Aluminum wiring is more prone to start a fire than copper wire due to some inherent properties in the metal.  In this discussion it is important to realize that we are talking about single strand aluminum wire used for 110/120 circuits as opposed to the multi-strand 220/240 aluminum wire.   The single strand wire was used from 1965 to 1974. 

One of the problems with the aluminum wire is that it has a higher resistance to electricity than copper does. This higher resistence cause heat to build up with obviously is a problem.  This problem is compounded by the fact that aluminum is more valuable than copper.  Sometimes when the wire is connected or screw is tightened down it changes the diameter of the wire.  Also the wire can expand or move on its on creating a loose connection which causes heat to build up.  Another problem with aluminum is that it is much more susceptible to oxidation and corrosion than is its copper counterpart.  It's exposure to the elements has to be limited.

So now that you know the hazards associated with single strand aluminum wiring used in houses built between 1965 and 1974 what can be done to reduce some of the hazards?  Well the ultimate would be to rewire the house but the cost might not make that practical on a grand scale.   One way to reduce the risk is to add copalum crimped copper wires at the connections.  Amp Inc makes such a crimp.  Other solutions that aren't universally approved include the use of anti oxidant paste at the connections, pig tailing to copper wires with a twist on connector, and or the removal of any combustible material at the connections.

Single strand aluminum wiring is more prone to overheat than copper wiring due to inherent properties in the metal.  Home inspectors like Home inspection Carolina look for aluminum wiring in houses they inspect that were built between 1965 and 1974.  If your house is identified as having aluminum wiring it is not a deal killer.  After all most housing periods have something if not another to look for.  It could be asbestos, polybutylene piping and even EFIS.  There are practical was to fix the aluminum wiring but Home inspection Carolina recommends that you consult an electrician first.

A GFCI outlet may be wired in a branch circuit, which means other

outlets and electrical devices may share the same circuit and breaker

(or fuse). When a properly wired GFCI trips, the other devices down

the line from it will also lose power. Note that devices on the circuit

that come before the GFCI are not protected and are not affected

when the GFCI is tripped. If the GFCI outlet is improperly wired, none

the other loads, upstream nor downstream are be protected.

If you have an outlet that doesn't work, and the breaker is not tripped,

look for a GFCI outlet which may have tripped. The non-working outlet

may be down line from a GFCI outlet. Note that the affected outlets

may not be located near the GFCI outlet, they may be several rooms

away or even on a different floor.

GFCI outlets should be tested periodically, at least once a year. A

GFCI outlet has a "Test" and a "Reset" button. Pressing the "Test"

button will trip the outlet and break the circuit. Pressing the "Reset"

will restore the circuit. If pressing the test button does not work, then

replace the GFCI outlet. If the outlet does pop when you press the

"Test" button, but the outlet still has power, the outlet is miswired. A

miswired outlet is dangerous and it should be fixed immediately.

Preston Sandlin and Home Inspection Carolina have providing thorough quality home inspections in the Charlotte NC area for over 15 years.  Preston has a masters’ degree in Education and has taught Home Inspection classes for years.  He also is a certified infrared thermographer.  Home Inspection Carolina has  been on TV many times and has a Charlotte Home Inspector radio show .  So you are in need of a home inspection in Charlotte NC, Gastonia NC, Weddington NC, Mooresville NC, Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC call Home Inspection Carolina (704) 542-6575.

Preston Sandlin

Home Inspection Carolina

Ask the Charlotte Inspector

Charlotte home inspector Preston Sandlin was inspecting a home on Vintage Ln when he noticed rust coming down the right side of the house.  He knew right away what the problem was.  The primary condensation line was clogged causing the condensation to fill the catch pan filled with water and drained down the right side of the house.  After awhile the pan began to rust and then the water coming out being rusty stained the side of the house. 

This will have to be repaired soon as the pan will eventually rust through and then the condensation water will come through the ceiling.  We recommend cleaning out the condensation line and replacing the metal pan with a plastic pan.  You might ask what causes this problem.  Basically it is because someone did not change their filter.

If you are moving the Charlotte NC area and will be needing one of the thorough home inspections you can get call Home Inspection Carolina (704) 542-6575.  You can call or schedule online 24 hours day online at Home Inspection Carolina.

Charlotte home inspector Preston Sandlin was recently on HGTV's My First Sale. The Cornelius sellers were selling their home to move up and take their kids out of daycare. They had an offer but there was siding issue that the Charlotte home inspector found and there was an issue with the dog next store that kept barking and was a little on the mean side. The first buyers decided not to move forward. I didn't kill the deal Preston said, It was the dog. Fortunately another buyer came along and bought the house and they weren't even concerned with the siding issue

So you have bought the new house and picked out the colors and the window treatments, you had the home inspected and the repairs have been made are you ready to move in?  Well one thing you might not realize is that there are about four diferent types of dyer plugs out there and depending on the year your house was built and the year your dryer was manufactured they may or may not match up.  What can you do?  Actually it's a pretty easy fix as you can go to Lowes or Home Depot an buy the chord that will fit your plug.  Installing it on the dryer is a simple affair as it has four wires that are color coded and can be easilly installed with a small screwdriver.  You just want to make sure you know which one of the four your plug is before you go to the store and don't do like i did and have to buy all of them and take back the one's that it's not.  At Home Inspection Carolina we actually take a picture of your outlet so you will know which chord to buy.  It is some much easier to install before you move the dryer in.

