An interesting article came out in the Houston Chronicle this morning.  As a way to build professional relationships with new clients many banks are reintroducing “Professional Mortgages”.  These are most often offered to newly graduated professionals with the hopes of gaining their future business since such loans often require a deposit account.  According to the Chronicle some loans programs do not require PMI insurance and in some cases can be 100% loans.

Low-cost Home Loans Out There - For Some

We are now offering inspection services on Saturdays to accommodate our clients who do not have time for inspections during the week.  Contact our office to check our availability.  Our reports will be available on the next business day.

I had a call this morning from a prospective client who was concerned about cracks in the concrete foundation of the home they were building.  This is a typical concern for those purchasing new construction who are not familiar with construction methods and soils conditions in our area.

The foundation in question was a post-tension cable reinforced foundation as opposed to a foundation which is reinforced with steel rebar.  This means the foundation is reinforced by cables laid in a grid arrangement and tensioned after the concrete cures sufficiently with the intent to create compression in the foundation concrete to resist cracking during bending.  If movement occurs in the foundation prior to tensioning, cracks may occur due to the lack of any reinforcement at that time.  The curing time before cables can be tensioned may vary, but most builders don’t tension for 10 days or more.  During this time cracks often form, and once the crack has occurred, there little you can do to eliminate it.  Small cracks do not normally create a significant concern other than for cosmetic reasons or those associated with pest control.

In looking for resources to explain this type of foundation to my client I found a good article on the internet I though was worth sharing.  The author clearly explains the foundation and probably answers many questions my potential client has.

Concrete Construction Magazine: http://www.concreteconstruction.net/industry-news.asp?sectionID=715&articleID=366219

I ran across a tool which can be used to help you to estimate the construction costs for a new home in your area.  I have run a few calculations on homes in my area, and there seems to be a wide spread in values, so I think you have to use this tool with some consideration of your area specifics, but it seems generally reasonable.

Try it out and see if it works for you:

http://building-cost.net

I would like to let our clients and associates know that I have added some content to our web site to assist our clients in understanding when to schedule phased construction inspections.  We are often asked by our clients when they should schedule an inspection and I hope this helps.

This document can be found on our FAQ page as well as under the Quality of Workmanship inspection descriptive page, or Click HERE.

A picture is in fact worth a thousand words.  Since we stared adding photographs to our standard inspection reports years ago we seldom get calls into the office from clients who don’t understand or builders who cannot find a defect.  The digital age has really helped us with respect to this form of communication.  I am going to try to post photos from time to time which I think tell the story with little or no commentary.  Of course I will add it but with brevity.

This photo was taken in an attic which was supposed to have just less than 12 inches of blown fiberglass insulation in compliance with the 2006 IECC (energy code).  In fact they had a tag on the kitchen counter indicating it was inspected that morning and passed.  This condition existed over a large portion of the attic.  Guess it's hard to see this from the access stairs.  Not the only IECC violation, just the easiest to check.

As a subscriber to local information this came in my email blast from Galveston County.  It seems everyone is dealing with abnormally vicious mosquitos right now.

As a result of the recent heavy rains, mosquitoes in Galveston, Harris and Brazoria counties are more widespread than normal.  For more information or to report a location that needs to be sprayed for mosquitoes, call:

Galveston County Mosquito Control District at 1-800-842-5622 or 281-534-2726

Harris County Mosquito Control at 713-440-4800 

Both Galveston County and Harris County Mosquito Control place their spraying activity and schedules on their websites, at: 

www.hcphes.org/hcmosquitoctrl/dbInfoActivityMaps/currentcombined.htm  (Harris)

www.co.galveston.tx.us/mosquito_control/  (Galveston)

To help reduce the mosquito population, residents can: 

• Check for items that might hold water, including wheelbarrows, tires, hubcaps, toys, garden equipment, pool covers, tarps, plastic sheeting, pipes, drains, boats, recycling bins, and trash.
• Remove standing water that may be frequently caught when watering plants, and from rainfall.  The common areas are: rain gutters, wading pools, flowerpots, plant saucers, puddles, buckets, jars and cans.
• Stock ornamental ponds with fish that feed on mosquito larvae.

According to a new article in Builder Magazine it looks like there is going to be a fight between housing groups and the EPA over the lead based paint rules for homes constructed prior to 1978.  New rules for homes constructed prior to 1978 requires that the work be completed by contractors trained to deal with lead based paint issues, but with an opt-out provision under specific guidelines.  The EPA is removing this exemption which is the basis for the fight.  The exemption allows home owners who believe they do not have a significant risk to exposure and who meet specific requirements to opt-out of the added expense.  This includes those owners without children or who may know the property has no such risk due to such conditions as perhaps previous remediation.  The fight looks legitimate by raising some reasonable questions including how much power the EPA has or should have to change existing law without supporting basis.   Another concern has been that there are an insufficient number of contractors nation wide available to work under this new law which will result in less work getting completed at much higher costs to consumers.  This could be further damaging to an already hard hit industry.  According to the article, “EPA said on July 6 that to date, the agency has certified 254 training providers who have conducted more than 16,000 courses and trained an estimated 320,000 renovators in lead-safe work practices.”  It is not know if this is the number of workers or individual companies capable of doing the work.

This article is worth the read:

 Housing Groups Sue EPA Over Lead-Paint Opt-Out Rule

Press Release on Removal of Opt-Out Can be Found Here

Older PEI Blog on this Subject:

Deadline Approaches for Contractors to Obtain EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Certification

When you are discussing the performance of a building’s foundation in the Houston area, you are normally trying to relate how well it is currently supporting the structure of the building over the expansive soil building owners deal with daily here.  The question asked by clients is always whether the foundation has settled.  What they really want to know is whether the foundation has settled differentially, which is the term used by many, if not all, engineers, and I believe is not well understood by some buyers or owners.  In reality, for the purpose of structural performance, most people probably don’t care much if a foundation simply settles which implies it is moving down in a uniform manner.  Uniform settlement implied by the term, “settlement”, typically does not result in damage to the supported structure.  Owners do get very upset if a part of the foundation settles while another part does not, which is what is meant by the term, “differential settlement”.  A foundation that has settled unevenly across the projected area of the soil which supports it has settled differentially.  This can result in bending and deflection of the structure supported by the foundation, which can be devastating to a building.  Most recommendations for maintenance and some methods of repair or reinforcement relate back to the need to prevent differential settlement.

I was reading the Galveston Daily News this morning and found that Galveston Historical Society is offering green construction classes.  Modifying, repairing, and restoring older homes presents some interesting challenges and it appears these classes address new technologies to address modifications to these buildings.  I probably will not make any of the classes since they are in Galveston and during the week, but you may be able to if one is of interest to you.  They have a schedule on their web site.

"Galveston Historical Foundation is organizing training programs on sustainable materials and building techniques during July and August, 2010. All class sessions are free and open to the public ......"