Today’s session revisits the purpose of the show and discusses the plan to realign its focus to more specific and technical topics. Reuben shares that the show was originally designed for diligent homeowners who want to learn more about their house, real estate agents, and home inspectors. We're considering a new target audience of just home inspectors, but we'd like to hear your input. Please email us at podcast@structuretech.com to let us know what you think. Reuben also shares that StructureT...
Jun 21, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Andy Schreder , Chief Building Officer of Rum River Construction Consultants joins today’s session to talk about ‘’Structural Insulated Panels’’ or SIPs. These are insulated foam cores with an OSB or plywood glued on each face; it acts as a structural component as an exterior wall assembly. Currently, their company is raising funds to erect SIPs buildings in Haiti. Andy shares that SIPs are becoming more prevalent in the modern building infrastructure because of the energy efficiency; the way SI...
Jun 14, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 46
For today’s episode, the gang will talk about the checklist one should consider when moving into a new house; what is important and what should be fixed? The show starts off with Tessa sharing her experience when she went under inspector duty to assist her parents when they moved into a house that was built in 2006. In 15 years, some mechanical equipment must be replaced such as the furnace, water softener, etc. Going through her parents’ punch list, they discovered serious concerns such as debr...
Jun 07, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Reuben shares a recent water disaster with his kitchen water heater. He tapped 24Restore , a service company that specializes in emergency damage caused by water, fire, biohazards, and storms. He then shares the process and his full experience with the dispatch team of Jesse and David. Jesse Jackman shares that their company's primary goal is to help, to secure the property and belongings, and ensure team and customer safety. They assess and recommend what to do, then restore and reconstruct the...
May 31, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 44
May is the National Deck Safety Month. In Today's podcast, Reuben shares his experiences in building decks and home inspections. He explains the attachment methods, how to prevent deck failures, maintenance and deterioration, and safety. While decks are good D-I-Y projects to add living space, some components must work together and some building codes must be followed. Related link https://structuretech.com/minnesota-deck-inspections...
May 24, 2021•39 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Building and renovating houses is getting expensive! In today's podcast, Bill shares that the cost of materials has been rising. Capacity, logistics, and tariffs issues contribute to the increase in prices. Reuben shares about the current prices of lumber in the market. The use of structural insulated panels, even a 100-year old iron bathtub may aid the expenses. However, Tessa shares that passive houses may do more because of their standard in energy efficiency in buildings....
May 17, 2021•17 min•Season 2Ep. 43
Today’s episode digs into the topic of electricity. Tessa leads the technical talk about the difference between grounding and bonding: “why we have it,” “what it means, ” and “what it does.” At the same time, Reuben explains the distinction between being electrocuted from being shocked. He also explains the difference between Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter and Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter. These are important to reduce the risk of electrocution and to keep a safe home....
May 10, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Dan Sibinski with Keller Williams Classic Realty joins the show to discuss whether or not we’re in a housing bubble. Dan discusses the housing market trends in Minnesota, with a deep-dive into inventory, interest rates, and how those affect the market. There are a lot of numbers and trends discussed during this podcast, and it will greatly help to follow along with the graphs and charts posted on the podcast section on our website at https://structuretech.com/podcast-structure-talk/ housing-bubb...
May 03, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Daniel Felt, the owner of Kura Home Maintenance , joins the show for the second time. He catches up with Bill, Tessa, and Reuben about the secrets to the thriving success of their business. He shares about providing the various needs of their clients as they are expanding in promising states nationwide. He also highlights the importance of having a customer-focused team and how this culture has helped them increase their clientele.
Apr 26, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Brendan Ryan, the president of the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors (EBPHI) joins the show to talk about the National Home Inspection Exam (NHIE). Brendan explains the complexity and importance of taking a psychometric exam for a home inspection license. Passing the high-stakes examination is an advantage in the market as well as a requirement in various associations such as the American Society of Home Inspectors. He then shares how the exams were written and how often they are...
