NEWS & HOT TIPS

Pre-Inspection Tip for Vacant, Short Sale & Foreclosed homes
Real Estate market (and home inspections) gains
Deck collapse with injuries
New Eden Prairie program aids 1st time home buyers
New Energy Efficient Lighting - UPDATE 12-13-2011 
Ice Dams indicate significant heat loss - wasted energy
Dryers venting to the roof are a frequent cause of ice dams in townhouses. 
InspectApedia.com publishes article on Moisture in electrical panels.
Check for snow drifts blocking furnace air intakes.
Question the satellite TV dish or cable TV installer who wants to enter your attic.
ASHI Certified Inspectors are the only home inspectors who have completed a recognized certification process
Rain + Clogged Gutters/Spout extension off = Wet basements
Tamper Resistant Receptacles Required in New Homes
Roger Hankey enters 37th year of inspections
 A new company formed to remove ice dams.
Check your carbon monoxide alarm.
Flexible dryer vents increase the potential for clogging and overheating
Low Cost Safety Device Provided with most new kitchen stoves:
Eleven Gallon Blood Donor
Hankey & Brown now doing InfraRed Thermal scans:
Prepare ahead for Winter Weather and ice dams:
Our favorite treats for holidays and birthdays.
Remodeled 1948 Minnetonka rambler wins LEED platinum award.
Roger Hankey featured on WCCO-TV I-Team news story.
Radon Removal Systems help maintain a dry basement.

www.angieslist.com

Vacant, Foreclosed, & Short sale home buying tip

Prior to scheduling a home inspection it is wise for you or your real estate agent to verify the status of the utilities at vacant, short sale, or foreclosed houses.  It is easy to see whether the electric power is on and if water is on at fixtures, but sometimes when the water is off, and no heat is required, it is not obvious if the gas supply is on.  The best way to check is to look at the gas meter.  The meter is typically outdoors at a front corner. 

                               
If the gas is off, the gas utility will have turned the valve to the off position and placed a clamp or pin type lock on the valve.  In this case, your home inspector will not be able to check the operation of any gas equipment including the furnace or boiler, water heater, gas stove or other gas fired appliances.  We recommend you and your agent arrange to have the gas supply turned on prior to the scheduled appointment.  Home inspectors can not tamper with or remove the lock.     

Upgrade your bathroom vent fan. Its a quick, easy, low cost project

Most bath vent fans, particularly those in baths without a tub or shower are a low cost 50 CFM (cubic feet per minute) model that tends to be rather noisy. If you're tired of that under powered noisy fan,  Nutone - Broan now offers an upgrade kit for most of these fans.  The key benefit of the upgrade is reduced noise.  Your existing fan probably has a sound rating of 4.0 sones.  The fan in the upgrade kit is 3.0 sones.  The fan in the upgrade kit also increases the fan capacity to 60 CFM.   The kit also includes a new grill to cover the fan. Time to install the upgrade is about 10 minutes and requires no wiring.  Cost for the kit is about $30.  Click here for more information.   Another lowcost enhancement to this project would be to change the bath fan switch to a timer switch.  These typically cost about $20 and do require an easy wiring job. (Turn off the power at fuse or breaker, remove old switch, replace with new switch.) Now you can turn on the fan and let it run the desired time without having to remember to turn it off.  Both the fan upgrade kit and timer switches are available at most home centers and hardware stores.

Real estate market (and home inspections) gain

July real estate sales in the Twin Cities are likely to show continued improvement.  July inspection numbers for Hankey & Brown were the best in over five years.  THANK YOU to our customers and to the REALTORS and friends who referred customers to us.  It was a long HOT month, but our customers have found good homes, often with very favorable terms.  About half of the homes we inspect are still in the short sale or foreclosure portion of the market. 

We also have done a significant number of moisture intrusion - wet basement investigations, and even a few attic ice dam inspections to resolve problems from last winter.   These customers typically are home owners who have been referred to us by other customers or who found our website helpful.  

It is reasonable to be optimistic about the Twin Cities real estate market.  Prices are quite favorable for buyers, perhaps at the low point, and home loan rates are still low although qualifications are much more rigorous than a few years ago.   Conditions in short sale and foreclosure houses continue to be worse than a typical well maintained home, therefore a thorough home inspection is even more important than on a typical transaction.      

HankeyandBrown.com is six years old on 4 July 2011

This website has developed into a large and frequently updated resource for home owners. What started out as a small site with basic information about our services and qualifications has grown to scores of pages with a wide variety of topics on home maintenance and the conditions found during home inspections.  The site features numerous photos of adverse conditions as well as illustrations of remedies or maintenance procedures for a wide variety of conditions. We welcome your comments and plan to continue to expand the content available at this site.  Our newest content is at PoorChoices and shows photos of several conditions where a home owner or installer did not make a good decision.  We also update our Troubled Houses - A Home Owners Resource^sm page monthly with a photo of the month feature.

