You can’t see, smell or taste radon, but it could be present at a dangerous level in your home. Experts say radon is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in America and claims the lives of about 21,000 Americans each year. In fact, the EPA and the U.S. Surgeon General urge all […]
Inspections are par for the course when buying a home, but there’s one important system that many potential buyers overlook: the sewer line. A typical home inspection doesn’t examine the sewer because it is buried underground. The only surefire way to have the system inspected is to hire someone to perform a sewer camera inspection. The […]
Christmas week is here. Typically we find ourselves settling in for some time off with a slower schedule. But the real estate market, and thus home inspections here in central Iowa as well as northern Iowa have been keeping us busy. And with four inspectors in the Des Moines area and one home inspector in […]
December – this month brings the joys and celebrations of the holiday season, but also cold weather and harsh winter storms. And considering it’s only December 6, we’ve already had our share of weather extremes. This week in Iowa we had snow and tornadoes all in one week! Everyone is busy, so if you only […]
It’s that time of year when we’re looking at ahead to the week’s activities: buying the Thanksgiving turkey, pulling out the favorite dressing recipe and planning when we’re going to put up all the Christmas decorations. Is it me or have people put up their outdoor lights extremely early this year? Me – well, I […]
I was recently asked by a new widow to come educate her about her sump pump. It was great to be able to show her a few things about her sump; and also good to know that she was being proactive, in part because she had dealt with flooding issues in her basement at a […]
It’s not often that you get a phone call from your local news station asking if they can do a news clip later that day. Well, maybe for some people it is. Given the sudden turn of temperatures this past week here in Des Moines and much of the Midwest, homeowners have found themselves scrambling […]
We’ve had a wet summer – and a wet fall. and when seasons are wet we hear a lot of complaints about wet basements. Customers always call after a heavy downpour. Even if your basement is totally dry with no signs of water intrusion, you must have proper maintenance of grading, gutters and downspouts. There […]
It’s National Home Eye Safety Month Every month we celebrate something. For the past many years we mostly recognize October as the month that everyone wears pink for breast cancer awareness month. We love seeing all the pink around town! But today we’re going to talk about eye safety around your home. Here’s a few […]
It’s that time of year. The weather is turning colder, but the few warm days we have remind us we need to get our homes ready for winter. Here are a few quick items for your checklist: Be sure to schedule your yearly furnace check-up. If you don’t have a company that you call regularly, […]