News this hour from townhall dot com I'm going to be greeted by people died as a result of there's a storm that hit east Texas Saturday night we get details now from correspondent value your hand in Mayor Lou in Everett confirming that governor Greg Abbott has sent Texas Task Force 2 to assist in Van Zandt County which took the brunt of the blow as the National Weather Service confirming at least 3 tornadoes in Henderson Van Zant and rains counties all about 60 miles east of Dallas on I 20 the interstate shut down off and on since the storms and possibly into Monday as crews assess damage and conduct their search and rescue valuer Dallas resident Trump is fed up with the San Francisco based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals a court with the liberal reputation has blocked the president's travel ban and his order stripping money from sanctuary cities and the White House is not happy it's pretty clear that the 9th Circuit has no intention of upholding the Constitution deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tells Esera news they're willing to go to the Supreme Court we're very confident that not only will the president prevail but the law itself will prevail in this case President Trump has even suggested trying to break up the 9th Circuit Court right Clarkston the White House President Trump has been asked about the failure of several North Korean missile tests recently and why those launches keep blowing up the president tells c.b.s. Is Face the Nation television show on Sunday he'd rather not discuss it but eventually you'll have good missiles the Republican president says that is something the United States can't allow to happen Army Lieutenant General h.r. McMaster says that the president will work with allies and China to resolve the situation and the president said he has had tougher job jobs but acknowledges the presidency is always a challenge like life itself is a challenge he tells c.b.s. His Face the Nation I've had things that were tougher although all that you know that better at the end of 8 years more on these stories at townhall dot com. Hi It's Mike Gallagher I've been telling you about relief factor for about 6 months now I've been using relief factor for a lot longer than that just like you I've heard about relief factor on the radio and I simply had to try it because I had hip and knee pain that wasn't going away well it worked for me in about 2 and a half weeks so I asked them if I can divorce the product that's a true story now I'm hearing from listeners everywhere like Tim from Pennsylvania who wrote pain I have lived with for 3 to 4 years has completely disappeared after 2 months of relief factor it has totally vanished I'll be 72 in March and I feel at least 10 years younger it's great to be pain free again it sure is if you're struggling with ongoing back or neck pain shoulder hip knee pain general muscle aches and pain do what I did go to really factor dot com order their 3 week quick start for just 1995 try for 3 weeks 995 really factor dot com That's really factor dot com or call toll free 8050838480508384 residents mark the 25th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots yesterday with peaceful marches and calls were better future hundreds of people rallied at the intersection of Florence and Normandy avenues in South Los Angeles that's where all the violence began people in the mostly African-American community became outraged after a jury acquitted 4 white police officers who be black motorist Rodney King 3 days of burning looting and beatings followed leaving more than 50 people dead correspondent Andrew Stewart president Rhodri go to Terre taste Pokemon says President Donald Trump has called the Philippine leader and expressed Washington's commitment to their treaty alliance and his interest in developing a warm working relationship with the territory presidential spokesman Ernie a Bella said Sunday that the president mentioned he was working or looking forward to visiting the Philippines in November news and analysis at townhall dot com I'm Gordon Griffin. This year's Memorial Day concert in Washington will include a tribute to the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo during World War 2 actor Gary Sinise will present that portion of the program which will include a tribute to 101 year old would turn to Colonel Dick Cole the sole surviving member of the Doolittle raiders the 28th annual concert in the West Lawn of the u.s. Capitol will be broadcast nationwide on p.b.s. With actors Laurence Fishburne and Joe Montana as co-hosts that is correspondent Rhonda Rockstro Court documents show that though a fresh foods has recently settled 2 lawsuits filed by families of people stricken by a listeria outbreak after eating salads packaged Ohio these Springfield News Sun reports settlement terms weren't disclosed by the company or the attorneys who filed the federal lawsuits one lawsuit said a 79 year old Ohio resident died last year after eating salad package that doles Springfield plant about 45 miles west of Columbus more on these stories at townhall dot com. Hey John flew down I didn't have much of a chance to see that one before I went under contract I know Heather in this market it's 1st come 1st serve no waiting I guess it's not rocket science Johnny but it is realistic find it all comes down to 2 things so their price and presentation when you get those 2 right this all times go up and we get them right John that's one way we're making real estate easier. And I'm sure they didn't get together with the Ozarks team realtors at Century 21 really big man doesn't enjoy this Arc's dot com for the rest of today we can expect to see cloudy skies with highs reaching near 69 along with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms enter the ceiling it will be mostly cloudy with lows around 44 for tomorrow we can expect to see mostly sunny skies with high speech in your 68 and for tomorrow evening will have mostly clear skies with lows around 49 followed by mostly sunny skies again on Tuesday with high speech near 75 This has been the latest look at your forecast right here on the Eagle 93.5 compelling radio shows you can always email me and you can get me at info at the house p.r.i. Dot com or if you just want to get information on the show or listen to some of our previous shows you can always go to w w w dot Backhouse p.