Home Inspector Answers House Safety Questions

I'm Master Inspector and Certified Builder, Toby Condill.

Let's answer your questions from the internet.

This is House Support.

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Tidbits of experience asks,

Are termites really that bad of a home pest?

Left unchecked,

they will literally eat you out of house and home.

The worst case I've seen was on a really nice house.

This house had so much termite damage.

I could put my finger through a structural two by six

to the other side.

Common signs that you might have termites are frass.

These are little tiny pellets that they leave behind.

They'll kick them out of the little holes.

If you see pellets collecting on the floor

or a window sill, that's a really good sign.

Sometimes they're in your attic

and you might not see them for a while.

Sometimes it takes a few years to see any signs,

so by the time you do find them,

there could be a significant damage.

When I see a house that's covered with what looks

to be a circus tent, that is actually a fumigation going on.

They have sealed off that house

and have gas going inside of it with fans for a few days

and that gas will not only kill termites in there,

but any other insect or rodent that's not paying rent.

Queen latte asks, What home issues would warrant

not purchasing a home if found during inspection?

Well, Queen-Latte, most everything can be corrected.

As a builder, I typically gut the houses I buy,

so nothing really scares me.

The only thing that would really prevent me

from buying a property would be a sinkhole.

A sinkhole is a void under your house

that is typically created from aquifers that have dried out

and then the earth that was covering that aquifer

starts caving in and it can swallow the whole house.

Getting swallowed alive is where I draw the line.

PrettylipsS asks, What's the biggest red flag

you've spotted in a home inspection?

The two that come to mind are both structural.

One of them was a town home, in the master bedroom

on the second floor, the floor had dropped

about three quarters of an inch.

There was tile on the baseboard and tile on the floor.

You could see where they used to meet up

just from the grout line, but it had separated

and that's a big drop and that's a red flag to me.

Another huge red flag was the doors.

Some of the doors would not close

and the ones that did there was a gap difference

between the left and right corner.

Skinny over here and wider over here.

Doors not closing properly indicates structural issues

and further investigation is definitely warranted.

Other red flags I keep an eye out for are furniture

or rugs put in a weird position.

Usually that indicates they're trying to hide something.

Also, if your AC vents have a lot of dust coming out,

that is a big indicator that you might have a mold problem

in your duct work.

Other red flags include dehumidifiers in the garage.

That would suggest there was recent water damage.

Of the thousands of inspections I've done,

it's super rare to see dehumidifiers sitting in a garage

or in the house, especially when there's multiple.

Clebird88 wants to know, Help, new house

and mysterious smell in one upstairs bedroom

that we can't figure out.

The room smells so strongly of body odor

doesn't seem to be coming from the attic.

Is there a bathroom nearby?

My first guess would be a sewer gas.

Sewer gas can enter your home

through any type of damaged piping

or if the P-trap doesn't have water in it.

The way P-traps work is they trap water to stop sewer gases

and any rodents or insects from coming into your home.

A home that's been vacant for an extended period of time

where water is not constantly going through the P-trap,

that water will dry out and then let sewer gases

and God knows what else through.

Minhtaunta asks, New homes aren't built

as good as the old ones.

New homes are definitely built safer.

They're safer building products, better guidelines

regarding fire protection.

They're also built more energy efficient than older homes,

but older homes tend to be built more robust.

Case in point, a two by four was called a two by four

because it measured two by four.

Today that's a nominal term.

Two by fours actually measure about three and a half

by one and a half inches.

Engineers have determined that that is still sufficient

enough to build with,

but it is not as robust as they used to build it.

Older homes are built on crawl spaces,

which gives you access to the plumbing and electrical

and they're very easy to work on.

Newer homes are built slab on grade,

which means they pour a concrete pad

and footers directly onto the ground itself.

The benefit of that is there's more stability.

Some drawbacks is you don't have access to the plumbing

and electrical for easy repairs.

Here's a question from the home improvement Subreddit.

There's bees in my wall.

What steps do I take to remove them?

The first step is to identify what kind of bees they are.

The last thing you want to start messing

with is Africanized killer bees.

Typically that involves hiring a professional.

They can actually determine what type of bee it is,

capture the queen and potentially relocate the bees

instead of destroying them.

'Cause we need our bees, right?

So bees actually give off a heat signature

and I've actually found them using my infrared camera

in the wall.

Every object gives off energy

and what the infrared camera does

is it looks for any variance between surfaces.

So the heat from my hand is being transferred to the surface

and that residual heat can be picked up

by infrared technology.

That's how sensitive these cameras are.

Typically studs are spaced 16 inches on center

and you will see with the heat signature of the camera

there will actually be a defined line on each side

where the hive is growing.

