It was an honor to be voted Dan’s Papers Best of the Best God for the South Fork in this year’s awards. We thank all those that voted for us!
Here’s a link to the 2019 Best of the Best businesses that one:
https://www.danspapers.com/2019/12/dans-best-south-fork-home-personal-services-2019/
Looking forward to another year of service to the community!
Tags: BOTB, Dan’s Papers Best of the Best 2019, Best Home Inspector South Fork 2019, Local Home Inspector in Hamptons NY, Dan’s Best Home Inspector
When winter’s frigid temperatures begin to thaw and make way for warmer weather, many people start trying to make improvements to their health and fitness. But this year, why not try setting some goals to improve your home, too? Not sure where to start? Our suggestions will help.
1. Clean Your Dryer Vent to Safeguard Your Home
While you likely know the importance of cleaning your dryer’s lint trap to increase its efficiency, you may not know that you need to clean your dryer vent to prevent a fire. According to Consumer Reports, nearly 7,000 fires, 200 injuries, and 10 deaths each year are due to dryer fires. Failing to clean the dryer is the leading cause of these blazes.
Cleaning the lint screen is important to prevent lint buildup and helping your dryer
work efficiently. But, cleaning the lint trap consistently does not prevent fibers from getting into your dryer vent. When these vents are neglected, lint builds, and a spark can lead to a fire within your vent that can quickly spread to the rest of your home. Clean the dryer vent at least every few months.
If you can pull the dryer away from the wall and access the vent, you can clean your vent yourself. If you can’t, contact a professional. Disconnect the dryer from the power source, disconnect the vent from the dryer, and vacuum both ends using the appropriate attachment on your vacuum.
2. Get Organized
A cluttered home is more difficult to clean, but that’s just one reason to get organized. The other is that clutter contributes to stress and prevents your home from being a sanctuary. In fact, clutter causes confusion and chaos for your family. Organized homes, on the other hand, help you make healthier choices, enhance your relationships, and improve your mental and physical health.
One of the first steps to a home organization plan should be making “keep,” “trash,” and “donate” piles. Set aside time to go through your home, one room at a time, to sort your items and then find places for those that you decide to keep. Make your rooms functional and keep items that you use in the rooms where you will use them. Soon, you’ll find that you are organized and have an easier time cleaning and maintaining a routine.
3. Conduct a DIY Energy Audit
If you want to save money and reduce your energy bills, conduct an energy audit. You can hire a professional to perform this service for as little as $100, or you can do a DIY version. Begin by checking for air leaks around windows, doors, chimneys, and electrical outlets. If you can’t feel drafts, use a lit candle to detect them.
Some easy DIY solutions are to add caulk around windows, install weatherstripping on your door or add a sweep seal to it, and place foam-insulated pads behind outlet covers. You also can wrap insulation around your pipes and place an insulating cover around your water heater.
To make more complex repairs, contact a professional. Contractors can inspect your doors, windows, and chimneys for drafts and make repairs such as replacing windows or exterior doors with energy-efficient models. While replacement windows can be expensive, you will benefit from the improvement by saving energy costs and getting a return on your investment. Many homeowners recoup 80 percent of the project cost in added home value.
A contractor also can replace your front door with a steel door that will improve energy efficiency and drastically update the look of your home. Better yet, steel entry doors have the potential to return about 101.8 percent of your initial home investment upon resale. When you improve the exterior of your home, you benefit by enhancing your curb appeal in addition to saving money on energy bills.
This year, make some of your springtime improvement goals focused on updating your home. Clean your dryer vent to prevent fires. Then, get organized. Finally, conduct a DIY energy audit and tackle simple solutions before calling a contractor to improve the exterior of your home to increase your curb appeal and lower your energy bills.
Article by Rob Woods shared with permission
Image via Pixabay by AllanW
We help to save home buyers precious time by offering three critical types of inspections on the same day as the general home inspection. This also helps to save realtors the aggravation of arranging for three different meetings with the seller of the house. This qualifies us as a full-service home inspector company.
Our home inspections are backed by the InterNACHI $10,000. Honor Guarantee. Our certified pest inspection service is based on protocol and training from InterNACHI. And water testing is performed by NY State licensed and approved laboratory.