-i dot com But those that have been listening for a while you know that each week I start off with a question from one of my listeners or in some cases I start off with a question that I received from one of my home inspection clients and a lot of times I have some great questions Today's question was on structural issues these folks have a house and it has a poor guy foundation and they're concerned because they've seen some cracks in the foundation and they want to know how serious are crack in a concrete foundation and my answer that it depends on the crack now they just mentioned it as a crack they didn't send me a picture and they didn't indicate how big the crack was so virtually concrete has no 10 solid strength so concrete just a little bit of movement is going to possibly cause a crack in the foundation or just as the House is finding its place in life. After it's built that settles a little bit here set a little bit there compresses the ground underneath and you'll develop a crack Now there are different types of cracks in there are things that you have to be concerned with than there are things that are normal so little concrete cracks that are in the foundation that are probably about a 16th or an a them an inch are probably not any significant structural issue they are something that will have to be watched and monitored over period of time to see if they get bigger but they don't usually indicate a major structural problem now as a home inspector and doing home inspections when I inspect a house that has a large crack would say that crack is exceeding a quarter of an inch 3 eighths of an inch or if the crack has moved one way or the other one section of the wall has moved out further or backwards from where it was originally that can indicate more of a concern than just a little hairline crack a little hairline cracks or relatively normal big cracks wide cracks that have moved in some way shape or form usually indicate something else was going on so whenever you have that type of crack are always a good idea to get it repaired now there's a few different ways you can do that you always want to keep more Easter out of the cracks because whether it's a slab type of construction whether it's a crawl space type of construction whether it's a fall in ground basement type of construction you always want to keep the more secure in the water away from the house so the dirt around the outside of the House has to be directed away from the foundations of water can't run up against the foundation Well let's say the grade a settled a little bit and the water is getting directed back towards the foundation well that crack can now leak so one you could get water in the lower level again whether it's a slab crawl space or for foundation for basement inside the concrete the concrete foundation contractor probably installed steel rebar if you get more Easter in the crack. Even if it's not manifesting itself inside the house it can cause the steel to rust and when steel rusts expands so I've actually in situations seen 3 eighth's inch half inch rebar expand to the point that they've grown to about 3 quarters of an interim more and they do that with a lot of pressure so it can actually start causing more damage to the foundation so if you have a little crack little hairline crack typical crack that's leaking water needs to be fixed there are concrete contractors out there that have gone into business to seal those type of cracks that seal them within a poxy type compound or sometimes a poly Euro thing tight seal usually they're 2 parts and they get injected into the crack if that crack is real large 1st before you get the repair contractor out there you want to get a structural engineer to assess the damage because there may be more that needs to be done with that crack than just cosmetic repair to keep the moisture up so if you have a small 0 crack nothing to be concerned with if you have a large crack that looks like it's moving then that's time to get the structural engineer out there and make a determination as to the best way to repair that to prevent any further movement if you have a concrete block foundation that changes things someone because a concrete block a crack means that it's lost its it he's in to the other block so depending upon that crack that may need a structural engineer to look at that especially horizontal cracks those can be really significant the Stick around we will be right back right after this 1st break I'm going to be introducing my guest I'm going to get started on a very pertinent show this time here and my guest has over 23 years the experience in residential construction and home inspection issues very knowledgeable stick around we will be right back here's George Foreman with invent held high and George Foreman Do you have an idea for a new product or invention people ask me all the time George how do I get my idea in front of company. How do I get a patent what do I do next do you have the same questions I'll tell you like I'll tell them I'll call my friends and invent help calling for help today for free information invent help has been helping inventors for more than 30 years have his sales offices nationwide invent health can submit your invention to companies who are interested in receiving new ideas if you have an idea and want to try to tap it and submit it to companies you should call invent help today for free information listen I can guarantee you a company will be interested in your idea but I believe every inventor deserve the opportunity to step into the ring and take their best shot put a video up in your corner to get your free inventors information call 180-604-7967 that's 180-604-7967 again 180604767 Welcome back you are listening to the house he I with Reggie Marston and as I mentioned just before break we have a very knowledgeable person here who has many years of experience in home inspections and houses today we are going to be talking about spring maintenance what you need to do to get your house ready my guest today is Mr Jim Funkhouser and as I mentioned Jim is a long time housing professional he has 23 years as a home inspector and past president of Nova asked him is also president of the p. H. I which is the testing organization the gold standard of home inspector testing the e.v.p. H.l.a. Is presently required by over 25 states for home inspector licensing Jim welcome to the house well thanks for having me Roger I think this is great and is going to be a terrific subject to talk about because that coming year when people are thinking about getting out of writing for some absolute heat and that type of thing if you were out there what is the 1st thing that these folks need to do just start thinking about getting their house ready for the hot summer days well. We're going to go around and look at everything to see what condition the winter is left your house and 1st thing you want to do is kind of get some tools Ok I want you to get a pad of paper and a pen and once you have a screwdriver if you have a digital camera great if you want to use the camera on your phone good that binoculars a strong flashlight we're going to be looking in the attic so you're going to need a mask in a long sleeve shirt for that and may need ladders and we'll talk about that when we get to that section but you want to get all of those things together because what you're going to be doing is doing a survey of the House to determine what needs fixing and write those things down and then later help you decide what the priorities are in order in which you need to fix the grate and probably a good strong set of binoculars that these folks aren't comfortable getting up but Heights Yeah absolutely you know if