Drones Give Home Inspectors Bird's-eye View
Drones make checking hard-to-reach places, such as steep roofs, much easier for home inspectors and insurance agents. With new rules for drone piloting making headlines and companies that sell goods online musing about the possibility of drone-based delivery, the tiny, unmanned aerial vehicles seem to be gaining traction that goes beyond recreational use. Although hordes of drones buzzing by to deliver consumer goods to your doorstep may be years away, home inspectors use the
HEAT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
Radiators are used in steam and hot water heating. Heat is distributed through your home in a variety of ways. Forced-air systems use ducts that can also be used for central air conditioning and heat pump systems. Radiant heating systems also have unique heat distribution systems. That leaves two heat distribution systems -- steam radiators and hot water radiators. STEAM RADIATORS Steam heating is one of the oldest heating technologies, but the process of boiling and condensi
WOOD AND PELLET HEATING
Today you can choose from a new generation of wood- and pellet-burning appliances that are cleaner burning, more efficient, and powerful enough to heat many average-sized, modern homes. Pellet fuel appliances burn small pellets that measure 3/8 to 1 inch in length. CHOOSING AND INSTALLING WOOD- AND PELLET-BURNING APPLIANCES When choosing a wood- or pellet-burning appliance, it's important to select one that's properly sized for the space to be heated. When an appliance is too
FURNACES AND BOILERS
Upgrading to a high efficiency furnace or boiler is an effective way to save money on home heating. Most U.S. homes are heated with either furnaces or boilers. Furnaces heat air and distribute the heated air through the house using ducts. Boilers heat water, and provide either hot water or steam for heating. Steam is distributed via pipes to steam radiators, and hot water can be distributed via baseboard radiators or radiant floor systems, or can heat air via a coil. Steam bo
5 Ways You Didn’t Know You Could Save for a Down Payment
Buying your first home conjures up all kinds of warm and fuzzy emotions: pride, joy, contentment. But before you get to the good stuff, you’ve got to cobble together a down payment, a daunting sum if you follow the textbook advice to squirrel away 20% of a home’s cost. Here are five creative ways to build your down-payment nest egg faster than you may have ever imagined. 1. Crowdsource Your Dream Home You may have heard of people using sites like Kickstarter to fund creative
Should You Look for Your First House — Or Renew Your Lease?
Consider 5 key questions in your quest to decide whether you’re ready to go for it. Tired of working so hard just to build your landlord’s equity instead of your own? Been dreaming about paint swatches and obsessing over Pinterest projects? Making that leap from renting to owning a home comes with many perks — both financial and emotional. And even though home ownership comes with great responsibility, you might be surprised how achievable it can be. Certainly, the best time
Six Months After Quitting My Job – Here Are My Honest Thoughts
When I decided to pull the plug on my job at the end of 2015, there were a lot of thoughts running through my mind. On one hand, I was terrified. The idea of FINALLY quitting my job was something I had thought about for years, but it wasn’t something I actually considered doing until about 12 months ago. When I started looking at self-employment like a REAL, legitimate option for my future, a lot of conflicting thoughts came into the picture: Am I truly capable of surviving w
So You Want to Be a NY Home Inspector – Part 3
Let’s now take a look at your assets. For the record none of these are essential, just nice to have. 1. Experience with home construction
2. Interpersonal skills (people person)
3. Appearance (slim, gray haired, well dressed, 50 or so in age is ideal).
4. Credentialed (Engineering or Architectural degree) These assets speak for themselves but they are not essential. You could be a jerk, and #’s 1, 3, and 4 won’t save your career. I have always felt that inspecting a home i
So You Want to Be a NY Home Inspector – Part 2
If you are considering becoming a Home Inspector you must take a personal inventory. Some of the obstacles that commonly impede success in this field are discussed below: Are you… 1. Stupid?
2. Old?
3. Young?
4. Female?
5. A racial minority?
6. Having difficulty being understood because of limited English proficiency? Of course I use the word “stupid” in a tongue-in-cheek manner because no one who is taking the time to read my words could be stupid. I refer to thinking i
NY Home Inspection – Part 1
Inspecting a house is a daunting task. Standing in front and looking at a house, an inspector can become overwhelmed by the sheer number of things that need to be checked in order to do a thorough inspection. It seems enormous; and it is. Look around the room you are in. Imagine that you need to examine and assess every item; from pencils to windows, walls to computer. Take a minute to see how many items there really are in our everyday environment. How would you begin? How w
