Sprinkler Systems and Lawn Maintenance 2019-02-20

Podcast Transcription

[light-hearted music]

Brian: Welcome to House Fluent Inspections Radio, where we help you enjoy stress-free home-buying, home-selling, and homeownership. I’m your host, Brian Botch, owner of House Fluent Inspections, and I’m joined today by Bill Beck. We’re both licensed professional inspectors here in the state of Texas. So, Bill, it’s really hard to believe, but can you believe spring is almost here?

Bill: I cannot.

Brian: I can’t either.

Bill: That’s impossible.

Brian: I know, it’s unbelievable.

Bill: Most everybody’s buried in snow still.

Brian: Yeah, it seems like just yesterday, I was freeing in 22-degree temperatures on the roof. And, here we are, 60 days away from gardens and green lawns.

Bill: Yeah, I think the, not the gopher but the…

Kelly: Groundhog.

Bill: Groundhog, thanks Kelly, said spring’s coming early this year.

Brian: Yeah I think I did hear that.

Bill: Can you explain to me how exactly does it see its shadow? Because I’ve never understood how that procedure happens. Does anybody know?

Brian: I have no idea, about the only thing I know about Groundhog Day is the movie that Bill Murray’s in.

Bill: It’s a good movie.

Brian: It is a good movie, yeah.

Bill: I don’t recall how it sees its shadow.

Brian: Well, maybe we can ask the folks in Punxsutawney. Well listen, before we start the show today, I just really wanted to say thank you to everyone out there who’s given us all the support over the last few weeks. I know we’ve just started this podcast journey, but the support’s really been encouraging, and we’re working hard to improve the format. We’re trying to bring in additional content and really begin to cover new and interesting show topics each and every week. If you’re listening, let your friends and family know about us, help spread the word. Right now we’re at Spreaker.com and HouseFluent.com. We’ll soon be on Spotify, and we’ll be gaining traction on additional platforms as well, like iTunes and Google Play Podcasts and things like that.

Bill: That’s awesome.

Brian: Bill and Kelly, I want to ask you guys a question. Have you guys ever bought a new home?

Kelly: I have.

Bill: I have.

Brian: Yeah? Did you get excited about it?

Kelly: Thrilled.

Bill: Pretty excited, yes.

Brian: Do you remember your first night in that new house?

Kelly: I do.

Bill: Uh, yeah.

Brian: Yeah? What was that like?

Kelly: No furniture.

Bill: No furniture and very limited food

Brian: Very limited food, yeah.

Bill: I think we had pizza?

Brian: Yeah, mattresses on the floor, all that fun stuff?

Bill: Yeah, it was kind of fun.

Brian: Alright, well, I want you guys to close your eyes and imagine you just bought a house at the beach. Imagine standing on your deck, staring out on the waves, hear the sound of them crashing against the sand. Nice gently rolls.

Bill: Beach Boys singing that Kokomo Song

Brian: That’s right. You’ve got the Pina Colada in your hands, just nice and relaxed. AND then imagine you take a deep breath of that clean, salt air, only to have the smell of human urine just infest the inside of your nose.

Bill: Wow, that is not where I wanted to go with that. YOU ruined my entire dream.

Brian: Yeah, that actually happened to 47-year-old Scott Velulua. He discovered that his house was a popular attraction with local bar patrons. So, unfortunately, his beach house was within walking distance of two bars, and he happened to be right at that point in the middle where people just decided to stop off and relieve themselves.

Bill: On a positive note, they weren’t drinking and driving.

Brian: That’s true, there was no drinking and driving involved, but there were drive-bys.

Bill: They were walking and peeing, but they weren’t drinking and driving.

Brian: That’s right. So, Scott had a pretty unique way of dealing with this problem, and I’m going to kind of bring it back to our show topic for today, but, he went out to the local hardware store and he bought a motion detector and he bought a night-vision camera. He set up the night-vision camera to see the alley beside his house and then went ahead and attached the motion detector to his sprinkler system.