So that's actually a good indicator

not only of where the hive is, but how big the hive is.

Pattay712 asks, What's a common cause of house fires

that most people don't think about but should?

I think the best way to answer this question is to show you

The dryer vent itself has been clogging for some time

and the lint has backed up into the attic

and this is pretty close to a flashpoint I would say

as dangerous as it can get before it goes up.

The heat can't escape from the dryer

and the dryer doesn't turn off.

You can actually ignite the lint

And that's exactly why you need to clean the dryer vents.

By and large people don't even consider cleaning that

it will not only prevent fires,

but it'll also help extend the life of your dryer

and make your dryer work more efficiently.

They should have a flap to prevent any rodents or birds

or insects from coming in,

but they should never be screened.

Ihatelemonlime asks, Inspection tomorrow.

What to expect and the need of moral support.

Well, here's what you can expect.

Your inspection should take about an hour

to an hour and a half per 1,000 square feet.

I like to say let the age set the stage.

The age of the property is gonna tell me

what common deficiencies I have to rule out.

If you're looking at an old house

such as a house built in the '70's or before,

you can look out for aluminum wiring,

cast iron drains and cloth wiring.

Aluminum is known to cause fires

because of a phenomenon known as cold creep.

The aluminum wire itself is not bad.

It's actually the connections going into the breakers

that tend to wiggle themselves loose through expansion

and contraction and then heat forms,

and that's where some fires have started.

Cast iron drains were used from 1975 and before.

The average life expectancy for a cast iron drain

is 50 years.

So you're looking at 50 year drains at the youngest, right?

The problem with cast iron is that they corrode

on the inside, they can have cracks.

Cloth wiring is an issue because the jacketing itself

can fray exposing the wires on on the inside.

@cauliflowernice wants to know,

So I just saw this beautiful house for sale,

Drano was under the sink. Is that a bad sign?

When you see Drano, you don't know what the cause is.

It could be as something simple

as the P-trap being clogged from hair

because it traps water it can also trap debris.

Drano usually is used in order to help clog that.

You can also mechanically just unscrew it and clear it out.

That's what I personally would do.

The challenge with drains

is that it flows by gravity typically.

To give you an overview of how the drain systems work

in homes, here's a diagram you see that clean out.

That's where we typically access for drain inspections.

We will put the camera in, it's reviewed all the way up

to the toilet as you see under the house

and then back down all the way to the sewer tap.

All the way up to the sewer tap is your responsibility.

And that drain should be free of debris,

it should be free of any sagging, any roots,

and any offsetting.

For older drain pipes such as clay or cast iron,

the condition of the pipe itself deteriorates over time.

It can be pretty expensive to fix.

It can cost anywhere to 20 to $30,000 to re-pipe a home.

Here's one from UlteriorKid324

Question for home inspectors.

When you open an electrical panel,

what makes you go uh-oh?

You know what? Let me show you a problem panel.

So the first thing I look for is the panel brand.

Challenger has known issues

such as overheating, loose breakers.

The other clue would be if there's breakers

in here from different brands.

Here we have a GE breaker, a Golden and ITE,

and there's no listings that have these breakers

in this panel.

That's a big sign that somebody that doesn't know electrical

is messing with electrical.

So let's see what we see on the inside.

If you notice right here there's been some overheating.

It looks like a breaker might have caught fire or overheated

and melted part of the bus bar.

This panel itself has a known history

where these breakers don't sit properly on the busbar.

As well as the breakers not tripping properly.

So whenever I see these type of panels,

I automatically recommend replacing.

Some other deficiencies I look for is double tapping.

That's when two wires are going into one breaker.

All this looks good. There's no over fusing.

But given the history of this panel alone

combined with evidence of overheating,

this panel is in need of replacement.

What I also look for in these situations

is over spray paint.

When the painters come by,

typically they don't protect the panel and these bus bars,

if they have any debris on them,

you won't have a proper connection

and you have a heat point which can create fire,

smoldering or melting.

And that's definitely a panel that makes me go uh-oh.

U_wot_mat_MD asks, How [beep] am I? Is this asbestos?

Hard to tell from the photo.

My first question would be how old is the property?

If this flooring is from the '70's,

or even into the early '90's or before that

because there is no room for error with asbestos,

I would seal up the floor and call in professional

to test it and then move on from there.

One of the applications for asbestos was heat resistance.

That's why you see an application such as chimney flu

or furnace flu insulation.

I do know that it does have flame retardant properties,

so insulation around furnaces is definitely beneficial.

However, once you pulverize it and it becomes airborne,

it can stay up in the air for a while

and continuously get kicked up.

It is a known carcinogen,

but if the asbestos has not been touched, it should be safe.

