Hugh Cairns: Concrete driveway spalling
May 20, 2013 / 5:00 am
Spalling on concrete driveways is easy to spot once it is underway. Rough, pitted or flaky areas in the driveway indicate spalling. Concrete driveway spalling is usually a result of installation, environmental and mechanical factors. Most cases start off as cosmetic in nature affecting the...
Hugh Cairns: Relaxing your home
May 13, 2013 / 5:00 am
Have you ever seen one of those makeover shows and seen the utter surprise and admiration on the faces of the lucky participants? I’m pretty sure that’s where the phrase OMG really got its boost. You know, I’m in houses every day. Some of them have certain warmth to them - I...
Hugh Cairns:Home security tips
May 6, 2013 / 5:00 am
Often, homeowners can target themselves for theft unwittingly. Your home security begins with decreasing your chances of being a victim of theft. Before you spend money on a home security system you can take everyday measures to protect your...
Hugh Cairns: The end of flue season
Apr 29, 2013 / 5:00 am
High above our heads, our chimneys mostly go by unnoticed. Often neglected, chimneys are regarded as a critical component in our heating systems. I suspect that chimneys are overlooked because of their rugged long lasting looks. But of course their ability to protect themselves isn’t...
Home inspections - turning the water on
Apr 22, 2013 / 5:00 am
Home inspectors, from time-to-time, are faced with homes that are vacant and where some of the services are turned off. In some cases, the water to the home is shut off in an effort to protect the home from water damage while it is unsupervised. In other cases, the water is shut off for specific...
Hugh Cairns: home inspections
Apr 15, 2013 / 5:00 am
I’ve been conducting home inspections in Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton for years now. Quite often I’m asked by my clients and acquaintances what my thoughts are on home inspections and home inspectors in general. So, when one of my clients asked me what I’d look for in a home...
Hugh Cairns: mobile home inspections
Apr 8, 2013 / 5:00 am
Mobile home inspections are approached by home inspectors in a manner that diverges from traditional site-built housing inspections because mobile home structures are designed and constructed quite differently. When we build a traditional site based home, the construction is generally inspected...
Face-lifts that sell houses
Apr 1, 2013 / 6:00 am
As a home inspector, I’m observing homes for sale every day. Often I see mechanical conditions that should have been corrected easily and economically. Ones that would provide great value to the home and set it apart if the owner had only sought out some smart independent advice to prepare...
Replacing aluminum wiring
Mar 25, 2013 / 5:00 am
What can I do if my home has aluminum branch wiring? (Photo: Hugh Cairns) Having received an increasing number of questions about the safety of aluminum wiring, and in particular, questions from those purchasing a home with...
Is aluminum wiring safe?
Mar 18, 2013 / 5:00 am
(Photo: Hugh Cairns) Having received an increasing number of questions about the safety of aluminum wiring, and in particular, questions from those purchasing a home with aluminum wiring, I have written this article to clarify aluminum wiring concerns. When was...
Eco-friendly, reusable moving boxes
Mar 11, 2013 / 5:00 am
People move - once every five years on average. Moving can be a highly stressful event. We gather every single thing we own and we pack it up, transport it and unpack it somewhere else. Just the thought of the thousand things that need to be planned or coordinated in order to move can be...
Ductless heat pumps
Mar 4, 2013 / 5:00 am
Homeowners looking to replace electric baseboards have been waiting decades for an easy-to-install, safe and affordable forced air replacement solution. The solution is proven packaged ductless (aerothermal) heat pumps which provide energy efficient heating, cooling and importantly - air...
Spring exterior maintenance
Feb 25, 2013 / 5:00 am
Can I start my Spring exterior maintenance now? You betcha. Most homeowners are inclined to upgrade their homes beginning with the interior. Most likely that’s because we spend so much time inside our homes, and that interior decorating can be fun as well as a personal...
Removing wood chip insulation
Feb 18, 2013 / 5:00 am
Should I remove my attic wood chip insulation? (Photo: Hugh Cairns) You bet it’s a good idea to remove wood chip insulation and upgrade to a new material. If you have wood chip insulation, it means you’re faced higher energy consumption by its presence and...
Wood chip insulation
Feb 11, 2013 / 5:00 am
Photo: Contributed - (Photo: Hugh Cairns) To improve the comfort of the home pictured above, one solution is to remove the wood chip insulation and re-insulate the entire attic cavity with blown in fibreglass insulation. Oddly enough, when homeowners think of...
Do I have enough attic insulation?
Feb 4, 2013 / 5:00 am
Have you ever wondered if your house is losing heat through the attic resulting in higher energy bills? Well with the current winter weather in our area now is a great time to do a visual check on your roof. Do I have enough attic insulation? There’s only one way to be...
Improving energy costs
Jan 28, 2013 / 5:00 am
(Photo: Hugh Cairns) Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) is a filter rating system to standardize and simplify air filter efficiency ratings for the consumer to allow them to effectively compare one unit to another. The higher the MERV rating - the higher the...
Improving your indoor air quality
Jan 21, 2013 / 6:00 am
It’s not often that people think of their furnace filters, but they should. Furnace air filters serve a couple of main purposes. When your furnace blower is moving air around your home furnace filters can clean your indoor air of dust and allergens while simultaneously maintaining your...
Replacing baseboard heaters
Jan 14, 2013 / 5:00 am
Should I replace old electric baseboards? The best reason to upgrade your old electric baseboards to new ones is improvements in safety. New models include an oversized high temperature limit switch that shuts the heater off when excessive operating temperatures are detected. The heating...
Electric baseboard heating tips
Jan 7, 2013 / 5:00 am
Electric baseboard heaters are a type of electric resistor which works by converting electrical energy into heat, much the same way that electric stoves or ovens do. A thermostat is used to control the flow of electricity to a heating element located inside a long protective pipe inside the...
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