Could the air in your home be making you sick? Join us on the Standing Out in Ohio podcast as we promise to unveil the hidden dangers lurking in your home that you might not even know about. Imagine being the eighth company called to solve a mysterious odor forcing a family to abandon their home, only to discover the culprit was a neglected buried oil tank leaking toxic compounds. This episode is your guide to understanding why a thorough home inspection is more than just a formality—it’s a necessity for your health and safety. We underscore the importance of choosing the right inspection company that can identify potentially serious environmental hazards before they wreak havoc on your life.
But health isn't the only thing at risk; your wallet is on the line too. We share insightful anecdotes about homeowners who faced exorbitant costs for water problems that could have been prevented with simple solutions like proper gutter installation. Don’t let companies sell you on temporary fixes—learn how to address the root causes of issues like moisture intrusion that leads to mold growth. Plus, we outline the benefits of regular inspections every two to three years, introduce valuable services like Habitation Investigation and Environmental Consultants of Ohio, and discuss why third-party inspections are crucial for commercial spaces. Stay on top of your home’s health with actionable advice and resources from homeinspectionsinohio.com to keep your property in tip-top shape.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Two-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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If you would like to be a guest on the podcast contact us and let us know. You can visit Home (jimtroth.com) and go to the podcast page or message Habitation Investigation.
Episode Transcript
Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast,
where we discuss topics,upcoming events, news and
predictions with real estateprofessionals and entrepreneurs.
Listen and learn what makestheir companies and themselves
stand out and gain advantagesover the competition and gain
market share.
Subscribe for the latest newsand discussion on what it takes
(00:23):
to stand out from the crowd.
Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Standing Out in
the House podcast.
This is Jim and Laura and wehave Nessie on the floor
guarding our feet.
Nessie's one of the dogs.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Nessie's not feeling good today.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I don't think yeah, poor baby.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Poor baby.
Yeah, she's getting old's gonnabe 13 this year.
Yeah, she's gonna be 13 andlady's gonna be 14.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Wow, yeah, they've been around.
They've been around, which kindof a little segue, though.
People get more and moreconcerned with their health, yes
, as they get older yes, andwe're all getting older every
day.
Well, that's how time works,that's what happens.
So we recently there was afamily that was feeling sick was
(01:15):
it they had?
To move out of their house.
They had to move out of thehouse.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
And we were the seventh or eighth company.
No, we were the eighth companyout there, seventh or eighth
company.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
No, we were the eighth company out there, so
we'll give this whole story.
But you really need to chooseyour inspection companies wisely
.
I mean, not every inspectioncompany is the same, Not every
real estate agent is the same,nor is every real estate agency
(01:45):
the same.
I'm certain we are like.
Some agents hate us.
One of them doesn't like usbecause we didn't give the house
confidence because of thecosmetics of the house, which is
crazy to me.
That's just an ignorant agentthat doesn't know what the
standards are.
We're not there to sell thehouse for him.
We're there to educate theclient.
Educate like hey, here's what'sworking, here's what's not
(02:06):
working, here's what we need tokeep an eye on, here's your
maintenance list.
I don't care how pretty thefloor looks.
Or that has refinished woodenfloor.
It looks nice, sure, doesn't?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
mean that it's going to be in the report we're
looking for functions.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
We're looking for functions, anyway, we'll talk
about that, but first let'slisten to this.
Habitation investigation is theway to go for a home inspection
in Ohio.
Trusted licensed homeinspectors for your needs From
(02:41):
radon to mold to warranties Fora great home inspection, you
really can't go wrong.
Visit homeinspectionsinohiocom.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Okay, laura.
So family they had to move out.
So what is this story?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
So this family contacted us and wanted us to
come out and I believe we weredoing a VOC test.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Okay, which is the vaulter organic compounds?
Which is looking for chemicalsin the air?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Right, so we go out so wait, wait.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
So they had to move out.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
They were staying elsewhere because the smell was
so bad.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
The smell Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Okay so.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
But it feel bad, or just the odors bother them.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
This was smell gotcha , okay so, but feel bad, or just
the odor just bothered them.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Um, this was more amy and drew, that did this one.
Okay, I'm imagining somebodywasn't feeling good I'm.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
I'm imagining that it's a combination of that and
the smell okay, so.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
So no hospitalization for anybody not, not that I
know.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
So we go out and while the VOC test is going,
drew's a good guy, he's lookingaround.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Was he there for inspection or he just?
