Garage door openers seem to be very simple, but only prudent ASHI Home Inspectors know how to inspect them for safety.  A novice Home Inspector in Austin barely spends enough time to speak of anything specific about the home.  ASHI Home Inspectors in Austin care about their clients safety.  If the reverse tension is not functioning correctly it could cost your infant its life, damage your automobile or the door that could cost several hundred dollars to repair.  Why spend less on your next home inspection when it could cost you thousands after you move in.  Our reputation is in our name.  Give us a call & let us do you next home inspection in Austin.

Read the article below for more details of why garage door openers need to be inspected thoroughly.

by Sandy Bourseau Published August 2008 Paul King

Edward Robinson and Robert Gwaltney have more in common than their ASHI membership; all thought there was a lot more to be said about inspecting automatic garage door systems than what appeared in the June Viewpoint. Viewpoints are positions or perspectives from which something is considered or evaluated. “Testing Garage Doors: Are We Responsible?” took the position: “There is a reasonable expectation by homeowners that nothing done by a home inspector will damage their property. If a home inspector feels the need to properly test the contact reversal feature, the inspector has a duty to ask the owner for permission and to inform the owner of the risk of damage to the door.” While those who wrote us about garage doors did not comment on this position, they expressed opinions about the purpose of the reversal feature or suggested methods for testing automatic garage door systems and provided sources for their comments. Why is this a hot topic? For consumers, it’s a safety issue. ASHI Member Edward Robinson directed us to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). “According to a report received by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), approximately 60 children between the ages of 2 and 14 have been trapped and killed under the automatic garage doors since March 1982. This is approximately four such deaths per year. Other children have suffered brain damage or serious injuries when the closing door contacted them and failed to stop and reverse its direction.” (Source: CPSC Document #523) In response to this hazard, the “CPSC requires all garage door operators manufactured or imported after January 1, 1993, for sale in the United States be outfitted with an external entrapment protection system.” To educate consumers about the hazard and the need for the protection system, the CPSC joined forces with the National Safety Council and The Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association International (DASMA) to develop and publish “The Automatic Garage Door and Opener Safety & Maintenance Guide. For home inspectors, it’s a safety and inspection issue. According to the ASHI Standards of Practice (SOP) Committee, the ASHI Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics clearly requires that inspectors “inspect” garage doors and their openers. Where there may be some gray area is whether “testing” of safety features is required and/or how they are “tested.” This is a controversial issue among our membership, with some members arguing that you cannot inspect certain components unless you test them. Many inspectors test automatic door systems’ safety features even though it’s not specifically covered in the ASHI Standards of Practice. Many also are aware a garage door could be damaged during safety-feature testing. This was the issue raised in the June Viewpoint and is covered in the Standards of Practice by the following entry. “Inspectors are NOT required to: perform any procedure or operation that will, in the opinion of the inspector, likely be dangerous to the inspector or other persons or damage the property or its systems or components.

Protecting your Home

A home inspection by a professionally licensed Real Estate Inspector is the smartest investment that a homeowner can make. As a home inspector, I find life threatening issues in homes on a regular basis. Generally speaking, the homeowner has no idea that the condition even exists. The people living in the homes we inspect are typically not our clients. In most cases, the home is up for sale and the potential buyer has contracted our services to help assist them in making a responsible decision about purchasing the home. When we explain to the sellers that a life threatening condition exist, they are usually a little embarrassed that they were unaware of the issue. The simple truth is, they are not trained professionals in the construction or inspection industry. Who would expect them to be able to understand all the intricate details of every system of the home?

Obviously not every adverse condition that we observe is life threatening. However, we find many issues every day that should be corrected immediately. By taking immediate action on issues found during the routine home inspection, the homeowner can potentially save thousands of dollars down the road. If you have a nail in your tire; do you have it removed and patched right away or do you drive the car until the tire finally goes flat, leaving you stranded on the side of the interstate during rush hour traffic? I firmly believe that a homeowner can potentially save thousands of dollars over the course of a decade by hiring a professionally licensed home inspector to review the condition of the property every 3 years. It is unfortunate for everyone that homes are not inspected until the seller decides to put the house on the market. This dramatically decreases the likelihood that the home will be in top condition when the buyer’s inspector shows up.

Safety is always be an issue when moving into an unfamiliar home. Put safety at the top of your mind; then go take a walk through the home. If you have children in the home, this is critical! Listed below are a few items to look for.

Cap any uncapped gas lines that are not being used. If you have a gas line at your fireplace, do not leave the key in the shut off valve.

Exposed electrical wires are not acceptable.

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters save lives. Make sure they are installed in all of the appropriate areas and work properly.

Check for sturdy railings at stairs and balconies.

The oven should be secured to the floor or counter top.

If the chimney is dirty, have it cleaned before using it.

If there is an appliance in the garage such as a water heater, it should be raised up off the garage floor by at least 18″.

If there are doors leading into the attic from a child’s room, they should be locked.

Replace the batteries in the smoke detectors upon moving in. Make sure they work!

If the furnace has a standing pilot light, have the unit inspected and serviced by a licensed HVAC contractor at least once a year. There is always a possibility of a cracked heat exchanger with these units. Damaged heat exchangers will allow dangerous combustible gases to enter the home. Be sure to turn the pilot light off in the seasons that the furnace is not being used. This will help to prolong the life of the heat exchanger.

While there is obviously no way of compiling a list of every possible safety hazard in the home, these 10 items will certainly be important to any home owner.

