Clearwater Tampa St. Petersburg Home Inspection

Advice for consumers on choosing a home inspector in Tampa, St. Petersburg or Cleawater

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Clearwater St. Petersburg Tampa Home Inspection News

Monday, April 12, 2010

Corrosive Drywall

What homeowners should know about problem drywall

Detection of the problem isn't complicated, but remediation can be pricey

By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- If you've been worried by the federal government's recent advice to homeowners to remove any problem drywall, keep this in mind: If the defective material is in your home, there's a good chance you're aware of it by now. It's detected by the corrosion of copper wiring and other metals, and signs of it pop up fairly quickly.

"A lot of these houses had air conditioner coils that needed replacement in the first six months or year," said Mark Cramer, a home inspector in Indian Rocks Beach, Fla.

Read the full story here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-homeowners-should-know-about-problem-drywall-2010-04-12

Mark Cramer

Mark Cramer Inspection Services, Inc.

492 20th Ave.

Indian Rocks Beach, FL 33785

727-595-4211

Advice for consumers on choosing a home inspector in Tampa, St. Petersburg or Cleawater

Posted via email from Clearwater St. Petersburg Tampa Home Inspection News

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Chinese Drywall

Here’s one clue you have Chinese drywall: Markings on the back that say Beijing New Building Materials Co Ltd. Dragon Brand Drywall

Further inspection of this Clearwater home revealed none of the corrosion typically found in homes with Chinese Drywall. Odd.

Mark Cramer

Mark Cramer Inspection Services, Inc.

492 20th Ave.

Indian Rocks Beach, FL 33785

727-595-4211

Advice for consumers on choosing a home inspector in Tampa, St. Petersburg or Cleawater

Funny thing was, this inspection of this Clearwater home revealed no signs of corrosion that are typically associated with Chinese drywall.

Posted via email from Clearwater St. Petersburg Tampa Home Inspection News

Sunday, March 14, 2010

And You Wonder Why Your Home Smells Like Wet Tennis Shoes?

At a recent Clearwater Home Inspection, I could smell a mold-like odor the moment I walked in the door. Here’s a look at the underside of the coils in the air handler. The black stuff you see built up on the coil is a heavy growth of mold-like substances and Heaven only knows what else. This is an extreme case. You need to have a contractor clean these coils on a regular basis.

Air handlers are the primary source of mold in a modern home.

Here’s what a normally dirty coil looks like.

Mark Cramer

Mark Cramer Inspection Services, Inc.

492 20th Ave.

Indian Rocks Beach, FL 33785

727-595-4211

Advice for consumers on choosing a home inspector in Tampa, St. Petersburg or Cleawater

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Clearwater St. Petersburg Tampa Home Inspection News

Saturday, March 13, 2010

How Not to Install Windows

Here’s a great example of how not to install windows, unless you want to destroy the building. On this home owner built porch enclosure, fixed glass windows were installed with wood trim that created a trough at the bottom of the window. Water is directed into the wall below the window. The wood frame structure beneath the windows is destroyed. This also creates great conditions for termites and mold.

Advice for consumers on choosing a home inspector in Tampa, St. Petersburg or Cleawater

Posted via email from Clearwater St. Petersburg Tampa Home Inspection News

Friday, February 12, 2010

Sausage Stylus For the iPhone

Now that global warming has taken over and it’s so damn cold here in Florida, I’m often stymied by my gloves. You can’t use an iPhone without taking off your gloves. iPhone users in South Korea have figured out that a popular sausage snack closely approximates the electrostatic properties of the human finger and are using them as a stylus.

Sales of sausage soar by almost 40% in the Winter. Hmm, I wonder if a Slim Jim would work??

From clusterflock: http://www.clusterflock.org/2010/02/sausage-fingers.html

Posted via email from Clearwater St. Petersburg Tampa Home Inspection News

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Superinsulationg Aerogels Arrive on Home Insulation Market

Over 70 years ago, scientists invented aerogel, the least dense solid known to man, and an insulator four times more efficient than fiberglass or foam. Famously, according to Dr. Peter Tsou of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "you could take a two- or three-bedroom house, insulate it with aerogel, and you could heat the house with a candle. But eventually the house would become too hot."

Unfortunately, aerogels remained so expensive and unwieldy that only NASA used them with any regularity. However, thanks to recent production advances, aerogel insulation is now available and affordable for consumer purchase.

From: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-02/aerogels-hit-consumer-insulation-market

Mark Cramer

Mark Cramer Inspection Services, Inc.

492 20th Ave.

Indian Rocks Beach, FL 33785

727-595-4211