able to perform the inspection with ease. The last thing you want is for the home to be difficult for the inspector! Clean and neat homes for some reason tend to perform better when it come to a home inspection! Just saying........

Items the homeowner can repair or take care of before the home inspection:

□ Prune vegetation away from the house.

□ Clean the gutters.

□ Replace or clean dirty furnace/HVAC filters.

□ Repair leaking faucets.

□ Install missing covers on electrical switches, outlets and junction boxes.

□ Replace all smoke alarms installed before January 1, 2002 to comply with

current standards. Replace batteries in all detectors!

□ Replace burned out light bulbs.

□ Pull soil 6" away from the siding, basement windows, foundation

vents and decks.

□ Install 6-8mil. black plastic vapor barrier in the crawlspace over exposed

soil.

□ Make sure that the water heater is raised 18" or more if it is the garage or storage room.

Preparing the home for the day of the inspection:

•· Remove any belongings that block access to the furnace, water heater, electrical panel, attic and crawl spaces so the inspector may remove cover panels in these areas.

•· Verify that gas, water and electricity are on, even in vacant homes.

•· All gas pilot lights should be lit. The inspector will not light any pilot and will note that item as not working.

•· Make sure that all appliances normally operated by the homeowner can be tested as needed. Clean and pick up the home so that it is easy for the inspector to get around. The inspector will not move dirty laundry to look at an item!