The prophet himself asks,

How do I know if my roof is shot?

The only literal way you can call a roof shot

is to find bulge, which I found on two roofs.

One was coming straight down,

which appeared to be fired in a celebratory fashion.

And one was coming from an extreme angle,

which appeared to be from an altercation.

But all kidding aside depends on the roofing material.

Tile roofs are hard to tell

because tile's not the waterproofer.

It's actually an architectural feature.

Water runs under tile, so the waterproofing material,

the membranes are hidden and therefore

we can't really tell.

What we go off of here is average life expectancy.

Tall roofs lasts about 25 years.

If you're hitting that 20, 21, 22 year age mark,

you're getting into needing a new roof pretty soon.

Asphalt shingles are easier to tell if you need a new roof

because the granules,

which are the protectant from the UV light,

starts wearing away and once that happens,

the roof starts accelerating, it dries out.

It's not pliable anymore.

When I see asphalt shingle roofs with repairs

and washed away granules, it's time to reroof.

A stain on the ceiling doesn't really tell you

that the roof is shot.

It just tells you that there's a leak,

which I found leaks on brand new homes.

Ask roofers in your area, what the average lifespan

is for that roofing material.

Take the age of the roof and then you'll know

with about 90% certainty how much more time

you should have on that roof.

Yourfreudianslip asks, Mysterious ceiling stains.

Is this a leak, condensation, mold,

or an animal in the attic?

Yeah, it can be any of those things.

The most common cause I find with stains on the ceiling

is gonna be a roof leak.

My first order of business, if I see a stain on the wall

or ceiling is I'll use my infrared camera

to see if it's possibly active.

The infrared camera here shows

that there's a difference in temperature,

but it's not verifying moisture.

You need the moisture meter to determine

if the moisture is elevated.

Place us on this spot in question

and then also test a nearby spot to give a comparison.

'Cause all building materials carry some type of moisture.

We have a higher reading.

99.9 is the highest this moisture meter reads.

I would recommend only opening up this area

under containment because of potential mold exposure.

CaboTV asks, what's the point of having gutters

on the house?

Why not just let the rain fall off the house?

Gutters help with water management.

You want to keep the water away from the house.

The gutters not only collect the water falling off the eave

but should divert it seven feet away from the structure.

Over here you can see that the gutter diversion is proper.

It's actually diverting the water sufficiently away

from the structure.

In this clip, you can see a gutter

that is not properly diverting water away from the home.

That's going to pull all that water coming off the house

back to the structure which can lead to structural issues

and water intrusion.

The soil around the structure is actually supporting

the footer of the home.

Once the soil erosion starts,

you can possibly see some cracking.

Berto813 asks, Spray foam versus regular pink insulation.

Personally, I'm a fan of spray foam.

There's two different types.

There's open cell and closed cell.

Closed cell is solid, you can't push into it.

Open cell is more of a sponge.

Reason for that is if you have a roof leak,

you wanna see it before you have structural failure.

So open cell allows for that water to come through

and will warn you that you're having a roof leak.

What I like about spray foam

is that it actually provides

more of a homogenous temperature within the house.

When you put that pink insulation on the attic ceiling,

there's still heat coming into the ceiling area.

Therefore you'll need fans

to help keep the air more homogenous.

With spray foam insulation,

you're actually spraying the interior ceiling of the attic.

The attic is thereby hermetically sealed.

So on the interior it's very comfortable.

Crash_override_exe asks, What's the worst house

you've ever inspected?

The worst house I've ever inspected.

Every square inch, I'm talking ceiling floors and walls

was covered with black mold.

Now obviously no one was living there.

It was a vacant property.

It was actually a bank owned property

and it had been vacant for several years.

Bambooboogieboots asks,

How would you know if there's mold in the house

if you can't see or smell it?

The only way to determine it is to order a mold inspection.

What this pump does, it draws air into the sample right here

and the sample has a little sticky plate in there.

As the air bounces off that plate, little spores

or anything in the air will stick to that plate

and that is sent to the lab.

The lab will read that plate,

determine what type of species the mold is.

Comparing that sample to an exterior sample is gonna tell us

if there's elevated molds of concern inside your home.

Mold needs three things.

It needs a food source, which is dust.

It needs water and time.

Remember, mold is not the cause, mold's a symptom.

You have to identify the probable cause

and the probable causes can be leaks in the duct work,

elevated moisture from a water event.

It could be improper filtration at your AC handler.

The duct work is the number one spot I find mold

because the conditions are always perfect there.

Patbal asks, How bad is mold really?

Well, it comes down to the occupant.

Elderly children or anyone with an immune deficiency

are most susceptible to mold.

