The Standard in Real Estate Information

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IRC 2003
The minimum tread depth shall be 10 inches. The tread depth shall be measured horizontally between the vertical planes of the foremost projection of adjacent treads and at a right angle to the tread's leading edge. The greatest tread depth within any flight of stairs shall not exceed the smallest by more than 3/8 inch. R311.5.3.2

Home Buyer

Are You Ready For Your Inspection?

So you have scheduled an inspection. Do you know what to do now? To get the most out of your inspection, there are some things you can do to get the best value.

Radioactive Counter Tops

Based on reading some of the more recent research of radiation in granite counter tops, I have distilled the following basic information about this topic.
Some granite counter tops contain high levels of uranium, which, by generating gamma radiation and radon gas, can produce a health risk. The highest levels of radioactivity seem to [...]

Getting It Right

Well, there is a builder paying attention to detail in Houston. I was doing an inspection on a Trendmaker home in the Woodlands this week and found they were following the flashing details for installation of brick window ledges that have been recommended for years and which are detailed in the IRC 2000. [...]

Composition Shingle Prices Going Up

Fox news this morning had an interesting article here in Houston. The point of the article indicated that shingle prices could be expected to increase 40%-50%. The main reason seems to be a shortage of shingles due to heavy demand, lowered production, and increasing oil prices associated with manufacturing and transportation.
You may wish [...]

Getting the foundation poured

As I stated in my first blog I don’t think it wise to put the fox in charge of the hen house so I had a 3rd party inspector look over the foundation pre-pour. Turns out it was a good move as they found a number of items that the home builder was going to [...]

Bees In the Walls

Recently, I was performing a pre-purchase inspection on a home for a buyer, and I noticed that bees were entering and exiting the siding at one corner of the building. This is an indication that bees have built a nest inside the structure of the building. Bees nesting inside the structure create quite [...]

homebuying upgrades

Okay so things to consider when thinking about upgrades to get from the builder. If you check out the DYI shows and Home sales shows you’ll notice people putting money in a couple of areas that typically have the best return on investment.

Musings part II

I went to the new lot over the previous weekend. My wife and I wanted to get some photos to start a visual log book of the home building process and while walking the lot I found out the neighbors behind me had a pit bull. I found this out because while walking along the [...]

Various musings on buying a home

I’m looking forward to buying a home like most people look forward to a root canal. It is one of those things that “has” to be done. The tax benefits are supposed to outweigh the increased responsibilities of ownership. I however, have been quite comfortable with renting and being able to lean on a team [...]