Kelly: That’s better than a cattle prod.

Brian: It is. For our benefit, he went ahead and posted all those videos on YouTube.

Bill: That’s awesome.

Brian: AND, I gotta tell you, they are hi-larious.

Bill: Scared the pee right out of them, I bet.

Brian: [laughs] Yeah, I bet it did. So, you know, he’s doing what most people recommend is short, frequent cycles on the sprinkler system to keep the lawn green and make sure that the water penetrates into the soil.

Kelly: That’s perfect.

Bill: That’s a great idea. That’s a pretty good way to water your lawn.

Brian: It is a good way to water your lawn. So, the videos are classic, they’re really funny. YOU see a lot of people just walking down the alley, and then suddenly it’s just like, oh no! AND, yeah, they’re pretty funny.

Bill: How do the neighbors feel about this?

Brian: You know, the article I read said the neighbor actually really loved it, and she’s considering setting up a GoFundMe page for him to actually go ahead and make this more of a permanent installation. But, we’ll go ahead and post the link to the videos to our social media channel so you guys can watch them. They are pretty funny. Remember, you can always tweet at us at HouseFluent.com, use that hashtag #MyHouseQuestion, we’ll try to get to those, as always, on the show. YOU can also find us on Facebook or on Instagram or at HouseFluent.com.

Kelly: Alright, we’re going to go ahead and take a quick break for your smart home update, and when we get back, we’re going to discuss different ways to deal with watering your lawn this spring and summer.

[light-hearted music]

[jazz piano]

Brian: I’m Brian Botch with House Fluent Inspections, and this your Smart Home Update. Well, spring is almost here and it’s time to talk sprinklers. Yes, this year’s smart sprinklers have made a giant leap in water conservation features by keeping track of your water usage month over month and cycling the sprinklers in short bursts to prevent run-off. Most models use public weather-data to determine soil moisture and then change the time that they water each zone. While there are a few smart controllers that even track your home’s sun exposure on any given day and combine that with the type of plants in your yard to determine how much water you actually need. These systems, of course, support integrations, allowing you to do everything, like turn on your sprinkling system when your smart smoke alarm detects a fire or shutting the system down if a water-flow sensor determines a break in a waterpipe. YOU can also use your voice with your favorite home assistant to manually run zones or check on the status of the system. Even sprinkler systems are part of the smart home revolution, allowing you to more intelligently water your lawn while saving money and conserving water. I’m Brian Botch from House Fluent Inspections and this has been your Smart Home Update.

[jazz piano]

[light-hearted music]

Brian: Alright, Bill, so are you ready to talk irrigation?

Bill: Let’s talk irrigation.

Brian: Sprinkler systems are one of the most common things that we see here in the North Texas area that people use to keep their lawns green. AND, it’s really important to make sure that those are properly installed, and, maybe even more importantly, maintained. People generally tend to neglect that, they sort of think it’s a set it and forget it thing, and really don’t put much thought beyond that into their sprinkler system. At least, in general, that seems to be most of the ones that we look at.

Bill: I agree. Most people rarely go out to see their sprinklers functioning to see if they have broken heads, or they’ve mowed them over, or they’re even working correctly, or they’re spraying in the right direction.

Brian: Yeah, we see all kinds of crazy things. But really, once a year, at least, you should take a look at your system. YOU should run all the zones and really take a look at how things are looking. Look at how well things have been maintained and what may have occurred over the winter. And really, you should start, probably, with your backflow prevention device.

Bill: Yeah, in some areas your even required to have a licensed Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester come out and check it once a year.

Brian: Your backflow prevention device is typically found somewhere between your water meter and your house. Almost all modern have what’s called a double-check valve, and you can see that in a long, green rectangular box that’s buried in the ground.

Bill: It’s usually out in front of your house. It’s the plastic cover that’s usually chopped up from the mower.

