As you know, the home sales have been meager in the last few years.  Many of the part time home inspectors have disappeared from the industry. Those that have stayed are well behind the times with their technology, marketing, reporting and knowledge of construction.  There are home inspectors that I know for a fact that have never wore a pair of work boots and/or stepped on a construction job site!  Its like hiring a baker that has never baked in his life, but read the book!  Do you see where I’m going with this?  The state of Illinois says you must be licensed to be a home inspector.  Although you do not have to carry errors and omission insurance or carry liability insurance.  Where are no rules for that?  There are no rules that you must have prior construction history.  No I do not mean reading a book or painting a fence, working on cars, cleaning your house, or a weekend warrior job.  These things do not make you credible as a home inspector in my mind!  So I developed this list to protect the possible home and condo buyers from the people who call themselves home inspectors, but do not have the so called credibility for the title.

• What kind of construction have you done in your life time and for how many years?
• What is the company that supplies your errors and omission insurance?
• Do you have general liability insurance and where is it from, so you can check to see if it is current?
• What kind of tools do you use when you do a home inspection?
• Do you use a Thermal imager?
• How is your report delivered?

As most of you know, I am from Wilmette Illinois and have been a pillar in the building community for many years.  I started doing home inspections in Wilmette for friends that wanted a builder to assist them before their was licensing in the buisness.  Recently, I performed a Wilmette home inspection and I heard that a home inspector flooded out a home in Wilmette and the buyers and realtor were going to be liable for the damages because the home inspector was not insured.  Better yet not even licensed!  This angers me to no end that these type of home inspectors are still in buisness.

If you are a buyer or seller of a home and have questions on what to ask your possible home inspector then please contact me at ~ The Thermal Home Inspector or 312-961-4228.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe.

Jim Kolke

I’m sure you have seen a home that had a front stoop or stairs that have fallen or were shifted.  This also happens to sidewalks that are along side of a home.  When doing a home inspection settling stairs and sidewalks issues comes up more than I would like to see. 

At my home inspection in Elmwood Park, Illinois the settling stairs had to be the first thing I noticed when approaching the home.  The side walks had the same pitch towards the home that is generally a bad thing.  Why?  The grading of a home is what basically pushes water away from the foundation.  If the grading (dirt), sidewalks, patios, driveways, stairs and porches are tilted or pitched towards the home like the Elmwood Park home inspection there can be problems with not only the tilted or settling stairs but with foundation cracks, water in the basement and so much more.

If you have problems with water entering you home from settling stairs, tilted patios and so on you will have possible repair cost in you basement that could be in the thousands.  I would suggest you repair the settling stair by one of two ways. 

• Mud jacking is a way to lift a certain area of the settling stairs to get them to go in a direction that will eliminate poor drainage towards the foundation.  With this repair you will still have to make corrections to the grading and drainage around the stairs to prevent further settling.  Generally this repair method is 1/3 of the price of total removal and reinstallallation.
• Total demolition and re installation is the more expensive correction of  settling stairs.  The benefits of this repair is that you will have a new set of concrete stairs and you will know that  the grading a sub structure is repaired properly.  The grading and drainage around you settling stairs will still need to be corrected to prevent future issues with settling.

My clients from the Elmwood Park home inspection were leaning to repair the settling stairs with the mud jacking procedure. The cost to mud jack their stairs was $700.00 versus $2000.00 for new concrete stairs.

As you can see my clients from the  Elmwood Park home inspection found out that poor grading and poor drainage  can produce costly repairs around your home.   If you have further questions about this subject please contact me at The Thermal Home Inspector or 312-961-4228.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe.

Jim Kolke

An attic inspection is a major part of a home inspection.  Why?  That portion of the home usually tells if there will be structural issues, water issues, insulation issues and so much more.  There can be expensive repairs in the attic.  When a roof is not able to be inspected due to ice or large amounts of snow I inspect the openings in the roof a little more diligent that normal to make sure that there are no possible entry points for water to the building components.

I recently was hired for a home inspection in Park Ridge, Illinois for a young family that was excited about their new purchase but concerned about possible issues that may arise and cost them money.  Generally I start all home inspections  in the attic when I enter the home.  This was exactly where I started at  the Park Ridge home inspection where I immediately found that there was an active water intrusion into the attic from the flashing around the plumbing vent stack.  The water did stain the ceiling below in the bathroom but there was no mold or any issues that would concern me to tell my clients to keep looking.  There was also another past leak from a humidifier.  In some of the larger homes, there may be a furnace in the attic.  The Park Ridge home inspection did have a furnace in the attic.  What the furnace did not have was a overflow pan limit switch that would stop the furnace or air conditioner if there was a blocked drain.  This limit switch stops damage that may occur from water that would come from condensate or a humidifier.

