General

You can repair your leaky roof vent boot yourself. It's easy!  As a home inspector in the Stillwater, MN area, one of the reasons that I make a point of…

In 1962, house builders started installing outlets with ground wires attached. Grounded 120-volt receptacles in the United States have a small, round ground slot centered below two vertical hot and…

Why don't chimney sweeps wear top hats anymore? They keep falling off. Boring but true. Nothing about a chimney sweeps's job can be described in breathless narrative. Well, until there's…

An easy fix that doesn't involve tearing out the ceiling in the room below the bathtub As a home inspector in the Stillwater area, I make it a point to…

Do you remember heating up water on the stove to take a bath? Me neither. But that's how my mom took a bath when she was a little girl in…

Illustration credit: GreenBuildingAdvisor Chances are, you have the equivalent of a 2 - foot hole in your ceiling, letting heat out of the house. It doesn't look like a 2 - foot…

Did you ever forget to winterize you hose bibbs and NOT have a split water pipe due to freezing? I bet I know why. You either have a newer house,…

Insert bad pun about tankless jobs My job as a home inspector is not at all what the realtor does. The real estate agent is a lot like a matchmaker;…

Your home inspection is non-invasive I don't think a lot of sellers would be happy if a prospective home buyer (or his/her home inspector), cut holes in the walls or…

And what does "Attic Bypass" mean? As a home inspector in the Stillwater, MN area, I consider the attic to be a major source of information about the house. I…