“I did hire a specialist to inspect my house, right?”

The answer to that is, “Not exactly”. Let me explain a bit using a very well understood analogy. The human body is an amalgamation of many different systems that all work together. The system is so complex that no one person can fully understand the whole thing, so the profession has been split into many different types. Which one do you go to first when you feel bad? Do you go to a neurosergeon to find out why you have a headache?Of course not, you go to a General Practitioner (your family doctor). This doctor is a highly trained generalist, who knows every system of the human body. Their value is in the fact that they can tell you when something is not right. Now - after you go to your GP and they say there is a problem in your back causing those headaches - where will they send you? That’s right - they will refer you to a specialist in that area. This is exactly how to think of a certified home inspector. We are trained in every system in a home and tell you when something is not right.

“My inspector didn’t refer me to anyone else, he told me to fix the problem. Is that what they are supposed to do?”

Certainly! General Practitioner doctors can prescribe medications. Why? Well, there is an entire set of human illnesses that are common and within the training and expertise for a GP to diagnose and treat. A good GP will not send you to a specialist unless the problem is beyond the scope of their general expertise. A home inspector is the same within their industry. With regards to real estate, most problems with homes fall into the set of common issues that are within the scope of a home inspector to both diagnose and prescribe a repair. Not every problem is like this and you may find that a home inspector will refer you to a specialist. However, a good home inspector will not simply refer you to a specialist in every home system, but will give you a diagnosis and repair prescription for every problem in the scope of their generalist role.

Inherent in this topic is the value proposition for a home inspector. It is cheaper, easier, and faster to hire a generalist home inspector to evaluate your home than it is to hire a specialist in every category. An HVAC tech, plumber, electrician, roofer, foundation contractor, grading and drainage specialist, etc all come with separate fees, separate trips that require access to the property and separate time frames for releasing reports. Why go through that (at anywhere between $500-$1500), when most problems in a home can be discovered during on 2-3 hour home inspection at an average cost of around $300?

“My inspector referred an electrician to evaluate my electrical panel, but when the electrician saw the panel they said there wasn’t a problem. Who is right?”

This is a very understandable dilemma that sellers, agents and buyers can all find themselves in at some point. This is the difference between a generalist and a specialist. Now we have talked already about what a generalist is, but we have not talked about a specialist. Although it may be well understood, a specialist is a person that has extensive training and expertise in a single system. These are the people who should know all there is to know about that system. Note that a generalist and a specialist both offer their opinions. These opinions are based on their education and work experience. Generalists do not have the depth of knowledge of a single system that a specialist has, and for that reason the specialist’s opinion is considered to be more “valid” than the generalist’s opinion. This is true in every industry, including real estate.

Many times a generalist will note a problem or a condition that may be harmful, but it will take a specialist to determine the harm. This is mostly when I have run into this situation and it usually results from difference in local building practices. No one in this case is necessarily “right”, but the specialist’s opinion is more “valid” than the generalist’s opinion when dealing with real estate.

“I had a radon inspection performed and the level was high. Is the seller required install a radon mitigation system?”

Excellent question. This one was actually a conglomerate of a bunch of very similar questions that deal with “fact”. My company is a CLOSER look, inc in Springfield, Missouri, and we perform radon concentration analyses using Air Chek professional radon test kits. You can read about a CLOSER look home inspection radon policies for information on how we perform and interpret radon measurements or why a CLOSER look home inspection uses Air Chek kits instead of CRM (radon) machines. This is background reading (both are short reads) for this section. The answer to the above question is still, “No, they are not required to repair the house.”, but there is a little more pressure on this this type of problem than others. Remember earlier that both generalists and specialists offer opinions? Well - laboratories offer facts! One of the reasons sellers can refuse to make repairs on things in their house is because opinions can be refuted or contradicted. Facts on the other hand, can not. Air Chek is an EPA certified laboratory and uses some pretty high tech gadgets to determine the level of radon in their test kits. They are also required to certify their test equipment and maintain regular calibrations. When they release a radon report, it documents the level of radon found in each packet - period. This is not an opinion it is a fact. CRM (continuous radon monitors) that are used by some inspectors are not as definitive in their results. Read the above link to find out why!

