|
Tips
for Home Owners
Home Safety Checks
From over
15 years of experience inspecting homes in the community, we've seen
many safety issues that are all too common in Alaskan homes.
Many times, home owners just need sound information on how things
should work or "look" in their home.
At Active
Inspections, we want to empower home owners in our community to make
informed decision about any possible safety concerns in their homes.
Below, we've compiled a list of the most common safety issues we've
seen in Alaskan homes.
These are not all the issues that we see, but only the most common.
A handy
man or woman and a few dollars can repair most, but not all.
Fire & Life
Some of the Fire and Life safety problems that we commonly see during
our Real Estate inspections are:
-
Outlets that are
loose, uncovered, broken, or ungrounded
-
Wiring junction
boxes with out covers
-
The lack of workings
protection - in bathrooms, over counters in kitchens (after
1987), in garages, or unfinished basements
-
Outdoor outlets that
do not have neither weatherproof covers nor GFCI protection
-
Amateur removal of
electric baseboard heaters - wires not removed from panel box,
unions made outside of junction boxes, and 110 volt
thermostats still hot on the walls
-
Electrical wires
hanging loose or lying on the ground in the crawl space
-
Electrical panel box
not properly labeled
-
Man door to the
garage is not self-closing. (Sometimes it just needs the hinges
adjusted.) OR a pet door has been cut into the door
-
Smoke detectors that
do not respond to smoke (pushing the 'button' does not count
Structural and Weatherization
Structural and
weatherization problems often seen:
1. Lack of insulation in crawl
space
2. Exterior
doors needing new weather-stripping
3. Soil levels
high - close to /touching the wood siding
4. Caulking
around tub/shower floor, wall and fixtures, toilet at floor, lavatory
rim
5. Windows -
cracked, hard to open, missing handles
6. Vapor
barrier in crawl space - damaged or disturbed or missing
certified Alaska home inspectors providing Tips, inspection services provided for Wasilla, Palmer, Houston, Eagle River, Chugiak, and Mat-Su Valley.
|
