Aries Inspection

Archive for the ‘Home Inspection’ Category

Find the entrance cable conduit for your electric service (large pipe running  from ground to meter box). Inside this pipe are the electric cables from FPL. Look at the bottom of the pipe. If you see rust, remove the rust with sandpaper, wipe clean, then prime with a metal primer such as Rustoleum (this has been done to the pipe in the right hand picture).  This will prevent getting to the point that the rust has actually eaten through the pipe, exposing the cables and subjecting them to damage. In this case, a plastic sleave should be placed over the area to protect the cables.

A GFCI protected receptacle does not provide an absolute guarantee against electrocution. Read the rest of this entry »

Wondering why you see cracks in your garage concrete slab? Is it a structural problem?

These are almost always due to normal expansion/contraction and or settling. If you removed all the floor coverings from your home,  you would see the same cracks. Concrete expands and contracts causing cracks to occur. Ever noticed the grooves in a concrete sidewalk every 5′? These are expansion joints designed to allow the concrete to crack within the grooves (or joints). A typical house slab does not have these joints.

If you’re looking at houses built in the early ’70′s and before and notice cracks in the ceilings, don’t be alarmed.  They’re probably simply due to the fact that the ceilings are plaster, which will crack with the expansion and contraction of the wood ceiling joists or trusses the plaster board is fastened to.  That’s one reason drywall is now used, it won’t crack.

Did you know that the weekest part of a home in a major hurricane is the overhead garage door?  This is one of the lessons learned from hurrican Andrew.  If your door is ’94 or older, protecting it with shutters or panels or replacing it should be a consideration.

Did you know that GFI receptacles and breakers go bad if they never get tripped?

TIP: Once a month trip and reset any GFI receptacles or breakers in your home.

If you are looking at homes built from the early ’80′s to ’95, are familiar with and concerned about polybutylene plumbing, I can show you how to verify it’s presence as you go through these properties and save the cost of a home inspection only to be disappointed or surprised to learn that it has polybutylene.  Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Aries Home Inspection Service, Inc.

Our experience in Home building brings a keen insight towards evaluating not only the structural soundness of a home, but also the functional operation of the total components that go into a home.

All our inspections meet or exceed the standards of practice of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) with Read the rest of this entry »