Brian: [laughs] Yeah, it usually always is chopped up from the mower or buried under sod, I see that a lot too.

Bill: Yeah [chuckles]/

Brian: But, really when you open the cover of that box, and you should, at least once a year, take a look at it. It is probably the most important thing on your sprinkler system.

Kelly: Why is that component so important? Why should we check it once a year?

Brian: Well, your backflow prevention device, or, in this case, your double-check valve, which is what most of them are, actually prevents the water from your yard, from your irrigation system, from running back into the water supply and contaminating it.

Kelly: Would that be even more important if people were urinating in your yard?

Brian: Yes, it would. If you lived in a beach community and folks were coming by, urinating in your yard, you certainly wouldn’t want that flowing back into your water system.

Kelly: I would assume that’s important.

Brian: Yeah, get that thing tested. Make sure that the check valves inside of it are still functioning appropriately and doing what they’re supposed to.

Bill: AND, if you’re going to buy a house with a nice yard, probably don’t want to live next to a pub or a bar.

Brian: [laughs] Yeah, that’s right. So, once you’ve taken a look at your backflow prevention device, Bill, what should somebody look at next?

Bill: I would assume the controller that’s usually hanging from the wall in the garage by some wires.

Brian: [laughing] Yeah, it is usually hanging from the wall in the garage by some wires. We see that quite a lot. The other thing we see is that it is unplugged or that it’s got an extension cord running halfway across the garage to power it. Things like that. We see a lot of really DIY installs.

Bill: Yeah, I mean, now most houses are coming with them when they’re built new, and they’re done fairly well. But, in the early days you had all kinds of different systems installed in many different ways.

Brian: Yeah, like you said, houses that have been built maybe in the last 15-20 years, those definitely have better installs than older homes.

Bill: I agree, much better now.

Brian: So, one of the things that you want to do when you’re looking at your controller, go ahead and just cycle it through everything. Double-check you program, make sure that your watering times are still the same. Make sure the watering days are still the same. At least around here, cities can change those things, it seems like, almost at a moment’s notice.

Bill: A lot of times when you buy a new house, they have it set up to run many times for longer runs, and some people never actually reset that. When your house is built, you have fresh sod that’s just been laid, and they got to water it a lot, like every day. There’s a lot of people that never go back and redo the schedule.

Kelly: Hey, quick question. What if your landscape has changed from the previous year? Should you go back and check your durations on the sprinkler zones as far as sprinkler times and such go?

Bill: Mainly just make sure they’re spraying in the correct directions. Not on the house, not on your fence.

Brian: Yeah, and that’s the next thing you should do, you should find a relatively warm day and cycle the thing through each and every zone.

Bill: Wear a bathing suit.

Brian: That is true. So, when we’re inspecting a home, we get wet pretty often, running the sprinkler system.

Kelly: Actually, Brian usually likes to wash my ladder, because he usually does it while I’m on the roof.

Brian: Yeah, I wash your ladder.

Kelly: And my tools and everything else.

Bill: Nothing like watering a lawn on a 25-degree day though, it’s great.

Brian: Yeah, that is true. But, in all seriousness, there are different kinds of zones that you want to look at. So, most sprinkler systems nowadays have drip-zones around the foundation and the flower beds. Older systems have what’s called risers. AND, you just want to make sure that those things are working the way they should. One of the biggest things we see a lot in sprinkler zones is sprinklers spraying on walls. AND, most people look at that and think, eh, it’s not a big deal. It’s kind of a big deal, especially if your using too much water. Because, it can really deteriorate your wall. You’d be surprised at how a simple act of just throwing water at your wall everyday will really begin to deteriorate the mortar, even in brick walls.

Bill: YOU see a lot on houses with nice, stained fences where you can see the water pattern on the fence. WITH the amount of chlorine in the water, it washes the stain off the fence. That’s usually the only time that people realize, I think my sprinklers are going the wrong direction.