Speaker 3 (03:52):
he was just doing the VOC.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Just doing VOC, okay, so you got to look around.
He's got two hours.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
So as he's looking around, he notices some weird
pipes, so he starts askingquestions.
Come to find out that he is thefirst company eighth company
that they've had come out, and Idon't know if all of them were
home inspection contractors,whatever, couldn't tell you.
He was the first one thatnoticed that they probably had a
(04:24):
buried oil tank right besidethe house.
Okay, so when we get the voctest back, 90 of the volatile
organic compounds come frompetroleum products and confirm
the oil tank issue which matchesperfectly with fuel oil, with
what he had found.
Yes, so at this point we gavethem information on the fact
(04:44):
that it probably was notdecommissioned correctly, if at
all.
They may just have cut offthose pipes and just stopped
using it and that smell wasstill coming in, or the tank may
have leaked and now that theyneed to to pull all that dirt up
around it.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, cause oil, fuel oil tanks, they can be buried.
I've seen them in basements.
This one was buried.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Buried outside the house, beside the basement.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So if they got, if they got the smell inside the
house it's leaking.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Somehow there's been a spill, a sizable spill, or
it's still full of oil.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
The tank is compromised.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yes, so here's some of the stuff that a few oil can
cause.
Short-term exposure.
You got your skin irritation.
Eyes, ears, nose, throat.
You got a headache.
You can feel nauseous, loseyour appetite Forward
coordination this is short-termexposure and then difficulty
(05:46):
concentrating.
Definitely not good for anybodywho's in school.
No, any students.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Or professionals yeah .
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Long-term exposure Damage to the kidneys.
Increased blood pressure,reduced ability of the blood to
clot oh, that's crazy.
Damage to the liver, becauseyour liver has to purify the
toxins.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
So that would be.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Damage to the nervous system.
And then there's other issuesif you actually drink the
nervous system.
And then there's other issuesif you actually drink the fuel
oil.
But this is just exposure to it, it's just smelling it.
Yes, environmental hazards area real thing that people need to
be aware of, but I'm amazedthat it took us being the eighth
(06:35):
company to go hey, you havethis.
Have you ever thought it couldbe this?
And then we were able toconfirm with the VOC test.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Yeah, nobody caught it until Drew.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Here's how we do the inspections and you and I do
this definitely when we do VOCtesting and mold testing and
same thing with the homeinspections, because our my
favorite example is we had athis guy bought a campground.
Okay, years ago he bought acampground, never had the house
(07:08):
he's gonna live in inspected.
He just the guy, the sellertalked him out of it, or maybe
the agent talked him out of it Idon't know they're like well,
you're not buying it for yourhouse, you're buying it for the
campground and like, all right.
So anyway, I get there doing theinspection and he's like, yeah,
I had a mold, I'm not sorry.
Water mitigation company of orthe basement drying company,
(07:30):
whatever, gave him a quote ofthirty thousand dollars.
I I think it was $25,000 to$30,000 to guarantee the
basement?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Oh, I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Which 30 is kind of like a common number.
These companies charge, youknow, think of it, and it's at
$30,000 and they'll guarantee Iwouldn't get any more water
coming to the basement.
And I'm like and I'd alreadybeen there and inspected I'm
like, well, how about you putgutters on your base, on your
roof, and then fix the gratingso actually your water gets
routed away from the basement?
Speaker 3 (07:58):
That'll probably take care of the majority of it and
be a lot cheaper than 30,000.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Oh, you think I'm like, yeah, yeah, so there's
these, there's these companiesthat will only solve the symptom
but not take care of thefreaking cause of it.
So, like this company, this guyhere with fuel oil in his
basement all right, yeah, youprobably could put filters up
(08:23):
and maybe keep collecting itthrough this activated charcoal
filter.
Maybe you can do that, I don'tknow.
Maybe get rid of it that way orair the house out.
a crazy amount, amount that'sgoing to cost a lot and not in
winter time but and even doingthose things is not going to
solve the issue, which is thefuel oil tank right outside your
(08:46):
foundation that's leaking, orat least spilled into the soil,
and the soil is now leaching theoil into the basement.