you can avoid the latter do because they are so so dangerous getting into your attic you're going to probably need a step ladder if you don't have a pull down but if you do have somebody else there holding the ladder for you don't want anybody getting hurt this early in the season you're going to have a lot of work to do that's right and it's one of those things it's not the fall that hurts it's the sudden stop at the end absolutely Ok now the folks have collected all of their tools they've got everything set they're ready to go right where do they want to start 1st over are going to start outside because that's the area of the house that always gets neglected we're going to start with the very top and look at the roof get your binoculars out you want to stand back and then walk around the house of that you can look at all of the surfaces of the room very carefully Jim let me try to end hold that thought we're going to take a short pause folks stick around when we get back we'll be talking more with Jim on getting your house ready for summer so if you've written a book and want to get it published then call Page publishing 880-290-7116 mediately That's 802907116 page publishing is looking for authors. Of all types of books and unlike most publishers page publishing will take the time to review each and every book submitted to them and give you their feedback if they like what they read they'll get your book into bookstores and for sale online at Amazon the Apple I too would store Barnes and Noble and other outlets they handle everything editing cover design copyright protection printing publicity and distribution so if you've written a novel children's book cookbook inspirational word poetry or a biography and want to get it published then you need to call Page publishing and do it immediately go 802907116 now for your free author's submission kit again for your free author submission kit call 802907116 that's 802907116 your road to fame and fortune could very well start with this simple phone go go page publishing 880-290-7116 extension 4 your free author submission kit the i.r.s. 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Seizes your property and garnish your wages call 807949203 get your tax problem resolved once and for all that number again is 80794920387949203 all right we are back you're listening to the house p.-i with Reggie Marston today we're here with Mr Jim Funkhouser long time home inspector and we are talking about . Spring home maintenance or how to get your house ready for the dog days of summer Jim just before we went to break we were getting started on the outside of the house we were up on the roof now what are some of the things that the folks should pay attention to when they're checking the roof up after this long hard winter pay attention to what are called the appurtenances where the penetrations through the roof and that's your plumbing stack vents your appliance vents like your b. Event for your gas furnace or must conclude exactly look for the Caps missing is there can you see if the seal around the base of the plumbing stacks is torn are you missing shingles you know a lot of times you won't notice these things and sometimes they won't even manifest themselves in a leak that you'll see from the inside until it's too late and cause a lot of damage in the attic and we get those real good summer thunderstorms blowing through with high winds and that will just drive rain right into some of those those areas that. You know the rubber flashings around the soil stacks it doesn't take much of an opening at all to have some serious damage or start to create mold or any other kind of issue that's right that's right so you want to start by looking at the roof and then once you work get through looking at roof you're going to work on the gutters gutters are so important to keeping the house safe and keeping the basement dry and make sure that they're clean make sure that they haven't pulled away that that none of the spikes around your downspouts are attached and also make sure that all of your downspouts are well extended away from the base of the foundation that's probably one of the leading cause of water in the basement is water dumping right next to the foundation is my old boss used to say a house in the boat you dump enough water next to the foundation it's going to find its way it's going to become more of a swimming pool than about absolutely Sakhalin and for folks that are even in areas that are sandy soil it's good to keep the water out away from the house so it doesn't back up on the slab and especially people with crawlspaces nothing because just even if it's not a full basement you still got to pay attention that kind of stuff and it doesn't take much water you don't have to have standing water on the floor and exactly what else do they have to look at on the outside of the house to get that ready Well remember that water is the number one enemy so we're going to be looking at the siding very carefully any gaps in the edges around the seams any penetration through the siding need to be well cocked look at the condition of the trim around windows and doors do I have any peeling paint any gaps in the caulk seal in Iraq beginning that's where the screw drivers going to come in handy if you suspect that you have some or you want to determine the extent of it you want to take the flat side of the end of the screwdriver and press just gently on that wood and see if it gives I don't want you jabbing into it and destroying it but if you do it carefully you won't leave a mark if it's fine and you'll still be able to tell if you have some today or a few jabs you are you start making holes in me an avenue for water to get in and create more problems. So gently is the key with that so you're going to look at all the windows all the doors make sure weather stripping is tight make sure the caulking around the winners in the doors is tight and look at the siding make sure that everything's in place the caulk seals around the edges are in foreign shape and that there's been no damage or missing sections or rot areas around where utilities go through the electric cables go through the air conditioning refrigerant lines need to be checked and sealed absolutely very edge knows to be those refrigerant lines not so much in summer but in the fall there are just a highway for a little pets to find their way into the house that's another thing to keep in mind as look for avenues where mice and other things can get into the house you know mice the mouse needs about the hole the size of a dime to be able to squeeze a skull through and get into the house so you can use call you spray foam anything that you can use to seal those holes up will keep those that pest level down then in some cases you know mice in other areas of the country may have snakes scorpions there's all sorts of little critters that can find the little holes and work their way in no absolutely but if you've got snakes you won't usually have a mouse valve over the right. And that's a good thing