Get an unbiased inspection of the home from a certified Delaware home inspector…

I’ve been inspecting houses for years and you’d be surprised at how many of the existing homeowners living in the house, are totally unaware of the major problems happening inside… When you think about it for a minute, it makes sense! How often do you go up in the attic to check for problems? How often do you climb up on the roof to investigate… how often do you checkout the foundation of the home? And if you did inspect these things yourself, do you even know what you’re looking for?

Well… these homeowners are in the same predicament too. Many are totally unaware of what could be happening in their own homes. That’s why having an inspection from a certified home inspector puts you in a position to know what’s going on with the property before you buy.

Having this information outlined in a detailed inspection report puts you at an advantage. Armed with this knowledge, you’re able to negotiate a better price, cover repair costs, or get a new roof, etc. For example:

Photo Description: During the course of the heater inspection we found high levels of Carbon Monoxide. The flue vent pipe was split open and damaged. This is a safety hazard. The heater was turned off and the seller was notified of the condition.  A heating contractor came out and made repair, the same day as the inspection.

There’s no reason for you having to pay these expenses out of your pocket… unless you didn’t get the property inspected before you purchased!

Weak Laws in the State of Delaware Make it Easy for Anyone to Become a Home Inspector Almost Overnight! All that’s required to become a home inspector is a business license from the local county clerk’s office. Beyond that, a few tools from the local Home Depot and you’re in business.

No experience required! No hands on training! No classroom training!

The home inspector at your front door could be unlicensed, uninsured or under insured, lacking the proper training or much worse…

And this is precisely the problem… non-regulation and no licensing of Delaware home inspectors can cost you. An inexperienced home inspector could literally cost you a fortune!

My name is Ted Hinderer and I’m the President of Quality Home Inspections. Purchasing a home can be very stressful, and purchasing one under these “conditions” is enough to cause even more anxiety. My primary goal with this website is to educate you about this process, while ensuring you end up with an Inspector that has the experience, the training, and the professional knowledge to inspect your potential house in an unbiased manner.

 

 

Before I get started, let me explain what a home inspection is, and how it could actually help and profit you even more.

The typical home inspection consists of a series of non-invasive and visual inspections of the home and its systems. Before meeting up at the closing table, it’s important that you know the conditions of the entire house… to include the foundation, the roof, the a/c and heating sytsems, the plumbing, the electrical systems, appliances and everything else in-between.

At the conclusion of the home inspection, the inspector will compile both a detailed report (for you and your agent), and a summary report outlining the findings.

How to Select the Right Home Inspector in Delaware

First… ask the inspector for a copy of an actual home inspection report. This will give you a general idea of how thorough they’ll be while inspecting your property. If they refuse to provide you with a sample copy, find someone else. In just a moment, I’ll present you with a copy of my report right here online.

Secondly… download my FREE report!

7 Ways to Avoid Hiring the Blind Home Inspector

In this report, I reveal the 7 things you must know before hiring an inspector. The report is absolutely free… Just click the link above to receive free access.

Only an experienced home inspector can provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.

Just because Delaware is an unregulated state, doesn’t mean I can’t take the initiative to go out and get the proper training, learning and experience necessary to provide you with an unbiased, and quality inspection.

We cover all three counties: New Castle, Kent, and Sussex.

• Providing a 90day warranty at no charge with every inspection
• Providing a Free Brinks Home Security System
• We carry E&O insurance and general liability
• Certified Real Estate Inspector

We are proud members of the following associations:

• NAHI (National Association of Home Inspectors)
• ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors)
• US Chamber of Commerce
• Member of The BBB
• National Institute of Fire and Safety Training
• NCCBOR – New Castle County Board of Realtors Affiliate Member
• D.A.R. – Kent County Association of Realators Affiliate Member
• InterNachi (International Association of Home Inspectors)

We proudly serve families in Wilmington DE, Hockessin DE, Bear DE, Newark DE, Glasgow DE, Middletown DE, Dover DE, Camden DE, Felton DE and Rehoboth DE. We will come to you in New Castle, Kent, or Sussex County.

Click here if you’d like to review a sample home inspection report.

Call us today at 302-893-1364

Or - Click here to schedule online

Delaware State Fair

The 2009 Delaware State Fair takes place July 23 through August 1, 2009. Please mark your calendars for the 2009 Delaware State Fair and help us celebrate 90 years of magical moments as the “Tradition Continues”!

http://www.delawarestatefair.com

An Evening of Artful Dining

Dine among arts and antiques; 3-course catered dinner. $75 pp, $70 members

Title: An Evening of Artful Dining
Sponsor: Biggs Museum of American Art
Location: 406 Federal St. Dover
Phone: 302-674-2111

Wilmington Winter Bluegrass

*Featuring Emerging Bluegrass Bands* Instrument Workshops- Weekend Jamming. For More Info- 302-730-4065 or www.wilmingtonwintergrass.org

Repair: Condensate Lines

Repair: The condensate line is not configured per the manufactures recommendations. This can void the warranty by the manufacturer. We recommend the line be installed or configured as necessary to restore proper operation.

Door Conditions: Interior/Exterior

Repair: The trim at the rear garage entry door shows signs of wood rot/deterioration. We rcommend all trim rot be removed and/or the trim repaired!

Safety Fire Hazard Discovered

Despite our attempts to operate the damper inside the fireplace, using normal force, it would not move. The damper was stuck in the closed position. This can be a safety hazard if a fire is started. We recommend the damper be repaired to restore normal operation.

