Salemoregonhomeinspector's Blog » Plumbing

Secrete leak detector

salemoregonhomeinspector — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 17:55:42 +0000

A large part of home owner maintenance is paying attention to little things.

Check here for leaks

Areas that are above or below the line of sight, tend to be the most neglected areas. Deterioration, rot and leaks can hide in these areas that are just out of sight. These areas are the places that keep home inspectors in business.

Plumbing supply and waste lines are always in areas that are out of sight. Special attention needs to be paid to these pipes periodically. Small leaks under the sink, or worse, in the crawlspace, can lead to big issues.
For those of us that do not really want to go into the crawlspace……. there is a secrete little leak detector on most water meters.

The little dial on most water meters have a little red or white triangle. The triangle will spin with very little water movement. This can be a pretty handy way to check for leaks without actually going into the crawlspace!

On a recent home inspection in Silverton, Oregon I noted the red triangle spinning. No water was being used in the home…… The buyer and or seller now have some more investigation to do.

As an attentive homeowner you should check this “little thing” to ensure that your supply pipes are not leaking.

That’s what that thingy is for??

salemoregonhomeinspector — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:06:24 +0000

The most important part of a good home inspection is the education about the home. Above and beyond the defects that good home inspectors will find, helping the new home owners understand the weird knobs and switches that are in a typical home is really where good inspectors earn their wage.

One type of knob in particular that I see often in more recently built homes is the “hose bib winterization valve.”

It seems simple enough however they usually are not anywhere near the hose bib (outside water faucet)!

In a two-story home, these valves are usually stuffed under an upstairs bathroom sink. The placement is good because if you shut the water off and open the bleed valve the water will readily drain out the outside water faucet.

If you have a recently built home and see one of these under the sink:

you now know what that weird thingy is for.

Jim Allhiser

President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321 jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

Helpful presentation to keep you from getting Burned!

salemoregonhomeinspector — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:36:41 +0000

Unfortunately WordPress doesn’t seem to want to allow me to embed my presentation this morning so you all will have to bear with me and click on the link below:

Water heater temperature adjustment presentation

Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321 jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

My home inspection is better than yours!

salemoregonhomeinspector — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:01:14 +0000

Thermal imaging has been an absolute game changer for the home inspection industry. About eight years ago my wife and I bought our first home in Salem, Oregon. At that time I worked in construction and I was a pretty hand dude but I knew very little about furnaces, electrical systems, plumbing and many other integral parts of a typical home.

The home inspector that we hired requested that we not show up till the end of the inspection. I didn’t really like that advice so I showed up went he began his inspection. That excuse for an inspector spent about 45 minutes in our 1950′s fixer and didn’t say more than a dozen words to me, even though I was asking him questions constantly. He didn’t even introduce himself!!

Upon moving in we realized that the furnace didn’t work, the bathtub had a leak and the shower head barely had enough spray to get you wet!

A year pasted before I learned of thermal imaging and how their were a few inspectors across the country that were using this wonderful technology to offer more and better knowledge for their clients. I took the leap and be and became home inspector.

Yup. Thats a leak in this new house

Yesterday I inspected a new home and with out my fancy little camera my clients would not of known about a plumbing leak. The leak was in the upstairs master tub and it had not caused any finish damage yet……

Equiped with the knowledge that I provided my clients were able to save the ceiling in their kitchen/dining room, the flooring in this area and all of the head aches that go along when you have to do major repairs to your home.

Bank Owned Problems

salemoregonhomeinspector — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:04:25 +0000

With more and more banks acting as the primary owner of homes I am starting to see more and more ridiculous decisions. Issues that would never come up for a home owner are now manifesting due to the utter lack of common sense displayed by most banks when home ownership is their new responsibility.

Recently I got the chance to inspect a bank owned property here in Salem, Oregon. It was cool the morning of the inspection but not unusual (the high 20′s). The bank in their infinite wisdom turned the water to the home on, for the inspection. But……some one forgot about the heating system…… The agent, client and I walked into the home and discovered a large pool of water on the floor of the kitchen and dining room and rain falling from the kitchen ceiling!

Although the leakage was awful, it was still manageable. The water had not been there for very long and the wood flooring was not even warped, yet….. I turned off the water and grabbed some towels to try to sop up the majority of the water. We rescheduled the inspection and hoped that the bank’s reps would properly dry the home before serious damage occurred.

Three weeks later….the bank just got the heat on!!!! During the subsequent home inspection I find typical water damage issues and ceilings, walls and flooring that is still wet! A good general rule of thumb is: if water is uncontrolled in a home for as little as 24 hours, mold can start to rock and roll. I did not do any mold testing in this home but I just can’t help but wonder what the second floor joist bays look like. Hmmm…wet wood and paper for 3 weeks, I think it is probably very fuzzy with fungal growth.

As many of you may know, when dealing

with short sales and banks you have to leave

common sense at the door. Even with this premise it is still disappointing that over

and over again it seems that banks

are so ill suited to be primary owners of homes that they spend dollars to save pennies.

Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321 jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

Parts and Inspection of a Water Heater (part 4 of 4)

salemoregonhomeinspector — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:24:53 +0000

Water heaters in general are reliable for around 10 years. They can last much longer or they can start to fail after 5 or 6. (the oldest I have seen was a 68 year old electric water heater that was still cranking away!) Among other issues with water heaters, the age is a good indicator of when the unit may start to fail or when you may need to replace the unit.

