Inside Edge
  • Home
  • Services
  • Mike's Blog
  • Contact
  • Qualifications
  • FAQs
  • Sample Report
  • Pricing
  • Guarantees

Mike's Home Inspector Blog

InterNACHI Certified Professional Inspector
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Questions Your Inspector (Should) Answer

3/5/2023

0 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.  
0 Comments

Polybutylene Supply Pipe

10/3/2021

0 Comments

 
I heard it once said that when cooking or baking, a cookbook is just a starting point to build mastery in the kitchen: true skill comes from building off that book knowledge using skills and experiences. This is also true as a professional home inspector: I have completed a significant amount of textbook reading (I lost count how many I have in my library!) but I know there are times where I disagree with the “book” answer and many fellow home inspectors. One such example is Polybutylene (PB) otherwise known as Poly B supply pipe.

PB was a plastic manufactured between 1978 and the mid 1990s that was touted as the “pipe of the future” for its low cost and ease of installation compared to copper. Despite its many advantages, it was discontinued in 1996 due to allegations the pipes were rupturing and causing significant water damage. Class action lawsuits were filed in the United States with a payout of close to $1 billion. Try doing an online search and you will see plenty of PB horror stories: sounds terrifying, doesn’t it?

While all these facts are 100% true, it should be noted that most of the issues originated in the southern United States, where supply pipes can be run through an extremely hot attic. Furthermore, most of the PB issues occurred at joints, which were often poorly made with plastic fittings by plumbers unfamiliar with their installation. In my experience, the PB systems I have inspected in the Halifax area are usually high quality with copper fittings (like the smaller of the two pictures below). My own home has PB throughout and I have no concerns whatsoever about its potential for leakage over any other type of material. Plumbers I have spoken with over the years have informed me that PB failures are rare, and they generally do not recommend replacement of a PB system that has no evidence of leaks.

Having said all that, it’s not a system without problems: it can be damaged by heavily chlorinated water (I know from firsthand experience how chlorinated the water was in Dartmouth before 1999), there is no way to verify that PB is not damaged without invasive testing and some insurance companies look negatively on a home with PB and may charge higher premiums accordingly.

So, how do you know if you have PB? Aside from the obvious answer of calling us at Inside Edge Home Inspections if you live in the Halifax region, there are two telltale signs:
  1. It is usually stamped with “PB2110”.
  2. Primarily (but not always) grey in colour.

Don’t mistake this post as an endorsement of PB: it was no longer considered an acceptable plumbing material in 2005 and is inferior to both copper and other similar types of plastic-based plumbing like cross-linked polyethylene (commonly known as PEX) or chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC). It is my opinion based on my professional experience that while PB should be monitored for leaks (like any plumbing system), an expensive re-plumbing of a home is rarely necessary. Can a PB system fail without warning? Yes, it can but so can any type of water supply line. 
Picture
0 Comments

Residential Plumbing (Part 1)

5/25/2021

0 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.
0 Comments

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    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
    Aerial Photography
    AFCI
    AI
    Air Conditioning
    Aluminum
    Anode Rod
    Ants
    Arcs
    Arsenic
    Asbestos
    ASD
    Attic
    Autism
    Balcony
    Basement
    Brick
    Building Inspector
    Carbon Monoxide
    ChatGPT
    Children
    Chimney
    Chinese Drywall
    Christmas
    Circuit Breakers
    Cliches
    Clocks
    CO Detectors
    Communication
    Concrete
    Contractors
    Copper
    Cost
    Criticisms
    Current
    Data
    Deck
    Doors
    Drains
    Drone
    Drywall
    DWV
    Eavestroughs
    EIFS
    Electrical
    ERV
    Exterior
    Failed Seals
    Female Inspectors
    Fiber Cement
    Fibreglass
    Fibreglass Shingles
    Fireplaces
    Fire Safety
    First Aid
    First Time Homebuyers
    Flips
    Flooding
    Flooring
    Fluoride
    Foundation
    Framing
    Fuses
    Garage
    Garage Doors
    Garage Safety
    Gfci
    Growops
    Heating
    Heat Pumps
    Hgtv
    Hoarding
    Home Inspectors
    Hrv
    Humidity
    HVAC
    Ice Dams
    ICF
    Infrared
    Insulation
    Ionization
    Joe Mazza
    Kitchen
    Kitec
    Knob & Tube
    Lead
    Manufactured Houses
    Marijuana
    Masonry
    Meth
    Mike Holmes
    Mineral Wool
    Mini Homes
    Misconceptions
    Mobile Homes
    Moisture
    Mold
    Newcomers
    New Inspectors
    Oil Tanks
    Open Concept
    Orangeburg
    Patina
    Personal Decor
    Pests
    Photoelectric
    Plumbing
    Polybutylene
    Pressure
    Price
    Professionalism
    Psychrometrics
    Radon
    Rain Gutters
    Real Estate Agents
    Regulations
    Remodelling
    Renovations
    Resistance
    Ridge Vent
    Roofing
    Rust
    Safety
    Scams
    Septic
    Sewer
    Sewer Scopes
    Sheds
    Shipping Containers
    Siding
    Smoke Detectors
    Smoking
    Soffits
    Staircases
    Steel
    Stove
    Structure
    Stucco
    Sump Pump
    Swamp Coolers
    Temperature
    Termites
    Trailer Parks
    Trees
    Value
    Ventilation
    Ventless Heaters
    Vinyl
    Voltage
    Walls
    Wasps
    Water Heater
    Water Testing
    WDOs
    Windows
    Wiring
    Wood
    Wood Rot

    RSS Feed

Picture
Inside Edge Home Inspections Ltd. 
Halifax, NS
902-209-9921
[email protected]
Proudly Serving the HRM & Central Nova Scotia
Picture
  • Home
  • Services
  • Mike's Blog
  • Contact
  • Qualifications
  • FAQs
  • Sample Report
  • Pricing
  • Guarantees