Learn about a home inspection.  An interview with Harlan Pierson of Dream Home Inspection a licensed home inspector.
Podcast Length 8:38 Minutes.

Tim Johnson:  Hi.  This is Tim Johnson of Traders Realty.  I am sitting with Harlan Pierson of Dream Home Inspections.  How are you?

Harlan Pierson:  I’m great, how are you Tim

Tim:  I’m doing well.  What is it that you do?

Harlan:  Well I do home inspections and radon testing for people that are buying and selling property / real estate.

Tim:  You work with home buyers and home sellers?

Harlan:  Yes.  Most of the time it’s for home buyers but I also do pre-listing inspections for people that may be selling their home and want to get an idea of what they can do to make some minor repairs to their home that an inspector will find. 

Tim:  What do you look for when you are inspecting a home?

Harlan:  I hate to say I look at pretty much everything but basically home inspection is a visual inspection, basically I can only report on what I can physically see while I am there.  But basically when I do inspections I do the exterior, look at the grading, siding, windows, roof look at the structure, loot at the plumbing, electrical, look at all the mechanicals in the home, look at the insulation and ventilation in the attic areas, of course the basement, crawl spaces, basically kind of give it an overall picture or snapshot, if you will, of that home at that particular time while I am there.

Tim:  You are a licensed home inspector?

Harlan:  Yes.  If you are doing home inspections in the state of Illinois you have to be licensed by the state of Illinois.

Tim:  What does your license limit you form doing?  Do you pull off covers off of electrical?

Harlan:  It’s kind of vague and I am actually am actually a member of ASHI which is the American Society of Home Inspectors. They have a certain code of ethics that we follow, so does the state of Illinois.  The state of Illinois says “easily accessible areas”, so yes, we do take covers off of electrical panels, I’ll take the cover off of a furnace to get a little more close look at that.  If there’s a cover and some screws to enter a crawl space or something like that, yes.  But if it’s an intrusive cover that is more involved for that inspection, normally we don’t do that. 

Tim:  And so you inspect chimneys?

Harlan:  We look at chimneys.  I look at pretty much overall the exterior portion of the chimney, look at the damper I may look at the interior of the fireplace, with that said, it’s just a visual inspection and you cant really see just a small percentage of that chimney so I’ll give my assessment to the best of my ability just by visually looking at it, but would always recommend a licensed chimney sweeps to further investigate it especially if it’s a wood burning fire place just to properly inspect it to make sure it’s working properly & safely.

Tim:  What are common issues that you find when inspecting a home? 

Harlan:  Common issues a lot of things I would say minor electrical problems like uncovered junction boxes, things like that, which is really a minor fix a lot of people don’t think about it, but it could be potentially a safety hazard and just a small few dollar item could  remedy that solution and make it a little safer.

Tim:  How are things like two-prong electrical outlets say something that is not quite up to code handled?

Harlan:  Because we are not code inspectors and the way I look at it is, if you are purchasing a home that was built in the 50s or 60s, if you will, a lot of them are still going to have two prong outlets so you cannot expect that house to be built to today’s standards.  So I would say if there’s a two-pong outlet you just want to know that it’s still a two-prong outlet, it is not grounded and basically you just want to check to see if its been wired properly.  A lot of times people will update things over the years they will take that two-prong outlet out, put a three-prong outlet in and basically all that does is it gives a false sense of security to the at home buyer saying that “Oh, this is a grounded outlet”, when it really isn’t.  As far as safety, it’s just a safety issue where you’re thinking it’s a grounded outlet when it’s really not.  The only other things that can happen is if you’re plugging in with our electronics that we have today, if you’re plugging in a high dollar computer, big screen tv or some electronics & you’re plugging a surge protector into that ungrounded ungrounded three-prong outlet, & you’re plugging your equipment into that surge protector, you do not really protect your equipment against lightening strike – that surge protector has to have a grounded outlet to work properly.  So, that’s probably the biggest thing I see is customers have a false sense of security by seeing a three-prong outlet that not really properly grounded.