There are well-water tests and town-water tests available. If you would like to learn more about which tests are most helpful and which services best suit your needs, do give us a call or text at:
631 377 2046
Tags: 3 in 1 home inspection service, water, pest, home inspection in one, Hamptons home inspector, full-service home inspector Southampton and Suffolk, water testing, pest inspector
I recently read a story of a water heating unit that did not have a TPR valve properly installed on it, effectively turning it into a ballistic missile when it malfunctioned:
A Water Heater Can Become an Explosive Missile:
“The steam-powered tank hurtled across the busy intersection at First Avenue South and South 152nd Street — over at least six lanes of traffic — before landing more than 439 feet away in the parking lot of a Pizza Hut. …[the] water heater landed 70 feet from a Kannapolis, North Carolina, home and did an estimated $20,000 worth of damage when it exploded. According to the report, the heater lacked a TPR valve altogether.”
What is a TPR Valve?
Most home owners do not know what a TPR valve is or looks like, let alone the importance of having one. In any event, these little valves should never be capped, sealed shut, or left without having an extension pipe added. In case you aren’t familiar, a TPR valve stands for Temperature Pressure Release Valve. This valve is designed to release water from a water heater if either the temperature is too high or if the pressure is too high. The point is, if pressure builds up in a water heater, the valve releases the pressure by letting water out, as opposed to creating an unpredictable and dangerous exploding missile.
What is a TPR Valve Extension Pipe?
Codes require that an extension tailpipe be added to a TPR valve so that if any pressure builds up and is forced out, then it will not spray accidentally into someone’s face, but will spray towards the floor. The TPR valves are installed either on the top of a unit or on the side of water heaters. The extension tailpipe, also called a discharge pipe, should terminate no more than six inches off of the floor, per building safety codes.
Photo of a TPR valve at top of an electric water heater (in the center):
Photo of a combustion water heater with side TPR valve:
A missing TPR valve extension pipe is one of the more common mistakes found in a home inspection. Recently, when I found a water heater in a home that was recently installed, that did not have a TPR extension pipe, the owner outlined that the plumber had stated that TPR valve extension pipes are not required on electric water heaters. This did not seem correct for a number of reasons. First, if there is no need for any TPR tail pipe on an electric water heater, then this implies that there is no need for a TPR valve at all on such units. However, the Rheem electric water heater in question did have a TPR valve installed on its top (see the first photo, above). Only tank-less, on-demand water heaters come with no TPR valve, because there is no storage tank that can possibly build up pressure.
In order to get some more feedback on the electric Rheem unit, I called the manufacturer. The Rheem technical service assistant told me on the phone that I needed to call the local building code office to find out if it is required by code. However, when I asked for the official advice of Rheem, he said that TPR valve extension pipes are recommended on all of their water heaters, whether combustion or electric. When you consider that TPR valves release not just based on pressure, but also based on extreme temperature, then this makes all the more sense. When in doubt, it is better to be safe than sorry, especially with regard to such an inexpensive add on.
Tags: Do electric water heaters need a TPR pipe, what is a TPR valve? code for electric water heater TPR pipe, house safety, TPR discharge pipe,
Long Island attorney Andrew Lieb, who specializes in real estate law, offers advice on buying a home with a home inspector on Long Island. Here are topics that he advises as the top five issues to consider:
1.TIMING THE INSPECTION
2. HIRING THE RIGHT PROFESSIONAL
3. KNOWING WHAT YOU GET
4. UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS EXCLUDED FROM AN INSPECTION
5. WHO SHOULD ATTEND THE INSPECTION
Lieb’s complete article on this subject was first published in Hamptons Behind the Hedges, linked here. Then another version was posted at Huffington Post, linked here.
As a licensed NY State home inspector serving Long Island, I find Lieb’s article to be spot on. Timing is incredibly important, especially if there is serious interest in a home. And I also recommend that the home purchaser can learn a lot about the home by being present at the home inspection.
I have elaborated on the point of “hiring the right professional” at my blog, titled, ABC’s of Home Inspection Training and Experience, linked here. I would recommend, A) Architectural or engineering degree; B) Thorough home inspection training; C) Construction experience. All of these add to the capability and value of your home inspector, in addition to being a part of a certification organization that holds inspectors to high standards.
A further piece of advice on due diligence would be to hire a home inspector based on the inspector’s credentials, not just because a real estate agent has recommended one.
Image with permission by NZ Chrissy
Tags: Buying a home on Long Island, how to buy home on LI, how to choose inspector on Long Island, key inspection issues, how to choose inspector in Hamptons NY. buyer due diligence
On a recent home inspection, a box turtle was found floating inside one of the pool filter scuppers. It was happy to be released back into the woods!
There are certain issues that you don’t want to take lightly, and domestic carbon monoxide poisoning is one of them. CO is odorless and deadly. I once inspected an occupied basement apartment that had a boiler room covered with soot that was venting directly into the apartment. Not good. On Long Island, unfortunately, it seems that there is almost annual news of people dying from carbon monoxide poisoning. See here and here for two examples.