In addition to allergies and irritation,

you can experience brain fog, inflammatory lung condition,

short-term memory loss.

Increased anxiety and depression are also linked to mold.

So the most well-known mold would be black mold.

That is Stachybotrys and that's usually never discovered

in AC duct work.

I always find cladosporium and penicillium aspergillus

in the duct work, those are the most common.

Black mold or Stachybotrys is usually found

on backs of drywall that have been soaking for a good time

and it's identified very easily by the black mold.

They all have been known to cause issues.

Even penicillium aspergillus.

Some people have lost some of their lungs from that mold

and that's a common one that I find in duct work,

No-Blood1055 asks, How do you tell the difference

between how settling and structural failure?

How settling is where the weight of the house

is pressing on the whole entire footprint

and some areas might be weaker than others

and that's where you get a differential

and that's usually when a crack will occur.

The rule of thumb is if you can fit a dime into the crack,

that could suggest there's a structural issue.

When we're talking about structural failure,

the location of the crack is key, especially on load paths.

The load path should carry straight down to the foundation

and then into the ground.

If the cracks originate in those areas,

that's when red flags go up.

If the crack is offset, that's also a red flag.

Other areas that are more benign

would be underneath the window.

The load is carried by the lintel

and then the columns on each side.

So underneath the window there is no load occurring.

If you have a crack there,

it's probably just a shrinkage crack.

It can be patched and there should be no issue.

Iambigtime asks, Found this during a home inspection

what is it?

Well, it looks to me to be a hornets nest.

I would definitely proceed with caution.

You want to not only remove it but block its entry point.

Goodnoodle72 asks, Is radon testing necessary

when buying a home?

According to the EPA,

radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer.

One in 15 homes have elevated levels of radon gas in them.

The only way to know is to order the test

and they're not that expensive.

They should run a couple hundred dollars.

Radon is a radioactive gas that comes from the earth

It is coming out all around us.

What we don't want to do is trap it

in our living environment.

That's where it becomes dangerous.

Oftentimes people think that radon

because it's coming from the ground

that it's usually affecting buildings or homes

that are built on the ground.|

However, it can also leach from building materials.

So radon can be remediated. It usually costs about $2,500.

So it's pretty reasonable for the average size home,

they create negative pressure under the house.

So they take the gases

before it can get into your home and accumulate.

Ok_Purchase1592, What's the dumbest home maintenance DIY

you've ever made or have seen?

There are many that comes to mind,

but one in particular,

a homeowner actually took a Florida license plate

and repaired their recess light with it.

That's right in the attic side.

I actually saw the State of Florida seal

from an open can light.

While that might qualify technically

as licensed electrical work, it's unsafe.

Another one I've seen is a two by four jacking up breakers

inside of an electrical panel.

Naive-Ad7343 asks,

How do carbon monoxide leaks occur in homes?

Well, they can occur in several different ways,

from leaking gas pipes, damaged appliances,

or incomplete combustion.

Another often overlooked source of carbon monoxide poisoning

is actually a garage mounted AC handler.

These handlers typically draw in garage air.

And as you drive in and out of your garage,

over time you can build up carbon monoxide in your house.

And that's why it's important for all homes

to have carbon monoxide detectors.

So if you have a garage mounted AC handler,

it's very important that you get a smoke test

done by an AC company and have them seal off all ports

to help prevent any ingestion into your home

of carbon monoxide.

Ironies4suckers asks, How do you figure out

where rodents are coming into the house?

Look for smudge marks.

Rodents typically leave traces behind them.

You can walk around the perimeter of your home.

They can squeeze into really tight areas.

They'll get in under behind siding.

They'll get into rooftop vents. You'll see cages on vents.

That's one sign that you had a rodent problem.

Another raceway for rodents to get into your home

is your AC handler line set chase.

The pipes, the gases that are coming

from your condenser unit on the outside

going into your home,

they typically go through a chase.

You need to block that up

'cause that's an access point for rodents.

Rodents carry diseases such as Hantavirus

and they can also chew up your wiring,

duct work and plumbing.

Nobodysbusiness11, Is water testing for public water supply

during a home inspection recommended?

While water testing is probably the least ordered

inspection, I would recommend doing it

'cause it's the only way you're gonna find out

if you have heavy metals or bacteria in your water.

A common cause for bacteria getting into your water supply

is a water main break.

Typically, your municipality will inform you

that there might be a water boil in effect.

Having filtration on your home will also help protect you

against such cases in the event that you're unaware

of any water main break.

Personally, we have a whole home water filtration system

and a reverse osmosis at the sink.

That ensures that no matter what the quality of water is

coming to our home that we are drinking clean water.

So those are all the questions for today.

Thanks for watching.

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