Brian: Yeah, that’s right. Having it installed and maintained appropriately is pretty important. It can cause damage to other things. When your throwing it over into your neighbor’s driveway and washing their car every day, your neighbor tends to not be real happy with you. So Bill, a friend of the program, Tammy from PostNet over in Hurst, Texas recently posted a video from Facebook. I don’t know if you can see that video, but this is somebody hand-watering their yard. What would you say that is? Here you go, ready?

Kelly: Wait, I think I got it. It’s on. I got it to play. Here we go.

Bill: Oh my.

Brian: So, describe what you’re seeing for the folks.

Bill: Wow. Now, that, I gotta say, is a unique set-up. She has her hose attached to an oscillating electric fan, going back and forth across her lawn.

Brian: Now, in fairness, the fan blades aren’t on there.

Bill: No… but it’s still plugged into the power running the hose back and forth across her lawn.

Kelly: How was this even considered a good idea?

Bill: Well, she probably figured it works.

Brian: Yeah, so Tammy didn’t do this. I’m not even sure if she took the video, she just posted it. I thought it was a pretty unique and funny thing to take a look at.

Kelly: So, it’s one of those things where, it’s not stupid if it works?

[all laugh]

Brian: Yeah, I guess so. Sort of that duct tape and bailing wire, you know.

Bill: I don’t want to call this a redneck invention here, but it’s kind of hard not to.

Brian: Perhaps we should just move on?

Bill: Just saying.

Brian: Alright, so we’ll go ahead and tweet this video out as well so folks can see it. It’s pretty humorous. AND, remember you can always tweet at us @HouseFluent, use the hashtag #MyHomeQuestion, we always try to get to those on the show. AND you can also find us on Facebook or on HouseFluent.com.

Alright, moving on. So, the top five ways, according to ABC News, Bill, that people can conserve water.

Bill: Reusing water would be number five.

Brian: That’s right, number five, reusing water. So that’s actually the easiest thing to do, and you can do this by simply recycling your water. So, what they recommend is actually using a pitcher or a bucket or a cup and keeping it by your sink or shower, and when you’re waiting for the water to heat up, you use that cold water on your plants and garden outside.

Bill: I could probably gain 50 gallons just waiting for my daughter to get in the shower.

Brian: I can relate to that.

Bill: I could probably refill my hot water heater by the time she actually gets in.

Brian: Yeah, I can relate to that.

Bill: I could probably fill it again with the amount of moisture coming off my ceiling, because she never uses the fan in the bathroom that I ask her to use every time.

Brian: So, what you’re saying you need is actually not a bucket or a cup or a pitcher, you need a tarp?

Bill: She actually thinks she’s recycling the rain water coming off the ceiling to take the shower. I really hope she doesn’t listen to this show.

Brian: Eh, you should encourage her. She should listen to this show along with all of her friends.

Bill: She should learn a lot about water conservation.

Brian: She should.

Kelly: She should.

Brian: Alright, so number four, Bill, I thought you would appreciate this.

Bill: I saw this one. This one made me kind of laugh.

Brian: I thought this would be one of your favorites.

Bill: I wasn’t quite sure to make of this one when I first saw it.

Brian: This is a hybrid sink/toilet.

Bill: This is the Prius of toilets.

Brian: It’s the Prius of toilets. This is sort of a new, innovative product that’s come out of Australia, of all places. But, this is actually a sink that’s on top of your toilet tank. AND the water that you use to wash your hands fills the tank of your toilet.

Bill: When any of you see a photo of this, I just want you to think of those people that have been drinking at the bar that are walking down the street, that are peeing in the guy’s yard. Had they seen this toilet, they would have not gone in the toilet, they would have gone in the sink. It is right on top of the tank.

Brian: They may have gone in the sink.

Bill: Well, that’s just closer. Do not install this if you own a pub.