Recall of LI New Yorker Boilers
In 2014, there was a published recall of New Yorker boilers that had been installed on Long Island. “Plumbing Consultant Robert Gramman said thousands of the recalled boilers were installed as part of the KeySpan National Grid incentive program from 2005 to 2013.” – The New Yorker boilers, AKA Utica boilers, have, “an air-pressure switch that can fail, resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning.” I recently inspected a home with a New Yorker boiler, but it was manufactured in 1997. The following 2 websites help to identify the age of a New Yorker (Utica) boiler using the serial number:
http://www.buildingcenter.org/content/hvac-production-dateage
http://inspectbeforebuying.com/hrc/serialnumbers.asp
Recall of Kidde Smoke / CO Alarms
According to a published report, 1.2 million Kidde CO / smoke alarms manufactured between the dates of Dec. 18, 2013 and May 13, 2014 are being recalled. The defective alarms “may fail to sound during a fire or a CO incident.” If you have Kidde alarms that had been replaced beginning from December 2013, please check the manufacturing date and return them if the manufacturing date falls within the noted window of time.
Remember that just having smoke detectors in your home is not enough. And because each CO detector manufacturer has different installation instructions based on the specific design of the CO alarm unit, its important to read the instructions for the placement of your CO detectors.InterNACHI describes important facts on this subject in more detail. In New York State, the installation of CO detectors is also a code issue, as quoted from a law published in 2010:
“Specific reasons underlying the finding of necessity: Adoption of this rule on an emergency basis is required to preserve public safety by requir ing the installation of carbon monoxide alarms in all one- and two-family dwellings, townhouse dwellings, dwelling accommodations in buildings owned as condominiums or cooperatives, and multiple dwellings, without regard to the date of construction or sale of such buildings, as required by Amanda’s Law (Chapter 367 of the Laws of 2009), which will reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by carbon monoxide poisoning and, in the words of the sponsor of the bill that became Amanda’s Law, “create safer homes for New Yorkers;”
Tags: preventing carbon monoxide poisoning, carbon monoxide poisoning on Long Island, Consumer Product Safety Commission, placement of CO detectors and alarms, locations of CO alarms, recalls of hazardous boilers, recalls of hazardous CO alarms, Amanda’s Law CO alarms NY
Most serious mortgage lenders require a home inspection prior to purchasing a home. And there are different ways that buyers and sellers can prepare for a home inspection once a home inspector has been selected. In this article I’ll focus on what a buyer can do in order to maximize the benefits of the inspection. The following are some key questions regarding pre-purchase inspections:
What’s included in a standard, licensed home inspection? Are environmental issues included in a standard home inspection? How can I prepare for a home inspection as a home buyer? What should I do before an inspection? What should I bring to a home inspection?
1. Know What’s Involved – First, it’s important to understand that licensed home inspectors may only report on readily accessible and observable conditions and cannot legally poke invasive holes or pry up materials. And the inspector is required to observe and report on any deteriorated and/or damaged structural components, including the following: The building foundation and framing; the floor structure. the wall structure, the ceiling structure, and the roof structure. Additional services may include such things as water testing and EMF radiation readings on a microwave and nearby high-power electrical lines. The official Standards of Practice for home inspectors outlines the scope of work regarding what is entailed in a standard home inspection. Special kinds of inspections, for example, mold testing, are beyond the standard scope and can be requested if it seems that there is a problem either before the general inspection or after. SHI will also include certain additional tests for free in the inspection above and beyond the official requirements. For example, EMF radiation tests are standard for all SHI inspections, if there is an applicable situation. Also, per NY State laws, a Pre-inspection Agreement must be signed by the client prior to the actual inspection.
2. Make a List of Questions – Because you are the one hiring the home inspector, you have a right to ask for special attention on any issues you wish to focus on. For example, if you are especially concerned about moisture and mold issues in the basement, many inspectors have a moisture meter that can detect above-average and unsafe levels of moisture in wood structural members. SHI, for example, can do this if there seems to be a moisture problem. You can also ask your lawyer and real estate agent about any potential issues that would require special attention. For example, there might be a concern about a buried oil tank in the yard of older houses. There are often signs of this in a basement.
3. Is the House Ready? – It is most helpful when the heating system is on and running and any pilot lights are on in winter and that the water system is turned on outside in warmer weather. And it’s also good to make sure that there is no clutter blocking important areas, such as the attic, mechanical equipment and garage walls. Although this is normally considered the responsibility of the owner and real estate agent, it does not hurt to check on such issues yourself and make sure that the house will be as prepared as possible.