Tim:  OK – what are the costs involved with a home inspection?

Harlan:  Well, they vary from home inspector to home inspector.  I charge $250 for my home inspections.  The home inspections I do, I usually tell people it takes 2-3 hours.  And I strongly encourage the buyers to be there present during the home inspection, because not only am I looking for problems, I can also maybe point out some maintenance issues or maintenance tips that they can do to better protect their investment that they’re getting into.  The inspections I do, I do it on a laptop which I take to the job site & I fill out the report on the jobsite as I go along and take digital photographs of different items of the report and usually go over the report with the homeowner or buyer at that time.  And then I usually go home and insert the photos, kind of clean up the report, go over it and usually email it to the client either that day or the following day.

Tim:  How often do you see pre-listing inspections happening and what are their advantages?

Harlan:  Not very often, but once in a while.  In my opinion, a pre-listing inspection actually, and I’m not a realtor, but for me to go in and do that inspection, it gives an opportunity for the seller to fix any minor problems and basically have a little bit more control of the sale of their property instead of putting it on eh market and having an inspector come in and maybe do a little more nit-picking than they should and then they’re demanding more and more and wanting to pay less for their house, it kind of gives more control to the buyer than the seller.  So, from my standpoint of view a pre-listing inspection is just a valuable tool that helps give the seller more control of that property because they’re able to warrant off some of those things ahead of time. 

Tim:  I’m Tim Johnson of Traders Realty.  I am sitting with Harlan Pierson of Dream Home Inspections.  We’re talking about Whole House Inspections.  If someone wants to get ahold of you, what’s the best way to reach you?

Harlan:  Well, they can go to my website, www.dreamhome.net & request an inspection that way, or the best way to get ahold of me is my cell phone – 309-376-6210.

Tim:  Have a good day.

Learn about radon and radon testing.  An interview with Dale Greenhalgh of Wayne Mechanical a licensed radon inspector from Metamora, IL.
Podcast Length 8:03 Minutes.

Tim Johnson:  Hi.  This is Tim Johnson of Traders Realty.  I am sitting with Dale Greenhalgh of Wayne Mechanical.  Welcome, Dale. Can you tell us what you do as a radon specialist?

Dale Greenhalgh:  I do radon testing for residential and commercial properties.  To help keep people healthier.  And it’s kind of fulfilling because I am helping to prevent lung cancer.  It’s kinda nice.

Tim:  What is radon?

Dale:  Radon is a radioactive noble gas which means that it doesn’t really react with anything else.  That’s what the noble part means and radioactive means that it does give off radioactive emissions.  Emissions in this case alpha particles which can scar tissue.  Radon is a naturally occurring gas that comes up from the ground its actually what we call, here’s your $12 word for the day, “radioactive progeny” of uranium.  Which means as uranium decays it becomes other elements among them radium, plutonium, bismuth, lead, one of those is radon.  Radon is a gas and it can seep up through the ground, through your basement crawlspace, slab, whatever, though plumbing penetrations, cracks, what have you any path of least resistance, into your home and gets into your lungs and gives off alpha particles which can scar the lung tissue.

Tim:  How serious is radon?

Dale:  It’s the second leading cause of lunch cancer in America.  About 21,000 deaths a year are attributed to radon exposure.

Tim:  As a realtor, different people have said through the years that they think radon is a bunch of hype, what’s your thought on that?

Dale:  Right.  Absolutely.  Confession time, I used to be one of those people, until I did a little bit of investigation and found that it is real.  There are people I know that have been exposed to radon and have cancer because of it.  I only with I had gotten into this business a little sooner, maybe I could have helped prevent that. 

Tim:  How is a house tested for radon?

Dale:  Well, there are several ways to test.  There is what a lot of us refer to a screening test, a home test, that you can get from a hardware store or home center, it’s very inexpensive, it can at least get you pointed in the direction of weather you do or do not have acceptable levels of radon.  It involved setting the test device – whatever it is, there area several different types.  Depending on the type, there are different lengths of time, obviously the longer the test, the more accurate the results will be.  A good home test will take about three months to get a good solid reading.