Either way, you have to look atthe cause, and I've done this
and it irritates you as a girl,and I go listen.
If your problem's not preciselydefined, you're not solving it.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
And once again, sometimes women just like to
vent, and I know it drives men,I know this, I know it drives
men crazy, but women sometimesjust need to vent and then we're
done and we can think of thingsor then talk about fixing it.
I get it, yeah, but I get alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah, like that, I'll let you vent, I'll let you talk
about that, like, and then I'mlike, I mean, I've gotten to the
point where I'm like okay,honey, I just need to vent, just
you don't need to say anything,just just just me vent for a
minute, and then I'll vent, andthen what causes this, what
causes that one?
Well, this one's set that up.
Go take care of that issue.
It really is a simple process,really.
(09:49):
Men are from Mars and women fromVenus, but anyway you have to
figure out what the cause of theissue is.
Don't get rid of the symptomlike mold.
You have a moldy house andyou're feeling sick.
You're not feeling sick because, originally, the orientation of
(10:10):
you're feeling sick is notbecause of the mold.
Your problem is because youhave a moisture issue in your
house, right, and that moistureissue is then what's making the
mold a good opportunity to grow.
Then that's eventually makingit sick.
But if you back it up, you'vegot to control the moisture
issue, which could be.
Your downspout's beendisconnected and you're too lazy
to reconnect it.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Or you don't know that it should be reconnected.
And now, after listening tothis, you will know there's a
lot of people out there that arebrand new just to owning homes
that have no clue.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Which is why everybody should have their
contact habitation investigationto do a maintenance inspection
on your house like every two tothree years.
Yep, I know the EPA tells youif you have radon Well, no
matter what, they're trying toget your house tested for radon
every two years.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Just do a home inspection at the same time.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, every two, three years do the maintenance
inspection.
We can check it out, catchleaks or little issues super
fast before you have a largerproblem with that.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Well, we wanted to start doing inspections for you
know, like Starbucks, forexample, inspections for you
know, like starbucks, forexample, because the one
starbucks that our daughterworked, for the ceiling
collapsed in her whole freakingyeah, so it wasn't all right.
Here's probably for that one Ithink it was a pipe leak when it
(11:34):
froze yeah, it probably wants.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
It's not starbucks building, it was whoever ran
that space from.
But anyway, the same thing forhouses or a restaurant factory.
You need to have these thingsperiodically inspected to stay
up on the maintenance, unlessyou have a maintenance guy
devoted.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Even then, but even then, because they're there all
the time it's, it's going to beold hat to them.
They're not going to be able tosit and look at it impartially
because it's their job.
They need to have that thirdparty come in and that third
party go.
Okay, this is what we see.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Looking with a fresh set of eyes.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Look at it with a fresh set of eyes and then just
create the maintenance list offof that.
And if you go tohomeinspectionsinohiocom, we
actually have maintenance listsfor homeowners, like I think
I've got one for differentseasons and then just a general
one, so check that out too.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
So if somebody's at their house they're not feeling
good, Right, Okay, we HabitationInvestigation can help with
that.
But you have another companycalled Environmental Consultants
of Ohio.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Which is primarily the one that does the VOC
testing, more of the air quality, more of the air quality, yeah,
which can include mold testingas well, but if it's strictly
environmental health thingsyou're concerned with,
environmental.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Consultants of.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Ohio would be the one to contact Either way.
Habitat for the Best kids canroute that and get that taken
care of for you.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
And I should have my interview this week, which means
that I'm going to be like theit's another podcast.
Oh, that's okay, Never mind.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
All right, so anyway, stay tuned for the next one
then.
So, anyway, I think that'sabout it for this one right, so
call us.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
If you've got weird stuff going on, call us.
We have a very good trackrecord of figuring out issues
and being able to help peoplewith alternative ideas and
solutions yes, it's all aboutthe education and figuring
things out, the root cause.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yes, all right, all right, thank you, bye-bye, bye.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
You've been listening to the Standing Out in Ohio
podcast.
Be sure to subscribe on Spotifyor Google podcasts to get new,
fresh episodes.
For more, please follow us onInstagram, Twitter and Facebook,
or visit the website of thebest Ohio home inspection
company athomeinspectionsinohiocom or
jimtroffcom.
(14:11):
That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H andclick on podcast.
Until next time, learn and godo stuff.
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