Barry Stone
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Tenant worried about water heater safetySep 05, 2014 12:01 am - Q. We rent a one-story house with a basement and are worried about the safety of the water heater. We asked the landlord about this, so he had it checked out by a plumbe...
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Home inspector overlooked faulty roofingAug 22, 2014 12:01 am - Q. I bought my house 3½ years ago. It and all the other houses on the block have flat roofs, but mine is the only one with shingles. During the last storms, my roof leak...
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Handyman scams elderly homeownerAug 15, 2014 12:01 am - Q. I'm distressed about an unethical handyman who has been taking advantage of my elderly mother. She first called him because the nails in her roof were sticking up. He...
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Do non-permitted additions add value to a home?Aug 08, 2014 12:01 am - Q. Our home has a bedroom addition that was built without a permit. Now that we are selling, we want to know if the non-permitted addition adds value to the home, or wil...
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Badgered by belligerent bureaucratsAug 01, 2014 12:01 am - Q. I have owned my home for nearly two years and recently applied for a permit to build a swimming pool. That opened a can of worms with the building department. They di...
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Inspection gives added protection to owners with builders' warrantyJul 25, 2014 12:01 am - Q. I'm buying a new home and was planning to hire a home inspector before closing escrow. Two of my friends in a similar community advised me to save my money because th...
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How to best insulate walls of an old houseJul 18, 2014 12:01 am - Q. We have an 80-year-old home with lathe and plaster on the inside walls. The house is hard to heat in the winter and becomes very hot in the summer, so we want to add ...
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Home inspector advised buyers not to buyJul 11, 2014 12:01 am - Q. The people who were buying our home canceled the deal on the advice of their home inspector. During the inspection, he found a crack in the foundation, which he blew ...
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Faulty septic system not disclosedJul 04, 2014 12:01 am - Q. When we bought our house, the sellers disclosed that the septic tank was only two years old. They also gave us a report from a local septic contractor that said the s...
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Ask the House Detective: Home inspector says nothing about moldJun 27, 2014 12:00 am - Q. When we bought our house, the home inspector included pictures of the foundation under the building. In one photo, there are black stains that look like mold, but not...