Rats are cute, but they can carry disease and damage your house Rats are a fact of life in San Diego County. They are found everywhere from downtown and rural areas, to poor and rich neighborhoods alike. But you should not put up with rats living in your attic. Rats can carry disease, and you […]

Burglar-Resistant Homes There are a number of measures that homeowners can take to ensure that their homes are not attractive to burglars. If clients are concerned about break-ins, inspectors can pass on to them basic strategies for burglar-proofing their homes.   Some interesting statistics concerning break-ins in the United States: InterNACHI estimates that theft makes […]

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, at The Real Estate Inspection Company, we’d like you to take measures to keep your garage free from fire. Fortunately, there are ways this can be done, some of which are described below. Secondly, garage fires do happen, and we’d like you to make sure that a […]

Use Caution When Cleaning Rodent Droppings According to San Diego County Vector Control, two mice have tested positive for Hantavirus. One wild mouse was trapped in Rancho Santa Fe, the other was trapped in Rancho Bernardo. This is in addition to mice that have tested positive all over San Diego County including Otay Lakes, Bonsall, Carlsbad, Penasquitos, […]

Clothes dryers evaporate the water from wet clothing by blowing hot air past them while they tumble inside a spinning drum. Heat is provided by an electrical heating element or gas burner. Some heavy garment loads can contain more than a gallon of water which, during the drying process, will become airborne water vapor and […]

Statistics compiled from InterNACHI, the worlds largest Home Inspector Association Swimming pools should always be happy places. Unfortunately, each year thousands of American families confront swimming pool tragedies, drownings and near-drownings of young children. These tragedies are preventable. These are guidelines for pool barriers that can help prevent most submersion incidents involving young children. This […]

Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing (CSST) has been used since 1989. It replaces the traditional iron pipes for plumbing natural and liquid petroleum (LPG) gas throughout the house. CSST is flexible, easier to install due to fewer connections, and cheaper for the builder to install saving the house buyer money. As with many new products, several […]

When and Where are GFCI Receptacles Required? Saying that disagreements can arise over a home inspection is an understatement. One item that can cause frustration is the Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter or GFCI. A GFCI is typically a receptacle with small buttons on it that usually say “Test” and “Reset”. It can also be built […]

As if there weren’t enough things to worry about in your home. Now it appears that imported drywall is causing foul odors, damaging copper components, and making people sick. So is this a case of mistaken identity or a true concern? During the 2004 – 2005 building boom, home builders had trouble obtaining enough drywall […]

Water heaters are often taken for granted. They sit in our garage or utility closet and perform their assigned duty day in and day out. If installed correctly they will operate with little fuss for many years. Most of us rarely give the water heater a second thought, but they have a life cycle just […]