Home Inspection Services

Sewer scope:
Still not a popular thing in the California housing market yet. We have done video sewer inspections for years. However it's not part of a general home inspection. Many plumbing contractors offer this services for a fee, from $200 -$400 depending on length of line and accessibility. But how important is it? Well when you consider that the average services call to clear a drain runs $50 to $100. Couple that with clogs on a monthly bases and it adds up quick. In California we have earthquakes. We have had many earthquakes. This alone would be reason enough to get the sewer line scoped. Another reason is tree roots. When a sewer line cracks it allows tree roots in infiltrate the line causing clogs and sewer backups. Other things that can cause a sewer line to become damaged would be heavy landscaping, over watering of the yard and city works of improvement in the street near the curb.

Here is a good testimonial on why you should have your sewer scoped.
Just as getting a home inspection is important for countless reasons so is a sewer line inspection. There are several companies in who only perform these inspections and not the repairs.
When we purchased our home in Corona California it was beautiful. It was only 5 year old. But shortly after moving in we started to have issues with the sewer backing up. Come to find out that the sewer line was damaged by heavy equipment used to build the pool in the back yard. Had I paid $225 to David Home Inspection "homeinspectionservices.org"for the sewer scope to begin with I would have saved the $4,635 in repairs, permits and landscape repairs. Scope before you close so you can go back to the negotiating table with all parties concerned.

Trisha M Trask
Dhi Client

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Chimney Diagram
Ever wonder what your fireplace looks like? Here is a cut away view? Click to enlarge pictures.
As a home inspector you will need to identified and describe all of the components of the fireplace and chimney to your client. Customers have many questions as it pertains to the fireplace in the home. Remember only 47% of the people who buy a home with a fireplace have ever use one for themselves.
Home Buyers should make sure their home inspector checks the functionality of the damper assembly and overall cleanliness of the fire box and flu stack. Another big part of the inspection is the chimney cap and screen. Here inspectors find many deficiency. Cracks in mortar missing spark catchers, screens or undersized screens are common finds.
Some chimney inspections turn up major defects such as bricks that have deteriorated, missing mortar that causes bricks to come loose. Structural defects caused by settlement or earth movement. Cracked or damaged flu liners. At times a home inspector will find chimneys that have pulled away from the home completely. Another form of fire place is the combination wood and gas burning firebox. Similar to wood burning in the form of maintenance and cleaning. This type of system will have a gas log lighter add to help with lighting the fireplace. On the other hand many homes today are built with Gas only fireplaces. This is a big departure from the wood burning fireplace. Modern gas fireplaces are easy additions to most remodeling projects. Using only a fraction of the floor space need by a traditional masonry fireplace, their efficiency and heat output can rival a traditional furnace. 40,000 Btu units, for example, can heat a small home. Some units will come as a direct-vent or even vent-free models are available. If you need a inspection on your fireplace or chimney contact us.

David Home Inspection Service
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At DHI we use a state of the art electronic home inspection program that allows us to group deficiencies by city and neighborhood. After 11 years and 4600 home inspections we are able to see trends in building defects and deficiencies. I wanted to give you the top 17 fixes to a better home inspection. Take a look around your home and make repairs as need. Remember you only get one chance at your first inspection. If you plan on listing your home for sale, this repair list the worth it's weight in gold.

1. Wood Rot damage due to deferred maintenance. (replace and paint as needed on wood trim)
2. Roof leaks caused by deferred maintenance. ( Seal roof penetrations and flashing's)
3. GFCI, AFCI missing safety devices. (Install GFCI outlet per NEC for safety)
4. Improper breaker size for circuit. (Call an Electrician to properly size and install breaker)
5. Improper grounding of main/sub electrical panel. (Call an Electrician to properly ground panel)
6. Water leaks at sink trap. (Replace or repair plastic "P" trap)
7. Water leak and corrosion at angel stops (Replace angle stops under sink)
8. Water supply line connection under sinks, toilets and washer. (Should be replaced with steel braided type)
9. Dishwasher damaged or missing proper air gap. (Install approved air gap)
   
10. Water heater not vent properly (Call plumber to vent water heater)
11. Water heater Supply lines corroded (Replace with steel braided supply lines)
12. Water heater temperature and pressure relief valve missing discharge pipe. ( Call plumber to install discharge pipe per local building codes)
13. Fire Place Chimney flu needs sweep.
14. Chimney cap and screen missing (Install approved chimney cap and screen)
15. Toilet not secure to the floor bowl wax leaking. (replace bowl wax secure toilet properly)
    
16. Smoke Detectors need new batteries.

17. Shower tub enclosure needs caulking. (Use approved caulking to seal around tub and shower)

We know that no home is perfect. A good home inspector is likely to find more deficiencies than what I have listed here. However if you you take care of the small things your report will be much more appealing to potential home buyers.

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Danger of Fire or Electrocution:

Federal Pacific electrical panels are something we see a lot of in Southern California. The main defect of this type of panel are the circuit breakers. Although buss bars have also been known to fail. Stab-Lok breakers fail to trip during short circuit and or overload conditions. Note Stab-Lok has a failure rate that exceeds UL test. Furthermore they fail at a rate 99 time higher than breakers of like equipment manufactures. Test show that the rate of failure is close to 82%. UL Tested other major brands and found them to only fail to trip in response to an over-current or short circuit only 0.85% of the time.

When an overload or short circuit occurs in an electrical device, the circuit supplying electricity to the device is supposed to be interrupted by the breaker. This interruption of electrical power is intended to minimize the resulting fire hazard of electrical overloads or short circuits. With the federal Pacific electrical panels this does not happen. A circuit breaker that fails to trip is unsafe. It fails to protect the electrical circuit and the building and building occupants where that circuit breaker is installed.

It is always recommended to remove and replace this type of panel as well as others that have a high failure rate. Names like Bull Dog Push-Omatic and Zinzco are panels that need to be inspected regularly to insure the panel is in good working condition.

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