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All new construction in Middle Tennessee and in most areas with radon gas issues is required to incorporate a passive radon mitigation system into the home while it is being built. This is easy to see during a pre-drywall inspection. This is a short video of what this looks like inside the home's framed walls. If you have a concern or have never had your home tested for radon, Trace Inspections can handle this for you. This simple 48-hour test uses state-of-the-art digital constant radon monitoring machines or CRMs.
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 Zip Tape used for flashing! Wrong! When most homeowners think about keeping water out, they think about the roof shingles, siding, or caulking. But there’s an unsung hero that protects your home from leaks.
Flashing is the thin metal (or sometimes plastic) material that installers place around windows, doors, chimneys, roof valleys, and other spots where water loves to sneak in. You usually don’t see it—but it’s working hard behind the scenes. This picture shows what a contractor used for flashing. It is called ZIP tape and is not designed for use as a permanent form of flashing! This had been in this home for about six months, and the homeowner had no idea it was wrong! What Does Flashing Do? Think of flashing like a raincoat for your home’s most vulnerable joints and seams. Its job is simple:
Why Is Flashing So Important? ✅ Keeps Water Out – Without flashing, rain can seep into walls, ceilings, and the roof deck. ✅ Prevents Damage – Moisture rots wood, rusts nails, and weakens the home’s structure. ✅ Stops Mold Growth – Trapped water inside walls creates the perfect environment for mold and mildew. ✅ Protects Your Investment – Flashing extends the life of your roof, siding, windows, and doors. ✅ Meets Code Requirements – Building codes require flashing in key locations because it works. But the codes do not instruct or describe how the flashing should be installed! Remember, the "Code" is the minimal requirement! Where You’ll Find Flashing
Flashing might not be flashy, but it’s one of the most critical layers of protection your home has against water damage. If flashing is missing, damaged, or poorly installed, your home is at risk for leaks and expensive repairs. That’s why a professional home inspection always checks flashing in the right places. Catching issues early can save you from headaches (and big bills) down the road. If you are having a home built, a pre-drywall inspection will often uncover flashing issues at an early stage of construction where they can easily be addressed. Dezincification is a little-known but costly failure that plagued certain brass PEX fittings installed between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s. If your home was built or re-piped during this period, there’s a chance you have fittings at risk of premature failure. But even over the past few years, it has continued to occur in some brass fittings. What is Dezincification? Dezincification is a type of corrosion where zinc is selectively leached out of yellow brass, leaving behind a weakened copper-rich metal. Over time, this process can weaken the fitting until it cracks or crumbles. Restrict water flow as corrosion products clog the passage. Cause leaks, often hidden until water damage has occurred. In the field, it shows up as chalky white crust, blue-green staining, or (if cut open) a redish tan , porous interior. Why It Happens The main triggers include aggressive water chemistry—chlorine/chloramine additives, low or high pH, high oxygen content, and stagnant water. Older yellow-brass alloys (high zinc content) were especially vulnerable. That’s why manufacturers shifted to dezincification-resistant (DZR) alloys or polymer (PPSU) fittings after repeated failures and lawsuits. Known Brands and Markings Affected The problem is tied to specific fittings and date ranges. Look for stamped markings on the body of the fittings: Zurn (QestPEX / “QPEX”), ASTM F1807 fittings (c. 1996–2010) Markings: “QPEX,” “Q PEX,” or “Z PEX” (sometimes with F1807). These fittings were part of the ZurnPEX Products Liability Litigation. Kitec (IPEX), used with orange/blue PEX-AL-PEX (late 1990s–2007) Markings: “Kitec” or “KTC,” often stamped with ASTM F1974 or CSA B137.9/10. Large class-action settlements addressed failures in these systems. NIBCO / CPI Dura-PEX, ASTM F1807 fittings (2000s–2012) Markings: “NIBCO F 1807”. Covered under lawsuits that addressed premature failures and leaks. Signs to Watch For A white or green crust forms at PEX connection points. Leaks or dampness near fittings. Hot vs. cold water flow imbalance due to internal blockage. Powdery, pinkish metal if a fitting is removed. Final Thoughts Dezincification was a widespread problem that affected certain brands and alloys during a narrow window of time. If your home belongs to that era, don’t ignore the signs. A few failing fittings today can be a warning shot before a major plumbing failure tomorrow. Below are a few examples from past inspections! Trace Inspections can often locate hard-to-find issues like this by using infrared cameras, moisture meters, and even specially designed endoscopes to look inside wall cavities.
