Homeowners

A home inspector’s journal on kitchen drain leaks in Olathe homes, with repair costs, detection methods, and damage timelines. Thursday morning during the plumbing inspection of a 39-year-old split-level in Olathe’s Southdowns subdivision, I found active leakage with heavy water stains running down the foundation exterior. This particular design puts kitchen plumbing directly above basement … Read more

A home inspector’s discovery of knob-n-tube wiring in St. Joseph homes, with replacement costs, insurance impacts, and safety risks. Wednesday morning in the Brookdale Addition subdivision of St. Joseph, I found live knob-n-tube wiring running through the attic and walls of a 105-year-old bungalow. The cloth insulation on the conductors had become brittle and was … Read more

A home inspector’s discovery of weak I-beam anchoring in a Kansas City home, with repair costs, warning signs, and proper installation standards. Yesterday afternoon in Kansas City’s Marlborough Heights subdivision, I found steel I-beams installed on all four basement walls of a 100-year-old ranch home. The beams indicated the foundation had experienced significant inward movement … Read more

Introduction Home inspectors keep you safe and sound. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) outlets do the same thing with electricity. In this guide, we’ll go into what GFCI outlets are, how they work, where to find them, and why they’re important. So, whether you’re trying to understand GFCI outlets in an older home or want … Read more