I was at a presentation about mold and the promoters were advising that almost every house they had tested needed a mold remover for the air.
They were demonstrating a $3800 machine that looks like a dehumidifier and told us how it removes mold spores from the air. He showed a filter from the unit and it was very grey and definitely dirty. We were told this was mold spores and if this was not removed that this mold would get in our lungs and affect our health.
We were told this machine should be installed in all houses and Home Inspectors should be promoting the use of these.
When an Inspector stood up and said he already had a filter that looked like this in his house, one of the salesman asked him if it worked and he said “It is my furnace filter.” It removes exactly what this machine removes from the air. The Inspector was certified as a Mold Tester and told the sales people that this was a gimmick and they were using scare tactics to try to sell this product.
The Inspector explained several facts about mold
• Mold can be harmful or helpful -depending on where it grows.
• Mold needs moisture to grow.
• Mold does not grow on dry materials.
These facts and more information can be verified on the CMHC website.
Some molds are actually useful. We get penicillin from one type of mold. Mold action helps make some foods and beverages. Molds become undesirable when they grow where we don’t want them – such as in our homes.
Molds will grow when they have moisture and nutrients. Most vinyl windows are a place you will see black on the sills. Other causes of high moisture levels can be the result of water coming in from the outside, such as roof, basement or even plumbing leaks. High moisture can also result when there is not enough ventilation (not using the bathroom or kitchen exhaust fan) to expel moisture produced by occupants’ daily activities like bathing, washing clothes or cooking.
If we keep things dry, molds simply do not grow. If a house is properly ventilated, mold does not become an issue.
Some mold, for example on a windowsill but not elsewhere, is not a major cause for concern-it can be removed as part of routine cleaning. I see this in almost every house I look at. Mold on grout in bathroom tiles may or may not be a concern. This is (or should be) the most used room in a house. Some discoloration between tiles but not elsewhere can simply be a sign that these areas are moist most of the time. The food for the mold may actually be the soap / shampoo that you are using. These areas can be cleaned with a brush and a cleaner that is a mold remover.
One of the best cleaners that has come on the market a few years ago is a product called Concrobium. It won five green awards the first two years it was on the market.
This is for the average house, as most houses do have some mold in. We do live in Canada, and the climate varies and the next few months we will have our houses sealed quite a bit to prevent heat loss. While this encourages the growth of mold, proper ventilation and cleaning does keep most houses quite liveable.
There will be the odd house where mold is a problem. This may be the time for Remediation experts to take over, but most houses are not the horror story some promote. (Especially if they are trying to sell you something.)

A friend of my wife told her that when she first bought her house. After some time her circumstances changed and it was time to sell the house.

The buyers came with their inspector and found some items that no one had any ideas about, including the seller. Some of the items the insurance company was concerned about were Knob and tube wiring, galvanized water pipes, asbestos siding and a forty year old furnace. The deal died.

A year and a half later she finally sold the house but the price was substantially lower.

She told my wife that she was looking for another house in the area she was planning on moving to. When my wife asked her “This time you are going to get an inspection?”. She responded that she did not think that an inspection would help that much.

Thousands of dollars lost and she feels $400 is not worth helping her to prevent this from happening again. Hmmmm…

I do hate scare mongering, but so many times I have done an inspection for someone in construction and almost wonder why they hired me with their knowledge. Many will say that I have looked at items they simply never would have thought of and are well prepared now that they know what is or is not in the house.

One man argued with his realtor, telling her that he did not need an inspection as the house was not that old. She insisted that he cover himself just in case. He finally agreed to get an inspection, but then told her that she was paying for it.

I found two major items that they were able to get repaired under warranty. The buyer’s statement to me was, “You just showed me the value of a good home inspection!” He then surprised his agent by whipping out his credit card and paying for the inspection himself.

I have had many calls lately from the “I want to be a home inspector” group.

I am sure you all have that stack of cards and flyers from everyone who claims that they are now the best Home Inspector invented since sliced bread!