The thing I look at, when I am inspecting homes in Salem, Oregon and the water heater is the name plate:

The name plate will give most all of the information we need to determine the size and age of the unit. Some times the age is very obvious and there will actually be a label that states when the unit was manufactured. Most of the time you have to look in to the Serial Number. With most brands the year will be the second 2 numbers in the serial number.

Bradford White apparently insists on being difficult because they use a secrete spy code on their tanks and you need to bring your box-top decoder ring.

In this first picture you can see the location of the serial number:

This next picture shows the two letters that are significant for determining the date of manufacture of this particular water heater:

At this point we get out our secrete spy decoder ring (or try a Google internet search):

and we can see that this tank was produced in October of 2005. Meaning it is a 4 1/2 year old tank.

At this point I am tired of talking about have concluded some brief ideas on what to look for when looking at these super stylish modern appliances. You can check out my earlier posts here: More water heater information

Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321 jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

Parts and Inspection of a Water Heater (part 3 of 4)

salemoregonhomeinspector — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:09:09 +0000

There are a few things to look at when inspecting this oh-so mundane of household appliances. If you have read my earlier posts or seen the MythBusters, you would understand that the pressure and temperatures contained in this vessel are nothing to be taken lightly.

Properly Installed Seismic Straps

The next thing I look at when I am inspecting homes in Salem, Oregon and the water heaters therein:

Seismic Straps:
In other parts of the world this may not be a very important issue but around Salem, Oregon the earth shakes from time to time. Knowing what we know now about the bomb that is our water heater we know that we shouldn’t mess around too much and expose it to rupture or other damage. The best way to protect the heater is to strap it to the structure and make sure it doesn’t tip or fall over.
The straps need to be installed with one in the upper third of the tank and one in the lower third of the tank. These straps should be tied securely to structure with lag bolts.
With these two straps installed properly, minor earth quaking should not cause damage to your water heating system.

I will discuss the other important items in the next posts…….

All content is Copy written and is the property of Perfection Inspection Inc. Any usage that is not expressly permitted by Perfection Inspection Inc. is infringement and is punishable by law.

Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321 jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

Parts and Inspection of a Water Heater (part 2 of 4)

salemoregonhomeinspector — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:45:47 +0000

In my first post I wrote about the safety issue of having a standing flame in the garage and how the water heater should be installed to prevent unwanted fires. Water heaters are heated water under pressure and there are a few very important safety devices that need to be just so, and anyone who watches MythBusters knows that water heaters, gone wrong, can be devastating……
The next thing I look at when I am inspecting homes in Salem, Oregon and the water heaters therein is:

The Temperature and Pressure Relief Valve (TPR)
This is probably the single most important safety device on water heaters. This is a simple valve that allows gas/steam/liquid to leak if the pressure or temperature gets too high.
In recent years TPR’s have become very standardized, mounted on the tank, but older models still may have the valves on the hot water line. This condition will cause a home inspector to gripe and is not as safe as the valve on the tank but if you do notice this condition it is most likely time to replace your whole water heater.
With the TPR in a standardized location it is now time to add the extension piping. Yes, extension piping is important! Remember that TPR valve is a release valve just waiting for the temperature or pressure to get to high. When it releases it may do so with a significant amount of steam and super heated water. The extension piping ensures the steam exhausts near the ground and not in anyone’s face.

The pictures are perfect examples of how NOT to pipe the TPR!

I will discuss the other important items in the next posts…….

Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321 jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

Parts and Inspection of a Water Heater

salemoregonhomeinspector — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:59:46 +0000

Sexy, stylish and fashionable your water heater is not. (unless you have one of those tankless systems, but that is another blog) Your water heater is an important part of modern living and it really makes indoor plumbing enjoyable.
There are a few things that I look for and that are important when I am inspecting homes in Salem, Oregon and the water heaters therein, the first thing is:

Where is it?
If it is in the garage there are a few rules that need to be followed for safe operation. If it is gas, the flame source needs to be at least 18″ off the ground. This condition will apply to gas units that are more than 4 years old because we have now gone to a sealed burning unit that does not have an exposed flame. If you can get to the pilot light so can combustible gasses. Combustible gasses in garages tend to hug the ground so if the flame is sealed or 18″ off the ground it will help prevent those combustible gasses from igniting.

I will discuss the other important items in the next posts: Part 2, 3 and yes even 4!

Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321 jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

The Bomb in your Basement or Garage

salemoregonhomeinspector — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:42:00 +0000

Although in Salem Oregon water heaters do require a Minor Label for professional water heater installation, many handy home owners tackle this job on their own.

Here are just some of the things that well meaning installers can get totally wrong:

Lack of Straps: Water heaters in this area should be strapped on the top third and bottom third, to resist movement in a seismic condition. Water heaters are bombs, high temperature water under pressure can be an explosive combination. It is important to prevent the tank from moving.

Flue issues: This is absolutely important with gas appliances. If you don’t get the flue right you can allow carbon monoxide to freely enter your home. This particular flue was built out of vinyl dryer ducting. The plastic had been melting into a puddle on the top of the tank.

This is this home owners solution for the flue exhaust. The home owner may have thought that a clothes dryer and a gas fired water heater were basically the same thing.

Here is a picture of the draft hood in action. Notice the lighter’s flame tipped away from the hood. This means that flue gases, instead of going outside, are coming inside! This is potentially a deadly setup that has apparently been in place for years.

These are just some of the many things that can be done wrong by a less-than-handy handy person.