Tim:  How do you test for radon?

Dale:  Residential, I use what’s called a Continuous Radon Monitor.  It’s an electronic device about the size of a small book, and it sets in an area of your house that is commonly occupied for a minimum of 48 hours, I’ll do a maximum of 92 hours.  That gives a much more accurate hour by hour test of the radon level at that point in your home.

Tim:  How does radon get into a home

Dale:  Through the ground.  It just seeps up through a natural chimney effect that your home has on the ground.  So that any slight pressure, and we’re not talking pounds, we’re talking parts of ounces of pressure, gas pressure, in the ground, and that pressure is lower in your house.  When high pressure goes to low pressure, the gas comes into your home.  It flows like a light wind and you can’t feel it. 

Tim:  Would someone without a basement or someone with a slab have to worry about radon in their home. 

Dale:  Anyone with a home built on dirt has to worry about, well doesn’t have to, I believe should be thinking about radon.

Tim:  How prevalent is radon in the Peoria area?

Dale:  Extremely.  Woodford County, at the last statistical snapshot, had the highest instance of radon.  In an unmitigated home, in other words you don’t have a system to remove the radon, you have a 74% chance of having an unacceptable radon level in your home.  In Tazewell County was mid 60s, maybe 65%, and Peoria County was around 56%.

Tim:  How do you prevent radon from coming into a house?

Dale:  When the home is constructed, there are radon resistant measures you can take in building a new home.  Among those is a radon resistant barrier, before they pour whatever it is the bottom slab of your house, if it’s the basement floor, you can put it in a crawl space.  If you have a slab you can put it beneath the concrete.  That helps keep it out.  It’s not a guarantee because sometime those barriers do get tears in them during the process, it’s almost, in many cases, unavoidable.  If the home is already constructed, about the only way to keep radon out of the house is to have a mitigation system.

Tim:  As a Realtor, I’ve heard of people opening windows to let the radon out during radon test.  Is that an effective way to make your radon test lower?

Dale:  Well, there are a lot of factors.  It can actually, if you are trying to skew the test results, it will probably skew the results, but not necessarily the way that people think they will.  They’ll think, “Well, fresh air it’ll work better.”  Remember earlier I said your house works as a chimney to the ground.  If it’s a very tight house and you open the windows, there’s a possibility that you could actually increase the radon reading own whatever your detecting devise is, and depending on where it is placed.  By the same token, lets just say, that the home was built a little bit tighter in the basement it could lower the level but there is not way to know for sure unless you’re getting a good base line in order to tell which way it went.

Tim:  Should every house be tested?

Dale:  Granted I have a vested interest in testing every building out there.  From home buyer’s prospective, having ought a home myself in the past,  I wanna know the truth about the home, all of the truth, and if  I had known as much about radon then as I know now I would have absolutely had my home tested.

Tim:  What is the best way to test for radon?

Dale:  In a home, the most accurate way is with a continuous radon monitor, because of the isolation of the information.  When the detector is not polluted by where it’s been, before or after.

Tim:  How much does radon testing cost?

Dale:  Most homes with a single foundation type, is about $150 currently.  Obviously the more complicated the foundation is, say you have a sunroom addition that’s on dirt, that would require a second monitor and that’s going to be more expensive.  And every such addition on the home is going to require a second monitor at the same time so it’s going to be more expensive. 

Tim:  How much does a radon system cost?

Dale:  Well, that’s nebulous question.  Depends upon the complication of the home.  I’ve seen them cost as much as $4,000 and I’ve seen them cost as little as $850.  But again, it depends on the home and how complex it is to install the system.

Tim:  If someone has more questions, what is the best way to reach you Dale?

Dale:  The best way is by phone area code 309-360-7770.

Tim:  Again, this is Tim Johnson with Traders Realty.  Talking with Dale Greenhalgh of Wayne Mechanical.  Talking about the effects of radon on a person and in a home.  Thanks so much Dale.