Currently, legally in Ontario anyone can call themselves a Home Inspector. Or if they want to call themselves a “certified” Home Inspector, all they need to do is go online and in hour they can pass what is called a “Home Inspectors Exam”. In provinces that have gone to licensing, this “Exam” was rejected as a qualification and many inspectors relying on this “exam” as their training were told they are not allowed to call themselves an inspector.

How hard is that exam to pass? (One person did tell me that it took him 5 attempts to pass this exam). My wife did this exam in 45 minutes, with a pass of 85%, but she refuses to inspect houses! One realtor said he took about 50 minutes and passed in the high eighties. He was shocked at how easily anyone can get themselves set up as a home inspector. If an inspector shows up to talk to him, and tells him that this is their qualification, their material goes in the garbage.

So this leaves you with trying to ensure that the inspector you know and NEED to trust will actually have the knowledge to inspect a house properly.

What training and qualifications should a professional inspector have? A good inspector should have a combination of:

An industry recognized education.
Experience in the construction industry.
Common sense.

Most community colleges, including Georgian, have an entire course setup with from 10 – 15 modules that anyone aspiring to be an inspector should be taking.

CarsonDunlop has one of the most recognized training courses in the industry. This is recognized in Canada, and many US states, use their courses and material extensively.

A good inspector should be familiar with new housing as well as older houses. This requires real life experience in the construction industry.

Some feel that an inspector should be an engineer, but as an inspector is not taking items apart to test them, being an engineer is not necessarily the best requirement.

Every inspector should have, or working toward having, the highest recognized standards in the industry. In provinces where licensing is in effect, the RHI (Registered Home Inspector) designation qualifies an inspector for a license.

In the 1970’s, Jimmy Carter urged Americans to embrace energy efficiency as a way out of the country’s oil crisis. He insisted that his fellow citizens sacrifice for the country by donning a sweater and turning down their thermostats. He even insisted on having his picture repeatedly taken wearing a wool cardigan, and termed the struggle for energy efficiency as the “Moral Equivalent Of War.”

That was almost 40 years and a lot of technology ago. In recent years newer technologies have been driven by soaring costs of energy. Literally speaking, heating cost are going through the roof. Five years ago, we were complaining when gas hit .69 cents a liter. I filled up twice this week and each time it cost me exactly $100. Electricity at peak use (11 am to 5pm) is rising 8% to 10.7 cents a kWh from 9.9 cents.

Canada has always been way behind on newer technologies and efficient equipment. However recently high costs have shown the need for more efficient buildings. Various groups and industries have begun developing ways to promote more efficient construction. Some of these are as follows.

In the early part of the 21st century the US started to push the need for a green-building rating system. This turned into what is now termed LEEDS (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). In 2004 the LEEDS program moved into Canada, and was called LEED-Canada, which immediately was more stringent than its U.S. counterpart, demanding 12-13% more energy efficiency than US standards. LEED-Canada is still refining it’s standards.

One Canadian provider of residential mortgages, offers Canadians a reduced rate on funds borrowed towards purchase of a home (a) which is certified as Energy Efficient or (b) refinancing of renovations with specific energy reducing features. The “Energy Star” which we all see on any appliance now sold in Canada has also been adapted into the construction industry. A house has to be built to certain standards and then can get an “Energy Star” rating.

I have also mentioned the “Passive House” guidelines which have become standard for many European countries as of this year. This building standard is specifically dedicated towards energy efficiency. This designation was used for a building in Whistler BC which housed the Austrian ski team. The entire team stayed in this building and the total cost to heat the building for one full year was $280. Personally I see so much potential with this type of building as it is groundbreaking in efficiencies of construction. (More to follow on this)

When I look at houses every day I see so many areas that have been overlooked to conserve energy and heat from the time the place was first built. Finally with rising costs we may be forced to look at ways to cost us less in the long run.

In a survey, the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors (CAHPI) compiled the following list of the most frequently found problems in the homes that its members inspected:

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Checking a home inspector’s affiliation with a professional association is an important prerequisite in selecting a qualified home inspector.

The Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors (CAHPI), a non-profit, self-regulated professional home inspection organization, made up of individual, independent home inspectors, tests and screens prospective home inspectors based on technical and professional requirements, and grants full membership only to those who meet its high standards.