that's how it fits make up and fall on you in the middle of the night yeah that's right you know in running into those as you and I have done getting up in the attic and you see that black snake are all up in the rafter Now that's a little unnerving absolutely Ok now we've got them pretty well taken care of with the with check in the roof to make sure there's no missing shingles. The roof flashings around the vent pipes and the chimneys are all cocked and sealed in that everything's looking good up there the gutters of claim the downspouts are secured an extended out away from the house they've checked the house for any type of rot around the trim their caulking in ceiling that painting is this a good time of year to think about painting the house yes the temperatures are starting to get to the point where we're not having any freezing weather got to make sure that if you're going to paint that you clean the surfaces 1st very very well and then preferably prime the surface and then paint this would be the perfect time to do all that although if you're going to do it far if you're going to hire somebody you better plan way in advance because that's right now is when all the painters are stories of gardening and right exactly. Health and Safety is always the priority when you're looking at the houses for spring magnets we want to stop things that are going to cause damage to the house but the next year I want to go to and want you to look carefully at is the deck the deck connection to the house which is you'll see a large board that is bolted to the house and it's called the ledger board you want to look at those connections and look at the hardware that's holding the joists which is supporting the deck platform to the house and want to make sure that it's fully nailed no corrosion I want to see if there's flashing between the House and the ledger board up until just recently that was not a requirement and if you don't see it there I would recommend that you consider having it installed because water can run behind the ledger board through the penetrations in the lag screws and actually rock the connection and you won't know it until that deck fails you have the party and there's 20 people doing the mock arraignment and down it comes absolutely and your life gets even more fun after that when the lawyers are calling So you want to make sure that everything is tight your railings are tight right now the code is you may not be able to pass the foreign spirit where through the field of the rails so if your deck doesn't meet that standard and you have little ones you might want to consider either putting up some lattice panels or some balcony netting or something to break up those openings so we don't have somebody a little child getting their head stuck in there and choking or going all the way through and you've got to make sure those balance theirs are tight because a lot of the deck companies I mean they'll put one nail in those things and after the deck dries out they're loose at the lock and in the brain check every member of that deck rail make sure it's nice and tight deck rails have to be able to support $200.00 pounds in any direction if you push on it and it really moves chances are that it's not sufficient enough to be to be considered safe and you want to get a deck professional out there to make the needed repairs come up the stairs going down what kind of rails are needed there you want something Gribble. You want something that you can hang on to earlier codes didn't really require this and if you've only got like a 2 by 6 length flat on there and you start to slip chances are you're not going to be able to grab a hold of that so you would like a hand rail just like you have on your indoor stairs now that you could wrap your hand around and stop yourself from falling just about 2 and a quarter inches in width and that gives you a good grab and if you have children it's not a bad idea to put a rail lower if you have little children so they can hang on and today's requirement also requires an elimination of the stairs so if it's dark somebody can actually see them see how or where they're walking so they don't stumble over this right what else do we need to look at on the outside of the house before we move move to the inside well keeping along with their theme of health and safety we want to check the walkways in the driveways for any damage that's occurred over the winter that could present a tripping hazard could cause water to stand and freeze and that is in winter so we want to make sure that those things get filled and patched as needed this is actually the best time since you've been using your fireplace all year to get it swept because this is when the chimney sweeps are busy That's right so it's easy to get one of these guys out there and have everybody have them clean up the flue check the flue for safety and make sure it's ready for next year good idea for those of you that have pools and Spa this would be the time to get those companies out there make sure that the systems are working fine including Lonny or geishas systems were now past the point we're going to have freezing weather time to be winterized them and have all the heads checked out by a good idea to have pools and spas in those electric around there you want to check the electric make sure of that saving to have kids running around there any time you've got a lock to go outside they should always be on a ground fault circuit interrupter protected circuit and so you should be able to find that it will have a test and reset button push the test button make sure it pops if it doesn't then it needs to be immediately replaced because because they can go bad and they do go bad yes. Absolutely Ok Well I think we're kind of done with the outside I would like to hit upon that it's time to have the AC checked we're now getting into the heating season so you want to wait here conditioning see our air conditioning season or drivers are our coming out of here with the and then have the they turn the AC on once it's above 60 degrees so that you can run it safely go outside listen to it make sure it's not rattling it's not making some sort of funky noise cold air is coming out if you want to you let it run for about 20 minutes put your hand on the large vapor line outside at the unit that you feel ice cold if it just feels ambient then chances are the AC is not going to be sufficient and you're going to need and Spike and need to be serviced Absolutely and that's another thing if they come out the service guy comes out and says you're low on refrigerant you need to ask them where was the leak and how did you fix it because otherwise you're going to be calling them again right refrigerant just doesn't leak in the lower system but we also want clearance around the air conditioning units to part right that is so important because the whole idea with the air conditioner is it's exchanging heat with the air and if we put a lot of vegetation around it in the air can't move then it can't make that change and so it's