Sunday, January 3, 2010

Cal Shake roof material



Circa late 80s a popular roof material turned out to be very problematic. Cal Shake was the manufacturer. Man this cement shingle, in most cases, turned out to be a bad product. The material was very brittle. I never walk on the stuff and suggest that no one dues less you are a licensed roofing contractor. If the house such as the one in the photo ever had to be tented for termites, I can guaranty that damage to a good portion of this lightweight material will occur. A termite company most certainly will have you sign a waiver releasing them from any roof material damage. About 75% of the shingles on the dwelling in this picture were already damaged.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Custom pool plastering like no other



Awesome pool plaster work. Care of East L.A Pool plastering co. Check out the little man with the paint roller near the steps. It's actually pretty good

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Foundation out of level











Did an inspection on a newer home. Less than a year old. Client could not understand why there were many stress cracks starting to occur throughout the interiors, doors went out of true and plump and were becoming difficult to operate, floors sloped and hardwood flooring started to show large gaps in areas. After a geologist ruled out any soil issues I went into the crawl space to check things out. It didn't take long to discover many framing oddities. Such as shims added to the sill plate to compensate for an uneven footing in areas, there were two sill plates added at sections of the foundation instead of one, horizontal beams did not line up correctly, large gaps were noted between the top of the concrete and sill plate. (Photos at the top show gap at sill plate to top of concrete as well as poor use of beam hangers.) All this funky work added up to the fact that someone was trying to compensate for a large mistake. After doing further investigation it turns out that the foundation had been poured 5 inches out of level from one end to the other. The attempted corrections were insufficient as the house was undergoing more than usual settlement. Learn to use a level or transit correctly. It can cost you dearly otherwise.

Sunday, December 6, 2009


Rusty spill marks. Due to the age and looks of it, you can tell that this component has seen its day. Evaporator coils more than likely bad, system was not cooling adequately. Why try to safe this old beast. Upgrade to a more efficient unit. You will safe money in the long run.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Roofing

Monday, November 12, 2007

Inspecting Bugsy Seigel's and Mickey Cohen's gambling house

Here is an interesting structure we inspected. The building below was built by Bugsy Seigel and Mickey Cohen. It was one of the first gambling houses on the west cost before Bugsy went on to Las Vegas. Later that place was turned into a brothel. It is now a Bed and Breakfast and the rooms are named after the prostitutes that used to work there. It was an awesome place to inspect. Apparently it's haunted. You can get more data from www.brackenfernmanor.com





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Saturday, November 10, 2007

Pre Sale Inspections

The advantages of having your dwelling inspected by a professional prior to selling it.

It puts you at an advantage over a buyer to some degree.

For example, you reduce the number of unexpected surprises that may come from the buyers end of the inspection, It shows that you are doing your due diligence having the inspection report as part of your transfer disclosure and takes some of the liability off of you as a seller to some degree. Another nice thing about having your home inspected by a professional is prioritizing. By this is meant that you can address the issues of priority that you feel may affect the sale. This can only help make a smoother transaction reducing the potential stops that may come up. These are just a few reasons and gives you something to think about.