Is your HVAC system properly Maintained? If you are not doing the proper maintenance your warranty may be VOID!! HVAC SYSTEM TYPES As  promised, the next edition of our blog is here with tips and tricks to help you make sure your NEW HOME WARRANTY doesn't get voided! As we mentioned, your furnace and AC are vital components to your home working properly as a system, and they do require regular maintenance. Since we cannot possibly list every type of heating system available, we are going to focus on the most common type, a natural gas/propane forced air furnace. If you have other types of heating or cooling installed, you will have to focus on your manual and some other resources. below we have listed links to several other types of heating and cooling systems: Boiler - Maintenance Heat Pump - Maintenance Geothermal Heat - Maintenance If you have a traditional forced air furnace, and air conditioner, below we have listed some...

Your home warranty will be VOID if you don't do this!!! It is exciting when you get to buy your first new home, as it should be. You have saved and worked hard to have just the home you wanted, built with your own preferences and design elements, and you even have a Home Warranty to give you confidence that your new home is a quality product that will last you for decades.  But,what happens when you go to claim a problem with your home, and your claim gets denied because YOU  voided your warranty? Just as with most warranties, such as your car, there are requirements on BOTH sides of the warranty contract. This means there are a multitude of ways in which YOU  could be voiding your warranty without even knowing it. Every builder's warranty has requirements that the homeowner must meet for the home to be covered. In most cases these are common sense maintenance practices that most homeowners do on a regular basis anyway, but these requirements vary from builder ...

Are there any guarantees in the home inspection business? The answer is YES!!! Buying a home is without question a MAJOR purchase, and it should go without saying that a buyer would want a guarantee that the home inspector does a good job. Is there any real protection out there when looking for a home inspector, and what can happen if your inspector does miss something? There are some inspectors out there who offer guarantees of satisfaction on their inspection. This might seem good, but what happens if after 30 days in your new home you discover a foundation issue that cost over $20,000? Getting your few hundred dollars back from the inspector will not be much condolence. So, what solutions are there for the buyer looking to hire a home inspector? In all of our years in construction and home inspection, we have finally identified an organization who offers a solution to this. The organization is InterNACHI, and they are one of the nations two largest inspection certificati...

When you go to sell you home, you do want it to fetch top dollar right? Since we don't actually "grade" inspections, and since no house is perfect,  your best option is to reduce the amount of items the buyers inspector can find. Eliminating these common, and relatively easy repairs will help your home shine for the inspector. Missing Caulk Problem: One of the largest dangers a home faces in its lifetime is the constant attack by moisture. Water can, and will infiltrate into the smallest crack and can cause significant damage. Whats worse is that the damage is often unnoticed until it has already caused the damage. One of a homes biggest defenders against water damage is good caulk! Pictured below is a home we recently came across where the caulking had failed and gone unnoticed for over a year. as you can see the rot was extensive, and well hidden. the damage was only found when repairs to the front porch were made. Solution : There are 3 major areas to...

So hopefully you have already read our blog post about how to pick a good home inspector, if not you should give that a read....  How to find a home inspector          . In this blog we will tell you some of the warning signs to look for when finding an inspector. Inspectors who are contractors It probably seems practical, even wise, to hire a home inspector who is also a licensed builder. After all, who would know better if a home is well constructed? In many ways this sentiment is quite true. Builders can amass a great deal of knowledge and should in most situations have a solid base of knowledge about home construction. The real concern here is when builders also offer to complete the repairs (defects) they identify during a home inspection. First off, and in our opinion most important, is the fact that offering to do repairs on the same home a company inspects is a clear violation of the ethics agreement for the two largest home inspection organiza...

So, you are about to make what is probably the largest purchase of your life. Now you have to find someone to inspect it and trust them to tell you everything important about the home you are about to buy. Wouldn't it make sense to make sure you are hiring a home inspector who will do the job well? At EHI we certainly think so, and while we know you may not choose us, we want to make sure you have the resources to choose the inspector that is right for you. Below are a few important things to know about inspectors and the industry, and how to go about finding an inspector. Certified/Member/Registered/Licensed - There are a variety of professional organizations that serve the Home Inspection industry, with the two largest being ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) and Inter-NACHI (International Association of Certified Home Inspectors). Both of these groups along with a few others offer a range of certifications, and memberships. Inspectors who are members have paid their...

Faulty GFCI Plugs GFCI outlets are a great invention that do a wonderful job keeping us safe around electricity. This style outlet should be used anytime an outlet is within 3 feet of a water source, and on all exterior plugs. (There are other locations these are required at, as well. However, these are the two most common locations.) Anytime these plugs detect a fault, the internal circuit breaker will trigger cutting off electricity; thus keeping you alive and happy. The problem is there are a variety of these outlets, and they are not all built to last.  I frequently see these outlets fail, particularly if they are in a harsh environment, or used frequently. There are 2 easy ways to verify that your outlets are working correctly. If you look at the front of the outlet you will notice two small buttons labeled "test" and "reset".  Plug a small light into the plug and push the Test button, the light should turn off, then press the reset button and the light shou...