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The following are photos taken duing past inspections, mostly of serious problems that weren’t readily apparent.

These two photos show a crack that went through the side of the building. The inside had come apart. The crack started in the foundation, indicating that something was moving/shifting. At this point the door could not open:

This photo shows some nice supports under the main beam. Like the balancing block?

When you need a little extra support, why not stick a post on the ground?! Also, you just have to love a good rope support for your plumbing…

If your main support posts are not quite plumb, why not stick a wedge under it? Or how about seven wedges!

Who knew you could support your leaky plumbing with rope?!

This is a photo of an apartment crawlspace ceiling. They wanted to rent this for $700 a month!

In this photo the foundation had fallen apart, thereby dropping the top of this wall 5 inches off the main building. This may be a little drafty in the winter!

Everyone knows you don’t use duct tape to repair shower walls! After all, it’s used to repair cars! (according to Red/Green)

And now the duct tape is used to cover the holes left exposed in the panel!

This connector is a chimney of a water heater. The connection misses by an inch!

It took me hours to support my deck… you want me to change these posts now?

If you’re intalling a bathtub, and the joist is in the way of the plumbing, why not just cut it out?!  And of course, cut it out about 8 feet away where the bathtub drain comes through! Don’t worry about the weight of the bathtub on the floor with no joist support. It might hold – for a while…

Apparently you can just cut a hole in the ABS plumbing, and stick the copper pipe in from the drain on the furnace! It works just fine; just don’t worry about that smell that leaks out…

These people felt that they didn’t need to fill holes in the wall when they took the vents out; tar paper should keep most of the weather out after all…

These exposed wires carry 600 volts, with no protection whatsoever (they didn’t cover this wire when advised). Be careful where you walk! A week later someone dropped a skid on one wire and it exploded apart. Thankfully no one was injured.

The shingles are only two days old. This roof should be good for another fifteen

years, the buyer is very happy…

“I put new shingles on! You expected flashing too??”

Are you sure my chimney needs to be repaired?

We have all heard a fair amount about the new smoke alarm laws having come into effect March 1, 2006. In Ontario it is now the law that all residential buildings have working fire alarms on every level and violators are facing some pretty stiff penalties. There are a few items to keep in mind with the new law:

• It is still recommended by Paragon Inspections that smoke detectors are installed within 5 feet of bedroom doors – all bedroom doors, homeowners should add additional detectors if one or two doors are further than this.
• As we all know, smoke rises– so these detectors should be on or near the ceiling (CO detectors at around knee or plug in level)
• There are 2 types of detectors – ionization and photoelectric – both are very effective in providing early warning of the smoke
• Detectors are now required to be installed on each storey of the home – According to the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshall split level homes do not require an alarm on each level, only each storey (plus all areas with bedrooms). As illustrated below, a storey can
  consist of more than one level. Only one smoke alarm is required to be installed in each storey (see note 1). However, when a dwelling unit contains multiple sleeping areas, a
  smoke alarm must be installed to protect each separate sleeping area. This may necessitate additional smoke alarms on some levels of a split-level home (see note 2). The following
  illustrated example of a split-level dwelling unit is provided for clarification.” It is recommended that when a storey includes 2 levels, the alarm be placed on the higher ceiling
  of the two
• Smoke detectors have a life span – the units themselves should be replaced every 10 years
• Homeowners are not allowed to replace hard wired detectors with battery powered units – as these units may have been required by the Building code at the time of installation. All units to be replaced must be replaced with equal or better units. It is possible, however, to supplement (or add) detectors with battery powered units.
• Crawl spaces do not require detectors (if there is no finished floor).
• It is the landlord’s responsibility to install and maintain any smoke detectors – to this end, it is illegal for tenants to remove the batteries or otherwise dismantle the units.

Although the law was a long time coming, some homeowners are scrambling to catch up. It is expected that first time offences will be treated with leniency and issued a $235 ticket. However, this is not guaranteed, and individuals can be fined up to $50,000 and up to a year in jail. In this instance there is no downside to being overly cautious.