Video: Radon Mitigation Part 1

I have been receiving alot of questions about radon gas and once it is found in the home how do they mitigate it. So I produced these videos to explane the process. The mitigation system used in most appliactions is the sub slab system this is the most cost effective and still the safest way to remove Radon Gas. The home in this video had a radon level of 6.5 pci when tested for the first time. The EPA states that any home over 4 pci should have a radon system installed. After the mitigation system was installed the home was retested and the level’s dropped to 0.9 pci that is a dramatic reduction in radon gas. I hope these are very informative.

Video: Radon Mitigation Part 2

The mitigation fan can be mounted on the interior or the exterior of the home. The pipe has to be terminated above the roof line to discharge the radon gas. I hope these are helpful.

Avoiding A Chimney Fire!

Ever crawl inside a fireplace and look up past the damper? Or climb up on your roof and look down the flue? There are some telltale signs that are easily identifiable that indicate you should hire a professional chimney sweep. For instance, if opening the damper leaves your face covered in soot, if you can run your pinky finger through the mortar and it falls out like sand, if you can pull bricks out above the roofline and re-align them like Lego® blocks, if you have charred wood in the attic touching the chimney…all of these are serious issues. Don’t laugh. As dangerous as these signs are, home inspectors see these issues too regularly.

In 1998, there were 18,300 residential fires in the United States originating in chimneys, fireplaces and solid fuel appliances, according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. These fires resulted in 160 personal injuries, 40 deaths and $158.2 million in property damage.

Chimneys exist to contain caustic flue gases and exhaust them onward and upward into the atmosphere. The condition of the firebox, smoke chamber, and flue are crucial to ensuring a safe home. Below are a few indicators that you have a problem and need to hire a professional:

Unlined Chimney
The National Bureau of Standards tested masonry chimneys in the 1940’s and again in the 1980’s. They concluded that unlined chimneys are extremely unsafe due to the fact that they allow heat to travel through brick very fast. Wood touching the unlined chimney caught fire within only 3 ½ hours of testing. Because of these eye-opening results, they abandoned any future testing on unlined chimneys and recommended that all chimneys be lined.

Missing/Cracked Chimney Cap
If rain or snow can penetrate into the flue, then the liner is subject to extreme changes in temperature. Picture the high heat of the lined walls from the flue gases mixing with cold rain or snow entering from above. The end results are poor drafting that cools down the flue gases too quickly, significant amounts of creosote build-up, acidic flue gases eating away the mortar holding the inside of the liner together, and cracking of clay or concrete and rusting of metal. Exposed over multiple extreme changes, the chimney flue is guaranteed to fail leading to a chimney fire.

Cracked Tiles
As viewed from the rooftop or from the firebox, any signs of cracked tiles indicate the chimney system has a breach. Cracked tiles are a result of extreme temperature changes, usually stemming from one of two sources: the chimney cap issue mentioned above or there was a previous chimney fire that luckily did not burn your house down. Note: chimney sweeps have hi-tech cameras they run the full-length of your flue that can view every inch of the inside.

Missing/Deteriorated Mortar
(Pertaining to brick and concrete block chimneys with clay liners) A clay liner is only as good as its mortar joints. There are three areas to look for this problem: the roof, the smoke chamber (above your firebox), & the attic. If mortar joints are missing or the mortar is deteriorated, then you know you have a serious fire hazard. In the smoke chamber, if a mortar joint is missing, then the wall running parallel to your chimney may be the preferred path of your flue gases. Likewise, the same logic can apply to any missing or deteriorated mortar all the way to the top. My favorite area to check is the section of chimney visible in the attic. This is usually about the height where the flue gases swirl & churn if there is poor drafting or extreme changes in temperature. When flue gases linger, they eat away at the liner and mortar. If the symptoms are bad enough, you will actually be able to slide a screwdriver or sometimes even your finger through the mortar. You will also see blackish/brown creosote residue that has leached through the mortar and run down the outside of the chimney. All of which are fires waiting to happen! The solution on many of these significantly deteriorated flue liners is to install a metal liner inside the clay liner.

Creosote Build-up
Creosote ignites at 451 degrees F. Wood stoves, wood or gas fireplaces, or gas log sets should burn efficiently between 250 – 500 degrees F. A hot fire around 900 degrees F or a small spark from any of the above could ignite the built-up creosote and turn your chimney into a blazing inferno. Chimney fires with heavy creosote build-up can easily reach temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees F. Fires at this extreme crack liners and easily engulf your home into uncontrollable flames.

Rotted Wood Touching The Chimney
The more times wood is heated, the lower its ignition temperature becomes. Add to that moisture from a roof leak usually due to inadequate flashing at the chimney or high humidity levels in the attic due to poor ventilation and rotted wood drops the ignition temperature even faster. With the right combination, the ignition temperature of wood touching a chimney can be lower than that of a piece of paper!

Previous Chimney Fires in Stainless Steel Liners
Not all chimney fires are noticed. Some burn themselves out, but the damage left behind is something you can’t ignore. Chimney fires inside metal liners heat the metal up to temperatures the metal was not designed to handle. Once those temperatures are reached one time, the entire UL listed metal flue liner is breached. Solution: replace the entire flue lining! The one true test if a fire has occurred in a stainless steel flue liner is if a magnet sticks to it. Stainless steel does not attract magnets. Stainless steel that has reached extreme temperatures and has had it’s metal composition changed does attract.

Professional home inspectors look for these issues with chimneys everyday. However, even the best inspector will admit that their knowledge on chimneys is limiting compared to that of a Certified Chimney Sweep. For more information, visit Chimney Safety Institute of America’s website at www.csia.org or The National Chimney Sweep Guild’s website at www.ncsg.org.

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