The State of Connecticut recommends testing your home for radon in air (and radon in water if you have a well).  Radon gas is a leading cause of lung cancer but can be remediated if present  in a home. It is highly recommend to test for radon in a real estate transaction BEFORE buying a home.

Tips To Crush Your Home Inspection...

1. Take notes.
2. Leave the kids and extended family at home.
3. Walk the neighborhood.
4. Find an excuse to get inside the home when it is raining (good time to look around for leaks).
5. Do the commute during rush hour.
6. If you are not familiar with local the infrastructure (water wells, septic systems, oil / propane heat) then now is a good time to acquaint yourself.
7. Ask questions.
8. This is a good time to bring in other professionals as needed – painters, remodelers, etc.
9. Stay focused during the inspection. Try to reschedule zoom calls, conference calls, etc.
10. Assume you are being watched or listened to by the sellers during the inspection (looking at you Alexa).
11. Order a radon in air test.
12. Buying a house that is supplied by a water well? Have the water tested and the well evaluated by a well contractor.
13. Order a WDI (wood destroying insect) inspection to check for termites and ants and any damage they may have caused.

Creosote cleaning logs seem like a simple solution to creosote, a chemical produced by burning wood which can cause a fire to start in your chimney flue and spread to your home. Creosote buildup in a chimney has serious consequences and a fireplace cleaning log sounds like a great idea. In reality these fireplace cleaning logs do work but they are meant to make cleaning a fireplace manually easier and do not replace cleaning by a chimney sweep. 

Creosote
Creosote is a tar-like byproduct from wood burning that accumulates in your chimney. Creosote is extremely flammable and responsible for many house fires. If you look into your fireplace and chimney and see a black shiny substance it is probably creosote - have the fireplace cleaned for safety before use.

Do Fireplace Cleaning Logs Eliminate Creosote?
They will to a minor extent if there is minimal creosote in the chimney. They do this by utilizing a chemical reaction. The cleaning log contains chemicals that are released upon burning that change the tar-like buildup in the chimney to a flakey substance. This flakey residue can be easily cleaned, by a sweep, unlike the gummy creosote.  So the cleaning logs don’t necessarily remove creosote, but they make it easier for a sweep to remove it.

Have your wood-burning fireplaces cleaned and serviced yearly. Chimney sweeps recommend burning a creosote cleaning log in the fireplace BEFORE having them at the house to perform a cleaning. Follow the directions on the box, normally you light the log and burn just like regular firewood. 

Guest post from Realtor Laura Cruger (thanks Laura)...
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WAIVING CONTINGENCIES – Is waiving the home inspection contingency a good idea?


​You are a home buyer in search of that “perfect home” and low and behold … you’ve found it! Now you are faced with the task of “securing” that home and making it your home! In today’s market buyers are still faced with many properties still receiving multiple offers – if they are priced well and have no major objections. So, you understand that making your offer stand out over all the others is key in securing the home.

In structuring your offer, your realtor should explain to you that your offer is not only about your offered price (while that is certainly an important factor) – it is also about the terms of your offer, that may make your offer more appealing to a seller over another. In preparation of structuring your offer to make it out-shine the others, should there be multiple offers on the property, it is the job of your realtor to find out what in the offer might be important or appealing to the seller that could be included, as part of their offer, as every seller will have their own wants, needs, and goals.

Some of the things to consider are – price of course, closing date, mortgage contingency, down payment amount, appraisal contingency, and inspection contingency. For the purposes of this writing, I will touch on just one … inspection contingency.

As a listing agent, and working with buyers, the question that will sometimes come up – “Is the buyer willing to waive inspections?” The quick answer to this as your trusted advisor and as a buyer’s agent would be – no… plain and simple. There are many hurdles to get over in the buying and selling process and home inspections is just one of them. Inspections are a key component and one of the determining factors of your home purchase. Buyers need to know “what they are buying” to know what their investment will be once they sign on the dotted line. I recently had a situation where in representing the buyer – offer was contingent on satisfactory inspections – based only on “health & safety” issues should they arise, which in this market and really in general is the norm. What we are basically saying here is that the buyer will not “nit-pick on things – they are only concerned with the important stuff, like septic, electrical, and water just to name a few” – you get the idea. Unfortunately, in this case there were a few, well there were many items that were deemed health and safety issues from the licensed home inspector – that my buyer asked the seller to address. To confirm the home inspectors’ findings in this case, my buyer hired another contractor specific to the items in question to confirm or not his findings – which they did in fact. Regardless of confirmed reports of the health and safety issues that arose from these inspections, seller declined to correct the items requested by my buyer. My buyer had no choice but to “walk-away” as these items were truly and directly the responsibility of the seller and my buyer was not willing to take on these major objections, along with the costs associated with these items. The home went back on the market, and remains on the market as of today. In my experience, the end result of my story is really not the norm, as most always, the buyer and seller will come to terms.

There are varying degrees of comfort, knowledge and wherewithal that comes along with the decision of what a buyer is willing to take on or not, but it is having the “knowledge” of knowing what they are willing to take on or not only comes through having a home inspection. It’s a minimal cost in the grand scheme of things, and the comfort and “education” of knowing how a “home works” if you will, is just another important component of a home inspection.

Will there be buyers willing to “waive inspections” in an effort to secure the property – for sure! That is the right and choice of the buyer. At the same time, it is my job as their realtor, to explain the possible pitfalls of making that decision and what that might mean to them looking forward …

Laura Cruger
Licensed Realtor
203.948.1103 | 203.796.7700
lcruger@williampitt.com
View Website

112 Federal Road
Danbury, CT 06811

Repost from Landmark Exteriors Norwalk CT:

There’s nothing like a beautiful snowfall during the winter season! While it’s undoubtedly an incredible sight, lots of snow and ice falling on your roof with nowhere to go can be a nightmare. We’re here to help you be prepared before more snow falls, so you can ensure your roof is well-protected.
 
Take a look at all the ways snow and ice can negatively impact your roof and home, so you know to be cautious:
 
Roof Stress 
Snow and ice don’t run easily off of your roof like rain does. The added weight and pressure from built-up snow and ice, especially in back-to-back snow storms, can cause severe stress and potential damage to your roof.

Ice Dams 
Ice dams are created from ice and snow melting and flowing down off of the roof and then freezing again right at the edge. Not only can this cause water damage, but ice dams could also have the potential to destroy your gutters. 
 
Freeze and Thaw Cycle 
As the snow and ice thaw and then freeze, often in a repeated cycle, damage can happen quickly. The melted water seeps into any cracks, and then, when the water freezes, those cracks can widen causing more damage and possibly leading to mold and mildew developing in your living areas. 
 
Icicles 
While they may be pretty to look at, those icicles hanging off the sides of your roof can be hazardous. Not only do you have to worry about one falling on you unexpectedly, but forming icicles can be a sign that you have more significant problems at hand, including gutter blockages and roof damage.