suddenly fatigues that system so you want to make sure that you have at least a foot and a half to 2 feet of space around the sides of the unit and at least 4 to 6 feet above the unit of your typical flow outdoor AC you know want to see that AC set run in your deck with the deck 16 inches above the AC You know it'll kill it yeah absolutely kill it also on the inside you want to make sure that the AC condensate drain is clean those will often get gross income over the winter time incog up so the 1st time you run it it starts to leak so running a little chlorine bleach through there if you have a flexible brush run it through the the line there make sure that it's all clean and free flowing from little baby bottle to rush that's right and now it's time to shut off and clean. In the humidifier because you're certainly not going to need that this summer that's right moves usually enough humidity in the air in the summer time unless you happen to be one of the listeners in the southwest that's that is a real hot and dry there that's right but in most areas I think we have enough humidity to suffice and so showing that off and cleaning them because they will grow big time to check that filter they haven't looked at in a while they have or filters in a lot of cases we have multiple ones in the air return grilles make sure that you check it if there's the plane one inch disposable filter check get monthly and you'll probably replace it every one to 3 months depending upon how much you vacuum how much you have the windows open but air moving through the system is important to that system and if it doesn't get enough it will start to have problems and it will burn it out so now we move on from the h.b.a. See what else is important on the inside of the house to get ready for summer Ok I want everyone to go and check their dryer vents make sure that those things are clean and free flowing That's number one cause the house fires are clothes dryers and so we want to make sure that that's completely over over $34000.00 dryer fires every year around the United States and people it's an easy thing to forget but it is so so important Jim let me rudely interrupt we have to take another short pause folks you're listening to the house p.r.i. We will be right back with Jim to continue our talk on dryers and how important it is to make sure your vent is clean. All right we are back you're listening to the house p I with Reggie Marston today we're here with long time home inspector Mr Jim Funkhouser Jim has been our home inspector in the Washington d.c. Area for many years and has inspected many houses and is very familiar with how to get the house ready for those dog days of summer Hey Jim just before we left for break we were talking about dryers you had started to mention about a dryer that you had inspected lunch continue with that I've actually did an inspection of a while back where I burned my hand on the top of a clothes dryer the safety interlocks had failed and had I not been there it probably would have caught fire so it's important to do that and make sure that that's going in plus you it's going to save your money because you clothes are going to drive faster you want to check if you have fire extinguishers in the house make sure that they're fully charged if they're in the red either have a recharge to replaced and check your smoke detectors and if you don't already have carbon monoxide detectors make sure that you have those installed in that they are properly functioning and they're even important in the summertime people think oh I'm not running the heat Santora being in hot water heater if you've got an enclosed garage that's attached to the house there has been cases where people have left the car running and carbon monoxide everybody in the house absolutely you know and it can happen so easily and those are the the ones that are just so tragic where somebody is in a hurry they've left the car running they forgot the phone rings they're on the phone for a while and the parts per 1000000 of carbon dioxide coming off of a car exhaust is astronomical right so it's so important you have those detectors properly functioning this would be a good time to check and flush the water heater drain it and make sure you get all the sediment out of the bottom of the instructions for doing so or printed right on every single water heater so follow those carefully but it's it will help the efficiency in the life of the old water heater to do that you also want to go around the interior check the doors check the windows for signs of any leakage air and water make sure that those things are nice and tight you've looked on the outside now you can look for signs of problems that you might not have seen on the outside on the inside of probably going to you to make sure they're operational especially in bedrooms where you haven't eat rats. Absolutely you know if there's a fire can a child open that bedroom window and get out that's the that's the the way I judge them and I will open every single window and if I feel that child can open it up it gets written up to get corrected Right right because it can be a life saving process to make sure that window is functional You bet now we're going to go down to the basement see if we have any signs of water coming through the foundation wall you're going to be looking for water stains obviously you're also going to be looking for a white powder on the surface of the inside of the foundation wall that's called efflorescence which is Masonry salts that's the faults that are in the foundation that are picked up by the waters that migrates through the wall it will leave that white residue there and that is a sign that water's coming through it doesn't mean it's damaged the wall it means that you've gotten just enough through there and it means that you need to go outside and see what you can do to stop this water coming through and that may be cleaning the gutters extending the downspouts or more likely improving the grading of the slope of the ground away from the foundation if you want to check your sump pump because now we're going to start to get into the rainy season we want to make sure specially if you have a stairwell because that drain will go into that sump pump and if the pumps are not working and we get a big hurricane that is going to end up flooding your basement you might consider having a backup pump installed they have battery backup they also have water power backups that are very good in case of a power failure you also want to check for sides of mold you sure know that's probably the biggest detection aid that you've got is going downstairs and then taking a big with does it smell musty follow your nose look at the corners looking cabinets that's typically where you're going to find it growing if you were to stick your nose into a pile a rod that leaves that would smell just like mold in your basement so that you get bad odor then you know you've got an issue right it doesn't mean that your house is toxic if you find some do not panic. If you're