Alex Bakman is CEO and Founder of Snappii, a leading mobile business app development company.

Snappii lets customers design and build their own apps. What are some of the common reasons customers decide to design an app?

To improve existing business process such as manage people, equipment, to allow enable customers to order products, make appointments, look up inventory, to report on daily field activity. There are literally millions of reasons. As Apple commercial says – there is an app for that.

One of the services that Snappii offers is custom online forms. What are some ways surprising ways that online forms can be useful?

Basically to replace paper forms. To save time and money, to get information right into backend systems, to accelerate business processes.

One of the major advantages of apps and cloud-based software is having everything available, to everyone, in one central location. What are some ways that could come in handy for a home assessor?

Not losing paper forms and making information instantly accessible to all clients and other coworkers are some of the major benefits for home assessors. Also the information is not just text but also includes pictures and video.

There’s an app for home inspectors called Tap Inspect, that lets the inspector easily identify common problems and easily recommend a solution. How can having the right tech tool help a home inspector not only do their job better, but appear much more informed for their clients? What are some possible benefits of that improved perception?

Information is power. Knowledge can be embedded into Apps for quicker analysis.

Another great thing about apps is they are constantly updating. How can that come in handy for home inspectors, to get the most up-to-the-minute information? What are some situations where that might be useful?

Frequent updates can mean making use of the most recent information. It can also help to deal tithe constantly evolving regulatory environments.

Another major advantage of using apps and mobile technology is how much it speeds up certain processes, like filling out reports. What are some different areas where apps can shave off unnecessary down time?

Another major advantage of using apps and mobile technology is how much it speeds up certain processes, like filling out reports. What are some different areas where apps can shave off unnecessary down time?

Not having to wait to bring information into the office. Not having to retype into computers, and not having to build the reports manually are some of the major time-savers, along with the ability to generate invoices right from the dashboard

Apps also allow users to create media rich content, featuring images and video. How might that come in handy for a home inspector?

Rich media enables rapid decision making and more thorough analysis.

Apps also allow users to create media rich content, featuring images and video. How might that come in handy for a home inspector?

More professional reports, sharing reports with prospects, being found in Appstores.

Checklists make for popular apps. What are some ways that having a centralized, self-updating checklist can make a home inspector more efficient?

Quicker analysis.

Can you recommend any ways to get data from different apps to work together? Why might it be important to have all of that data in one place?

Yes. All tools should report into a central database where the information can be analysed, sorted and assembled into useful reports.

I participate in a lot of online discussions amongst home inspectors over how home inspection reports should be written. I’m pretty opinionated about this stuff, and so is everyone else at Structure Tech. We’ve put together a report-writing style guide, which is something we use to help make sure our reports are consistent and easy to read. This document was George’s idea, as he used to be a technical writer.

Don’t I have awesome people on my team? When I tell other home inspectors about our style guide, the most common question I get is “can I see yours?”

I don’t have a whole lot of secrets. I share all of my inspection methods, tips, and tricks, but our internal report writing style guide has always felt like personal property. I’ve never wanted to share this document before, but the more I get to know my own company, the more I realize that one of the core values of Structure Tech is education. We’re transparent educators.

In keeping with that value, here is our internal Home Inspection Report Writing Style Guide. Enjoy, and please share your thoughts, whether you agree or not.  Thanks!

Structure Tech Report Writing Style Guide

Always use complete sentences.

Recommend replacement of the garage service door.  

I recommend replacement of the garage service door.

Avoid the use of “I recommend”; everything in the report is a recommendation, so beginning every other sentence with this phrase makes for a very repetitive-sounding report.  The same advice can be given with fewer words and less repetition.

I recommend replacement of the garage service door.  

Replace the garage service door.

Use past tense to describe conditions. This helps to create a more consistent report and implies that conditions may change.

The garage door is rotted.

The garage door was rotted.

Avoid the word “you”.  

You do not always know who your audience is.

The identity of the audience is not always known.

Avoid the word “I”. The report isn’t about you.

I found mouse droppings on the floor throughout the basement.

