Plumbing fixtures are a mainstay of the modern home, and homeowners use them on a daily basis. But plumbing fixtures develop annoying problems from time to time. These problems range from leaks to installation issues to cross connections to malfunctioning traps. Home inspectors find and report on such problems all the time, and oftentimes the homeowner is capable of implementing the remedies they recommend.

The term "plumbing fixtures" refers to sinks, toilets, tubs, showers, bidets, and their associated plumbing hardware. (In this sense, hose bibbs are a kind of plumbing fixture.) I prefer to group the problems one can experience with fixtures into these categories: faucet parts, bathroom plumbing, and traps. Let's investigate the nature of these problems and see if there are plumber secrets that can help one anticipate or fix them.

Should a home inspection checklist, physical and in the inspector's hand, be a state-mandated requirement? Does a home inspection checklist guarantee thoroughness and accuracy? Is the degree of its use a valid criterion for choosing one inspector over another? These are reasonable questions, but they focus on the letter of the law or professional-client relationship, and it is much more important to concentrate on the spirit.

Home inspection checklist use is a built-in aspect of the job. I know of no inspector who doesn't use checklists, though the forms may be paper, electronic, or in the head. What's critical is that each home inspection conforms to certain content standards, both in terms of what is included and what is excluded, and to certain ethical standards designed to assure fairness and integrity.

Black mold and the Pacific Northwest go hand in hand. I hear black mold complaints and sob stories from customers and other people all the time. Often they have found that the mold has brought on or exacerbated existing respiratory problems. In extreme cases homeowners have had to move out of their house. In this area especially, one naturally expects the presence of black mold to be a major determinant of whether or not a real estate transaction closes.

Specifically identifying black mold is something home inspectors typically try to avoid, even though there is often keen customer interest and request to do so. The reason is primarily liability related; regulations prohibit one from claiming expertise without proper training and licensing. Moreover, air sampling and other techniques for measuring air quality or the presence of mold spores are not yet as reliable as one would hope. The risk of false positives needlessly stirring up trouble seems too high. But that doesn't mean we have any hesitation in reporting the presence of microbial growth (perhaps without calling it black mold) when we find it.

I see a metal roof in maybe one out of fifty inspections. Because a metal roof is more expensive than other kinds--except for slate and clay--this is not surprising. But the burst housing bubble and the Great Recession have resulted in far fewer home sales (and consequently fewer home inspections). Those fortunate enough to hang onto their houses are apt to stay in them a lot longer than they had planned. This means that they are more likely to have to face roof repair or roof replacement themselves rather than letting the next owners deal with it. And this implies that average roof quality and life expectancy may increase. So I'm expecting to see a slate, clay, or metal roof more often in the future.

Is a metal roof something you should consider for your home? Do you desire a roof with a long lifespan (common warranties range from 25 to 50 years) and low maintenance? Is the higher upfront cost worth the peace of mind and long-term savings? What other roof materials besides metal should you consider? Let's see if we can answer these questions.

Plumber jokes abound, usually centering around their exorbitant fees or making fun of do-it-yourself homeowners whose ineptness worsens the situation and requires calling a plumber to save the day. But, though the plumber is in fact highly skilled and generally worth his fee, the homeowner doesn't have to bemoan his inaccessibility to arcane plumber secrets. He doesn't have to remain clueless nor does he have to fear ineptness. He can do quite successfully a number of plumbing-related tasks himself.

The plumber is frankly more interested in focusing on major problems for which he has been extensively trained to solve and is usually content to leave minor issues to the homeowner. So in the rest of this blog, let's get a better understanding of how all the plumbing in your house functions and see what jobs are safe for you to tackle and what are better left to the plumber.

I saw an electric water heater made by A O Smith the other day, the serial number of which defied standard decoding rules for determining manufacturing date. The customer knew that his electric water heater was old, but he didn't know how old and he had no records. One clue was that there was no sacrificial anode. Further investigation turned up an older coding system used by Smith, and according to this code the electric water heater was built in 1979.

Water heater life expectancy, electric or otherwise, is typically cited by the home inspector as twelve to fifteen years on the average, although in some parts of the country there is failure after eight years and in other parts twenty-five years is not unusual. But this particular electric water heater was thirty-two years old and still working fine. Because it was servicing a church rather than a home, its capacity was fifty gallons, albeit used maybe once or at most twice a week, and that use negligible. The TPR valve appeared to be in good condition and functional. The only attention given the electric water heater in the past decade was to drain it once.

Air quality outdoors has been a global issue for decades and has led to governmental actions such as the Clean Air Act and to broad citizen activism. Indoor air quality is a more recent issue taken up both by environmental activists and homeowners concerned for their health. Increased interest in indoor air quality is due to heightened awareness and also to various trends that may result in greater trapping of pollutants inside and/or likelier development of problems such as toxic mold.

Degraded air quality, whether indoors or outdoors, affects people in different ways and to different degrees. Some people react to pollutants after a single exposure while others react only after repeated exposures. Sometimes reactions are immediately apparent; other times they emerge only after a significant delay. But regardless of your individual sensitivity, it's worthwhile understanding what can affect indoor air quality. Let's make a home inspection checklist of the various contributors to poor or degraded air quality.

House inspection businesses are suffering along with the real estate industry. With the upheaval, house inspection will have to adapt to changing times and trends. One noticeable trend is the Green Building movement, aimed primarily at reducing carbon footprint, striving for sustainability, and better husbanding of the earth. This trend's side effects are mostly beneficial to homeowners, but there are some red flags to be aware of from a house inspection viewpoint.

Consider a house inspection as an evaluation of heat flow, airflow, and moisture flow. Other items are involved, such as the condition of roofs and siding and the operability of electrical and plumbing systems. But in terms of an inspection of a house's livability, the key elements are heat flow, airflow, and moisture. Many of the green trends are strictly economic, such as energy home affordability, neighborhood-negotiated group discounts, close-in homes with an eye to shortening or eliminating commutes, and Accessory Dwelling Units or the Tiny House movement, which focus on energy saving and sustainability. These items may affect house inspection peripherally in terms of location and inspection cost, but let's talk about the trends that impinge on house inspection more directly, such as changes in heating & cooling, changes that affect indoor health, and changes in regulation.

On a home inspection last week I encountered an attic above the garage that was not separated in any way from the attic space above the house. Because home inspections require examination of proper fire separation between house and garage, this raised a red flag. However, this condition didn't specifically violate anything on my home inspection checklist.

For other home inspections I've seen either no attic over the garage or two separate attic spaces (one over the house and the other over the garage) with separate access hatches. But just because a practice differs from what occurs in a typical home inspection doesn't necessarily imply it's wrong. After all, this was a newly built home and presumably passed county building inspections. So further investigation was warranted.

Home inspections are commonly associated with real estate transactions. But an annual home inspection that you conduct yourself is a good idea. New Year's Day is a time for resolutions, and many suggest changing smoke alarm batteries then too. But if you care about the condition of your house and the safety of your family, why not resolve to extend the battery-changing duty into a mini home inspection?

The following home inspection tips comprise a list of items you might want to perform on an annual basis, not necessarily on New Year's Day. This list is a subset of the more comprehensive home inspection checklist that home inspectors follow.