Although there is no law in southwest Missouri that requires a seller to repair their house for radon, facts are much harder to wiggle out of than opinions. Additionally, this would be an issue that law would require a seller to update their seller’s disclosure statement to accommodate. This is also a bargaining chip that buyers can use to facilitate a repair request. This use of “fact” over opinion is also used in mold inspections as the inspector takes samples that are sent to a laboratory for analysis.

The mantra to remember is:

“Fact trumps Specialist opinions trumps Generalist opinions”

I hope that I have helped to answer some of your questions regarding these issues. I am always available to answer other industry questions. You are welcome to email them to inspectors@aclhi.com.

Sincerely,  Sean A. O’Rear
a CLOSER look, inc
(417) 890-8500

You should note that I am a working home inspector in Springfield, Missouri. I am not a lawyer and the information in this article is not valid legal advise. It is merely an attempt to answer questions that I have experienced in the last 5 years as an inspector. Additionally, the real estate opinions in this article are based on the real estate customs and contract in the Springfield, MO and may differ in other parts of the country.

I finished school as a home inspector in May of 2003. There were so many things they teach you in such a short amount of time. Water heater good, roof leak bad, me make fire (but never on an inspection :). Now, I am unique as a home inspector for many reasons, but one is that I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology from the University of Kansas (go Jayhawks). I also minored in Chemistry, which gives me a deeper understanding of molds and radon than most of my competition. We learned about radon inspections in school, but I thought to myself, “Radon isn’t a problem in Southwest Missouri - is it?”.

So, off I went to build my business as an inspector. My company grew over the years and my experience with it. Well, that is until I fell into the trap of thinking I knew it all. I performed relatively few radon inspections, and I thought that customers who ordered them were being overly cautious. Hey - to each their own! After three years in business, I began looking at radon with renewed interest. It was attractive to me because I didn’t have to spend large amounts of time taking the samples, and I could add it to any home inspection. Now, I knew a bit about radiochemistry (the chemistry behind radioactive materials), but I didn’t know much about radon itself. As I needed continuing education credits for my national association memberships, I decided to go to radon training and learn a few new things.

I came back with a well fed head and new take on radon. I tried talking to people about adding radon inspections, but had little luck. I guess people thought, as I had, that radon is only a problem on the coasts, or just “somewhere else”. Enter Gary! In November of 2006, my father-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer. My wife was devastated; I hope I never find out first hand how Gary and his wife felt. They questioned the reasons why this could have happened, afterall Gary has never smoked. Lung cancer is a thing smokers get - right? I decided to test Gary’s house for the presence of radon, so I took a trip down and set the detectors in place. A few days later, we got a report that said his house was over double the high limit of radon. Quite frankly - I was ashamed. Have you ever heard the old saying, “The cobbler’s kids have the worst shoes”? Why the heck did a man’s son-in-law (who is an inspector) never think to test his house for the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers? I’ll post a follow-up when I figure out the answer to that one.

Radon Facts

• Radon is naturally occurring

  • It is a radioactive gas that originates from the break down of uranium in the earth. As uranium breaks down into stable lead, it becomes many different elements. Somewhere in that decay chain it will become radon, and then will percolate through the soil until it reaches the surface and disperses into the atmosphere.

• Radon is measured in units called pico Curries per liter of air (pCi/L).
  • The atmospheric level is 0.3 pCi/L which is a safe level.
  • The US EPA has established ranges of radon levels as it applies to health.
    1. 0 to 2 pCi/L - is a LOWhealth risk
    2. 2 to 4 pCi/L - is a MODERATE health risk
    3. 4 to ^ pCi/L - is a HIGH health risk

At this point you may be wondering “why this is a problem in my home?” When radon percolates from the earth it has to go somewhere. Gases (like liquids) always follow the path of least resistance, so they will exit the earth in any place that is easy. Let’s say that you have a basement home that has a sump pump pit in the slab floor. This is a great place for radon gas to exit, as it has relatively no resistance (compared to the concrete foundation). Now that radon is in your home, where does it go? Good question, and the answer is - nowhere. Basement and slab homes have no exterior ventilation., which means that they do not have ways to ventilate internal house air to the outside. This condition allows radon to build-up in concentration (as more comes in, but none leaves) until the level can become a dangerous health threat.

