Inside Edge Home Inspections
  • Home
  • Services
  • Mike's Blog
  • Our Story
  • Credentials
    • Guarantees
  • Contact Information
  • What to Expect
    • Sample Report
  • Privacy Policy
Home Inspector Blog

Michael Burfitt

​Internachi certified professional inspector
Halifax, nova scotia

Questions Your Inspector (Should) Answer

3/5/2023

Comments

 
I am now entering my third year running an independent home inspection company and what a fun ride it has been! I can now confidently say that every home is different, no two homes are alike and one of the most exciting parts of being a home inspector is discovering something new. It is always fun to see a unique feature of a home and to see things that we previously have only seen during training. 

However, there are some things that are the same on every inspection and while no two inspector’s skill or background is the same there are some things every inspector should know. It always comes off as a shock when I tell clients that there are zero home inspection regulations in Nova Scotia, and anyone can legally call themselves a home inspector in a week or two. Here is a sample of some questions a home inspector should be able to confidently answer after every inspection. 

Does This Home Have Concerning Electrical Issues?
While we are not electricians, home inspectors should be able to detect most major electrical issues. They include: 
  • Potential unsafe aluminum (AL) wiring, and differentiating between normal and abnormal AL as not all AL wiring is a concern. 
  • If a home is grounded, why this is an issue and how much of a concern it is. There are a few solutions at various costs for ungrounded homes and a home inspector should be aware of the major solutions electricians use aside from rewiring the entire home. 
  • If any receptacles have reverse polarity and why this can SOMETIMES be a concern with certain appliances.
 
What Are the Major Plumbing Materials? 
Most homes I inspect use copper pipe to bring service in from the street, cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) for distribution and plastic, and either ABS (black) or PVC (white) for wastewater. An inspector should be aware of materials that may or may not be a concern such as: 
  • Lead supply lines and the dangers of lead poisoning. They should be aware that here in Halifax they are only found in certain areas, such as peninsular Halifax and downtown Dartmouth. 
  • If a home has polybutylene or Kitec (PEX-AL-PEX) and why these are controversial materials.
  • If the water pressure is lower than average, especially when multiple taps are used. This may or may not be an issue and a home inspector should be able to advise accordingly. 

Does The Home Have Potential Water Infiltration Issues? 
There is a common phrase I use which is “water is the #1 enemy of homes” and biggest concern I get called about is moisture and the damage it has caused. A home inspector should know that water has many ways to enter a home and some of the many signs of water damage. Like many home inspectors, I use a number of tools as well as all my senses to look for signs of either active or potential water infiltration into the home. While we don't have X-ray vision and leaks can be very difficult to detect, a home inspector should be aware of the various ways unwelcome ways water can enter a home. 

These are just some baseline areas that all home inspectors should be able to confidently speak of. While we are generalists, not specialists we should have a strong enough knowledge to identify the majority of home defects. Your inspector should answer these three questions either verbally or in a report.  
Comments

Residential Plumbing (Part 1)

5/25/2021

Comments

 
Did you know that your home has, at minimum, not one but two plumbing systems that need to be kept completely separate? They are:​
  • Water Supply System (Public or Private)
  • Drain, Waste & Vent (DWV) System (Public or Septic)

Most homes in the Halifax core are connected to Halifax Water and one of its 2 large (Pockwock & Lake Major) supply plants. It is supplied to homes in various pipes with the biggest concern being lead pipes. If your home was built before 1960 and is located on the Halifax peninsula or Dartmouth inside Highway 111 there is a chance you have lead pipes and should have them inspected. Other concerns for the home inspector are homes that use the following types of supply pipe:

Galvanized Steel
The main issue with this type of supply pipe is its age. As it has not been widely manufactured for over 60 years, the 40-to-50-year life expectancy has long since passed. The other main problem with this type of plumbing is that they will rust from the inside out, leading to low pressure, rusty water, and ruptured pipes. These pipes should be replaced as soon as possible.

Polybutylene (PB) and/or Kitec (PEX-AL-PEX)
There have been large class action lawsuits field against the manufacturers of both products alleging that they have an unacceptably high failure rate. While the internet is full of horror stories in my experience there have been very few problems with both types of pipe here in Canada and are usually the result of poor fittings. The main concerns are that if these pipes fail, they tend to catastrophically burst rather than leak and that some insurance companies refuse to insure homes with these types of pipes without some form of mitigation, up to complete replacement. I touched upon Kitec in a previous article and this type of piping is usually used in heating systems with PB a popular choice for water supply in the 1990s.  

