Paul Tooley's blog

Tuesday was Groundhog Day, and guess what?! Six more weeks of winter. Oh well! I guess that means it's not too late to finish up our talk about winterization!

In an earlier post My House is Winterized! What is Winterization? I described what winterization is. Today, as promised, I thought I'd talk about what winterization means to an inspector--what an inspector mentally goes through when he/she arrives at a house and sees the "Winterized" sticker all over the place. 

Since we are currently "enjoying" a cold winter day (week), I thought it was very fitting to write a couple of posts on Winterization. 

It is always interesting when I arrive at an inspection to find signs on the windows and doors, as well as the water heater and all of the plumbing fixtures, proclaiming that the house has been "Winterized."

So, what is winterizing, why is it done, and when should it be done?

ANSWER: Disconnected furnace vent

It doesn’t take an expert to figure this one out. This furnace vent is obviously disconnected, which allows the discharge to vent directly into the attic space of this house. This can lead to unhealthy air quality for occupants in the house. The vent should be properly connected by an HVAC specialist.

Where I do inspections, I have the great joy of going into a lot of crawl spaces. People think I'm joking when I say that I "save the best for last" but I really do like the crawls. I have only been stuck six or seven times, but I have gotten out okay.

First of all, I hear people say that "vinyl siding is a great maintenance-free siding". There really is no such thing. If you have to so much as just hose it down once in a while, it's not maintenance free. That being said, one of the more intriguing issues I have come up against when looking at a home with vinyl siding is heat damage. Sometimes it's as simple as seeing the gas or charcoal grill sitting up against the house and just knowing what the damaged is caused by. But lately, I have been seeing more and more strange situations.  

'Tis the season to start looking for "failed insulated glass seals."  

Technical Jargon is a forum used to provide more information on terms commonly seen in U.S. Inspect reports.

UST stands for Underground Storage Tank. USTs are simply heating fuel tanks that are buried underground. Their presence is usually determined by the existence of the fill pipe above ground.  The primary concerns with the presence of USTs are soil and groundwater contamination, fire risk, tank collapse, and high maintenance costs.

The two common fuels stored in residential underground storage tanks are propane and fuel oil. Propane vaporizes quickly and does not pose a groundwater contamination threat. This is why testing of underground propane tanks is not necessary in most cases. But fuel oil can potentially contaminate ground water sources--the source of potable water for approximately half the American population.

Technical Jargon is a topic used to provide more information on terms commonly seen in U.S. Inspect reports.

Joist hangers are metal fasteners used to support the joist where it connects with the beam or perimeter joist. They serve to insure that the weight of the joist bears properly on the beam. A joist hanger is a piece of sheet metal that is flat on the bottom, to cradle the joist, and twisted on each of its sides so it also sits flat against the beam. The hanger is then nailed to the beam. There are several alternative joist end attachments, but most are less reliable.

Technical Jargon is a topic used to provide more information on terms commonly seen in U.S. Inspect reports.

TPRV stands for Temperature/Pressure Relief Valve. The TPRV is a valve on the water heater that will releases water if excess pressure is built up within the unit. Because the water released from the TPRV is very hot, it must be somewhat contained and discharged to a safe area by means of the pipe extension.