In this episode, the team talks about how important it is to maintain a wood-burning fireplace. This topic was brought up because Bill’s neighbor is dealing with a $20k chimney rebuild. The show starts with Reuben explaining the structure of chimneys. He then answers some questions: What involves a fireplace from the place you put the logs all the way up to where the smoke leaves the top of the chimney? What are the pieces that make it all up? Where would you often find the biggest problems with...
Nov 15, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 16
A special guest, Yvonne, joins the show to talk about her experience with failed stone veneer siding throughout a townhome development in the Twin Cities metro area. These are some real concerns that are going to cost people a lot of money Yvonne talks about how she started suspecting that there was a problem in their townhome. A problem that started from one of the units’ conditions that might be replicated across other units. She then found out the improperly installed masonry stone veneer in ...
Nov 08, 2020•27 min•Season 2Ep. 15
A residential Realtor® at Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty, Michael Bartus joins the show to talk about negotiations after the inspection and how to negotiate other real estate transactions. The focus of this show was to pick up on where last week’s show left off, talking about a document that Reuben put together titled Negotiations After The Inspection . The show starts with Michael sharing his negotiating experiences and answers some questions: What should a home inspector say to a client,...
Nov 01, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Structure Talk talks about the dreaded C-Word, Code. Should home inspectors even mention code? The gang also discusses some specific questions: How do you feel about code as it relates to buying a house? Why should home inspectors be very familiar with building codes? ASHI says that home inspectors should report on significantly deficient stuff, how would you define that? Are there any negotiations made after an inspection? Does the inspector inspect the garage when the garage doesn’t open? Coul...
Oct 25, 2020•27 min•Season 2Ep. 13
One of Structure Tech’s very own inspectors, Eric Houseman, joins the show to talk about the major changes the company has made since Covid-19 took effect back in March. The show starts off doing a deep dive into where the company came from, then covers the following topics: Process: Why Structure Tech started out as a be-with-us-every-minute-of-the-way inspection company. What happened in March of 2020. What changes have occurred with inspections this year. What was done to keep the inspectors,...
Oct 19, 2020•23 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Third-generation owner of Northland Water , Brady Androff, joins the show to talk Minneapolis vs. Saint Paul water and to discuss commonly asked questions about water conditioning. The show starts off with Brady explaining about his company and its background. He then answers some specific questions: Why do we use salt and other things to treat water? What does a water softener do? A water softener removes minerals present in the water, but why do you want to take those out when our body needs t...
Oct 12, 2020•28 min•Season 2Ep. 9
John Williamson, Operations Supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, joins Structure Talk to do a deep dive in electricity. The gang covers the following topics, among other things: Is it legal for home inspectors to remove electrical panel covers? What would be the best course of action if I opened a Federal Pacific electric panel and then I got a handful of circuit breakers fallout from the panel? Is it a bad idea for refrigerators to be plugged into GFCI-protected recep...
Oct 05, 2020•47 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Tessa explains the basics of building science, touching on many components that overlap with home inspections. These topics include: Airflow and the H.A.M. sandwich (heat, airflow, and moisture) Occupant loads and the effect on buildings Blower door testing Old house vs. new house performance (energy vs durability) The importance of different trades communicating with each other Water management The myth that it's possible to build houses too tight...
Sep 28, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Building official Andy Schreder with Rum River Construction Consultants joins the show for a live Q&A session via Facebook Live. There's some great discussion of commonly asked questions, along with some very interesting insight from Andy about why building officials don't always enforce code requirements. The topics include: Permits required for kitchen remodels. Electrical? Plumbing? Dishwasher air gaps , and how they're going away (YAY!) Reuben's soap dispenser hack Fire separation betwee...
Sep 21, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Steve Kuhl with Kuhl's Contracting returns to the show to share some insider dirt on insurance restoration, insurance claims, which insurance companies "pay out" and which ones don't, and gives us a behind-the-scenes look into the world of insurance fraud. Steve is passionate and opinionated about all of this stuff, and it's a treat to listen to all of his insider information. We've been attending classes, conferences, schools, and all of that other fun stuff for a long time, but we never get to...
Sep 07, 2020•41 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Special guest Tim Molgren with The Woodlands Financial Group joins the show to share some fresh insights into the world of homeowners insurance, hail damage, and insurance claims. Homeowners insurance costs have risen at an unprecendented rate here in the Midwest, and garbage hail-damage claims are at the root of this problem. Insurance companies are beginning to fight back against this, and they’ve drawn a line in the sand at the 15-year mark for the age of roof coverings. Not only does this af...
Aug 31, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Our very own Lisa Ferrario joins the show to discuss the evolution of home inspections, scheduling, and all things related.
Aug 24, 2020•21 min•Season 2Ep. 2
To follow up on our podcast from several weeks about building permits, we invited building official Andy Schreder with Rum River Construction Consultants onto the show to discuss everything we may have been wrong about in our previous episode. Either we got most of it right or Andy was really nice because we didn’t discuss much from the previous episode. Andy did offer some very interesting insight into the whole building inspections program, however, and even made a good case for cities to use ...
Aug 17, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Twenty-five-year real estate veteran Rhonda Wilson joins the show a second time to discuss pre-listing inspections. Rhonda has been encouraging her sellers to get pre-listing inspections for the past decade, and she has become quite accustomed to having her listings sell faster and with far fewer hassles than most other real estate agents are accustomed to. She explains how frustrating it is to have a home get put into “pending” status, wait to get the home inspection, have a bunch of surprises ...
Aug 10, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Experienced real estate agent Rhona Wilson joins the show to help the gang have a good conversation about allowable real estate terms. The idea for the show came up while having an internal company conversation about the term “master bedroom”, and whether or not that term should be abandoned in favor of a more PC term. Rhonda talks about fair housing law, explaining a lot of terms and photos that cannot be used in real estate listings. The gang also talks about the importance of maintaining comp...