There are many home inspection companies you can choose from when you need a home inspector in Charlotte NC.  Let me tell you why Home Inspection Carolina is your best choice.  These guys have over 100 years of combined home inspection and construction experience.  They fix the small things like rubbing doors and sticking windows instead of putting them on the home inspection report like other home inspectors.  They have a preinspection program designed to help you sell your house by offering you a discount on the inspection and providing you with multiple copies of the report to give out.  They also put out a just inspected sign in the yard of your Charlotte NC home.  Home Inspection Carolina then sends out a "just inspected" email to their data base.  They like to think of it as a premarketing inspection instead of a prelisting inspection. 

Two new things that Home Inspection Carolina has started doing are home maintenance videos and customer coupons.  They have a large library of home maintenance videos on youtube so they link to these within the appropriate points in the report.  They also have established relationships with many vendors and contractors that allow them to give coupons to their home inspection clients.  The idea is to provide am entertainment book or citi pass book for new homeowners.  These are just some of the benefits of using Home Inspection Carolina.  If you are buying a home near Charlotte NC call them today. 

Home Inspection Carolina

(704) 542-6575

Charlotte Home Inspector Preston Sandlin finds a multitude of problems at most homes where he inspects most homes.  One of the most common problems he finds on HVAC systems is dirty filters.  When the filters are dirty they will clog and bend in.  When this happens dirty air is introduced to the system.  With this dirty air introduced to the system it cam clog the AC coil and cause the condensation line to back up and overflow.  This is why it so important to change your filters on a regular basis. 

Preston Sandlin and Home Inspection Carolina have providing thorough quality home inspections in the Charlotte NC area for over 15 years.  Preston has a masters’ degree in Education and has taught Home Inspection classes for years.  He also is a certified infrared thermographer.  Home Inspection Carolina has  been on TV many times and has a Charlotte Home Inspector radio show .  So you are in need of a home inspection in Charlotte NC, Gastonia NC, Weddington NC, Mooresville NC, Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC call Home Inspection Carolina (704) 542-6575.

Preston Sandlin

Home Inspection Carolina

Ask the Charlotte Inspector

Charlotte Home Inspector Scott Walker was inspecting a 4 year old home Friday with a sealed crawl space when he found active termites coming up behind the walls of the insulation of the foundation wall.  Normally termite treatements involve trenching treating an rodding the inner and outer foundation walls as well as drilling and treating each of the piers with hollow voids.  The problem with the sealed crawl are that this type of treatment now becomes impossible without taking down some of the plastic compromising the sealing.

With that being said I have to say I am a big fan of sealed crawl spaces.  I have seen hopelessly wet moldy crawl spaces transformed to dry clean safe crawl clean enough to eat off of.  Also being a home inspector I would much rather crawl a sealed crawl space much rather than one that was not.  There is a downside to the sealed crawl space though.  If they get termites it become very hard to treat but it is possible.

Preston Sandlin and Home Inspection Carolina have providing thorough quality home inspections in the Charlotte NC area for over 15 years.  Preston has a masters’ degree in Education and has taught Home Inspection classes for years.  He also is a certified infrared thermographer.  Home Inspection Carolina has  been on TV many times and has a Charlotte Home Inspector radio show .  So you are in need of a home inspection in Charlotte NC, Gastonia NC, Weddington NC, Mooresville NC, Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC call Home Inspection Carolina (704) 542-6575.

Preston Sandlin

Home Inspection Carolina

Ask the Charlotte Inspector

Charlotte home inspector Chip Sprague got quite a surprized when he did his inspection off Rocky River Rd today near Concord NC.  He was performing his normal routine checking along the crawl space foundation wall when out pops this large king snake who was not to happy to have an intruder in his crawl space.  Chip said after he regained his composure to get his camera out and take a picture the snake was about 7ft long and about 2-3 inches in diameter at his thickest.  Chip said "You know that thing they alows say about them being more afraid of you then you are of them?  Well that's a lie"  The potential buyers say they are not moving forward on this deal until Critter Control has come out and freed the crawl space of any and all snakes and screens are put on the crawl space vents.

Preston Sandlin and Home Inspection Carolina have providing thorough quality home inspections in the Charlotte NC area for over 15 years.  Preston has a masters’ degree in Education and has taught Home Inspection classes for years.  He also is a certified infrared thermographer.  Home Inspection Carolina has  been on TV many times and has a Charlotte Home Inspector radio show .  So you are in need of a home inspection in Charlotte NC, Gastonia NC, Weddington NC, Mooresville NC, Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC call Home Inspection Carolina (704) 542-6575.