You had your home inspection and your inspector has provided you with a laundry list of things that need repair. What do I do with this report? Who’s gonna pay for the leaky roof? The electrical problems? The Air Conditioning Servicing?

Take a breath……When most inspectors complete their reports they usually contain several pages of items that you never even knew were in a home. Some of it because building codes change constantly and older homes may not have been built to the same standards. That’s okay, we simply point that out in our reports. The fact that your kitchen may not have Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI’s) or your outside faucets don’t have Anti Siphon devices installed is nothing to become alarmed about. These are simply code changes that have occurred over the years and your home was built before they came into effect and the Texas Real Estate Commission requires that home inspectors point these items out. Learn about what’s in your report and decide for yourself if you should have it fixed. If you had followed me around during your inspection, I would have pointed all these items out to you and explained their purpose.

Most buyers have figured out that if you’re going to pay six figures for a house, a couple hundred dollars for a home inspection is money well spent. But what isn’t obvious, though, is how buyers, or sellers, should react to the pages of information the inspector hands over. After all, the house isn’t perfect….no house is. So, now what? Remember the line from the movie “Seabiscuit”? “You don’t throw a life away just because it’s been banged up a little”. Objectively, there is nothing on a home that cannot be fixed. It just comes down to a matter of cost. An inspection report is first and foremost an objective visual examination of the physical structure and systems of a home, from roof to foundation. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s an “objective summary”. Next to marriage, death, or taxes…..home buying may well be one of the most emotionally charged events you will have to deal with. Try to deal with it as “objectively” as possible.

Your home inspection report summarizes the condition of a homes systems, points out the need for major repairs and identifies areas that may need attention in the near future. Your report is intended to maximize your knowledge of the property in order to make intelligent decisions before executing an agreement for sale or purchase. It’s now a matter of negotiations. Should you demand repairs? Well ask yourself these questions; What are the sellers willing to fix? Can you live the problems? Are they important enough to have fixed? Should you walk away from the deal? It is your money, your future home, and your decision. Homes do not “fail” or “pass” an inspection. It just doesn’t work that way. No matter what some Real Estate Companies may advertise.

You have to decide for yourself whether or not it’s worth it TO YOU. When I go to buy a used car I automatically assume that it will have some problems that I just don’t know about and won’t know until I’ve driven it awhile. So I base my offer on that assumption. If the car is obviously banged up or hasn’t been cared for, I base my price on what I know about it. I know going in that it will need some work so I base my decision on what it’s going to cost me to fix it up and what I can sell it for later down the road. Same holds true for your home. Significant problems, such as with the roof, heat, electric or plumbing warrant a second look. Get estimates from licensed technicians on what a new roof will cost if the roof is worn out, or it may need a new A/C unit, or needs some electrical or plumbing work. Maybe the foundation has some problems that need to be addressed, get an estimate and outline of repairs from a structural engineer or foundation repair company and base your decisions on how much all those repairs are going to cost you.

Also consider this, if your home has significant foundation problems and repairs are required……what effect will these repairs have on the resale value of the home when it comes time for YOU to sell it. Ask several Realtors about the resale potential of homes with foundation repairs. It’s typically been my experience that sometimes these homes may be more difficult to sell. Again….ask lots of questions. Even if the contract says “as is” you can still usually ask for repairs or back out of the deal. Whether sellers will agree to those repairs is another matter. Some sellers may agree, some may not, and some may be happy to split the difference. Check with your Realtor or Attorney for the exact details of your specific contract.

We are used to doing home inspections in the heat in central Texas. In Austin the temperatures in August are very hot. Bigger is not always better! That is very true in relation to sizing your air conditioning unit. The demand on the a/c is at peak performance. Clients quite frequently ask if they should have a larger a/c installed when it is time to replace the system. As an experienced home inspector my answer is always the same, contact your licensed a/c contractor. There are many factors that are required to size an a/c system correctly that the home inspector does not access to or the training required. As this article states, oversizing a unit will cause more humidity and the system will short cycle more frequently causing unnecessary repairs & higher utility cost. You should be knowledgable before your make the huge purchase by contacting your trusted a/c contractor & reading this article.

One of our recommendations was “Be sure that the cooling load is calculated and that the air conditioner is sized for that load.”  That advice proved easier to give than to follow. Only one of the four hvac contractors Bill talked to would submit a sizing calculation (two others just wanted to know the home’s square footage). So Bill hired the contractor who did the calculation, and installed a high-efficiency four-ton unit. The local utility gave Bill a rebate for buying efficient equipment.   Unfortunately, this is not really a success story. Bill’s new air conditioner is much too large for his house.
Why did Bill get an oversized unit? Four things went wrong:
1. The design temperature for the area is 97°F. The contractor increased the outdoor design temperature by 8°F.
2. The recommended design indoor temperature is 75°F. The contractor lowered that figure by 5°F. (Added up, the temperature “fudges” increased the estimated inside-to-outside temperature difference by 59%.)
3. Next, the contractor added 20% to the calculated load as a safety factor.
4. Finally, while the cooling load he calculated was already too high and could have been met by a three-and-a-half-ton air conditioner, the contractor convinced Bill to buy a four-ton unit “because then you will always have plenty of cooling.”

A two-and-a-half-ton air conditioner would have been perfect for Bill’s house; instead, he paid extra for an additional one-and-a-half tons of cooling. Not only did it cost more to buy, Bill’s air conditioner costs more to operate because it “short-cycles” — it turns on and off frequently, even during the hottest weather. And Bill’s house is uncomfortable
because the air conditioner removes very little moisture from the air. The utility also loses out, since the oversized unit helps to increase summer peak-load requirements.