A handrail is a horizontal or sloping rail intended for grasping by the hand for guidance or support. The top of handrails and handrail extensions shall not be placed less than 34” and not  more than 38 inches above landings and the nosing of treads. Handrails shall be continuous the full length of the stairs. Ends shall be returned or shall have rounded terminations or bends. Guardrails must be installed with a minimum of 36 inches of height from the floor level.

Even though when purchasing an older house that had used more relaxed stair safety requirements, the need to adhere to up-to-date safety standards using modern codes must not be neglected. As noted during a typical home inspection, this safety requirement is especially true where it  pertains to the spacing and condition of the balusters and newel posts used along the main staircase of the house. The general rule is to firmly install balusters and newel posts between the handrail and flooring materials so that a 4” sphere (the head of an infant in this case) cannot pass through the installation.

Newel posts (usually the 4×4 inch posts) must be installed firmly and able to withstand a lateral force of at least 75 lbs. The balusters (installed between the posts) must be installed with no more than 4 inches between each component.  Loose or damaged balusters must be replaced or repaired immediately for safety purposes. Wood balusters maydevelope defects fairly esily and should not be relied upon for safety unless inspected periodiclly. They have the tendency of drying out and becoming weak and brittle due to either the lack of humidity in a house or just the lack of quality from the manufacturer.

Also since there is a separation of the exterior protective conduit, this indicates that there is also pressure pulling the electric cables downward- that could affect the integrity of the electrical connections within the meter box. The meter box is the place where the underground cables are connected to the house.  It is where an additional cable is fastened and is connected to the main service panel usually within the house garage or basement.

More often than not, when a conduit settles, as viewed in the photo, soil within the trench was insufficiently compacted during construction. The soil grade will settle normally around a house over time . That’s why one should wait a couple of years before planting shrubs or  landscaping.

Often the soil settles 6 to 12 inches but is not a concern as long as the trench was properly compacted during the installation.  In this case the soil must have settled about 4 inches after the underground conduit was installed, judging from the distance between the soil and he foundation paint.

As soil settles it puts pressure on the underground conduit protecting the service conductors. Eventually the pressure became too great for the connection under the meter box — you can see that the conduit completely separated, and may be still  slowly pulling apart.

This situation will eventually will become a problem. The three large cables between the conduit and box are the electrical service conductors. They are carrying the electrical load to the house.

Looseness in (or damage to) the neutral service conductor can cause wild fluctuations in voltage. Anything different than what is considered normal can cause many problems. Appliances and fixtures don’t want too much or too little voltage – motors can literally burn up and light bulbs will burn out. Obviously, since the electrical connections are not visible during the home inspection, further evaluation is advised here by a reputable electrical contractor.

The principle is that water heaters are now designed to prevent the lower burner from igniting flammable liquids near the water heater. An example of use would be in a garage where gasoline might be stored and spilled.

There are two key elements of these water heaters. A thermal sensor, or cutoff switch (TCO) or a thermal release device (TRD). And a flame arrestor screen located at the bottom of the unit that allows combustion air to enter but does not allow flame out i case of ignition.

If and when a problem happens the water heat shuts down:

For example if the flam arrestor screen becomes clogged by lint or debris the water heater will shut down due to “”inadequate combustion” and there will be no hot water for the home. Also if the water heater is under negative pressure caused by flue venting problems or obstructions, the unit wil shut down due to “inadequate combustion”. And again there will be no hot water.

Lint from clothes dryers must be closely watched to make sure the dryer duct does not become disconnected. This area needs to be kept free of lint debris and appears to be one of the biggest issues. If you canot see the flame through the glass inspection port this is  a problem and should be corrected.

Arc faults in a home are one of the leading causes for household fires. The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) estimated that in 2010, in the United States, over 40,000 fires are attributed to home electrical wiring defects. These fires resulted in over 1.5 billion dollars in property damage, in over 400 deaths and over 1,500 injuries that year.

Ordinary conventional circuit breakers only respond to overloads and short circuits. They do not protect against arcing conditions that can produce an instantaneous peak current with temperatures of several thousand degrees.  The circuit breaker reads the averaged heat over the full cycle of current rather than the concentrated heat that occur at the point of the arc.  Even though the arc has occurred, there will be less current drawn than is necessary to trip a conventional breaker. This is the origin of many house fires.