4. Being Present can Help – A home inspection is basically a a detailed introduction to your new home and its idiosyncrasies. SHI prepares reports with 20-40 photo pages that make the issues as clear as possible. Nevertheless, there are instances when it can be beneficial to be at the location to see first-hand how something works and to better understand why something may be a potential problem. Keep in mind that an average home inspection takes about 2 ½ hours. You don’t have to be present for the entire inspection, but a concluding summary review meeting can be very helpful. Sometimes a home owner will want to be present, but this may make the home buyer uncomfortable. Because the home buyer is commissioning the inspection, the preferences of the home buyer should be top priority. It may be that the seller’s real estate agent can be present in lieu of the owner, as an alternative. Try to have these kinds of details worked out with the respective parties involved before the inspection takes place.
5. Bring a Pen and a Pad – During the home inspection you can ask the inspector about any concerns and questions. Being able to take notes will be very helpful. You might also want to take some key measurements of the house for your own planning.
Conclusion
A home purchase is one of the riskiest and most important financial decisions a person or family can make. It’s important to approach the subject with a bit of due diligence and preparation. If you have any questions about buying a home or evaluating a home’s condition, please don’t hesitate to contact me at my email or cell number: 631.377.2046.
Tags: Prepare for Home Inspection, How to get ready for home inspection, how to buy a home, what’s included in a standard, licensed home inspection? environmental issues not included in a standard home inspection, How to prepare for a home inspection as a home buyer, What to do before an inspection? What to bring to a home inspection?
13,000. SF existing building survey plan.
SHI recently completed an existing building survey of an older “retro-modern” 13,000SF home in the Hamptons built in the 1970’s. Laser survey technology is extremely accurate and the precise finished CAD survey drawings can be delivered with a square-foot rate that is competitive with fees in places such as the Midwest.
The home was replete with complex wall angles, jutting appendages and a labyrinth of spacial interconnections. An experienced project manager of the architecture firm that requested the existing building survey said that it was the most difficult building survey project he had ever seen. The accuracy and quality of the building survey and CAD representation were such that the PM said that they would like to use our services more in the future.
Existing building survey elevation sample.
Whether you’re an architect, contractor or a home owner, if you would like a free estimate for a custom existing home survey in the Hamptons, NY area or anywhere on the East End of Long Island, SHI can provide this for you on short notice. The SHI area of service for as-built laser surveys is from Montauk to Manhattan.
Tags: existing building survey, Hamptons NY, East End, existing condition survey, as-built building survey Hamptons NY, CAD survey, existing plans and elevations, South Fork existing building CAD survey
If you are a home seller or real estate agent, would you like to see a home sell faster and with less headaches? You can get your home pre-inspected and certified ahead of time, before unexpected problems arise. With one phone call you can have your home inspected and listed as a Move-In Certified™ home. As an InterNACHI Certified Professional Inspector®, I’m qualified to do this for you. This certification means that, at a minimum, you can confirm that there are no major systems in need of immediate repair or replacement, and no known safety hazards. There are at least 10 benefits of suggesting a Move-In Certified™ Seller Inspection:
1. Instead of addressing repairs later, jump starting the inspection process will most likely speed up the sales process in the long run.
2. Many clients today won’t even look at a home that is not in good condition with immediate move-in quality.
3. You only have one chance to make a good first impression on selective buyers.
4. It’s easier for agents to sell when they are confident about the product they are selling.
5. This step by the home seller demonstrates a good-faith willingness to be more straightforward and pro-active in the sales process.
6. There will be added peace of mind knowing that no unpleasant surprises could be waiting around the corner that might ruin a prospective sale.
7. The seller inspection will likely more than pay for itself when the final contract price comes within close range of the full asking price.
8. The report will be posted at www.FetchReport.com and will be easy to download for both the seller and agent.
9. Requesting this service will set your property apart from all the others and make it more appealing.
10. Being pro-active in helping to determine the condition of the property up front helps to mitigate against any possible legal non-disclosure claims that might arise from the seller down the road.
Most safety problems are extremely easy to fix. For example, changing electrical outlets near sinks to GFCI safety outlets costs only a few dollars. But the value of having your home checked out and certified can be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Don’t miss out on this real estate trend that can give you a competitive edge in the market as a seller. If you are interested in this service, contact Richard Warden of Southampton Home Inspections (SHI) at 631 377 2046.
Tags: SHI Hamptons seller home inspection, SHI certified seller home inspection, move-in certified home inspections, benefits of seller’s Move-In Certified™ home inspection, how to sell a home faster and better, how to stand out in real estate, trends