Inspections Plus

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately in Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge inspecting high-value condos in older buildings — many of them 100+ years old, beautifully located, and full of character.

But one thing keeps coming up: a great-looking condo unit is not always the same thing as a modern building.

The finishes matter, but so does the infrastructure behind them — electrical capacity, older wiring, shared plumbing, heating systems, masonry, roof drainage, and association responsibility.

For older Boston-area condos, the inspection needs to look past the unit and into the building context.

I wrote more about that here: https://wix.to/ZMf9N86

The Hidden Layer in $1M Boston Condos Inside a 100-year-old Boston-area condo building, the finishes may look great — but the shared infrastructure still matters. Here’s why older condos need a building-context inspection.

Concrete block piers in a crawlspace may look simple, but they carry real floor loads. Here’s what to watch for in older New England homes and cottages: https://wix.to/Dfkpqo4

Crawl Space Support Columns: A Common Structural Detail That Deserves a Closer Look Concrete block support columns in crawl spaces may look simple, but they play a major role in carrying floor loads down to the footing below. In older New England homes and cottages, these areas often deserve a closer look.

Why does foundation anchorage matter? It’s the connection that ties a home’s framing to its foundation so the structure resists movement and stays stable. Learn how anchor bolts, spacing, embedment, and placement all play a role in keeping a house in place. Read more: https://wix.to/VjrSrv4

Foundation Anchorage Basics: The Connection That Helps Keep a House in Place Foundation anchorage is what helps tie a home’s framing to its foundation so the structure can better resist movement and remain stable under load. Anchor bolts, spacing, embedment, and placement all matter because this is one of the basic connections that helps keep a house in place.

Before I even step through the front door, the inspection has already begun. I look at the home’s age, construction, setting, and neighborhood to understand the bigger picture — those first impressions often reveal important clues. Read the full article to learn what I evaluate before I get out of the car: https://wix.to/5jWaWGn

Before I Even Get Out of the Car The inspection doesn’t start at the front door. A lot of times, it starts earlier — with the age of the home, the setting, the neighborhood, and the story a property starts telling before the real inspection even begins.A home inspection doesn’t begin when I walk through the front door. A lot ...