Field notes: real findings, explained.
Straight from actual Jacksonville-area inspections — what we found, why it happens here, and what it means for you. No fear-mongering, no wall of jargon.
All field notes
The family room fireplace has a gas log set, but the chimney above appears sealed with no clear venting path for combustion gases.
Gas logs were observed in a fireplace whose chimney appeared sealed at the roof, with no CO alarm in the room.
The rear bulkhead shows erosion, backing fasteners, and wood splitting along the grain
Erosion and wood deterioration were observed at the rear bulkhead.
The roof shingles are showing advanced wear that warrants a contractor evaluation before closing
The roof covering showed signs of aging significant enough to warrant a professional assessment.
A vent pipe at the side of the house points to a possible underground fuel tank that needs professional evaluation.
A vent pipe at grade level is a sign a buried fuel tank may be on the property.
The wires in the attic had burn marks
Scorch marks mean a circuit already ran hot — the warning you only get once it matters.
The water heater was out of service. The power to it wasn't.
A forgotten attic tank, still wired live and quietly heating water nobody uses.
The AC was running. It just wasn't cooling much.
Why we measure the temperature split instead of settling for “the AC turned on.”
A deadbolt that needs a key from the inside, too
Secure — until you need to get out. Why we flag them, and the one-hour fix.
Discoloration on the floor, moisture at the baseboard
Reading the early signs — telling active trouble from an old, dried-out stain.
Your AC still runs on R-22?
It can run fine today and still be a real cost you should see coming.
When shingles age faster than they should
What premature wear looks like — and what attic ventilation has to do with it.
“Aluminum wiring, remediated”
The phrase that should raise a question before it closes one.
Two wires, one screw: the double-tapped neutral
A small, common, genuinely fixable safety finding at the panel.
Rust blistering on a cast iron drain line
How worried you should actually be when the old pipe starts to show its age.
A 19-year-old water heater and lukewarm taps
What the age of the unit alone already tells you.
The corner of the bulkhead is where the trouble starts
Soil settling and erosion at a bulkhead corner — why it shows up there first.
Cloth-jacketed wiring: old-looking isn't the same as unsafe
What actually matters about mid-century cloth-braided branch wiring.
That staining under the balcony is a drainage story
A failed floor-to-wall edge detail, not just a cosmetic stain.
A nail driven too deep can cost more than the nail gun saved
Overdriven fasteners in fiber cement siding — an easy-to-miss install defect.
Where does your dryer vent actually go?
Ours ended in the attic — a quick check with an outsized payoff.
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