dealing with less than 10 square feet of mold on the surface you can deal with it adequately yourself in for more information on that if you go to E.P.A.'s website go to their i 8 Q or indoor air quality section they have a great pamphlet called mold moisture in your home that you can download it in a p.d.f. File it will give you all the information that you need to deal with that small area of mold that's terrific that's a good good way to learn more about mold. And then we're going to continue on if you have a crawl space now I know I know I know no one wants to go in the girls very is you don't know what's going to you're looking back. There and yeah sometimes there are but I tell you what when I find big problems it's usually in the crawl space because nobody wants to go in there and things fester if I have a small little water leak you won't even notice it inside I go into the crawl space and I find that half the floor is rotted out so you want to at least once a year go into that space that's where you're going to need your nice bright flashlight if you've got some coveralls great get back in there that's right every year you need to at least stick your head in there Perper Billy Croll the entire perimeter of there because I have such important parts of the House are down in there that you're if you're not paying attention to concrete really big problem I did a inspection a number of years ago where they had a broken pipe in the in the crawl space drain pipe and they all of their kitchen waste had been just inching into the crawl space they didn't know what it had been doing it for about 5 years know that must have been nice it or it was all under water back in through there it was all black and ended up costing about $800000.00 in cleanup be able to pull that stuff and disinfect it and if somebody had just looked in there it would have just been a simple plumbing call you have to look at all the plumbing pipes you have to look at your water pipes are they vulnerable to freezing back in through there look at the insulation Richie could tell you is it upside down when you're looking at the inflation this between the floor joists you should see just insulation if you see the paper then somebody has installed all of that upside down and that needs to be corrected so that you don't trap moisture in between the joists at that point time it's probably already useless insulation you get a pull out replace it. It needs to go away you just is cheaper in easier to just rip it out and put in new then you want to look at any electrical I often find open electrical junction boxes wires laying in the floor of the crawl space you want to make sure that those things are all taken care of you want to make sure that you have a bay purveyor of some sort that could be tarpaper or it can be plastic sheeting it can even be gravel but we want to make sure that we have something that we not having bare soil their water can easily evaporate and be absorbed by the framing because that's what termites and mold love High Wood more sugar content and they'll get right in there they will eat it up it's nice and soft and she wait for them so any kind of wood bores term I carpenter ants will love that stuff because it's easy to move through so you want to keep that floor framing as dry as possible make sure vents are open and make sure that you don't see signs of standing water again go back outside and see where the water's coming in 9 times out of 10 it's something that you can easily deal with and you don't need huge water proofing job in that house yet probably a good time to you're talking about a little critters that can start to eat away at the house but probably if people haven't done it for a while a good idea to get the wood destroying organism inspector out there or the termite inspector and have them take a peek around there yeah in if you're you know that certain that you absolutely refuse to go in well call the pest guy out and then be there standing at the side an ask him what he's saying and if he notices anything and you can take some notes and call the appropriate contractor to make whatever repairs handed me a camera and say here if you see anything take a picture Absolutely or if absolutely can't stand that you can always call home inspector and heal your room grumble he will he will go in there and he will write up everything and tell you what you need that's right then the next. We want to go up into the attic that's going to be the next place death the other place that not only do it now before it gets up to $13040.00 degrees in there because nobody's going to want to go in when it gets that hot and it shouldn't because you could easily pass out and I've been you know I've been in some that were of that temperature where you just couldn't spin more than a minute in there you want to make sure that you're very very safe most of these attics do not have floors and I don't want anybody sticking a foot through the ceiling or falling all the way through most of them are framed where either you have a bottom cord to the truss so if there are big triangles with little angular members in between where there was a human members go down they go down to the bottom cord and that's where you want to step so tread very very carefully if only go as far as you need to go but be able to have that flashlight and look at all of the pipes going through the roof look at where the chimney meets the roof look at the eaves we're looking for signs of water looking for signs of animals if you see these about quarter to half dollar sized holes in the insulation and insulation that used to be nice and smooth and even looks like the surface of the moon was probably mice running around in through there squirrels do a lot more damage really packed down the insulation but more importantly they will eat the plastic off those electric wires so you want to use a flashlight to look at all the visible electric wires and make sure it doesn't show any signs of a squirrel activity or damage but then you also have to be careful of some of the other type of critters that you know in there like raccoons sometimes take up residence you don't want to be an addict with a Rick who may get a little bit perturbed I ran into a raccoon I couldn't tell what it was at 1st until I got so far back into the attic that by the time I figured out what it was it saw me. And I can't say on the radio what I was yelling because I was trying to get back out this little hole but yeah that's in one fell through and with that we need to take a break. Here's George Foreman with invent held high and you're what Foreman Do you have an idea for a new product or invention people ask me all the time Joy How do I get my idea in front of companies how do I get a patent what do I do next do you have the same questions I'll tell you like I'll tell them oh call my friends and invent him calling for Intel today for free information invent health has been helping inventors for more than 30 years and his sales offices nationwide invent health can submit your