Aug 03, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Reuben begins the show talking about how Structure Tech has started a TikTok account , and nearly puts Bill to sleep. At the time, we hadn’t yet made a TikTok, but we’ve made one since. The conversation quickly turns to the main topic of the show, and the gang spends the rest of the show discussing all things related to building permits. Are they worth it? Do we all pull permits at our own houses? Does pulling permits add to the value of a home? What about work that hasn’t been permitted: do hom...
Jul 27, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Bill, Tessa, and a Reuben are back together in the studio to discuss what successful homeowner looks like. It’s all about running your household like a business. Everything shares how they budget for major items in their home, and what types of items should be budgeted for on a regular basis. Reuben waxes on the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz and explains how he and his wife have furthered that method by setting up several personal bank account that are dedicated to saving for specific th...
Jul 20, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 55
James Thomas joins the show to talk about all things related to home inspections. The show starts off with James touching on the origins of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), and how he ended up in his current position. The conversation shifts to education and training for home inspectors, and James talks about some recent changes to The ASHI School. James also talks about increasing diversity amongst home inspectors, as well as the future of home inspections in the next 5-7 years....
Jul 13, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 54
For this episode, the gang gets down and dirty discussing disgusting doozies discovered during home inspections. Most of the grossest stuff is related to people and animals, but that's not all. Don't listen to this episode while eating.
Jul 06, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 53
The gang discusses hard-to-find home inspection discoveries, which they call Easter Eggs. Reuben talks about a recent inspection that he did, and shares some of the finds from that inspection. One of those was a blocked toe-kick register below the kitchen sink, pictured here . Reuben also discusses finding a hot dimmer switch that controlled a 900-watt chandelier. The conversation turns to furnace fan settings for summertime conditions , and then the gang has a good discussion about exactly how ...
Jun 29, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 52
The gang discusses a timeline of home inspection defects or issues that might come up, based on when the home was built. Reuben shared this timeline on the Structure Tech blog and on the Structure Tech YouTube channel, but we thought it would be fun to discuss these issues during a podcast to help explain some of them a little bit more in-depth.
Jun 22, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Bill opens the podcast talking about a terrifying fire that happened across the hallway in his mother-in-law's condo high-rise building, and about the damage caused by smoke and water. The gang discusses the possibility of an FPE Stab-Lok panel causing the fire, and Reuben goes on to discuss the disproportionate number of condo buildings with FPE panels when compared to single-family homes. The conversation then turns to a 3-alarm house fire that happened during a Structure Tech home inspection ...
Jun 15, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Bill, Tessa, and Reuben start the show discussing a few minor corrections to the podcast from two weeks ago on air conditioners. Next, they discuss the new standards for home inspection attendance and safety for home inspections. Reuben also mentions a facemask that most Structure Tech home inspectors are wearing, which can currently be found here ....
Jun 08, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 49
For this podcast episode, Reuben does a one-on-one interview with Structure Tech's business coach, Dr. Stephen Crawford. Dr. Crawford has been conducting weekly team huddles for his coaching clients every Friday morning, and he conducted a special meeting on May 29th to focus on George Floyd, protests, riots, racism, and advice to business owners. Dr. Crawford shares his insight for this podcast episode. We'll return to our regular home inspection topics next week. About: Dr. Stephen Crawford wi...
May 29, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Bill, Tessa and Reuben discuss how air conditioners function, why it's extremely unusual to have an undersized air conditioner, and the end of R-22 refrigerant. Older air conditioners that contain R-22 refrigerant are typically going to be cost-prohibitive to service, but it's not illegal to do so. We also mention a video compilation we assembled showing 60 home inspection defects in 3 minutes . One of those was an iced-up evaporator coil melting all over the place while the furnace ran....
May 25, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 47
The gang is super-excited to finally get Patrick Heulman , a leading building science expert, on the show! We've talked about having him as a guest for a long time and now that we're temporarily recording our podcasts from our homes, we were able to get Pat on the show. He's an Associate Extension Professor with the University of Minnesota and works on several other projects as well. The show starts out digging into Pat's background and then moves onto the importance of considering a house as a ...
May 18, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Milind Angolkar was the first home inspector to join the Structure Tech team after Reuben, and we love him. In fact, everyone loves Milind because he's a good, kind person. We start the show by discussing Milind's history with the company, and Milind shares some crazy home inspection fail stories.
May 11, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Bill starts off the conversation talking to Reuben and Tessa about life, spring maintenance, and business in general. Reuben and Tessa go on a tangent talking about mean feedback given during free continuing education classes, which leads to Tessa discussing her current project of creating a home inspector training curriculum. Bill brings up leaking faucets, and that leads into leaking backflow preventers, how to remove them, and what happens when a hack tries to take them off with a pipe wrench...
May 04, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 44
The gang starts off the show by talking about their lives spent working from home, and they quickly move on to projects happening around the house. Bill discusses the time that he ended up with a frozen outdoor faucet because he forgot to remove his garden hose. Reuben talks about the time that his entire 1.5-story home flooded because of a plumbing leak on the second floor. Tessa reminds us of the importance of knowing where the main water valve is. Tessa also talks about some flubs at her own ...
Apr 27, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Bill, Tessa, and Reuben start the show off by talking about the new standards for life at home, working with family, and trying to broadcast to large audiences while not having spouses carry on loud phone conversations in the same room. Reuben discusses how COVID-19 has changed the face of home inspections at Structure Tech, and has the potential to change home inspections forever. Tessa talks about all of the new continuing education classes that are being taught to real estate agents, and that...
Apr 20, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 42