I get a lot of customer questions about the way radon enters a home, so I thought I would answer the most common ones here.

I don’t have a sump pump pit in my basement, so do I really need to worry about radon in my house?

• Radon can enter a basement home through hairline cracks in the slab floor, around plumbing drain pipes that go through the slab floor, from the gap between the slab and the foundation wall, and even through the foundation in some cases. Just because you don’t have a sump pump pit does not mean that you don’t have high radon. I would always test a house with a basement of slab foundation for the presence of radon.

“I have a walk-out basement so I shouldn’t need to worry about radon - right?”

• Walk-out basements are no different than any basement home when it comes to the possibility of having high radon levels. Many people assume that since they have windows and a large sliding glass door, that they have ventilation. Remember that anything that constitutes a ventilation system for radon must be ventilating 24 hours a day, everyday of the year. The only way a walk-out basement would vent radon is if you left the windows and exterior doors open all the time, which is not practical.

“What do I do if I have radon in my house?”

• This is the easiest to answer, because unlike many problems in a home that can affect your health - radon is completely fixable. Let me say that again. Any structure with high levels of radon can be fixed. I will touch on this a little later.

Now that we know that radon is a health threat and it can build-up in concentration in homes, what can you do about it? This is an issue I have been thinking about constantly since November 2006. I watched my father-in-law consult with doctors, absorb the grave news, lay under a knife, and recover only long enough to not die under the shock of chemo. He lost his lung to surgery, his hearing to chemo, and his identity when his hair fell out. He wore a hat named Radon. When I set out to be an inspector, I wanted to make a living for my family. I wanted to help people make a good decision when buying a home so they would not be hit with unexpected problems. I never thought that I would have the power to keep people from wearing the hat. I have multiplied my radon inspection numbers many times since then and not because it was a good business decision. I have seen what it does to people first hand and I just don’t see how anyone could think that the $125 for the inspection is worth more than the cancer that can come from not knowing.

So, what can you do about it? The first thing is to have a radon test performed on your home so you know if you have high levels. It is a complete necessity to inspect any home for the presence of radon, in my opinion. If you have high levels of radon, remember that it is a fixable problem. Let’s look at one of the solutions available for radon mitigation.

Sub-slab depressurization

Actually, there are other methods of mitigation, but none as effective as this one in my opinion. Sub-slab depressurization (SSD) is where a mitigation professional will core a hole (usually 3.5 - 4 inches in diameter) into the basement concrete slab. This will penetrate the slab so you can see the gravel underneath. A white PVC pipe (usually 3 inches in diameter) will be lowered in the hole and sealed in place. The pipe is then routed either outside the house and up past the roof line, or it will be run inside the house somewhere and penetrate through the roof. Somewhere in this pipe (usually in the attic or mounted to the exterior wall of the house) is a fan that runs 24 hours a day, forever. The theory goes like this, the fan sucks (yes - it sucks  and creates a vacuum under the concrete slab. If radon percolates up under the house, it will travel through the gravel layer and exit through the pipe. This provides a very low resistance path for radon to travel, essentially bypassing the house entirely. This method is very effective at reducing radon to safe levels.

• Costs range a bit, but in Springfield, MO (where I am) a radon mitigation system runs between $1,000 and $2,000.

  • That may seem like a lot of money, but it is all in context. Gary had to pay a $2,000 deductible to his insurance company for 2006 and another $2000 in 2007 for his chemo treatments and surgeries, so I guess it’s all relative.

• In real estate transactions this cost can be negotiated in the transaction.

  • This is a very common thing for my company to see, but I recommend that everyone test their home whether they are buying, selling, or have been living there for years.

