Most Commonly Searched Terms

Like many in the home inspection industry, I constantly have my ear to the ground looking at new construction techniques, best practices and using my advanced data science skills to keep my knowledge up to date. One way I do this is by regularly looking over our website statistics, particularly how many hits the website gets (we are up 20% from last year!) and what are the most commonly searched terms on our website. They are, in order:
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#1 Termites
This is by far the most popular page on my website and it’s easy to see why: it is the top search result for “Are there termites in Nova Scotia?” and termites are very destructive to wooden homes, which are pretty much all homes in Nova Scotia. While there is still no verifiable evidence of termites in our area, the blog post still stands: termites ARE coming and it’s a matter of when, not if.

I do want to point out that a couple of websites have plagiarized sections of my work on this topic. I am honestly flattered and consider it a compliment that my writing on the subject is worth copying. The only thing I will point out is that there are a lot of AI written blogs on this topic that provide false information. Again, contrary to what other sources say, there are NO termites in Nova Scotia as of 2024 but plenty of other WDO (Wood destroying organisms). 

#2 Oil Tanks: Fiberglass vs Steel
Oil furnaces are becoming less common, but they still make up a sizeable portion of my inspections: 30% of the homes I have inspected have an Oil tank, with a 50/50 split on Furnaces and Boilers. All furnaces were at minimum primarily oil powered, but boilers were divided between oil, propane and electricity as their fuel source. 

While I have learned a lot since I first wrote that blog post, the only thing I would change is to further clarify that every insurance company is different, and I am not privy to their individual policies. My, or any other professional’s opinion is irrelevant to when the insurance company says a tank needs to be replaced: their decision trumps all.  

Fun Fact: as of March 2024, the tanks I have inspected have been 71% Steel construction, 29% Fiberglass.
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#3 Aluminum Wire
Any Doctor will tell you to “never google your symptoms” and this advice can apply to home maintenance related items. A quick search on aluminum electrical wire will scare any new homeowner to put it mildly: it is up to 55 times more likely to burn a house down, insurers frown upon aluminum, it can come loose in the panel, it costs five figures to remove, etc.

Here’s the simple truth: aluminum wire is very common, safe when professionally sized (it is usually one size bigger than copper since aluminum has higher electrical resistance) and a great choice for sending electricity a long distance with minimal losses since it is so light. Even the term aluminum is a misnomer: modern aluminum wire is an alloy, which means it has other metals mixed in. 

What you DO need to be concerned about is a wire known as AA-1350. Essentially, this type of wire was designed for transmission and was a poor choice to use in electrical distribution panels. What the internet doesn’t tell you is that this wire was discontinued in 1972 and rarely used past the mid-70s. It is rare for an electrical system that old to have never been inspected, repaired, or replaced by a professional electrician.

Let me summarize it with some hard data from homes that I have personally inspected:
% of homes that have aluminum wiring of some form: 100%
% of homes that use single strand AA-1350 branch circuit wire (the bad kind): 0%

There is a lot of misinformation online when it comes to home maintenance, much of it from those who have a financial incentive to push it. Part of my role as a home inspector is to both point out issues that should be further addressed by a specialist and, more importantly, point out the issues that, while on the surface appear scary, are really not a big deal and all part of routine maintenance all homeowners face. ​