Rosemount deck collapse injures three people 

The Mineapolis StarTribune reports that 3 people suffered minor injuries during the collapse of a deck built without a building permit in the suburban community of Rosemount.  The deck was attached to the siding, without benefit of a bolted ledger board.  The house was built in 1988, without a deck.  The owner stated that the deck was on the house when they bought it ten years ago and they had not noticed any prior problems.  This incident points out the importance of having a qualified inspector examine the home prior to purchase and periodically during your occupancy, particularly if the house was not inspected prior to purchase. See our deck inspection page for more information about decks.

Spring tips for home owners and home buyers

The seaons are changing.  The "Parade of Home" new homes tour is on, and the snow is melting.  Now is the time to think about Spring home maintenance and important factors to consider when shopping for a new home.

Maintenance

Look carefully at your gutters and downspouts.  The spouts and their extensions need to be ON.   The ground near is very vulnerable to water flow as heat from the foundation often keeps the soil warm enough to prevent frost.  Melting snow from downspouts is a leading cause of wet basement in the Spring.  

  
Also, check your sump pump.  Look at the water level in the sump.  If the water level is near or above the bottom of the open ends of the drain tiles, then the pump is not working or not adjusted properly.  Activate the pump by adding water to the sump.  If the pump does not activate, contact a plumber for correction ASAP.   Also during or shortly after the next heavy or steady rainfall, check to see that water is entering the sump.  Water should flow from the open ends of the tile into the sump. 


Check the ends of the tile (often plastic tubing) for silt or slime.  If debris of this type is entering the sump, your pump or the tile can become clogged.  Contact a drain cleaning firm for assistance ASAP.  

HOME BUYING

Houses are easier to improve than neighborhoods.  Work with your real estate agent to search in the highest value neighborhood you can afford.  Buying and improving a home in a low value neighborhood creates a potential for "overimprovement" where it will be difficult to recover your investment.

Simple roof designs are much less likely to have ice dams than complex roofs.  This is true in all ages of homes, but is a common problem in newer houses with very complex roofs, and in multiple family buildings (townhouses and condos) where the building can have many valleys, each with an ice dam.

New Eden Prairie program aids 1st time home buyers.

Eligible home buyers can receive up to $25,000 in the form of a no interest, deferred loan to cover down payment, closing costs, and principle reduction.  Eligible buyers must not have owned a home in the past 3 years, intend to buy in Eden Prairie, register for home buyer classes, and meet income guidelines.  The annual income limit for a 3 person household is $58,000. For more info call 952 949-8486 or email jkarschnia@edenprairie.org.

New Energy Efficient Lighting available in April 2011.

Vu1 Corporation has announced that it has secured a UL listing for its new light bulbs.  The bulbs use ESL technology that produces a light similar in color to incandescant lights and does not contain mecury.  The first bulbs available will be the R30 reflector type commonly used in recessed "can" lights. 

The advantages of ESL bulbs are described at the Vu1 website.  These lights outperform compact flourescent and LED lights since the ESL bulbs have an instant on capability, are fully dimmable, and have much less heat output than LED bulbs. The lights cost less than LED bulbs.  The ESL bulbs are disposable as they do NOT contain mercury (found in CFL lights).   The ESL lights are available online at Destination lighting.   Click here to read a recent review of the new light in Scientific American.

Dryers venting to the roof cause of ice dams in some townhouses

Many townhouses built in the past 15 years or so have clothes dryers vented to the roof.  This can have disasterous results in snowy winters, when the dryer vent melts the snow and causes ice dams on the eaves.  We have seen numerous examples of these conditions over the past few years, and recommend that the dryer vents be rerouted out the wall whenever possible.   If the dryer can not be vented to a location OTHER than the roof, we are in the process of developing alternative vent terminals that can discharge the warm air from a dryer ABOVE the roof surface without having the the moisture condense and run back down the vent.  Look for more information here in this Spring.

Its time to check your heating system. 

Over the past two decades, many home owners have installed high efficiency condensing type gas forced air furnaces.  These Category IV furnaces are so efficient (over 90% Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) that they vent the products of combustion out via plastic a plastic pipe instead of a metal vent.   The combustion of natural gas produces a large volume water vapor, but these furnaces capture so much heat from the combustion,  that the water vapor is cooled to about 200ºF.  Liquid water condenses in the furnace and must be piped out of the furnace to a suitable drain.

InspectApedia.com publishes article on Moisture in electrical panels.

Our article on Moisture in Electrical panels features four case studies on how moisture can enter or form in electrical panels.  The article is intended to help both home owners and home inspectors understand the most common methods of moisture entry, and to be aware of remedies and preventive measures to help prevent corrosion within the fuse or circuit breaker panels.  Click here to read the article.   InspectApedia.com is one of the most popular and complete references on home maintenance and home inspection on the internet.

Normally this water flow out of the furnace via a small plastic tube to either a condensate pump, or a nearby floor drain.  Occasionally hoses, fittings and other furnace components that collect or drain away the condensate will leak.  This condensate is slightly acidic and can corrode metalling components of the furnace.  If you see water inside the furnace cabinet or leaking out on the floor, call a qualified heating contractor to correct the leak.  The leak may also indicate that there is a defect, or corrosion in the condenser.  This is a more serious leak and may require a furnace replacement.   Usually, the leak is not the condenser, and typically can be repaired quickly with replacement hoses, or fittings.