Brian: Yeah, so we’ll go ahead, we’ll put a picture of this out on our social media as well for everybody to take a look at it, But, yeah, it’s pretty interesting.

Bill: It’s basically a standard toilet, and where the tank is on back of the toilet, it has the lid that you lift up off the back, it’s actually got the sink installed there.

Brian: Yeah, and, again, the water from the sink fills the tank of the toilet. So, it encourages handwashing, Bill.

Kelly: It kind of sounds like a challenge.

Bill: Yes. Anyway, let’s move on to number three.

Brian: Alright, number three, replacing pools. So, it says some home owners are caving in and getting rid of their pools. So, an owner of a pool construction demo company said that he helps people turn their pools into something new. He says, “I’ve definitely seen an uprising this season. Drought is pushing people to do the job…” I assume he means, filling the pool in. AND he said, “One way to do this is by emptying the water out of the pool and then filling it in with dirt.

Bill: I can see this isn’t, obviously, very popular here in the state of Texas. But, in places like California where they had huge droughts and stuff like that, I can see that happening just because, for one, probably you can’t even afford to put water into it anymore or get the water. But, do you know anybody, personally, that’s ever done this, Brian?

Brian: I have.

Bill: Oh, that’s so amazing. I didn’t know that.

Brian: Yeah, I have actually removed a pool. So, we actually had the choice of filling it in like they describe here or actually having it removed. We chose to get it removed and then filled back it.

Bill: So, pretty obviously, after you’ve gone down that path, your next step would be the hybrid toilet. WITH your four kids, that would be interesting.

Brian: It would be. Well, we could one bathroom into two.

Bill: Your kids are bathing in the upper sink.

Brian: Yeah, they might, you never know. Alright, so number two on the list, drought-tolerant landscaping. This is actually pretty popular here in Texas. I know, I lived in West Texas for a while, and that was incredibly popular, zero-scaping.

Bill: In the Phoenix area, that area’s become very popular there

Kelly: We had that in our home in Tucson and it was great.

Brian: Alright, are you guys ready? The number one way to conserve water. Are you ready, Bill? According to ABC News.

Bill: I’m so ready.

Brian: Spray-painting your lawn. Spray it green.

Bill: Wow, that’s just… I’ve seen them do that in football stadiums before, during a game in the winter, to make it look nicer and all that. But, I can’t imagine that’s good for anything. Obviously it’s some kind of special water-based paint or something, but…

Kelly: Is that the same company that does the hair in the can?

Brian: It might be! It might, very well be. That is the number one way. It says spray painting dry, brown lawns green is an efficient way to conserve water.

Kelly: Jeeze.

Bill: Wow. Wow. Just start a company, “I Paint Laws.”

Brian: That’s right. We’ll go ahead and tweet out the five ways, here, to conserve water, according to ABC News. And, remember, you can always tweet at us using the hashtag #MyHomeQuestion, and you can find us on Facebook or HouseFluent.com. YOU tweet at us @HouseFluent.

Kelly: Alright, we’re going to take a quick break.

[light-hearted music]

[banjo music]

Richard: Hello again, my name is Richard Gaspar from Ebbi Halliday Realtors, and this, of course, is What’s Better for You in Real Estate. Today, let’s look at an often-overlooked way to save between 450 and 550 dollars during your next transaction. Most buyers are not aware that some cut-rate lenders will automatically send out the appraiser to evaluate the home on behalf of the lender. But, because they automatically do it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the best thing for you. Since appraisals are paid by you, the buyer, this represents a sunk cost to you in the buying process. Appraisals typically cost between 450 and, say, around 550 dollars. If you think about it, that’s part of your upfront expenses. But, be careful here, because it can cost you even if you and your agent decide not to proceed. For example, if the property repairs can’t be negotiated. You, your lender, and agent should have close communication with regard to this process. Ideally, the lender should ask you if you plan to move forward post-inspection. If the answer is yes, then the appraisal gets ordered, as usual, and the rest of the process moves along as planned and, of course, you will get charged for that appraisal. But, if the answer is no, then you and the lender can insure that the appraisal is not automatically ordered, and in that case, you just side-step the extra 450-550 in expenses for a property that you have no intention of moving forward with. Ensuring better communication essentially saves you the money, reducing the risk for you, the buyer, and lowering your expenses. That’s a better deal for you. This has been What’s in it for You in Real Estate? My name is Richard Gaspar with Ebbi Halliday Realtors. You can reach me at 214+704-4896 via voice or text.

