Mold and wood decay

This is what happens when deck and waterproofing maintenance is ignored. Upon inspecting this deck, it turned out the damage was much greater than expected. Because of not paying attention to early signs of water proofing failure, this deck continued to leak over a good period of time, leading to not only mold, but structural failure. I was able to stick my hand through the garage beam that supports the second floor and the deck above. The only thing holding the framing together was the stucco. The owner was very lucky to only get away with paying out thousands of dollars for the repair. If this had waited any longer, there could have been more serious problems. Did you know there are stricter codes to build decks than for the subfloors inside your house? It's because local authorities know that is where the party is. You put 30 people on a deck, your talking over 2 tons of weight! Have an inspector check your deck out.

Wire sizes and breakers

There have been times I have inspected the service panel and the wire gauge is too small for the size of the breaker. Usually, it is when someone has added a breaker to the panel because he/she wanted a wire added to their home for some reason or another and thought 'I don't need an electrician to do this' without knowing their are designated breakers for all sizes of wire. When this happens, you could have a potential fire hazard. When buying a home, be sure your electric service panel and the wires and breakers inside are in good, safe working order.