invention to companies who are interested in receiving new ideas if you have an idea and want to try to patent it and submit it to companies you should call invent help today for free information listen I can guarantee you a company will be interested in your idea but I believe every inventor deserve the opportunity to step into the ring and take their best shot put in Vinnie up in your corner to get your free inventors information call 180-604-7967 that's 180-604-7967 again 180-604-7967 so if you've written a book and want to get it published then call Page publishing 880-290-7116 immediately That's 802907116 page publishing is looking for authors of all types of books and unlike most publishers based publishing will take the time to review each and every book submitted to them and give you their feedback if they like what they read they'll get your book into bookstores and for sale online at Amazon the Apple i Tunes Store Barnes and Noble and other outlets they handle everything editing cover design copyright protection printing publicity and distribution so if you've written a novel children's book cookbook inspirational word poetry or a biography and want to get it published then you need to call Page publishing and do it immediately call 802907116 now for your free author submission. Kit again for your free author submission kit call 802907116 that's 802907116 your road to fame and fortune could very well start with a simple phone call call Page publishing 880-290-7116 extension 4 your free author submission kit we are back you're listening to the house p.r.i. Hey just before we left for break we were talking about pests in the attic Jim why don't you continue with that the if you see droppings in the attic that looks like a Doberman has been living in your attic immediately get down out of the attic and call the pest company or if you see little things flying around because bats can take up residence you want to be around if you have a life that's something that you that's right if you see bats you get down there immediately because the bat want to know if you inhale the dried guano can cause a disease called histoplasmosis which can kill you so you want to make sure that if you see bad activity up there you get down immediately and seal it up Jim that's terrific I really appreciate you coming in today I think we gave our folks some excellent information and as I mentioned if you have any questions if you want to get in touch with Jim go to w w w dot Fairfax home inspections dot net Jim will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have Jim thanks for coming in thanks ready I will be right back with my final word stick around I this is Reggie Marston host of the house the house p.r.i. Has sponsored and advertising spots available for the show House p.r. Is a national radio show distributed by the Salem Radio Network house p.r.i. Airs across the USA in major markets and around the globe on the Internet and you could be getting your message out to listeners from coast to coast if you would like to be one of the house p.r. Sponsors or for more information send us an e-mail at info at the house the i dot com Who knows you could have this spot to get your message out all right I am back you're listening to the house p.r.i. With Reggie Marston head like that Jim phone calls are for. Coming in today and talking about all the important stuff about getting your house ready for the dog days of summer just about everything Jim said you should really attempt to try to get accomplished a lot of important things and you know as is most people are always busy get up in the morning head off to work at home in the evening so a lot of times what really gets overlooked is the maintenance on your house trust me as a home inspector I see that every day of the week so you know it's a good idea just to set a little time out of your schedule before the hectic days of spring and summer hit us and just take some time and get that house ready for summer because especially this year with this incredibly hard winter that we've had we have just had a vicious last few months and your house has taken the brunt of that beating with all this inclement weather so you need to take just a little bit of time and as Jim was saying go around the outside and I always like to start up at the top start off on the roof pick up urban Oculus if you're not comfortable getting up on the roof and scrutinize the roof for any damage shingles missing shingles from the winds check to make sure take a look around all the flashings make sure that the flashings around the chimney around where the vent pipes come through the roof any penetration through the roof make sure they're all in good shape and if you can you know if you're comfortable doing it get a strong flashlight and take a look from the underside of the roof so if you can access your attic area then it's not a bad idea to shine flashlights around you know where all those penetrations go through the roof see if see any water stains and then work your way down make sure the gutters are cleaned I was in a house just the other day the weight of the snow the weight of the ice caused the gutters to pull out away from the house so the water coming off the roof was getting down behind the gutters and not going into the gutter so make sure you got his or all secured checked the downspouts make sure all the downspout system intact didn't. Section back at the height of the cold when everything was freezing and I found a house where the gutters hadn't been cleaned real well so a lot of the debris went down the downspout built up inside the downspout and clogged the downs but so all the snow melt came down the downspout but it couldn't get out it just kind of pooled inside the downspout then it froze expanded an ice burst the seam on the downspout water was all coming out the back of the downspout that's right up against the wood trim so you gotta make sure that your downs bathroom good shape make sure that they're extended out away from the foundation so you don't get any water backing up into your foundation now over the winter with it especially in freezing areas when the ground get cold the ground has a tendency to heave and anything that's on the ground has a tendency to hae with it so like driveways walkways stayers patios take a look at those if there's been any damage to those over the winters then pretty much once you get the outside all taken care of you can go around the inside and again you know water number one so you know check under all the sinks make sure you don't have any leaks check those toilets to make sure you don't have any ghost flushes That's especially important if you get out into the West Coast area where you guys are undergoing tremendous drought there so you want to conserve as much water as feasibly possible you don't want your toilet leaking having all that water going out the drain check the sink for leaks check the toilets for both flushing make sure that you don't have any water leaking out of the house that isn't being used