[fiddle music]

[light-hearted music]

Brian: Alright, so, Bill, before we get to the client questions, I want to just for a second talk about the home inspection business in general. You know, when I got into the business, I wasn’t quite sure just what to expect. I imagine you kind of felt the same way. You weren’t quite sure what to expect. You probably thought you’d be up there looking at all these newer homes, especially in your area.

Bill: Brand new homes.

Brian: Yeah, brand new homes. And, we do, we look at our share of those. We look at everything from multi-million-dollar homes all the way on down to about as low as you can imagine. And, you know, one thing that really was unexpected for me, and I don’t know how you feel about this, but, the million-dollar homes are nice, they certainly pay the bills, but the one thing that really surprised me… we began to get involved with an immigrant community here. And, most of the immigrants come from Myanmar, and they buy these houses that, boy, I’ll tell you what, we go and look at them. When we first started looking at them, I remember thinking, who in their right mind would buy this? Who would live in this, right? I mean, we’re talking holes in walls and floors. Really, really run down. But, recently, I had an opportunity to actually go visit one of those folks after they moved in, just to see how they transform those places into a home. What they do with them is really amazing, its unbelievably inspiring.

Bill: Yeah, I mean, for a lot of them I would assume that that’s the nicest house they’ve ever owned. Even though they do need a lot of work, a lot of them want to fix them up and do things to them, which is pretty cool.

Brian: Yeah, it’s amazing to see. It’s one of those things, that’s actually one of those things that gets you up in the morning and gets you excited about doing this job is, you really get to help people not only understand what they’re getting into, but when they get into it, they’re in a place where they can make something a home. Man, that just makes your heart feel good.

Bill: Yeah, just like anybody else, their dream is to own a home and they really take pride in it and want to make it their home and fix it up the way they want it and make it their house.

Brian: Alright, let’s go ahead and move on to some listener and client questions. So, Bill, the first one comes to us, it says, should I have my pool inspected by a pool company or my home inspector?

Bill: I would definitely say have your home inspector do it on your home inspection, and if it needs more than that, you could then have it inspected by a pool company.

Brian: Yeah, I would agree. Make sure whoever you have inspect it is certified through the National Swimming Pool Foundation, whether they’re a pool person or not. They are the probably the most legitimate governing body when it comes to inspecting and operating pools.

Bill: Absolutely. We’re not a pool company, we’re not trying to sell you a pool, so we’re just going to tell you what we see.

Brian: Alright, so the next question. I’m in the process of buying a condo, my realtor suggested I get a home inspection, but doesn’t he HOA deal with all the structural issues? Why should I get a home inspection?

Bill: You should still get a home inspection on a condo just like you would a house. Certainly are, yes, covered by the HOA, but many things are not, and you still want everything inspected. You may even find things wrong with things that the HOA does cover, but they need to be brought up.

Brian: Yeah, that’s right. Recently, we inspected a condo and found issues on the roof. That was brought up to the HOA by the realtor as part of the negotiation, and addressed before the client moved in. We also found a myriad of problems inside the condo itself that were actually the home owner’s responsibility.

Bill: You also may find things that the HOA doesn’t even know about. They could even be safety items. There’s many things that an inspection will show you.

Brian: Alright, last question. What are some things I should consider as someone with no real handyman skills when purchasing my first home?

Bill: Oh boy. Find a good handyman.

