Miscellaneous

Question: Hello Ari, I have multiple chemical sensitivities. The builder putting up my house insists that YT Building Code requires PWF on the concrete slab for the floor to lay on. What alternatives are there to chemically treated woods for the foundation? Similarly, what alternatives are there … [Read more...] about PWF Subfloor in New Home

Question: I will be building a new cedar fence, using pre-built tongue and groove 6 x 8 foot panels, shortly and I am not sure how to finish it. I want to preserve the natural cedar look and would prefer to have to treat it only every three to four years. Everybody I talk to has a different … [Read more...] about Treating Cedar Fencing

Question: We have a kitchen with only a north-facing window and it is rather dark.  One of the ideas that I had was to put in a skylight through the standard gable style roof.  The comments I get from some people are the skylight will leak and drip. Are skylights a poor idea in our … [Read more...] about Skylight Idea

Question: I have a perplexing problem that needs solving and I am hoping you can shed some light.  At first glance, the problem may appear funny.  I am a 73-year-old woman. My husband and I live in a bungalow.   Last Sunday, at about 2:30 A.M., I went into the … [Read more...] about Rat in Bathroom

Question: I read your articles in the Winnipeg Free Press and I am hoping you can help. We live in North Kildonan and our home backs onto Bunns Creek.  The area is beautiful but with the creek we have experienced a mouse epidemic in the last three years. We recently framed and insulated … [Read more...] about Mouse Epidemic

Question: I hope you can perhaps help and offer your expert opinion with a very serious issue my husband and I are having in regards to the buyer of our house that we sold to her last September. The prior year in August we took possession of a bungalow in East Fort Garry. This house was built … [Read more...] about Leaking & Lawsuit

Question: I have a question that I am hoping you will be able to answer.  My husband and I own a house in Winnipeg built in 1974.  We have done renovations on a few rooms in the house. However, in the rooms we haven't finished there is peeling paint on the baseboards and … [Read more...] about Lead Paint

Question: I have put an offer in on a home, which includes a home inspection condition and I have some questions. What are your qualifications? Answer: This is a question that I received from a homebuyer, on my cell-phone, as I was walking through Whistler, British Columbia just after the … [Read more...] about Inspector Qualifications 2

Question: I am considering making an offer to purchase a house and will be including a condition for a home inspection. How do I know if the inspector is qualified? Who inspects the inspectors? Answer: This week I have chosen to pose this hypothetical question, rather than a question from a … [Read more...] about Inspector Qualifications

Question: This week’s question deals with building permits, which typically falls outside the scope of my work as a private home inspector. This falls more under the role of the municipal building official, but it is an important issue and one that is often confusing to many homeowners. The … [Read more...] about Building Permit Requirements