Back to the  leaking flashing from the plumbing vent stack.   Since the structure of the deal for the Park Ridge home would not allow for payment for issues found during a home inspection I suggested to my clients to staple a bag to the rafters, cut an opening in the base of the bag and insert that bag into a 5 gallon bucket to prevent further damage to the home.  I suggested that a roofing contractor be hired to replace the plumbing vent flashing as soon as possible to prevent further damage to the home.

Little issues like this can be seen as a big issue.  There are no problems in a home.  Just questions waiting for answers.  If you are a person will questions and tired of waiting for an answer please contact me at ~ The Thermal Home Inspector or 312-961-4228.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe.

Jim Kolke

Epoxy floor coverings must be installed properly or future issues will arise.

If you are looking at homes in this market you might find garage floors that are a perfectly finished concrete floors or you might find concrete slabs that are all cracked up.  If your floor in the garage is cracked up that is probably due to the fact that there are no leaders on the downspouts.  This article is about epoxy floor coatings in garages so I wont go to far off the subject.  

Our home inspection on the Palatine home started on the exterior of the home then into the garage of their home.  My clients from the Palatine home inspection were elated about the cleanliness of the garage of the home.  The garage floor had an epoxy floor covering installed over the slab.  This epoxy floor covering can be a good thing if installed properly.  It can be a nuisance if not.  it all depends on the installation. 

There are procedures on the installation of an epoxy floor covering in a garage that should be followed if you want to have this floor looking great for many years. 

• Empty garage completely before starting the procedures to installation of your epoxy floor covering in your garage.
• Sweep the floor so that there is no dirt on the floor at all.  If there are areas that have paint chips are pieces of debris stuck to the floor these areas must be scraped.
• Repair of cracks must be done after the floor is swept and suggest waiting 24 hours prior to the next step.
• Etching solution installed over the whole garage floor to prepare the floor to accept and bond to the epoxy floor covering solution.  This is probably the most important step in the installation of a epoxy floor covering.
• Rinse floor from all the etching material.
• Drying of the floor for 24 hours but 48 hours would allow for the floor to be perfectly dry.
• Mixing of the epoxy solution and the installation of the colored particles that will complement and add traction in your garage.
• Installation of the finish coat should be your final step.  Suggest an added grit for traction on the epoxy flooring material.
• Drying of the floorshould be for at least 48 hours to assure proper drying time.

These are the procedures to have a beautiful epoxy floor covering in your garage.  The Palatine home inspection did have a floor that seemed to have no visible blemishes that would develop into paint chipping and deterioration to the flooring material.  The repair costs for concrete epoxy floor covering can be in the thousands because the existing epoxy floor covering would have to be taken off and reinstalled. 

If you see any area that has chipping or cracking this is a floor that will require repairs or replacement.  If you have further questions about this subject you can contact me at The Thermal Home Inspector or 312-961-4228. 

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe. 

Jim Kolke

Watch out for this guy. He is the bargain basement home inspector.

A recent article I published about “good, fast and cheap pick two” will be revisited to explain why cheap home inspectors and cheap home inspector services should be feared.  Feared?  Yes that’s right!  Lets do the math.  The purchase price of the home you are about to purchase is $200,000.00 for a 3 bedroom / 2 bathroom home.  Your discount inspector charges $200.00 for his professional home inspection services?  This sounds like a good deal?  Unfortunately for you this home inspector does not carry E and O insurance, generally liability insurance, no pictures on the report and no abilities to even be in this business.  In fact he has only been in the home inspection industry for 2 years.  Not bad?  What did he do before home inspections?  You forgot to ask.  He was a mechanic at Jiffy lube!  That’s great!  

How do I know all of this info?  I was hired by his old clients from the Libertyville home inspection to do a real professional home inspection.  My inspection fee for this home was $425.00.  You ask why?  I carry 1 million dollars in E and O Insurance and general liability insurance to protect my client and all the affiliates I work with.  I use Fluke thermal imagers that cost $10,000.00 and other equipment to perform a professional home inspection.  

Do I get calls where people try to get”deals” on a home inspection.  Absolutly.  I dont do discount for anyone because I give a professional product that my clients can hang their hat on when purchasing a home. 

My clients from the Libertyville home inspection were smart enough to ask their realtor for an extension on their attorney and inspection period and request a 2ND home inspection.  Luckily for them my inspection found items that would require repairs that exceeded $8000.00.   They see how important a professional home inspection is…now. 

Hopefully you will learn that cheap home inspections can costs you thousands from my clients at the Libertyville home inspection. 

If you have questions on what to ask your choice in home inspector please contact me at The Thermal Home Inspector or 312-961-4228. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Jim Kolke