 Typical 1st Generation EIFS Exterior Insulation and Finish System (EIFS): Often called “synthetic stucco,” it became popular in the 1980s and 1990s as an attractive, energy-efficient siding. At first glance, it looks just like traditional stucco. But many homeowners have since learned that EIFS can create major problems if not installed or maintained correctly. What is EIFS? EIFS is made up of three layers:
The Big Problem: Moisture Intrusion water gets behind EIFS through window flashing, roof connections, or wall penetrations; it has nowhere to go. Unlike real stucco, EIFS does not “breathe.” This often leads to:
Why It’s Hard to Spot? Many homes with EIFS look perfectly fine on the outside. But beneath the surface, problems can be severe. In fact, the only way to know for sure is through specialized inspections using moisture scans and probes or infrared scans. Common Installation Mistakes Most EIFS failures come from poor installation, such as:
Termite and Pest Issues In termite-prone areas, EIFS can conceal termite activity because the foam board makes tunneling easy, and damage is hidden from view. The Stigma Around EIFS Homes Because of past lawsuits and widespread failures, many insurers refuse to issue new coverage on EIFS homes, and buyers are often wary due to the history of this material. This can reduce resale value and the length of time on the market compared to homes with brick, siding, or traditional stucco. Can EIFS Be Fixed? Yes — newer or second-generation EIFS systems include a drainage plane behind the foam to let water escape and tend to have less issues. For older homes or first-generation homes:
Final Thoughts EIFS isn’t automatically bad — when installed correctly with proper drainage, it can perform well. But barrier EIFS homes (especially from the 1980s and 1990s) come with a high risk of hidden water damage. If you own or are considering buying one, schedule an impartial professional inspection to find out what’s behind the walls. Trace Inspections can provide this service.  If you are having a new home built, then a Pre-Drywall Inspection could be a huge benefit and save you in the long run. A pre-drywall inspection is essential because it can discover problems with framing, electrical, plumbing, and other components in the home before they are covered with insulation and drywall! Once those items are covered, you have no chance of getting them corrected until they rear their ugly head months or even years down the road! This is an example of a recent find. This picture shows an HVAC register in a framed-out area for a coffered ceiling. As it is now, this HVAC air duct register will be above the ceiling and covered with drywall! It was missed by the builder's site superintendent, and drywall was scheduled to be hung in about two days!  This is another find that shows a misplaced wall or waste plumbing pipe! The pipe projects out from the framing about 2 inches! As it is now, if drywall were installed, you would have a 2-inch visible bulge in the drywall above the bathroom cabinet all the way to the ceiling! This would not allow for the large bathroom mirror to be installed on the wall.  This picture shows an engineered floor joist for the second floor of a home that has had its top flange damaged by the plumbing and low-voltage installation! The top and bottom flanges of an engineered joist can not be modified. As it is now, if not corrected, this would cause a weak spot in the floor above, which could cause wall cracks or sagging floors. As you can see in the above pre-drywall finds, once the drywall was installed, you would have no idea of what your builder covered up. Items pictured are not usually caught by the local city or county inspectors. They are concerned more with safety and code-related issues and are in the home for only a few minutes during one of their visits. Be sure to have a "Pre-Drywall Inspection" before you allow insulation or the drywall to be installed in your new home!
 You have been in your new home for almost a year. The clock is ticking on that one-year builder warranty. At the one-year anniversary, you give up almost any chance you have of getting your builder to correct any issues you may have.
This picture is of an area that is wet on the outside wall and interior wall due to missing "kickout" flashing at the roof! Builders in Tennessee and many other states under state law, must issue a one year warranty on pretty much everything in the home. The Builder is responsible under law for taking care of the warranty items! Once your builder is notified about these problems, the builder has no recourse but to correct or address them under state law, even if they go beyond twelve months. The key is putting them on notice with the report before the first-year anniversary date of your new home. Our warranty inspection is designed just for this purpose, so you can give your builder a written document with all of the warranty issues known to date. We will inspect all of the readily visible structural elements and major systems of the home. Items that will typically be included in an inspection are:
Additional items and systems unique to a particular home can also be inspected. Cosmetic-related issues, such as paint issues, are also addressed in the report. When the inspection is complete, we will tell you of any additional problems discovered and discuss them with you. We'll point out any safety concerns we notice. You'll also receive a full written report with photos of the inspection via email shortly after, usually within twenty-four hours. We will also tell you about any routine maintenance that should be performed, as well as answer any questions you may have. Our goal is to discover and inform you of anything we find that might affect your new home. Don’t let the time run out on your warranty before you get everything corrected. You can schedule your Warranty Inspection anytime. An industry recommendation is to have one performed between the 9th to the 11th month of ownership. We even have folks that schedule a warranty inspection several months in advance so that it will not be forgotten. Visit our One Year Warranty page for more information, call the office or book online. 1-Year Builders Warranty   Faux Stone, Man-made Stone, Cultured Stone, and my favorite, “Lick-n-Stick Stone,” are all names for manufactured stone veneer or AMSV (applied manufactured stone veneer).