I hope this article gives you reasons why you should test for the presence of radon in your home. Although at one time I believed it to be a only good business opportunity, now I am far more interested in helping people learn about what radon is and what how it affects people. Please, get any qualified professional to come to your home and test. I have a lot of information available to anyone who is interested in finding out more about radon. Please feel free to email me your questions, concerns, or stories of your own. I would love to hear them.

Sean O’Rear
a CLOSER look, inc
certified home inspectors

What if one of the detectors is over 4.0, but the average is less than 4.0?

What if the stated error of the average can be added to give 4.0?

I have had several inspections where these two issues have arisen. One detector measured 4.1 and the other measured 3.7 - so the average is 3.9, which is under the EPA recommended action level of 4.0. On another inspection, the error was listed as plus or minus 0.2 pCi/L and the average was 3.8 pCi/L. What do you do in these instances?We hold very highly the importance of our inspections at a CLOSER look, inc, as they are for our customers’ protection. It is our belief that, especially when dealing with known health hazards, it is better to err on the side of safety than technicality. Therefore, we report radon results as shown by Air Chek laboratory with their errors. Then we recommend that properties be remediated for the presence of radon if any of the following three conditions are met:

1) The average radon measurement is 4.0 pCi/L or above2) One of the detectors measures 4.0 pCi/L or above3) The average reading is within the stated error of 4.0 pCi/L or above

• Condition 1 - we round up all averages if there is a hundredth place, so 3.95 would be rounded to 4.
• Condition 2 - We only use these figures if the two detectors are within a statistically acceptable range from each other. The laboratory determines this factor. If they are out of range from each other, the test is invalid and a new test must be performed.
• Condition 3 - The laboratory determines the error of each device and reports this error with the measurement. If the average is 3.8 pCi/L plus or minus 0.2 pCi/L, then measurement plus the error would be 4.0 pCi/L and we would recommend remediation.

“Did you inspect the water heater?”

“My water heater has a leak, didn’t you see it during the inspection?”

“How do you know the water heater was working during the inspection?”

These are all questions that I have been asked through the years (more than once). This post is designed to allow anyone to look at how a CLOSER look, inc performs a water heater inspection from a procedural perspective.

Sections on this page

1. Exterior, flooring, and age
2. Water, gas and exhaust connections
3. Combustion chamber
4. Temperature output

Exterior, flooring, and age

We start the inspection of a water heater by first looking at the outside of the tank itself. We are looking for signs of physical damage (dents or crush marks), and rust. Rust on the exterior can be a sign of a past or current water leak that may have affected the structural integrity of the tank. These same water leaks can, if left unrepaired, damage the flooring under the tank. Remember that a water heater may only be around 80 pounds empty, but a 50 gallon water heater is about 500 pounds when it is full of water. The flooring under it has be strong enough to support the weight. We also note the age of the water heater and size so that we can add this to the inspection report.

• We report any anomalies that, in our opinion, would require replacement of the water heater
• We report the make, age and size of the water heater
• We report any anomalies with the floor structure under the water heater

Water, gas and exhaust connections

Next we inspect all water supply line connections for signs of current or past leaking. We then visually inspect all gas supply lines and then “sniff” each connection that is physically accessible with a gas leak detector to ensure there are no small gas leaks. Finally, we physically try to move the exhaust pipe at the top of the tank to ensure that it is secure and has no holes or back drafts. Of course the gas and exhaust does not apply to an electric water heater.

• We report on any active water leaks and note any past leak evidence
• We report on any gas supply leaks or anomalies
• We report any unsecured exhaust pipes or other anomalies we consider to be dangerous

Combustion chamber

We visually inspect the inside of the gas combustion chamber (only on gas water heaters) for signs of rust or leaking. We then turn on the gas burner and inspect the flame to determine if it is burning with the correct color and not pulsing or weak. Then we listen for any “hissing” that might indicate water dripping into the flame.

• We report any anomalies with the flame or combustion chamber that would, in our opinion, necessitate a water heater replacement.

Temperature output

On all water heaters, the final determining factor that it was functional during the inspection is that it produces hot water. We look for a water temperature at the kitchen sink of over 100 degrees.

• We report any water heater that can not produce a temperature of at least 100 degrees.