John Martino's (looksmart) Blog

New Jersey home inspectors should explain the benefit of having a sewer line inspection to their home inspection clients.  More and more home buying clients are having sewer line inspections during the home inspection process. Some home inspectors in NJ perform their own sewer line inspections an...

New Jersey home inspectors should be able to identify mold and offer solutions to their NJ home inspection clients.  Mold is a common issue that can be found in many homes, as a home inspector it is important to be aware of the potential for mold growth and how to identify it during home inspecti...

An important part of a complete New Jersey home inspection should be testing for radon gas. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends performing a radon gas measurement if you are buying or selling a home. New Jersey home inspectors should be licensed to perform NJ Radon Testing. Radon...

Something that seems very straightforward but is often ripe with problems is the attic pull down set of stairs. New Jersey home inspectors should understand what a proper installation looks like. Often these sets of steps are installed by nonprofessionals and have various safety defects that pres...

Now that winter is here a question that New Jersey home inspectors often get is how can clients save a little money on their energy costs in their new home? Energy and utilities of all types are as expensive as they have ever been. It is wise for the NJ home inspector to understand simple ways fo...

New Jersey home inspectors should be familiar with fire egress requirements for finished basements especially basements with bedrooms. The current International Residential Code (IRC) requires that all finished basements and basement bedrooms have two points of egress. The traditional basement st...

 New Jersey home inspectors should be familiar with identifying carpenter bees and the damage that they cause. The carpenter bee is an insect between 1/2 and 1-1/2 inches long. Carpenter bees have round bodies which are black in color. Male bees are aggressive and typically have a white or yellow...

One structural defect that NJ home inspectors encounter almost on a weekly basis is the improper use of adjustable columns as permanent supports.  I have to say that we encounter these a lot. These columns are also referred to as Screw Jacks and Beam Jacks. Whatever name there are called these co...

Should home buyers attend their New Jersey home inspection? It is crucial to attend the home inspection because of you attend you get so much more out of the experience.    When you attend your NJ Home inspection you get a firsthand view of the issues that exist in the home that you are buying. I...

Questions to Ask Before Hiring a NJ Home Inspector Other than hiring the right agent hiring the right New Jersey home inspector is the most important decision of the home buying process. Hiring a poorly trained or inexperienced home inspector can cost you thousands of dollars, even tens of thousa...