Preston Sandlin

Home Inspection Carolina

Ask the Charlotte Inspector

Charlotte home inspector Preston Sandlin has been in over 20000 crawl spaces.  He has seen a lot in his over 15 years of being a home inspector in Charlotte NC.  He has seen damage to crawl spaces and crazy repairs.  By far the most damage done to crawl spaces is done by water and termites.  Termites come from the ground and have to return to the ground for moisture.  There are several ways or attempts to stop termites.  Some work and some don't.  On theing that they used to use back in the 1950's and 1960's is the termite sheild.  The termite sheild was this sheet metal sheild that went over the top of the foundation.  It was thought that the termites tunneling up from the ground would hit the sheild and then stop.  It was a nice idea but it didn't work.  Termite will either find the seam or just tunnel around the sheild like they did in this picture here.  If you need a termite inspection or a home inspection and are considering moving to Charlotte, Waxhaw, Monroe, Gastonia, or Lake Norman give Home Inspection Carolina a try.

Preston Sandlin and Home Inspection Carolina have providing thorough quality home inspections in the Charlotte NC area for over 15 years.  Preston has a masters’ degree in Education and has taught Home Inspection classes for years.  He also is a certified infrared thermographer.  Home Inspection Carolina has  been on TV many times and has a Charlotte Home Inspector radio show .  So you are in need of a home inspection in Charlotte NC, Gastonia NC, Weddington NC, Mooresville NC, Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC call Home Inspection Carolina (704) 542-6575.

Preston Sandlin

Home Inspection Carolina

Ask the Charlotte Inspector

What is the biggist mistak tha buyers make when purchasing a new home?  It is choosing the wrong home inspector and getting stuck with the money pit.  So how do you avoid this mistake and choose the wright home inspector?

1. Find out how long the inspector has been in business.  A bad home inspector cannot last for long in this business.

2. Look for reviews or surveys on the inspector at google places, yahoo, kudzu, yelp, and Angie's list. 

3.  Find out if your home inspector is a member of a professional organization of home inspectors that has higher education requirements than that of the state government.  Some of these are Inter Nachi, NAHI, ASHI and NACHI. 

4. See if your home inspector offers a warranty and has insurance.

5. See if your home inspector offer recall check where the check to see if appliances have been recalled and could possible be a fire hazard.  Good news is that they can usually be fixed free of charge.

6.  Does you Home Inspector perform thermal infrared scanning where they can see things that can't be seen with the naked eye.

Home Inspection Carolina in Charlotte NC provide all of these and provides peace of mind one house at a time.

Preston Sandlin and Home Inspection Carolina have providing thorough quality home inspections in the Charlotte NC area for over 15 years.  Preston has a masters’ degree in Education and has taught Home Inspection classes for years.  He also is a certified infrared thermographer.  Home Inspection Carolina has  been on TV many times and has a Charlotte Home Inspector radio show .  So you are in need of a home inspection in Charlotte NC, Gastonia NC, Weddington NC, Mooresville NC, Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC call Home Inspection Carolina (704) 542-6575.

Preston Sandlin

Home Inspection Carolina

Ask the Charlotte Inspector

Charlotte home inspector Preston Sandlin was inspecting a home in Charlotte NC when he discovered a an exhaust vent fan depositing into the crawl space coming from the bath vent fan.  Let's think about this for a second.  The reason you have a bath vent is to take hot moist air or steam out of the bathroom so mold or mildew does not build up.  Well if this is what it causes in the bathroom what makes you think it wouldn.t have the same or similar effects in the crawl spece.  This vent fan should deposit outside the house and not in the crawl space

If you need home inspection information or you are in need of a great home inspector in the Charlotte, Huntersville, Concord, Fort Mill or Rock Hill areas contact Home Inspection Carolina.  They have performed over 23,432 home inspection and will not let you buy the money pit.  We have over 100 years of combined home inspection and construction experience.  Please give us a call (704) 542-6575

Preston Sandlin

Home Inspection Carolina

Ask the Charlotte Inspector

Charlotte Home Inspector Preston Sandlin uses thermal infrared cameras to scan houses during home inspections allowing Home Inspection Carolina to see things that other home inspectors can't.  Take a look at this picture and you can see the cold spots at the top of the wall where energy is being lost.  What has happened here is that the insulation has settled causing a cold spot.  This could easily be rectifies by drilling a small hole and spraying insulation and thus reducing enery costs.  If you getting a home inspection in the near future consider getting a an infrared thermal scan because it show things that can be seen with the naked eye.

If you need home inspection information or you are in need of a great home inspector in the Charlotte, Huntersville, Concord, Fort Mill or Rock Hill areas contact Home Inspection Carolina.  They have performed over 23,432 home inspection and will not let you buy the money pit.  We have over 100 years of combined home inspection and construction experience.  Please give us a call (704) 542-6575

Preston Sandlin

Home Inspection Carolina

Ask the Charlotte Inspector