How-to guides
The maintenance that shows up on nearly every report we write, with the steps, the point where you should stop and call someone, and a video when we've recorded one. Written from what we find in the field, not from a manual.
The 20-minute walk-through you can do yourself
This is the short version of what we look at first. Use it twice a year on the house you own, or on a house you're thinking about buying before you spend money on anything else.
Swap the HVAC filter
Nearly four in ten homes we inspect have a heating and cooling system at or past its expected life. A clean filter is the cheapest thing you can do to stretch the one you have.
Drain sediment from the water heater
More than half the homes we inspect have a water heater at or near replacement age. Sediment on the tank bottom is what kills them early, and this ten-minute job slows it down.
Test every GFCI outlet
Incomplete GFCI protection shows up in more than eight in ten homes we inspect. It's the outlet feature that keeps a hair dryer in a sink from being a fatality.
Test and replace smoke and CO alarms
Seven in ten homes we inspect have a smoke alarm coverage problem, and most of the time the fix is a new unit rather than a new battery. The sensor inside loses sensitivity after about ten years even when the test button still beeps.
Fix a toilet that rocks
Three in ten homes we inspect have a loose toilet. It feels like a small thing, but every flush pushes a little water into the subfloor, and a $200 fix turns into a rotted floor if it goes on long enough.
Check the dryer and bath exhaust ducts
Four in ten homes we inspect have a bath fan duct disconnected or dumping into the attic instead of outside, and one in six has dryer lint built up to the level of a fire hazard. The first one soaks your attic; the second one starts fires.
Get water away from the foundation
Water management is the most common category on our reports and the cheapest to fix. Two in three crawlspace homes we inspect show moisture risk factors, and most of them trace back to downspouts and grading.
Check your attic insulation depth
More than eight in ten homes we inspect are short on attic insulation. It's the single most common finding in our data, and the one that shows up on your power bill every month.
Look into the crawlspace
One in four crawlspace homes we inspect shows moisture evidence, past or present. You don't have to crawl in to catch it early. Looking from the access twice a year does most of the work.
Label the breaker panel
Half the panels we open have at least one breaker labeled wrong or not at all. Someday you'll need the right one in a hurry, whether it's a sparking outlet, a leaking appliance, or a plumber on the phone asking you to shut off the water heater.
The small fixes on almost every report
Garage fire doors that don't self-close show up in three in ten of our inspections. Missing range anti-tip brackets in one in six. None of them cost much, and each one is on the report for a reason.