Structure Talk

For this podcast episode, we did a live Q&A session through Facebook Live, while also recording the podcast. We covered a lot of listener questions and didn't have time to get through all of the questions that were asked. We'll do another one of these live episodes sometime soon.

For a video recording of this podcast, check out https://youtu.be/LmygdXyjffI.

For this episode, we interview Daniel Felt, the owner of Kura Home Maintenance.  We talk about some of the most important home maintenance things that are neglected by homeowners and talk about some of our least-favorite chores.

Bill, Tessa, and Reuben discuss projects they're working on at their own houses.

This episode is all about chimney inspections, chimney safety, and we discuss some of our craziest interactions with so-called chimney experts.

We have a special guest on this episode, Steve Kuhl. Steve owns a bunch of companies, but for this podcast, he's representing his heat tape company, Radiant Solutions Company.

What we didn't know about heat cables before talking with Steve could fill a warehouse. This man knows more about heat cables than anyone we've ever talked to. To top it all off, he's entertaining to listen to. We need to have Steve on as a guest more often. We talked about including some pictures of the different products after doing this podcast, but we're actually going to a lot more than that. This podcast episode will turn into a three-part guest blog series by Steve Kuhl. This podcast sets the stage for that.

Reuben, Tessa and Bill discuss all things radon. They cover radon conspiracy theories, health effects, test methods, mitigation systems, licensing in Minnesota, and a whole bunch of myths regarding radon.

Related Links:

• DIY test kits for $9.95
• New licensing for radon in Minnesota
• Minnesota Radon Awareness Act

Also, please enjoy these old photos from 1997, featuring Reuben and Rick wearing lab coats, testing for radon. Good. Times.

Reuben and Tessa talk about several of the required fall maintenance chores that Minnesota homeowners need to take care of. Bill laments about how difficult it is to be a homeowner, and how he'd rather be watching football ;-). 

Today the gang discusses asbestos. While home inspection standards of practice don't require home inspectors to report on environmental hazards such as asbestos, most home inspectors will still point this stuff out if they believe that it presents a problem.  The most common locations for hazardous asbestos are discussed, along with what can be done when asbestos is found.

Related Links: 

• Asbestos in homes
• Vermiculite insulation
• Zonolite Attic Insulation Trust
• Transite asbestos flues
• Transite vs. sub-slab ducts

In this episode, the gang discusses stucco failure on newer Minnesota homes, as well as failures with stone veneer siding.  Related links:

• City of Woodbury Position Paper on Stucco in New Residential Construction
• Stucco Woes - The Perfect Storm
• Moisture testing stucco (the Structure Tech process)
• Stone veneer siding installation defects
• Video clip of Reuben pouring water against a stone wall
• Video clip of water pounding the window on a new-construction home

Everyone makes mistakes. In this episode, we share some of our worst home inspection mistakes. We're also joined by Structure Tech home inspector Jim Tobias. Reuben has already blogged about several of these mistakes recently, which you can find here: 

• Wrong house
• Bathtub flood
• Trampled insulation, ruined ceiling