Your furnace may also have a diagnostic light emitting diode LED behind a small plastic window.  These LED's are typically on the blower door of the furnace.  If your furnace is malfunctioning, check the LED and write down any blinking signal.  The code for the LED lights is typically found on a large lable affixed to the inside of the furnace cover or blower door cover.   When calling for service, you may be able to expedite the repair by reporting the information from the LED to the service dispatcher.   

Finally, remember to check the air filter and change or clean it to provide for proper air flow through the furnace.  This is the single most important maintenance for this essential system. 

WINTER UPDATE:   Be sure to check the AIR INTAKE of your high efficiency furnace. 

If your furnace has two plastic pipes that serve as the air intake and vent, and these pipes terminate at an outside wall near the ground, deep snow drifts can block the air intake.  If the intake is blocked, the furnace typically has a pressure switch that will sence the lake of air and prevent to the furnace from operating.  Similarly, if the vent is blocked a separate pressure switch will prevent furnace operation.  Usually the discharge of warm combustion products from the vent will melt the snow away from the vent and air intake.  Furnaces without these controls or with malfunctioning switches might operate without adequate air and create carbon monoxide. 

Therefore, to keep your furnace running, and to maintain a proper air supply, CHECK FOR SNOW DRIFTS blocking the vent and air intake.

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Ice Dams indicate significant heat loss - wasted energy

This winter and last winter have produced more snow than normal, resulting in an above average number of homes suffering from ice dams, including many with leakage as a result of the ice dams.  What many people do not recognize is that ice dams are a clear indication of wasted heat.  Heat loss to the attic causes ice dams.  The heat loss occurrs EVERY winter, while the ice dam appears only in winters with heavy snowfalls.  Now is the time to hire a qualified home inspector to determine the sources of the heat loss and provide recommendations to reduce the heat loss and reduce the potential for ice dams.  Hankey & Brown Inspections are experts on ice dams and conduct visual and infrared thermographic inspections of attic to locate the areas of heat loss.

Question the satellite TV dish or cable TV installer who wants to enter your attic.

Unfortunately many cable and satellite TV installers are not trained to respect your attic insulation.  While most installers are probably trained to know enough to walk only on the framing (so they don't collapse the ceiling), many do not consider they if they traverse the attic they will disturb and/or compress the attic insulation.  If the insulation is disturbed or compressed, it will not maintain the original thermal insulation value (R-value).  Depending on the extent of the compression and the type of insulation, you may need to have the insulation fluffed up and redistributed, OR addition insulation installed to restore the original R-value.  

Another system we have seen compromised by cable and sat. dish installers is the vent pipes for radon systems.  Homes built since 2009 are required to have these pipes.  The pipes are typically 3 or 4" plastic pipes and may have a label indicating their purpose.  We have seen these pipes used as a cable conduit.  While this may not be prohibited, radon mitigation firms do not recommend the radon vent pipe be penetrated for any purpose. 

Discuss the installers procedures regarding insulation and radon vent pipes BEFORE permitting the installers into the attic. Return to top of page

Click the logo to link to the EPA search tool for Lead-Safe Contractors. 

Contractors who disturb six square feet of wall must be certified for Lead-Safe Practices.

New "Lead Safe" Renovation rules from the US EPA

The US EPA has issued new rules which require renovation and repair firms to use strict new "lead safe" work practices when working on homes built before 1978.  These rules go into effect on April 22, 2010 and include interior work where the surface area of lead is 6 sq. ft or greater, and exterior work where the surface area of lead is 20 sq. ft or greater.  For more information see the EPA brochure on renovation.  

Do you own an Air to Air Heat exchanger? (Heat recovery ventilator)
Do you maintain it?  If you don't maintain it, it won't work!

Air to Air Heat Exchangers, otherwise known as Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV's) are wonderful energy savers and provide a daily dose of fresh air into otherwise tightly constructed modern homes.  Unfortunately, 80-90% of the HRV's we examine are NOT working due to lack of maintenance.  The most commonly overlooked maintenance task is cleaning the air intake screen. 
 

The screen is typically found in a metal hood at the main floor level of an exterior wall.  Cottonwood fuzz, dust, dirt, and other airborne debris readily clogs the intake screen due to the high volume of air sucked in through this hood.  A good tool for cleaning the screen in this hood is a car windshield snow brush.  One way to reduce the amount of air flowing into the screen is to turn OFF the HRV around May first each year since the HRV does not operate successfully during the cooling season.  Turning off the HRV will stop air flow in through the intake screen.   

The other primary maintenance task in an HRV is to clean the filters inside the unit.  Typically there are tow filters and the one filtering outdoor air will be the dirtiest one.  Full maintenance instructions are found on the white core (at right).

 
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ASHI Certified Inspectors are the only home inspectors who have completed a recognized certification process