Central Ohio Home Inspection

Home Inspections in Columbus Ohio and all of Central Ohio

Obsolete electric panels and the home inspection

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It’s Time to Upgrade the Electric.

Safe and reliable electricity is something we depend on. Many obsolete electric panels installed prior to the early 1990’s do not provide this. Often older panels have unprofessional DIY and handyman ‘upgrades’ that should be corrected. These should be called out during the Home Inspection as deficient.

  1. Fuse panels: Most fuse panels provided acceptable service when they were installed. However, they are often only 60 amps which is obsolete by today’s standards. They were installed before air conditioning and other modern conveniences. DIY wiring often exists and the panel is too small for the load.  It is not uncommon to see a wire rated for 15 amps fused at 20 or 30 amps.  This panel is obsolete and should be upgraded.
  2. Pushmatic or Bulldog: These were installed from the 1960’s thru the 80’s. Most of these panels are undersized by today’s standards. They have weak breakers that often will not reset. Many times the breaker will show that is off when in fact it is on making any repair a dangerous situation. Unfortunately, they cannot be upgraded to AFCI or GFCI breakers. At a minimum, this panel should be evaluated by an electrician. It is wise to consider replacing it.
  3. Zinsco: Installed through the 1970’s, these panels are known to deteriorate over time.  Portions of the panel can actually melt.  This is an unsafe panel! Replace it, period.
  4. FPE, or Federal Pacific Stab-Lok: Were installed from the 1950’s thru the early 1980’s. If you still have this panel, they should be replaced.  The breakers are known to fall out when removing the ‘dead front’ or panel cover which is why the panel cover will not be removed for your home inspection. The breakers do not necessarily trip at the appropriate rating rendering them unsafe.
  5. Improper service upgrade: It is common to find a beautiful 200-amp panel in an older home. Sometimes the electric meter box and wiring from the power pole to the meter and on to the panel is only rated for 60-100 amps. I assure you that this upgrade was done without the approval of the electric company or building department. In this case, the weak link- the service entrance cable, defines the ampacity of the service. So, even though the panel says 200 amps you only have a 60-100 amp service. This is a very straightforward upgrade that should be done.

We don’t drive 50-year-old cars, an obsolete electric panel is an equivalent.

Radon Gas Testing in Columbus Ohio

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Radon is a gas produced by the radioactive decay of the element radium. Radon is the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers, responsible for 21,000 lung cancer deaths annually, the risk can be 9X greater for smokers. Columbus, Ohio is a hotbed of Radon Gas. The only way to know if your home has elevated Radon levels is to hire a professional trained and licensed in Radon Gas testing. The cost for Radon testing varies. I charge $130 with a home inspection and $160 as a stand alone service.

Radioactivity is measured in picocuries (pCi) per liter of air (pCi/L). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that the home should be fixed (radon mitigation) at a level 4 piC/L and above. A 1,000 square foot house with 4 piC/L has nearly 2 million radon atoms decaying inside it every minute. The average concentration of Radon in outdoor air is .4 piC/L. There does not seem to be a pattern as to why some homes have elevated Radon. Take two similar homes in the same neighborhood, one may be 2 piC/L and the other 20 piC/L. If your current home or a home you are going to purchase has a mitigation system, do not assume that it is working properly. Testing prior to purchase and every couple years thereafter would be prudent.

Radon testing is quite simple. The test is conducted in the lowest livable level. Closed building conditions need to be maintained for 12 hours prior to and during the 48-hour short-term test. All windows and doors are to be closed, doors may be used normally. No interior/exterior air exchange systems are to be used. The dryer and range hood may be used moderately while fireplaces/woodstoves may not be used at all. Window A/C’s may be used in the recirculate mode only. The main HVAC system should be operated normally.

There are several methods used today to test for radon. Charcoal canisters are widely used and are accurate in ideal conditions. However, they can be easily manipulated by throwing a towel over them or simply taking them radon-testeriac2-all

outside. In my opinion, the only short-term test equipment that should be used for a real estate transaction is a Continous Radon Monitor (CRM). I use the best-SUN NUCLEAR 1028.  They provide a computer printout instantly that shows if the test was tampered with.

Contact me anytime to discuss Radon Testing.

Preparing for the Home Inspection

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Tips for sellers in preparing for a home inspection

 As a home inspector I am privileged to spend a lot of time with your customer- the home buyer. Your customer may have only spent 30 minutes looking at your home during the open house. You did everything right, cookies in the oven and candles on the table. Now we arrive for the home inspection. Your buyer may be with me for four hours or more. Home inspection reports are often 30 pages of minor items, often routine maintenance. Items that you might have to disclose if the sale falls through. I find it is the sheer volume of minor issues that can overwhelm home buyers.

  1. Disclose all known issues!!! Fresh paint over rotten trim isn’t going to fool anybody. When things are found that should have been disclosed you lose credibility with your buyer.
  2. Maintain heating and cooling. A vacant house will develop mystery smells quickly, increasing the buyers fear of mold issues.
  3. Check all the light fixtures. A bad light bulb is one more item that is needlessly on the inspection report. A replacement globe for a fixture is $5.
  4. Clean! When a window is opened and the sill is full of Lady Bugs… I don’t care, but rest assured it turns the buyer off. In Ohio, your termite inspector has wide latitude whether to recommend treatment or not. If he (I) has to examine bug wings in every window sill the chances that a Wood Destroying Insect (WDI) treatment being recommended go up.
  5. Do not paint over water stains. The stain will bleed through, almost immediately. Fresh paint in the basement will get more scrutiny than if you had left it alone. See item #1
  6. Walk through the basement and look up. Are their exposed wires? Junction boxes without covers? A $100 service call with an electrician can go a long way here. Minor electrical problems spook your customer.
  7. Clean the gutters. The water stains in the basement are because you haven’t kept up on this. See #5
  8. Have the HVAC system cleaned and serviced. A bright white furnace filter shows the buyer you care. This $100 service call just removed 6 items from the home inspection report. A savvy buyer knows that a new HVAC system could be $5000 or more

Part 2 coming soon

Condensate Leaks in High Efficiency Furnaces.

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A condensate leak may be destroying your furnace
A condensate leak may be destroying your furnace

Condensate Leaks in High Efficiency Furnaces

Modern furnaces are marvelous machines, they keep us comfortable 365 days per year with very little thought on our part. This allows us to take them for granted.  We all have the oil changed in our cars regularly, your home deserves the same commitment. If you drove your car for five years without ‘popping the hood’ would you be surprised if it left you stranded? The above picture is a common problem I find in my home inspections in Blacklick, Ohio. The problem would be instantly discovered in my home inspection, or HVAC tech inspection.

Condensate is a by product of the combustion process and often leaks inside furnaces go undetected. In the above picture a small leak has rusted a hole in the furnace cabinet. The furnace is less than two years old. Your furnace is a $3500 asset that is needlessly self destructing!

Such a small rust spot may not seem like a big deal and it’s not if caught before it gets to bad. The real issue is that the water is often dripping on sensitive electronic/electric equipment. In this case the water is dripping on the vent fan motor. In a down flow or horizontal flow configuration the condensate is often dripping on the computer board, or other electronic controls. Not good. This would not be covered under the manufacturers warranty.

The good news is that is that if it’s caught in time the repair is very inexpensive and easy. I encourage all my customers to develop a relationship with a good furnace technician. Call me @ 740-334-0912 and I will put you in touch with the best. If you have your HVAC equipment (along with the rest of your home) cleaned and maintained yearly minor problems can be fixed before it becomes expensive and inconvenient.

Coming up next time, condensate leaks from the ‘A’ coil.