There were mouse droppings on the floor throughout the basement.

Avoid the word “appeared”.  This is weak language that gives the appearance of uncertainty.

The garage door appeared to be rotted.

The garage door was rotted.

Avoid the word “evaluate.” We’re inspectors. Use the word “inspect”.

The driveway could not be evaluated because of heavy snow cover.

The driveway could not be inspected because of heavy snow cover.

When describing the condition of components, make the component the subject of the sentence.

Rot was noted at the garage door.  The subject of this sentence is “rot”.

The garage door was rotted.   The subject of this sentence is the garage door.

Avoid the use of absolutes while giving recommendations.

Install a handrail to prevent accidental falls.  A handrail will not prevent accidental falls.  It can help to prevent accidental falls.

Install a handrail to help prevent accidental falls.  – or – Install a handrail for safety.

Use less words when possible.

The range was not equipped with an anti-tip bracket.

The range lacked an anti-tip bracket.

Recommendations should be based on health, safety, and building performance. Not codes.

Minnesota requires CO alarms to be installed within 10’ of every sleeping room.

CO alarms should be installed within 10’ of every sleeping room for safety.

Side note: don’t mention smoke detectors or CO detectors when you surely mean smoke alarms or CO alarms. They’re not the same thing.

That concludes our style guide. It’s not super-long, and it’s not supposed to be.

Missing handrails just got upgraded to a must-fix item for homes in Minneapolis. This used to be rated as a “B”, now it’s an “RRE”. If you know what all that means, you can stop reading now. You have the Twitter version of the story. For everyone else, here’s the long version, from the beginning.

Truth In Sale of Housing Evaluations

If you’re planning to offer a home for sale in Minneapolis, you first need to have a Truth-In-Sale of Housing (TISH) Evaluation performed by a licensed TISH evaluator. I’m licensed, and so are four other inspectors in my company. Minneapolis maintains a list of all 63 licensed TISH evaluators on their website. These evaluations typically take about an hour to conduct, and reports are uploaded to the Minneapolis website where they’re publicly available for anyone to see.

A TISH evaluation is very different from a home inspection, and never a substitute. Even the newest real estate agents with absolutely zero experience know better than to tell their clients to skip the home inspection based on the TISH evaluation. Everyone in this market knows this, so I won’t harp on it.

While a home inspection will be filled with recommendations, a TISH evaluation has the power to require repair of certain conditions. According to the TISH Guidelines, the Truth-In-Sale of Housing Ordinance “is intended to improve the City’s housing stock and protect the public’s health, safety and welfare by removing specific code violations upon time of sale.” I put together a one-page list of the most common repair items back in 2010, and I’ve updated it several times over the years: see Common-TISH-Repairs-Minneapolis. Every time my company is hired to do a TISH evaluation, we email our client a link to this list ahead of time.

Missing handrails are now on the required repair list

In the past, anything to do with a stairway could never be a required repair. Missing stairway? Missing handrail? Missing guardrail? None of these things would be a required repair items. There’s a lot of stuff that people probably assumed would be a repair item, but was not.

Thankfully, a missing handrail has been upgraded to a required repair item, per an email that was sent out to licensed TISH evaluators on November 22nd, 2017. The email said the following:

Effective immediately, Missing Handrails on basement stairs and No Handrail Assembly on hall stairs has been updated to an RRE to reflect current building code.

I applaud the intention of this change. Stairways are the most dangerous area in a home, and every stairway should have properly installed handrails.

My only complaint with this change is that it falls short. I asked a lot of questions immediately after receiving this email; what if the handrail is mounted way too low to be of use? What if it’s not a graspable profile? What about exterior handrails? What if it’s not attached properly, like the handrail pictured at right?

In all of these cases, it would not be a required repair. This is a black and white item; either the handrail is missing or it isn’t, and this only applies to the interior. If it’s missing, it needs repair. If it’s improperly installed, no matter how egregious, it doesn’t need repair.

