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Scott Gilligan

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Is your chimney safe?

06-15-09
Scott Gilligan

Most homes have some sort of venting system for the heating system or gas fired water heater that vent to the exterior. Fuel fired appliances produce combustion gases that need to be vented outside. These gases often include some level of carbon monoxide and other dangerous gases that can be dangerous to the occupants if they accumulate in the living space. While a visual inspection during the course of a home inspection can tell you if components are installed properly in the readily accessible areas of the home, there is much of the chimney and venting system that can not be seen by typical meathods. Most problems in the chimney are concealed on the interior liner. Accuracy Assured Home Inspections recently aquired the technology to perform video inspections of the interior chimney liner and vents. It is recommended that chimney be inspected once a year or after a major event that would cause damage to the chimney. It is also recommended that chimneys and vents be inspected as part of any real estate transaction.

Accuracy Assured Home Inspections now provides complete chimney inspections as an additional service. All inspections are conducted to the NFPA 211 standards. The interior of the chimney liner is inspected from the roof level down to the vent connection using a special camera that is inserted into the liner. The video is saved directly to CD or DVD so that the cleint can give the information to their contractor to make any necessary repairs.

Typical defects would include seperated liner sections that can allow for dangerous combustion fumes to accumulate inside of wall cavities and make their way into the living space, broken terra cotta liner sections, obstructions from birds nests or other wildlife, cracks that can allow for moisture intrustion that can migrate to other areas of the home, etc. The inspection will also verify if chimney cleaning efforts were successful or additional work needs to be done.

Is your chimney overdue for it's annual checkup?

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Every home should have a sewer line inspection.

06-15-09
Scott Gilligan

As a general rule, I have always recommended that any home that I inspect that has a cast iron sewer line have a video sewer line inspection performed. Sometimes clients follow through with my recommendations, sometimes not. Clients were telling me that they were having a hard time finding someone who performs these services in the area. Accuracy Assured Home Inspectins has just recently aquired the technology to do these inspections at the time of the home inspection to save time and money from hiring a seperate contractor to come out.

On the very first inspection with this new piece of equipment, I was able to find a crack in a cast iron waste line where the pipe passes through a foundation wall of a rowhome on a small alley street here in Philadelphia. The crack is likely due to settlement that has happened in the foundation wall that was noted during the time of inspection. This would have been undetectable by the typical visual inspection conducted during a home inspection. The crack is likely the contributing factor to why the foundation wall was damp and mortar joints were erroding in the area. This information will probably have saved the buyer thousands of dollars in trying to diagnose or repair a leaking foundation wall when this was not the cause of the problem.

A sewer line inspection is sometime referred to as a sewer lateral inspection, sanitary waste line (SWL) inspection, or video pipe interior (VPI) inspection. The inspection is faily simple and straight forward. A clean out plug in the waste line is removed and a special waterproof video camera is inserted down the interior of the waste line. The cable is semi-rigid, but can negotiate bends in the pipe. The camer is pushed down the pipe interior and the image is viewed on a laptop or monitor. Personally I use a laptop so that the entire inspection can be recorded straight to CD or DVD so that the client can recieve a copy to give to thier plumbing contractor or use to negotiate repairs in a real estate transfer.

Other problems that I have come across during inspections include offset pipe joints that will cause an inconsistant flow and retain solids so they are not washed out with the liquids. I have also seen dried drywall spackle in a cast iron pipe from when a DIY home renovator washed tools and buckets out inside the home. Because the property was vacant for some time, the spackeling was able to dry inside the pipe and create a partial obstruction in the waste line. Another problem was a line that had been cracked and partially obstructed by tree roots from a tree planted at the curbline.

Accuracy Assured Home Inspections is the only home inspection company in the area that posesses this type of technology at this time. You can schedule a sewer line inspection to be conducted at the time of your inspection either with us or if you already have a home inspector.

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Holiday Home Inspection Savings!

12-13-08
Scott Gilligan

Accuracy Assured Home Inspections is pleased to announce that from December 15th, 2008 until January 1st, 2009 you are elegible to save an additional $50.00 off our already discounted inspection packages.

For more information about how Accuracy Assured Home Inspections can serve you inspection needs, please vistit our website at www.accuracyinspections.com to schedule an appointment. You can also schedule your appointment by calling 215-888-4943. Appointements available 7 days a week.

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