Apr 19, 2021•25 min•Season 2Ep. 37
When we talk about real estate real agents, usually they would convince people to buy the property because of this and that. May it be in the seller’s market or buyer’s market, we never heard of them telling anyone anything other than “Why now is the good time to buy!” But today, we will hear a different story that will knock us off our feet. Michael Bartus , residential Realtor® extraordinaire of Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty, joins the show to explain why this might not be a good time f...
Apr 12, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Dirk van Reenen, the co-founder and owner of Inspector Empire Builder (IEB) joins the show to talk about the business of home inspections. The show starts off with Dirk introducing himself and his company. He shares how they work with other companies by opening up the lanes of growth in structure and the people in the organization, which opens up the scalability, growth, profitability, and time freedom of companies. He also points out that if you want to have a great business, you have to have g...
Apr 05, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Steve Trumble, the owner of Chimney Doctor s in the Twin Cities, joins the show to talk about all things related to chimneys. The show starts off with Steve introducing himself and his company. He also discusses a metal fabrication company which he owns. Then, Steve, having a massive amount of knowledge about this topic, answers the following questions: How can there be such discrepancies in most chimney inspections? Is there some type of standard that just makes it black and white? What are the...
Mar 28, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Today’s episode features George Ury, a licensed Truth in Sale of Housing evaluator and one of the finest home inspectors at Structure Tech. Today’s focus is on Minneapolis Truth-in-Housing Evaluations, and the whole new energy component that was added last year. George discusses how the new TISH evaluations are going and shares some of the inspections he has participated in. He also shares how this is related to the company’s new service, the walk-through consultations. Reuben then shares the fe...
Mar 21, 2021•17 min•Season 2Ep. 34
The show starts off with Peter Troast, the founder and CEO of Energy Circle , sharing a little bit about himself and his company. He joins the show to talk about the concept of healthy homes and indoor air quality and some of the changes that people are starting to think about in terms of their homes and the actual health of the indoor air they're breathing in on a day-to-day basis. He then answers the following questions: What’s the rank order of remodeling priorities in homes? What is your def...
Mar 14, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Kevin Wagstaff, the co-CEO of Spectora , joins the show to talk about home inspection software, the home inspection industry, and company culture. The show starts off with Kevin introducing himself and how he decided to get into the home inspection industry from a technology perspective. He then answers the following questions: How much competition is there in the home inspection software field? When you're building this technology, how much did that affect the touch and the feel, and what your ...
Mar 07, 2021•41 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Today’s episode starts off by digging into the local real estate market with our guest, a Realtor® extraordinaire at RE/MAX Advantage Plus, Jim Starr . He shares what the real estate market’s like in the Twin cities in the last week of February. He shares a couple of listings they had, some overlapping showings they did, and how chaotic they were. Also, he shares an experience he had where the buyer didn’t do an inspection and ended up with some issues and concluded that having a home inspection...
Feb 28, 2021•39 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Joseph Whitters, a second-generation sewer guy and the owner of Drain Busters joins the show to talk about the importance of maintaining sewer systems for homes. Sometimes, trouble with a sewer system can turn into a major problem that may show itself quickly and can be due to a damaged pipe or some other issues. Thus, it is indeed important to make sure that there are no potential issues present in the sewer system. The show starts off with Joe introducing himself and his company. He shares tha...
Feb 21, 2021•44 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Today’s episode is a very timely topic that is related to the very cold weather that we are experiencing right now. The gang will be talking about frozen faucets and some of the plumbing that runs through the exteriors of houses. The gang will also be sharing “what to do” when the water flow is shut off so that homeowners won’t end up with a problem later. The show starts off with Reuben defining an outside faucet. He mentions several terms such as an outside hose bib, a spigot, a hose valve, an...
Feb 14, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Reuben has been meaning to blog about the subject of this episode since 2014. He was finally able to create and post it when it was brought up by an internal team question. Today, the gang will be talking about the issues of rotted rim joists, beam fill, and floor structure problems that tend to come up in old houses. The gang answers the questions “why it happens,” “when it happens,” “what are the signs that one should look for," and “ when does it need further evaluation.” The show starts off ...
