Some Thoughts From Your Inspector... |
Perfect Patio...
We have all seen it. The patio that has settled back toward the house. There are two ways to prevent this; the first is to pour frost footings on the side closest the house, the second is too install support pads like these that use the houses foundation wall to support. This method is far easier to install and doesn't require a lot of additional concrete. An 8" pocket of material is removed from the base grade. A hole is drilled at about 30-40 degree angle into the block wall at the base of this pocket, then a piece of rebar is pushed into the wall till it bottoms out. Before pouring the slab a shovel or two of concrete is poured in each pocket to cover the rebar up and create a pad. The next step is extremely important. A break between the small concrete pad and the concrete slab must be made. To do this a place a of plastic or a shingle or tar paper should be laid out over the pad so it does not bond with the concrete slab. If this were to happen the slab can exert pressure on the block wall which you do not want. These pad should be installed every 4' or so and by doing this your patio wont settle back toward the house over time.
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What is that thing?
What does that box hanging from the joists in the basement do? That is an air exchanger that essentially preheats cold fresh air from the outside. It helps your furnace be more efficient. Instead of pulling in 10 degree fresh air in the dead of winter and introducing that directly to the furnace for heating it transfers some of the heat from the warm stale air that is being exchanged which in turn doesn't require as much energy to heat to a comfortable temperature. If you have one of these systems there are usually 2 prefilters and one main filter that need maintenance. The door usually opens from the front (occasionally the bottom) and the filters can be pulled out and cleaned. These are reusable filters. If you are in a wooded area more frequent cleaning will be needed.
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Its not too late...
Don't forget to winterize your hose spigots. Remember they go the opposite of summer time. Turn the interior valve off and the exterior valve on. Leave it on as this will allow water to drain should any be left in the line. Failure to do this with out a frost free type sillcock can result in pipe rupture and significant damage to the home. How do you know if you have a frost free type sillcock? One indication is that when you turn off the water abruptly some water continues to drain out a touch after the valve is closed. This is because the actual valve is about 12" back from the opening. Hence that water drains out after the valve is closed. A normal spigot will shut off almost instantly when the valve is closed as the valve is right next to the opening. |
About Us
Your local Twin Cities inspection Company. We are hear to help shed some light on your sale/purchase.
"Pray that we find nothing wrong with the home but thank God if we do"
Inspection WerX 26540 France Ave Elko, Minnesota 55020 Inspection WerX 612-386-2660 |