An AFCI is selective so that normal arcs do not cause it to trip. The AFCI circuitry continuously monitors the current and discriminates between normal and unwanted arcing conditions. Once an unwanted arcing condition is detected, the AFCI opens its internal contacts, thus de-energizing the circuit and reducing the potential for a fire to occur. An AFCI should not trip during normal arcing conditions, which can occur when a switch is opened or a plug is pulled from a receptacle.

AFCIs resemble a (GFCI) (Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter Device) in that they both have a test button although it is important to distinguish between the two. GFCIs are designed to protect against electrical shock of a person, while AFCIs are primarily designed to protect against arcing and fire.

The best defense against moisture penetration and the prevention of  cracks in basement walls is good drainage near the foundation wall. A small amount of dampnessmay  sometimes be considered normal for an older home, due to the older  construction methods and standards. If a  damp caoting of the foundation was appliedaround the perimeter of the foundation, it may have aged and is no longer useful. Typical lifesapn of damp proofing is about 40 years. Most codes today recommend waterproofing the basement walls.

If any depressions around the foundation exist, they should be filled and graded away from the house. Pitch slope of soils away from foundation. Slope should fall away from the foundation at a minimum of 1/2 inch per foot and extend at least 10 feet away from the foundation.

Verticle settlement cracking may also be noted, although most of these cracks are small hairline cracks that are not  significant structural defects.and are considered normal for most homes. Stair-step cracks/or stress cracks noted may be more of a concern and indicate settlement of the foundation has occured. These types of cracks may allow moisture to penetrate and enter the building envelope. Sealing/repointing of cracks is recommended. Reparging of a brick foundation is recommended to prevent additional deterioration.

Major cracks/and bulges on foundation wall will occur if the has been significant movement of the soil grade beneath the foundation walls.  These cracks may indicate that correction to the exterior grade is necessay, If tree roots may be  pushing against foundation where he tree should be removed. If water is moving toward the foundation pusing the soil against the basement walls, corrections will be necessary.

What is happening is that a huge amount of poisoness gas is being dumped into the basement of this building every day. Carbon monoxide causes drouzyness and headaches and can lead to a person dying from overexposure.

Additional, I didn’t have to go too much farther until I noticed the bottom of the hot water heater was leaking. Since this was in the unfinished area of basement if the tank did burst, it would probable cause a minimum of damage. That’s why when visiting a home I alway recommend an emergency drain pan to be installed under the hot water heat appliance, especially if it’s located on the 2nd floor. Additional damage was noted on the bottom of the tank due to rusting that was coming from the inside. The water heater will have to be replaced.

When in the market for a new home consideration must be given to the cost of either repairing or replacing masonry steps that lack maintenance. Steps that do not look good to even the inexperienced eye are probably loaded with hidden problems. Over the years during the winter seasons homeowners use salt or other products to melt the ice from the steps. This has a tendency to go beneath the surface and deteriorate the structure of the steps.

Normally steps built in the fifties consisted of either concrete block but probably mostly cinder blocks. Salt can effect the structure of the steps adversely. Of course masonry component smay loosen from time to time and can be repaired easily. But after years of use the underlying structual cinder blocks may have seen their day. Often times, once remedial work has first been started, more and more damage is found. There’s no sense in building or repairing on top of someting that has crumbled and is no longer structurall efficient. The whole  steps may have to be rebuilt.

Another consideration are the iron railings that are mounted into the concrete blocks or bricks. If their in good condition they can be used again. But if not, than the wrought iron railings will need to be replaced. And that is an expensive consideration. Often times if one has to rebuild the steps it may be a good idea to install aluminum railings- that do not rust. Thereby saving you the anxiety of replacing the old iron railing in the near future.

Even though the townhouse unit looked quite nice from the exterior, problems existed in the interior due to a lack of quality control and supervision of the builder organization. This problem is a ticking time bomb. It’s not a question if the furnace will someday leak, but whenit will leak.  And it will leak.

If there are questions that remain as to if and when there were or still is an oil tank on the property that you would like to buy, the best thing you can do for yourself is to have the property scanned for underground metal tanks. The are speciality companies that will come out and do this for a modest service charge. The service person walks the grounds near the house and looks for any indications of a large metal mass. If found, the next step is to probe and actually find the tank using a large metal probing bar. Then finally to outline the perimeter of the hidden tank.