Feb 08, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 28
For today’s episode, the gang talks from their own experiences about the things a professional home inspector should and shouldn’t say when dealing with clients. They discuss some of the language that should be avoided along with legal details and technicalities. Choosing an experienced home inspector can help guarantee not just their qualifications, but their experiential knowledge and expertise as well. The show starts off with Reuben sharing the most cringe-worthy comment he heard while condu...
Feb 01, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Christine Williamson, building scientist and the person behind Building Science Fight Club , joins the show to talk about the different ways to integrate new knowledge into building durable and efficient structures and designs with the help of building science. She also discusses how this is a tool to solve specific problems and what those problems are. The show starts off with Christine explaining what Building Science is and how it is a little bit more complicated than other sciences. She expl...
Jan 25, 2021•55 min•Season 2Ep. 26
For this episode, we will be learning different ways to add value to our homes with home improvement tips from the gang through some of the projects that they’ve been working on. The show starts off with Bill sharing his experience on how he tried to fix his house on his own in the past and how he shifted from fixing it by himself to letting the experts do it. Tessa then talks about how important it is to do things right so that you don’t make your house worse. Then, Reuben describes what a sola...
Jan 18, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Michael Conrad II, the CEO of Diligent , a Home Inspection and Environmental Testing company in Nashville, joins the show to talk about how home inspections have evolved over the years. The show starts off with Michael explaining how the company began, and how it grew into a trifecta of home inspections, energy auditing, and environmental testing. He shares about leadership development, the common care for employees, creating stability, and giving people the life that they want. He talks about h...
Jan 11, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 24
This podcast was recorded in the studio in mid-February of 2020, pre-covid. We brought on a special guest for this episode, residential Realtor® Michael Bartus of Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty. The topic was buying a house in the winter, and how to deal with a roof that’s covered in snow, because of course, it can’t be inspected. The weather warmed up before we had a chance to post this podcast, so we’ve kept it on ice until now. Now that the Minnesota winter snow is likely here to stay f...
Jan 04, 2021•21 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Since we are nearing the end of the year, today’s episode is a little bit of a recap about what the year was like here at Structure Tech. The show starts off with the gang expressing their appreciation and gratefulness that in spite of how challenging the year was, the business is still running and everyone is busy. Then, they bring up all the changes that took place in the company.
Dec 28, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 22
The owner and founder of Complete Building Solutions , Robert Vassallo, joins the show to talk about his expertise as a structural engineering consultant. The show starts off with Rob explaining about his company and what they do to find problems and how to solve them. He then answers some specific questions: What’s the most common problem in attics that leads to ice dams? How was sealing an attic bypass required? What do you do for ventilation in the attic? What’s a dead vent? When would you re...
Dec 20, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 21
For today’s episode, we have John Williamson, Operations Supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, join Structure Talk for a second podcast on electrical updates. The show starts off with John talking about the recent adoption process for the 2020 National Electrical Code. The following topics are covered, among other things: How NFPA matters to the NEC? Why does the code about GFCI protection not include outdoor lights? Who are these people submitting proposals or public i...
Dec 06, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 19
In this episode, the team talks about home inspection ethics. This was brought up because Bill got a call from somebody in the company who had a question about doing business with a real estate agent who was hoping that we would support their business with monthly financial contributions. And that raised the question, “Is that ethical?” The show starts with Reuben saying that inspectors should avoid conflicts of interests or activities that compromise or appear to compromise professional indepen...
Nov 29, 2020•38 min•Season 2Ep. 18
The owner of Eco Shaylee , Shaylee Oleson, joins the show to talk about how important environmental testing is. She talks about Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), and anything that would make a person sick in their homes, workplace, and even in commercial buildings. The show starts off with Shaylee explaining about her company and its background. She then answers some specific questions: What is Building Biology? Where do we get Certification Courses for Building B...
Nov 22, 2020•30 min•Season 2Ep. 17