properly so once you get that then you know check those smoke detector batteries make sure they are operational specially check carbon monoxide if you have combustion fuel appliances fireplaces gas furnace is oil burners or even an attached garage because people have been known to pull their car into the garage for get the shut the car off and nobody wakes up the next morning because the carbon monoxide. Overwhelmed everybody in the house check all that and then your garage door speaking of garages and parking your car in the garage make sure your garage doors auto reverse feature functions you want to make sure especially if you have little children you don't want that garage door coming down crushing anybody so it should have either a pressure reverse where if the door comes in contact with an object it goes up all by itself or it should have the sensors at the bottom of the door so if somebody breaks the beam the door goes up that way if something is under the door especially a little child it doesn't come down and injure or in some cases kill the little children I'm in the Washington d.c. Area and a few months ago we had a garage door come down in kill a little toddler so you've got to be careful of that that time here take a little bit of time I know it's not the most fun thing in the world but take a look around the outside of the house and get that house all caught up for summer that way you won't have to worry about it when things get busy and you don't feel like doing work on the house well that's it for spring maintenance I'd like to spend the rest of the show addressing a question that I had from a listener it was a good question the question I had and it just came in this past week was that these folks that had some hardwood floors installed in their house back a few months ago and the hardwood floors have started to buckle and they're wondering is it the installation of the floors that could cause it to buckle or was it the hardwood itself Now one thing they didn't mention in the letter was where the hardwood floors were installed if they were installed in a basement it's not always people do it but it's not the wisest practice to install hardwood flooring in a below grade basement because that is them the concrete holds moisture now this floor could be installed upon the 1st floor could be up on the 2nd floor and it may be the whole house and that's why they didn't reference a specific point but it usually goes back to the in. The lation of the hardwood flooring because there are exacting criteria that the hardwood floor installer should follow prior to installing that floor and it has to do with the interior climate of the house so the hardwood flooring installer should have arrived at the job at least 72 hours before he was actually going to start doing installation and the House should have been cleaned and ready for the hardwood flooring because what but contractor should have done was he should have broken open the boxes of the flooring and laid the flooring out not nailed in place but just laid it out in such a manner where it was going to go once the floor was installed and then he should've left the house and let that forming acclimate to the interior climate of the house for at least 72 hours because some houses depending upon the season the time of year some houses a dry especially in winter some houses in the summer are extremely damp from the humidity and the wood will either absorb the moisture or it will release the moisture if it's draw into the atmosphere and that gives the hardwood an opportunity to adapt to the environment before it's installed because and in a lot of cases in this is what I've seen the installers pick up the hardwood flooring the afternoon before it's to be installed they put it in their vehicle they go home the hardwood flooring sits out all night in their vehicle they show up at the job the next day clean everything up put down the red Rosin paper on the plywood floor then they lay the hardwood but the hardwood hasn't acclimated so it could have applied some humidity it could have shrunk and once they install it then as time progresses that hardwood either swells or expands again based upon the climate of the house and if it's damp and it swells it can. Actually start to buckle seen that happen quite frequently so a lot of times bought gold or excessive gaps on the hardwood flooring shortly a couple months after it's been installed usually relates back to an installation error on the hardwood flooring installer and now you have to go about trying to prove that it was installed improperly and that's very difficult that would probably be the reason why the hardwood flooring would buckle at this particular point time there are some other issues if it was installed improperly hardwood flooring needs room to expand contract it's a natural material and as I've just mentioned it expands and contracts with the climate of the house and if they installed it tight to the perimeter of the room tight to the walls tied to the baseboard didn't allow room for expansion contraction if the hardwood flooring can't expand it's going to buckle So normally if the hardwood flooring buckles it's normally an installation error I would definitely call the installer back out have him take a look at that and get his opinion on the flooring itself usually the hardwood flooring has been cured by the manufacturer and it should be able to be installed if the right procedures are followed So that's it for hardwood flooring for the day now we will be back here next week at the same time if you have a question about your house or anything about housing you can always email me at info at the house p.-i dot com or if you just want information on the show you can always go to the shows website w w w dot the house p.-i dot com Now as I mentioned we will be right back here next week at the same time so we hope to see you back here have a great week music for the house p.-i has been produced by John Rawls for more information on John's music go to w w w dot j for music and composition dot com. Fill your afternoons with unconventional wisdom and lively debate with America's cultural crusader that would be me this is Michael Medved inviting you to join me Monday through Friday afternoons here on the Eagle 93.5 You want the truth about today's politics events and pop culture Well here it is entertain your brain on Michael Medved Show weekdays $2.00 to 5 pm on the Eagle $93.00 k. O. M. T. Elling radio. The 201718 spring radius ration for Mountain Home kindergarten is May 5th from 8 am to 4 pm please bring your child to register your child to be given a short kindergarten readiness test no point is needed just allow for one hour for the registration process John must be 5 years of age on or before August 1st 2017 you must have the following to register proof of birth certificate or official hospital record social security card current immunization and shop record and a kindergarten physical within the last 2 years the eagle. Didn't live. Among them you may be glad to learn.