With all that out of the way, what is a good type of pipe to use? Generally, two main types are used today: Copper (usually Type L) and Plastic (usually PEX or Cross-Linked Polyethylene). There are pros and cons to all these types of piping and a qualified contractor can advise on the best option for your home. It is very important that supply piping be kept separate from DWV piping as this can lead to serious, even fatal cross contamination. The biggest issue I see is homeowners leaving garden hoses connected when not in use: this can lead to outside water being drawn into the potable water supply and they should be disconnected when not in use.
Comments

Why Inspections are Important

4/20/2021

Comments

 
Picture
​As home and property inspectors, we are always looking out for potential major issues for our clients. Often times this results in reporting on such visible issues as a diagonal crack indicating potential foundation issues, burn marks on curtains or electrical receptacles, and missing shingles indicating a potential roof leak. While these are important to all home inspectors, we also look for other potential issues that are not so apparent to home owners, buyers and sellers. Here is an example of a potential major issue from a recent home inspection.

To the naked eye this appears to be a group of pipes, likely for hot water due to the orange colour. They also appear to be professionally installed and in good shape overall: both of these observations are correct but that does not tell the whole story. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let me explain what this is and why it could be a potential financial pit for buyers, a sales obstacle for sellers and a major cost for current homeowners.

What you are looking at is the manifold for a hydronic (hot water) heating system, where it is distributed to the various zones (rooms) in the home. The system itself is well maintained and in good condition however it is composed of a PEX-AL-PEX pipe, otherwise known as Kitec plumbing.

So, what exactly is wrong with Kitec? The short answer to this is that it depends on who you talk to. Some plumbers claim that with its high failure rate, tendency to burst rather than leak when failing and that it is no longer available are all reasons to immediately replace all Kitec plumbing with a more acceptable solution such as copper or cross-linked polyethylene (PEX). Others will argue that the issue is drastically overblown and as long as it is maintained it is no riskier than any other material.

At Inside Edge, we are in the business of providing facts to our clients so they are able to make the optimal real estate decision and representing the condition of the home as best we can. On that note, here are some facts about Kitec:
  • Kitec was manufactured and installed between 1995 and 2007 in Canada.
  • IPEX, the manufacturer of Kitec recently settled a class action lawsuit in both Canada and the United States for $125 million.
  • Increasingly, insurance companies are either refusing to insure homes with Kitec plumbing or demanding a higher deductible or premium before doing so.
  • Replacing a home’s plumbing can be very expensive, easily running into 5 figures.
  • Overall, there have been few failures reported on our area.
​
​It is generally recommended that a plumbing contractor evaluate any system containing Kitec due to its tendency to fail catastrophically. Any home inspector or plumber can check for visible Kitec on any home you are considering purchasing or putting up on the market and advise accordingly. 
Comments

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021

    Categories

    All
    AED
    AFCI
    Air Conditioning
    Aluminum
    Anode Rod
    Ants
    Arcs
    Asbestos
    Attic
    Balcony
    Brick
    Building Inspector
    Carbon Monoxide
    Children
    Chimney
    Circuit Breakers
    CO Detectors
    Communication
    Contractors
    Cost
    Criticisms
    Current
    Deck
    Drains
    Drywall
    Eavestroughs
    EIFS
    Electrical
    ERV
    Exterior
    Failed Seals
    Female Inspectors
    Fiber Cement
    Fire Safety
    First Aid
    Flips
    Flooring
    Foundation
    Framing
    Fuses
    Garage
    GFCI
    Grow-Ops
    Heating
    Heat Pumps
    HGTV
    Hoarding
    HRV
    Humidity
    HVAC
    Ice Dams
    ICF
    Infrared
    Insulation
    Ionization
    Joe Mazza
    Kitchen
    Kitec
    Knob & Tube
    Lead
    Manufactured Houses
    Marijuana
    Masonry
    Meth
    Mike Holmes
    Mini Homes
    Misconceptions
    Mobile Homes
    Moisture
    Mold
    Newcomers
    Oil Tanks
    Open Concept
    Orangeburg
    Personal Decor
    Pests
    Photoelectric
    Plumbing
    Polybutylene
    Pressure
    Price
    Psychrometrics
    Radon
    Rain Gutters
    Real Estate Agents
    Regulations
    Resistance
    Roofing
    Safety
    Septic
    Sewer
    Sewer Scopes
    Sheds
    Shipping Containers
    Siding
    Smoke Detectors
    Staircases
    Stove
    Structure
    Stucco
    Temperature
    Termites
    Trailer Parks
    Trees
    Value
    Ventilation
    Vinyl
    Voltage
    Walls
    Wasps
    Water Heater
    WDOs
    Windows
    Wiring
    Wood

    RSS Feed

Picture
Inside Edge Home Inspections Ltd. 
Halifax, NS
(902) 209-9921
info@ieinspections.ca
Proudly Serving the HRM & Surrounding Areas
Picture
  • Home
  • Services
  • Mike's Blog
  • Our Story
  • Credentials
    • Guarantees
  • Contact Information
  • What to Expect
    • Sample Report
  • Privacy Policy