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An Interview with Tracy Frank at Inforum:
Written By: Tracy Frank
“Lars Knobloch likes to poke around what are often private areas in a home.”
He peers into cabinets, crawls through attics, and scours the hidden recesses of basements.
It’s not that he’s nosy. It’s his job.
Knobloch does real estate inspections as well as testing for mold, asbestos, lead, radon and allergens through his business, Nordic Home Inspection.
“People save money on home inspections, really, because they will find things and they can negotiate with the seller,” Knobloch said. “I see more and more sellers are doing home inspections so they can show buyers the condition of the house. If there would be a major problem that would scare the potential buyers away, the seller could just take care of it.”
Knobloch moved to the area from Namsos, Norway, two years ago in March and started his business the beginning of last year.
The Interview – Questions and Answers
Q: How has business been going?
A: The first couple of months were slow. It takes time to get your name out there. But now it’s really crazy busy. It’s really picking up now that the weather is nice and people want to start buying houses.
Q: What made you decide to start a home inspection business?
A: I have been in the construction business in Norway before I moved here. It was remodeling and construction.
Q: What do you do as a home inspector?
A: You come to the house and you want to make sure that the possible buyer of the house knows the entire condition. How’s the foundation? How is the roof looking? How much life is left on the roof before it should be replaced? Are the appliances working? Are the heating systems working properly, water heaters, gutters, sump pumps? We can just go on with all these tiny things that I look at.
Every home inspection, even if it’s a new home, there’s something to find. Buying a house without doing a home inspection would not be a good idea.
My favorite thing actually is to go up into the attic in older houses. There’s always some fun things there.
Q: Like what?
A: Sometimes the ventilation is not good enough up there and you’ve got mold growing, which is exciting, or the insulation is not good enough and you can find rodents.
If there’s a crawl space under the house, the inspector should go in the crawl space and look there, too, for structural or ventilation, insulation, moisture. Every possible place in the house, you want to look at.
Q: Are there common problems in homes?
A: There are some really typical ones. You have exposed wood and peeling paint on the windows that are never painted and then they start rotting. You’ve got missing extensions for your downspouts so the water is just draining right through to your foundation instead of away from the house, that’s a typical one. There’s handyman wiring where the owner has done electrical work himself and it’s not the way it should be. Another typical thing is that the furnace is not running efficiently.
A radon test should actually be done every two years because the radon levels fluctuate. Radon is the decay of uranium in the soil, and it comes up through cracks or holes or with pipes through the ground.
The radon test is $100, and if you have too high levels, it’s no more than $1,000 or $1,200 to vent it out of the house.
I would never buy a house today without checking for radon. This area up here has the highest density of possibly elevated radon levels. About 50 percent of all houses in North Dakota and western Minnesota have elevated radon levels.
You don’t want to have your kids playing in your basement if your radon levels are really high. That could cause potential health problems.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Tracy Frank at (701) 241-5526
Summary: It Doesn’t Hurt to Get a Second Look on Home Inspection
Home owners realize it is a necessity to have your home inspected, but what they don’t realize is that the home inspection needs to be done with extreme attention to detail. Lars Knobloch from Nordic Home Inspection makes it known that he is dedicated to his work when he spends extra time in each nook and cranny of the house.
What is the Routine?
Lars takes a look at every single angle of the home and makes sure to triple check every part. This is a very good thing for a home owner to see when their inspector is checking for issues. Lars knows that even a trained professional may miss something in the first walk through. Lars and his crew will walk through every part of the home including the kitchen, dining and living rooms, basement, and attic checking the plumbing and foundation.
What the crew will look for:
- Cracks
- Mold
- Moisture
- Frost
- Condensation
- Water and fire damage
As Lars is listening to the home owner’s questions, he is also searching in cabinets and crawl spaces because he knows that problems occur in the places we never like to check. Every home owner should know it is a necessity to get a home inspection. Lars notes in his interview with reporter, Tracy Frank with Inforum, “Every home inspection, even if it’s a new home. There’s something to find. Buying a house without doing a home inspection would not be a good idea.”
What Should I Ask the Home Inspector?
As a home owner, you want to note everything the inspector is doing, so it’s a good thing to ask plenty of questions, so you know what to do when there is a problem or potential issue. It’s smart to ask about the roofing, foundation, appliances, gutters, sump pump, water heater, etc. Also, a good thing to ask is if your home inspector is licensed and has proper liability insurance.
Lars Knobloch is a licensed certified home inspector that will treat your house like its his own. His thorough inspections will save you money in the long run because he looks through every inch of the home, so he can catch the smallest of issues.