Posted on: Friday, February 4, 2005
HOME HANDYMAN
Want to become a home inspector?
By Glenn Haege
Q. I'm an avid handyman with a decent part-time income. I'm interested in becoming a home inspector. Can you tell me about available schools and point me to any other information?
A. This is a great second career. Start by checking the Web sites of the American Society of Home Inspectors (www.ashi.com) and the National Association of Home Inspectors (www.nahi.org). Members of these organizations must adhere to codes of ethics and standards of practice, and their credentials have been reviewed by their associations to ensure they are qualified.
The Web sites will also tell you about membership and training requirements. Any good training program will require hundreds of hours in the field working for a top-quality home inspector.
You can find member home inspectors in your area by going to the associations' Web sites.
• • • Q. We recently had water come into our house where the floor and wall meet and have had several companies give estimates and suggestions on how to remedy the situation. If we install an interior drainage system, do we need to do the whole floor or is it OK to stick with just the wall where the leaking occurred?
A. Just do the wall that has leakage. The other walls may never have a problem.
• • • Q. I just pulled up the carpet in my house to reveal the tile underneath. It's in good shape and I want to keep it. I scraped up most of the black rubber padding that was glued to the carpet and tile, but there are spots on the floor where I couldn't get it all up. Is there a product that I could put down that will eat away the residue and make the tile look like new?
A. Savogran Adhesive Remover will take the old adhesive off. Rinse with plenty of water. What the tile will look like afterward is in the hands of the gods.
Glenn Haege writes for the Detroit News. Reach him at: Ask Glenn, Master Handyman Press, P.O. Box 1498, Royal Oak, MI 48068-1498; or askglenn@masterhandyman.com.
