Author Archives: EricP

Are you a home buyer looking for a pre-owned house you could call your own? How do you make certain that you get your investment’s worth from the house you will buy? It can get very tricky, but with the help of reliable building and pest inspection services, you will determine the quality of the home you are buying.

Why You Need to Get a Building and Pest Inspection

No one buys a product without first taking a gander at it, especially when the purchase is as serious as buying property. Even as real estate websites have made it far more convenient for many buyers to get a look at houses and apartments without traveling to several locations, an actual visit to the property ensures that you, the buyer, will get your money’s worth and that you will not be confronted by surprise repairs down the track. This is why you need to get the building and pest inspection, whether you are getting a residential or commercial property.

Choosing Your Inspector

Building and pest inspections require experts so when choosing your inspector, make sure that he or she has acquired the proper credentials. It is recommended to hire a licensed builder, surveyor, or architect but be aware that a surveyor or an architect might not be able to perform a thorough pest inspection as might be done by a qualified building and pest inspector.

How Inspections Should Be Done

It should be emphasized that the inspection you obtain has to be done before you make any commitment to purchase or before signing a sale contract. Most of the building inspections that experts perform usually uncover important issues such as faulty roofs, floor defects, and various safety hazards. The inspection will also be conducted without any digging, dismantling, cutting, and any other invasive procedure. Generally, building inspections will be limited to accessible areas, and these should be clearly outlined in the inspection agreement your inspector furnishes. So read that bit carefully.

Getting the Report

When you get the report, know that it should contain results from the accessible part of the property you intend to buy. These may include the roof space, the interior and exterior of the building, the roof exterior, and the site (e.g., paths, driveway, fencing, separate laundry or toilet, small retaining walls, surface water drainage, and other relevant areas within the property). The building and pest inspection report should also come with a summary of the overall condition of the property and a list of possible issues that need to be addressed.

For some time now, temperatures have been rising around the world, resulting in winters that are milder and summers that are hotter. And in the hotter months, people look for any way they can find to escape the heat. One of these is air conditioning, which has become essential not just in office spaces and malls but in many homes as well.

The type of AC unit you purchase from your air conditioning and installation provider will depend on the size of the area you plan to cool and how often you will be using it. An expert can advise you on the system that will deliver the best results with maximum energy and cost efficiency.

Ducted air conditioning is used for cooling an entire house. An outdoor unit connects to an indoor unit placed in the ceiling or beneath the floor. With ducted air conditioning, professionals install flexible ductwork that lets the cool air circulate and enter living spaces through vents placed in various parts of the house.

If ductwork is not an option in your home, you can cool specific rooms or areas using split system air conditioners. This system consists of an internal unit mounted on the wall and connected to an external unit through wiring and piping. Different-sized units are available for areas or rooms of different sizes. But before the installation process, professionals will first recommend the best unit size for your space.

Window AC units are a popular type of air conditioner for single rooms or spaces. As the name indicates, they are installed in windows and typically call for some sort of support, like an exterior shelf. They are usually easy to install and can also be quickly removed and stored.

For cooling specific areas, portable air conditioners are the perfect fit. Needing no permanent installation, they can be transferred from one room to another and are often come mounted on casters. A large hose allows them to vent hot air through a window. Some units have containers that need to be emptied periodically of moisture, while others evaporate it.

Built-in air conditioners call for a hole in a wall where it will be installed permanently. Many of them come with both cold and hot air operations, and unlike window units, they don’t need to take up a window space. Their drawback is that they are typically more expensive and harder to install.

It is necessary to keep your air conditioning units clean if you want to get the best results from them for a long period. Experts suggest that if you ignore the repairs and maintenance of this part of the air conditioning unit, you might have to bear a larger expense for repairs later. Moreover, in some cases, you may need to have the entire system replaced.

In order to keep the air conditioner in proper condition, you need to be regular about cleaning it. Basically, there are several ways to clean the air conditioning units, which mainly depend upon the kind being used. For example, there are split, window, centralized, and package types of air conditioning units all of which have different compositions and structures. You must first learn the proper techniques of cleaning to avoid any damages.

You can start cleaning the filter of your air conditioner very easily. The filter is reusable in many units only if you keep it clean. On the other hand, other units require that the filters be changed at regular intervals. However, if you are not sure about the system of your unit, you should ask a technician about it. You can also ask about it from the manufacturer that built the unit.

Experts suggest that air conditioning units installed in commercial places like offices and public buildings should be cleaned fortnightly because they are used rigorously comparatively. On the other hand, the units used in residential areas should be cleaned after every two months. Before you begin the process of cleaning the unit, make sure that you have switched off the unit.

The next step is cleaning all the coils located in the interiors of the air conditioning unit. These coils are called evaporator and condenser coils. The condenser coil is usually very easy to find, whereas you will have to unscrew the exterior covering of your unit in order to get to the evaporator coil. After you locate these coils, you should start the cleaning task using a small bristle brush along with a household cleanser.

When the coils are clean, apply a procedure that protects them from dirt accumulation. This will also reduce the amount of effort you put in each time to clean the coils. Regular cleaning means that you do it at regular intervals rather than every month. If any problems arise, contact the local repairs and maintenance expert in your area for further assistance.