1. Poorly maintained roofing: Missing or damaged shingles, worn-out flashing, and cracked sealants. 2. Faulty wiring: Unsafely installed outlets, switches, and wiring that is not up to code. 3. Leaks and drainage issues: Clogged gutters, improperly installed downspouts, and cracked seals around windows and doors. 4. Structural issues: Cracks in walls or foundations, sagging floors, […]

In Part 1 of our series on the importance of roof flashing, we looked at some general defects (corrosion; and loose, missing, damaged, and misaligned pieces); poor installation practices; and issues with step, headwall, sidewall, and valley flashing. Today, we turn our attention to flashing for a masonry-constructed chimney, one of the most common areas […]

Flashing is one of the elements of a well-built house that doesn’t draw much attention until it goes bad, as it’s often known to do (there are a number of reasons for this that we’ll discuss below). If you think you’ve found the right property in your search for a new home, you should be […]

Hiring a home inspector shouldn’t be a simple matter of doing a Google search and picking the top name that pops up on the screen. You wouldn’t choose a doctor or dentist in this manner—and the same applies to finding the right home inspector, whether you’re a seller in need of a pre-listing inspection or […]

When searching for the perfect home, it is highly unlikely that eager shoppers—especially in this seller’s market—will be asking many questions about air leaks. To a homebuyer more interested in the building’s finished basement, new deck, and proximity to a preferred school district, air leaks may seem like a minor issue. However, home inspectors understand […]

In the second part of our look at the attic portion of a home inspection, we’ll be examining the importance of proper ventilation and pointing out some of the common defects that the certified inspectors at A-Pro have reported on over the last 27 years. As we noted in Part 1, correctly installed venting works […]

One of the most common misconceptions about having a traditional home inspection is that the inspector will tell you absolutely everything about the interior and exterior of the property in question, from the new sprinkler system to the roof sheathing hiding under a layer of shingles, from the tool shed in the backyard to the […]

In our previous blog post, we took a hard look at wood rot—one of the more common and costly problems that can affect wood structures in a home, from siding to door trim, window framing to cabinetry and decking. Today we turn our focus to composite wood, another popular choice in home construction that has […]