Fall home maintenance: prepare your house for winter
Gutters, roofing, outdoor faucets, heating and moisture: a practical fall checklist to prepare your home for a Québec winter.
Read the guide →Understand the building
Guides that explain before recommending.
Each article answers a concrete question, explains inspection limitations and links to recognized sources.
Visual inspection or specialist assessment: choose the right level of analysis.
Understand the difference between a building inspection, specialist assessment, testing and a code-compliance review.
Read the guide →Prepare for an inspection: access and documents that materially improve the assignment.
A practical list of access points, documents and information to prepare before a residential or commercial building inspection.
Read the guide →Winter inspection: cold weather reveals some conditions and conceals others.
What winter inspection may reveal and what snow, ice and cold conditions may prevent the inspector from observing.
Read the guide →Thermal camera: a temperature anomaly is not a photograph inside the wall.
What thermal cameras may show, required conditions and why an image alone does not prove water intrusion.
Read the guide →Moisture, mould and water intrusion: begin with evidence, not assumptions.
How to distinguish indications of moisture, condensation, water intrusion and mould without reaching premature conclusions.
Read the guide →Wet attic: ventilation, insulation and air sealing must be considered together.
Understand relationships among air leakage, indoor humidity, insulation, ventilation, frost and ice dams.
Read the guide →Buying a condo: inspection of the unit must be supplemented by syndicate documents.
Co-ownership documents that complement the physical inspection of a condominium unit in Quebec.
Read the guide →Read an inspection report by prioritizing findings, not counting them.
A method for distinguishing material conditions, limitations, maintenance and specialist follow-up in an inspection report.
Read the guide →Commercial PCA: a baseline picture, not a crystal ball.
A guide to commercial Property Condition Assessments, from site reconnaissance to physical deficiencies and probable costs.
Read the guide →CAPEX planning: numbers are useful only when assumptions are visible.
How to structure a CAPEX plan from system condition, deferred maintenance, time horizons and transparent assumptions.
Read the guide →When should snow be removed from a roof? There is no universal depth threshold.
When to clear a flat or sloped roof in Quebec: warning signs, uneven accumulation, ice and safe removal practices.
Read the guide →Stab-Lok, Federal Pioneer, Sylvania and Commander: separate the name, model and actual condition.
What a Stab-Lok, Federal Pioneer, Sylvania or Commander panel means and when to request an electrical assessment.
Read the guide →Radon cannot be seen or smelled. It must be measured.
How to test a home for radon, interpret 200 Bq/m³, choose a reliable test and plan mitigation.
Read the guide →Aluminum wiring is not automatically due for replacement, but its connections deserve serious attention.
Residential aluminum wiring: recognize indications, understand connection risks and know when to consult a licensed electrical contractor.
Read the guide →Vermiculite and asbestos: appearance can neither confirm nor rule out the risk.
How to respond to vermiculite insulation: asbestos risk, analysis, precautions and the limits of visual inspection.
Read the guide →Pyrite: a slab crack alone is not a diagnosis.
Understand pyrite beneath a slab: possible indications, CTQ-M200 testing, the PEPI index and how results guide decisions.
Read the guide →Foundation cracks: shape matters, but progression and consequences matter more.
How to assess a foundation crack by orientation, width, displacement, water entry and change over time.
Read the guide →Foundation drains: age alone does not establish condition.
Understand the role of a foundation drain, indications of failure and what a camera inspection or test can actually establish.
Read the guide →Backwater valves: essential protection that must remain accessible and maintained.
What a backwater valve does, where it belongs, why maintenance matters and what to do during a sewer backup.
Read the guide →Building maintenance: today’s deferred repair often becomes tomorrow’s major expense.
Why postponing roof, envelope or system maintenance can turn a predictable correction into an expensive loss.
Read the guide →