Chicago condo inspection, Crawlspace inspection, Attic / Roof / Gutters inspection, Home Pre-Inspection
Buying a home, especially your first home, can be one of the most exciting and proud moments of your life – but it can also be stressful and overwhelming if you aren’t careful. More than likely, purchasing a house is the largest and most significant transaction you will carry out in your lifetime. Not only … Read more
Water Heater Inspection Guidelines
The following water heater inspection guide covers 3 types of the most popular water heater installations:
Gas, natural draft, tank water heaters utilizing galvanized steel vent pipe
Gas, power vent equipped, tank water heaters utilizing PVC vent pipe
Electric water heaters
There might be some minor discrepancies between jurisdictions which will in most (probably not all) cases concern seismic areas water heater installations. I’ll cover it within this water heater inspection manual but I would highly recommend to obtain a water heater installation permit from your local building department (usually required) and verify plumbing code requirements in your particular area.
Water heater […]
Fitting New Condo Safety Issues and defects into the Top 10 list is going to be a little tight, but you can find out about many other bad things from the Chicago condos by checking entire Chicago Condo Inspection Manual. You would think that after such a spectacular real estate meltdown, something would change in … Read more
New Water Heater Installation in a Condominium – Chicago Inspection Tips
To start your inspection of a new water heater installation in a Chicago condominium you have to determine what type of a water heater you actually have.
The following water heater installation guidelines will most likely apply in any jurisdiction (please double check). The only difference or rather an addition would be water heater strapping and flexible gas connectors that are required in seismic areas.
Below are 4 most common types of water heater installation in Chicago new condos:
Tank type /natural draft water heater with a metal vent pipe (galvanized steel – make sure there is no aluminum […]
This chapter of the Chicago new condo inspection covers most common furnace installation issues (based on my inspections). Furnace air return port must be located at least 10’ from the combustion chamber(s) (where the burners are) of gas burning appliances or in a separate room. The exception from this requirement is when the furnace and other appliances (within that room and 10′) are using combustion air from the outside.
Even if you know very little about Chicago history, I’m sure you have heard of the Great Chicago Fire that started on October 8, 1871 … maybe you didn’t remember the date … This chapter of your Chicago new condo inspection covers firewall separation between the condominium units, and it will tell us if we … Read more
This part will cover Chicago condo inspection combustion air requirements for the gas furnace and water heater installed inside your condo closet / utility room (not in the building common areas) – this is an extremely important section and you may need measuring tape.
All gas burning appliances require oxygen for a proper, complete and safe combustion process / without creating measurable and dangerous amounts of Carbon Monoxide.
Because Carbon Monoxide has no taste, smell or color you must have a CO detector installed in your condo to alert you about any unsafe levels (check Chicago smoke and Carbon Monoxide detector requirements).
First […]
Chicago new condo laundry room electrical You can start your Chicago new condo laundry room inspection by looking at the electrical panel circuit breakers labels. Laundry room requires a dedicated (no other rooms, outlets, lights on this breaker) 20 amps rated circuit breaker to protect receptacles within that area. Outlet receptacles installed on that circuit … Read more
The following kitchen inspection guidelines can be used by a home inspector to establish routine procedures while performing a general home kitchen inspection. Every home owner/ seller / buyer can also follow this kitchen inspection manual to determine if his kitchen conforms to the residential construction industry standards or / and if the contractor did his job right on a brand new kitchen.
Keep in mind that building codes are updated / changed periodically and requirements my slightly vary between jurisdictions. Don’t hesitate to ask me questions and always verify if particular requirement has been adopted and is being enforced in your area by contacting your local building department.
All bathroom outlets must be 20 amps rated and must include GFCI protection (there might be one GFCI receptacle and other outlets connected to it and protected). Your new condo bathroom receptacles must be installed on #12 AWG wire which you can’t see without removing of the receptacle or at least its cover, but this is beyond our basic / visual inspection.