Brian: I’m thinking, find YouTube.

Bill: Yeah, no kidding. That is true, in this day and age, other than getting a few tools, you can definitely do a lot of things on your own that you probably couldn’t years ago. A lot of people are trying, especially with all the home improvement shows on now, everybody is a lot more willing to try stuff now. As long as you’re being safe about it and not burning down your house or electrocuting yourself, I say go for it.

Brian: Yes, it’s the Fix that House mentality, or, what’s that show? Fixer Upper?

Bill: Yeah, there’s a bunch of them but..

Brian: Yeah, there’s a bunch of those DIY shows. So, yeah, I mean, with no real handyman skills, it shouldn’t discourage you from getting into a home. Worst case scenario, there’s plenty of professionals out there you could hire to fix something if it really was broken. In most of the home maintenance stuff, really, you just kind of learn that over time as a home owner anyway.

Bill: If you buy an older house, you’re going to learn to fix things without a doubt, just because you kind of have to. But, even people that buy new homes, there’s things you want to do, or home improvement things, or things you want change, or things you don’t like the way they are, or things you want to add. Even on new homes, you can do plenty of projects.

Brian: Yeah, that’s true. So, remember, if you have questions, just tweet at us @HouseFluent, use the hashtag #MyHomeQuestion, we’ll feature them here. So Bill, before we kind of wrap the show up, I want to sort of bring things back around. We talked a lot today about watering your yard and irrigation systems. We talked about some unique ways to water and things like that, but I want to wrap it up with a story. So, this is a story I found. This is a neighborly dispute.

So, this man has a neighbor who’s in his 30’s, and he runs his sprinkler system nightly and has neglected any maintenance on it for quite some time. He has Old Faithful in his yard.

Bill: I like those. I can hear them. It sounds like it’s raining.

Brian: Yes, it does. And, the problem with it is that each and every night it puts about two inches of water on the yard, and, not only that, but it sprays directly on the wall between the two properties. It puts so much water out that there’s actually a water stain on the other side of a cinder block wall on the neighbor’s property, and it floods the neighbor’s yard, and floods the street and everything else.

Bill: That’s not good.

Brian: No, it’s not good.

Bill: Definitely for your foundation

Brian: It’s not good for your foundation. It’s not good for a lot of things. But, yeah, there’s about an inch-and-a-half or two inches of water, and you can see in some of the photos, it’s pretty extensive. The kind of damage this can cause is pretty amazing, actually. Water does some pretty amazing things.

Bill: Especially if you live somewhere where it freezes and the water expands and causes cracks and all kinds of other issues, which has probably got a lot to do with a lot of foundation problems on top of the soil movement.

Brian: Yeah, so, remember, be kind to your neighbors, go out once a year and just look at your sprinkler system. Make sure no pipes are broken, make sure your sprinkler system is behaving the way it’s supposed to.

Bill: Good idea.

Brian: Okay, well, that’s it. We’re going to wrap it up. So, thank you for listening to House Fluent Inspections Radio. We hope you enjoyed the podcast today. Remember, you can always tweet at us, @HouseFluent, or go to HouseFluent.com to book a home inspection, read articles about stress-free home-buying, home-selling, and homeownership or just generally get to know us.

Bill: Let us know if we’re mildly entertaining, please?

Brian: That’s right. So, Bill, what do we have coming up on the show next time?

Bill: Still haven’t looked yet.

Brian: That’s okay. Alright, so thank you today to Bill Beck, our producer Kelly Lemont. Music today and everyday was provided by Purple Planet Music. Everybody have a great week and we’ll talk to you next time!

Bill: See you guys!

Kelly: Bye!

[light-hearted music]

Brian Botch

Brian Botch

Brian is the owner of House Fluent Inspections and is licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission as a professional real estate inspector (TX License # 22824 ). In addition, he is certified by the National Swimming Pool Foundation as a Certified Pool Inspector.

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