Current handrail requirements

If a missing handrail is replaced, the new handrail must be installed to current code. For that, we turn to Chapter 3 of the Minnesota State Building Code and scroll down to section R311.7.8 Handrails. Or you could just read my interpretation of all that, along with some helpful diagrams courtesy of the fine folks at CodeCheck. I’ve listed the most common handrail installation defects below.

Improper height: handrails must be installed 34″ – 38″ above the sloped plane of the stairway. In other words, measure up from the end of the treads.

Not continuous: you need to be able to walk up a stairway without removing your hand from the handrail. If a handrail stops and starts again, it’s not continuous.

Too close to the wall: If a handrail is less than 1-1/2″ away from the wall, it’s too close. You need to be able to get your hand around it.

Not returned: handrail ends must be returned to the wall to help prevent people from catching clothes or other items on the handrail.

Not graspable: You need to be able to grab the handrail and hold it, not just rest your hand on top of it. The diagrams below help to explain this.

 

Dustin and I made a video discussing window film, hazardous locations for glass, and options for making a home safer.

If the video doesn’t appear above, please click this link to see it

Conclusions: If you have standard glass in a hazardous location, do something to make it safer. Either replace the glass with tempered glass or have a safety film applied. If a safety film is going to be applied, the best option would be to have 3M™ Safety & Security Window Film professionally installed. I contacted Columbia Window Film and Graphics, and they had a minimum fee of $250 to install this film. Also, they said this fee might cover roughly five windows, but of course, prices vary depending on a lot of things. If they can make the film look good for this price, I call this a bargain. If you’re going to apply a safety film yourself, make sure that you have a lot of patience. The film that I used in the video was BDF S8MC Security and Safety Film.

For detailed information on safety glass, please check out Douglas Hansen’s excellent article on the topic.

Winter is coming? Say it isn’t so! Unfortunately, frigid temperatures and everything that goes with them will be here before you know it. And that can mean roof issues for unfortunate homeowners and buyers.

Here are some issues that might not be obvious when the weather is warm. Once snow and freezing rain starts to fall, they’ll be much easier to spot.

#1: Ice Dams

Sparkling icicles tumbling over the roofline might make a home look like part of a winter wonderland scene. But they can indicate a major problem. Ice dams don’t often happen consistently throughout winter. But when the conditions are just right, they can tear off shingles, pull down gutters and even create ice inside the home.

Proper ventilation, good gutters and properly installed insulation combine to help prevent ice dams. You might not see any evidence while inspecting a house. But you can spot the issues that can cause them to happen.

#2: Poor Gutters

Part of the ice dam equation, bad gutters can also contribute to issues that include siding damage, roofing damage, water infiltration and even a wet basement. For such simple devices, they’re surprisingly sophisticated. Or at least they should be.

Proper installation needs a roof apron or drip edge to prevent water from backing up under the shingles. Proper slope, which is about 1/2 inch per every 10 feet of gutter, moves through the gutter toward the downspout. And gutter hangers prevent sagging.

Almost every roof issue can contribute to the ice dam phenomenon.

#3: Inferior Attic Insulation

For such a basic building material, insulation stumps a lot of homeowners. When it’s installed correctly, it keeps heat inside the living area where it belongs. When it’s not, it can create condensation issues in winter.

Aside from the mold that can emerge from damp conditions, condensation can also mimic a roof leak. Watch for proper orientation of the vapor barrier, too. Installed backward, which is a surprisingly common defect, it can compound condensation issues.

#4: Snow Loads

In areas where heavy snows are more common than not, the structural integrity and design of the roof can be the difference between just another ordinary winter and one that causes serious roof damage. Snow drifts caused by poor design can add to the load problem in winter.

Snow buildup can also pose another hazard: the avalanche. It might sound remarkable, but the perfect storm of the roof slope and roofing materials can allow excessive snow to build up. Then with the slam of a door, it might come crashing down at once. Small, peaked snow guards or snow breaks peppered throughout the roofing helps prevent the avalanche effect.

Winter might seem like a far away season, but summer is already practically over. On no time, frigid temperatures will spread throughout the country. And that’s when roof issues that might otherwise go unnoticed can come to the forefront.