Carlsbad, NM

"I gave it a slope outward" Why?

What's wrong with this picture? When I drove up to this property, I saw this problem right away.

The front porch was added after the fact by the new owners. They did'nt want the structure to touch the home. And when I asked "why is the front porch addition leaning outward"?

Their response was " I did'nt want it to touch the home. And I gave it a slope outward so the water would run off better".

I thought "you have to be kidding me". But i did'nt say anything.

Remember if your going to "improve" your home, then have a qualified contractor do the work.

There are simply way to many "uncle Bob's" out there who think they can do anything.

This was a poor design and a poorly installed "addition" to the home.

I think they detracted from the curb appeal the home originally had in the first place.

Inspection went from good to bad to worse.

This recent inspection of a home was going well till I took a look at the "new roof". This roof was installed in 11 of 2011. This is the "GOOD" part.

I was thinking before I got on the roof that "being a new roof" there should be "no issues" for me to find.

I could'nt have been more wrong.

In this picture there are five things wrong. Can you pick them out?

This is the bad part.

1. The boot is the wrong size for the vent.

2. The vent has no cap.

3.The vent terminates below an eave. Not tall enough.

4. No step flashing used for the sidewall flashing.

5. The flashing that was used, was not properly fastened or sealed.

This is the worse part.

Yes, this is a live gas furnace vent. It was not secured in the attic where it connected to the furnace. It had slid down and was causing the vent to be out of alighnment and the exhaust to be running down hill.

The vent stack was too short to begin with. Another inspection with no mechanical inspector sign off anywhere to be found.

Have a great day everyone.

Furnace exhaust connections, the way not to do it right.

With all the ways to install furnaces, there is the right way the wrong way and then there is the contractors way.

It seems that if no one is watching the contractor, corners will be cut. Without a mechanical inspection for the new furnace. The installer will find every conceivable way to cut as many corners as possible.

Here are a few reasons to always get a permit and have the state or local "mechanical inspector" follow up behind the installer and make sure the installation was done correctly.

Can anyone tell me what this picture represents?

This furnace was installed in 2007, and has had "issues" from the day of installation.

There was a long list of "wrong" installation issues with this unit. There should have been a "approved sticker" on the unit with the permit number and the inspector contact information.

There was not anything on the unit about the installer or the permit and or inspection date.

Always have all mechanacle appliances pemited and inspected. If the locale mechanical inspector is doing their job. This would have never happened.

It's spring in Carlsbad New Mexico.

With that said, there are a lot of ways you can tell spring is here.

Remember to fill the hummingbird feeders. Put water in the bird baths. Here the water for the birds don't last very long.

I was in the yard the other day when I noticed that I had some flowers that decided it was time to bloom.

After the wind storms of the past couple of days I was really surprised to see them saying "Good Morning".

These shots are from a new flower bed we just installed last fall.

I hope it will do well this year.

As you can see this one did not make it through the wind storms without getting a little "dirty".

I could have cleaned it up, but I wanted the "all natural look".

At least I have a couple of flowers to enjoy this spring. With the recent and ongoing drought, it's a blessing to have anything with a bloom.

Enjoy the day every one.

When you weatherize a home, do the job right.

After a recent inspection where the home has set empty for about three months. I was called to do a home inspection. I was told the utilities were turned on and the home was ready to be inspected.

This was not the case. The water had been turned off and there was a hanger on the front door stating that the water was to be turned on by the water department of the city and no one else.

The buyer wanted to turn on the water but after a careful explanation about the "rules to public utilities, he agreed" let's leave the water turned off.

The first bathroom i went into to inspect I saw that the commode and "P" traps had been weatherized for the winter.

Notice the broken valve on the cold water supply line on the right?

I was thinking that they planned on not being here at all and to have all power and heat turned off for the winter.

The electric was on but the furnaces were turned off with a note stating not to turn them on.

These were just the tip of the problems this new home had to deal with. The person who weatherized the home did not drain the water from the lines of the home.

There was a total of no less than TWELVE broken valves in the home.

After the inspection all I could tell the buyer was The entire water system to and within the home needs to be checked out fully by a "licensed plumber" before the water is turned back on. Then be there for when the water is turned back on for any unforeseen problems that might arise from the heat being off in the home over the winter.