Building Inspections Blog
While looking at houses in the Bay Area you may be curious if you are near an earthquake fault, as several major faults run through our region. Temblor is an app (and website) that makes finding them easy. The app is especially helpful as you can use location services to find your address without having [...]
After patiently waiting through the pandemic to add another rock star inspector to our team, we hired Jeff Spellman! After graduating from American Home Inspectors Training (AHIT), and passing the National Home Inspectors Exam, Jeff started training with JMC Inspections in July of 2021. He is an ASHI Inspector and a member of the local chapter: [...]
During its February, 2021 meeting, the Piedmont City Council adopted new energy code amendments, which are designed to meet the Piedmont's Climate Action goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and natural gas usage in residential buildings. Ordinance 751 N.S. requires a Home Energy Score assessment at time of sales as of March 3, 2021 What [...]
Most people know that carbon monoxide alarms are important and save lives, but many are confused about where they should be installed. It can be tricky, since the manufacturer’s recommendations, state, and local requirements often don’t agree. The advice given here is based upon the California Residential Code (CRC). Required Locations Since 2011, the State [...]
Everyone knows that smoke alarms are important and save lives, but many are confused about where they should be installed. It can be tricky, since the manufacturer's recommendations, state, and local requirements often don't agree. The advice given here is based upon the California Residential Code (CRC). Before buying your smoke alarms, please read THIS [...]
Sediment traps have been required on gas piping systems for many years, but there is a lot of confusion about them. Read on to learn what they really are, where to install them, and how to configure them properly. Sediment Trap vs. Drip Leg"Drip leg" and "sediment trap" are often used interchangeably, but they are [...]
Professional achievements and their designations can quickly become an alphabet soup. For home inspectors, you will see such designations as ACI, CCI, MCI (and many others) - but what do they mean? ACI stands for ASHI Certified Inspector, CCI stands for CREIA Certified Inspector, and MCI stands for Master CREIA Inspector. ACI and CCI are [...]
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas. You can’t see it - you can’t smell it - but it can poison or kill you. Early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning resemble those of the flu – headaches, dizziness and nausea. Ongoing symptoms can be headaches, tiredness, memory impairment, difficulty in concentrating, difficulty in sleeping, and [...]
Senate Bill 407 (SB407) was signed in 2009, and this law will have a big impact on California home owners starting January 1, 2017. In short, this law requires the installation of water conserving plumbing fixtures in all single family homes built prior to 1994. This is not a time-of-sale requirement, it applies to all [...]
I created a video to go over the basics of earthquake retrofitting a simple home. Using a layered SketchUp model, I will walk you through the basic elements of an earthquake (seismic) retrofit. Many of these standard details come from "Plan Set A" which can be found HERE. Enjoy the video and please let me [...]
