U.S. Inspect Blog

Now that we’re about three weeks out, we have started making a list of all of the things we need to buy for the new house. We have broken the list into two sections – things we want to buy before we move in, and things we want to buy shortly after we move in. We have budgeted nicely, so we have a little money to play with, but my cheapness will not allow us to just go on an unbridled spending spree. We will approach this systematically, researching and purchasing the essentials first and then indulging in some extra items as a reward for controlling ourselves.

While termite swarms in the home can be unsettling to say the least and are one of the signs that you have an infestation, swarms occur regularly in nature and are really quite fascinating.

I was able to witness one of these events a few days ago and grabbed my camera so I could share it with all of you here. The entire process lasted only about 30 minutes. I hope you'll enjoy browsing through the pictures below. As I describe each picture, I'll also explain some of the basics about termite swarms.

Yesterday the House of Representatives passed the HOME STAR Energy Retrofit Act in a bipartisan vote of 246-161.

The President’s cancer panel has just released their latest annual report to the president. It highlights environmental causes for cancer in our food, water, and air, and calls for action to reduce exposures. Nuclear medicine has been rapidly increasing in its contribution to the public’s annual radiation exposure. However, the top contributor to the general public’s annual radiation exposure is still from radioactive radon gas and it’s decay products.

Last week I received a comment on one of my HOME STAR legislation updates, asking what the timeline was for the bill. So I wanted to let everyone  know that today, Thursday, May 6, 2010 the House is scheduled to vote on H.R. 5019, which will authorize $6B for HOME STAR, aka "Cash for Caulkers" (a name, by the way, that I dislike). It has bi-partisan support and should pass, but only time will tell.

Check out our exclusive new pics of what everyone’s been talking about! OK, maybe not everyone, just me.

We went by the house this weekend to check it out, and for the first time, no workers were there working on it…so we decided to let ourselves in and see the progress firsthand. We know we’re not supposed to do this, so that made it even more exciting. We were deployed on a self-assigned reconnaissance mission; Objective: Search and Enjoy.

Throughout the warmth of springtime, the sizzling days of summer, and even the mild days of early Autumn, sticking to radon testing requirements for closed-house conditions can be a challenge. During these times of year, the urge for homeowners to open windows and doors is strong. But when testing for radon, doing so can completely derail your transaction time-line.

But fear not, we’ve got some tips that will be a breath of fresh air. Use the checklist below for successful radon testing during the warm weather months—and the rest of the year too!

It sure is getting hot out there. It’s getting to be that time of the year when the high temperatures are moving into the western USA. That means we must take some special precautions to safeguard our well being. Heat related deaths in the United States exceed 600 per year and is expected to rise. In the inspection world we must be aware of hot attics, crawl spaces, and direct exposure to sunlight among other dangers. Here are some things to remember this summer as we go about our assigned duties.