There have been many comments about light switches and this “one light switch away from” electrifying or possibly electrocuting the user. We take modern wiring for granted, fumbling for a light switch in a dark room without the possibility of getting shocked. This is more like something Dracula would have used to terrify movie audiences. […]
A Bit of Forgotten Dayton
In Englewood I was inspection this lovely one owner ranch and came across this box in the garage. It’s “dated” color and design invoked a happy memory of Rikes, one of Dayton’s lost landmarks. The owners of the house bought it new in 1961 and may have had the box for years, the box has […]
Forgotten Greats…..
At the time I saw this when inspection an older home in Dayton I thought nothing of it, other than this is an old furnace with a name that has disappeared and no longer builds furnaces. For sentimental value I took a photo of the manufacturers tag and thought I would be able to find […]
New Construction Hand Built ?
This photo is all the lumber that is needed to build a home on a basement. The floor joists are the only part of the structural framing that has to be put together by hand. The exterior walls come as pre-made panels with the window and door openings already cut in. They are most of […]
20 Year Membership
It’s hard to believe that we have been in business since 1999 and members of the Dayton Area Board of Realtors all that time. For years we taught classes at the DABR to help new Realtors understand what a home inspection was all about and how to deal with needed repairs. There have been so […]
Transformer (What’s it?)
This funky and worrying thing with wires hanging out of it is often found in the oddest of places. They can be found on the wall in a closet, in the basement on the wall or in the ceiling joists, beside the breaker panel, just about anywhere in a home.Nervous buyers often look at those […]
Telephone (What’s It?)
These blocks are often found in basements and can still be in use, but never in newer homes. Most newer homes have two plastic boxes outside with wires coming out of them. One for the cable TV wiring and the other for the incoming phone line. The phone “box“ is called a telephone interface which […]
Who Will Keep the Dog In?
It never ceases to amaze me how many homes have chain link fences around the back garden proudly displaying the iconic Sears brand on the gate. In fact It’s hard to believe that Sears has closed down and the dishwashers, refrigerators and garage door openers that are in so many of the homes we inspect […]
Fuse Box “from times long gone”
These old fuse boxes in a beautifully built asbestos lined oak cabinet were a big step up from the single exposed wall mounted fuse. These boxes were the forerunner to the breaker panels of today. The asbestos lining was used to contain any sparks or fire in the days before we all realized that mesothelioma […]
How Times have Changed Drains
This month has been the month for old drain cleaning signs from the 50’s still attached to basement ceiling rafters. Drains have had issues for years, older cast iron pipes were easily damaged by tree roots, while newer PVC pipes are rarely damaged by tree roots but often blocked by disposable diapers, feminine sanitary products […]
Old Cast Iron Drains
Modern PVC drain pipes have reduced the number of blocked drains substantially. This old house in downtown Dayton was built in the early ‘50’s had a sixty foot run to where the blockage was in 58, again in ‘66, ‘03 and ‘06. These were all bad years for this houses main drain according to the […]
Pre-Inspected Home? Beware.
We arrived to inspect a pre-inspected home in the Dayton area. This home had a “Pre-Inspected, Seller-Certified” sign right in the front yard. This would suggest that there is nothing significant for us to find wrong with the home. That the sellers wanted to be aware of every issue so they could make all the […]
Pollution Contamination
Problem? If you are buying a property and there is one of these test well monitoring stations, you would want to check out what the issue is. These are monitoring wells to determine if chemicals are leeching into or out of your property. They are most often found in commercial properties that have had an […]
Old and Simple
It’s nice to remember the days when everything was reparable. This outside hose bib was not only repairable, they even made it so easy with the instructions printed on it. Even today, faucets are one of the few items in a home that a home owner can repair in a few minutes with parts that […]
