John Martino's (looksmart) Blog

Carpenter bee holes are encountered often during home inspections in New Jersey. It is spring and the bees will be emerging soon. Carpenter bees are a wood destroying insect and should be included on the New Jersey Home Inspection report. Carpenter bees are often mistaken for the bumble bee. The ...

Homes being built today are much more energy-efficient than homes built even just a few years ago. This change in efficiency is primarily due to major improvements in construction products and building techniques coupled with the development of high efficiency heating and cooling systems. One ar...

During your New Jersey home inspection there are a many areas inside and outside the home which needs to be inspected and reported on and each time a home inspector in NJ does a home inspection; the kitchen is always an important room that needs to be properly inspected. Here are some of the area...

Making sense of the world of paints finishes While performing home inspections in Warren County New Jersey and all areas of NJ, I often get questions about how to paint, what to use and how to prepare wall and ceilings for painting. Painting the interior of your home is often the most cost effect...

Carpenter ants and termites are wood destroying insects. The main difference in how these insects damage wood is that the carpenter ant nests in wood and the termite actually eats wood. The carpenter ant creates galleries in the wood and while doing the carpenter ant ejects remnants called frass....

Most everyone knows the importance of saving electric power and its positive effect on one's wallet. However most individuals don't know how much water we use each day. There is a significant cost to using water that people don't realize, especially hot water. Most of our lifestyles account for a...

While doing a home inspection in New Jersey the other day. I came across a 10 year old driveway that looked like it was 30 years old. The driveway was cracked and broken and in very poor condition for a custom home that is ten years old. Asphalt driveways when installed correctly can last up to 2...

Proper ventilation is a vital aspect of the roofing system in any home. We often see poor or non existent roof ventilation as we perform home inspections in New Jersey. One of the most important pieces of attic ventilation is the ridge vent. A ridge vent provides a maintenance free way to help ve...

As home inspectors New Jersey and NJ realtors we come across high efficiently heating equipment all the time particularly in newer homes. Heating our homes is a significant energy expense. Usually home heating takes up about 40 percent of the energy costs in the average home. These high efficienc...

Home inspectors in New Jersey should check for good functional water pressure at the fixtures in the home they are inspecting. Multiple fixture tests should be performed to determine if good water flow or pressure exists when multiple fixtures in the home are operating simultaneously. For this d...