Manufactured Stone Veneer is a product that looks like natural stone, but is manufactured with concrete. Today the veneer is increasing in popularity and being used to give commercial, residential, and landscape applications a rich, upscale look. The advantages of manufactured stone veneer over natural stone are: • Cost (cost of material, cost of application) • Weight (ease of application) • Variety of designs and colors • Good look for home, office, Hotel etc. Manufactured veneer is cheaper than natural stone, approximately 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of natural stone. Its lightweight eliminates the need for wall ties or footings and makes it easier and cheaper to build. The variety of designs and colors makes available options, which would not be available with natural stone, since natural stone is used in the general area around the locality, which it is extracted. There are also disadvantages for stone veneer compared to natural stone: It is not as strong as natural stone; if a piece breaks, or if a piece is removed from the wall, then unless it is replaced, it shows significantly; it is not reusable as natural stones are. Furthermore, manufactured stone veneer has a larger waste factor than natural stone. Natural stone can be chipped, cut, and shaped to any size needed. The cut off pieces can be reused. While manufactured stone veneer cannot be cut to fit because it exposes the undesirable inner concrete from which the manufactured stone is made of. I often find cut and broken pieces on new homes. Those cut or broken pieces really stick out like a red flag once you know what to look for. Manufactured stone can contain lime nuggets and iron ore, which can leech out, and stain the surface over time when exposed to water. Manufactured stone is not a naturally occurring product and, due to its cast origin and painted or dyed exterior, it is subject to color changes caused by exposure to the UV in sunlight and moisture. It is also a very labor intensive product to install, not unlike stucco. In fact I call it “Bumpy Stucco” as it is basically installed in a similar fashion. Manufactured stone is a porous product. It absorbs much more water than real stone and it will transfer the moisture through and into to the wall of the structure causing many of the same issues seen with improperly installed stucco. Being a porous product manufactured stone is subjected to ice wedging and freeze thaw problems. As water seeps into the manufactured stone and then freezes, chunks of the face will pop off leaving a rugged edge, which looks similar to the edge of a broken sidewalk. Repair can be expensive as the entire piece of stone must be cut out and replaced. The repair also doesn’t stop the issue from re-occurring. I and many other experts feel that AMSV is the next EIFS or Artificial Stucco fiasco! We are seeing more and more signs of issues with this product. If you think you have a moisture problem with your AMSV do not wait any longer. If you need a referral to an inspector in your area, I might be able to direct you to a knowledgeable person. Give me a call or email I will be glad to help if I can. Smoke Alarms! Well, we also call them smoke detectors but, in all reality, they are smoke alarms. They are designed to alert you to the presence of smoke which is usually a rather good indicator of a fire either in the flame or smoldering stage. Smoke alarms save lives. Smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries in homes and commercial buildings. If there is a fire in your home, smoke spreads fast and many the smoke will proceed the visible fire and you need smoke alarms to give you time to get out. Facts and figures about smoke alarms:
Did you know that smoke alarms have an expiration date! On the back of most smoke alarms you will find a date of manufacture or the alarms expiration date! After about 10 years smoke alarms have lost a large percentage of their sensitivity and should be replaced!
So not only do you need to replace those batteries every year, you might also need to change out those smoke alarms! Most homes built in the past 20 years will have an alarm in each bedroom, hallway, bonus rooms, basements, and the garage. My home has 6 alarms and it is only an 1900sf home! Ionization vs photoelectric
The two most commonly recognized smoke detection technologies are ionization smoke detection and photoelectric smoke detection. Ionization smoke alarms are generally more responsive to flaming fires. How they work: Ionization-type smoke alarms have a small amount of radioactive material between two electrically charged plates, which ionizes the air and causes current to flow between the plates. When smoke enters the chamber, it disrupts the flow of ions, thus reducing the flow of current and activating the alarm. Download this chart on ionization smoke alarms (PDF, 943 KB). Photoelectric smoke alarms are generally more responsive to fires that begin with a long period of smoldering (called “smoldering fires”). How they work: Photoelectric-type alarms aim a light source into a sensing chamber at an angle away from the sensor. Smoke enters the chamber, reflecting light onto the light sensor; triggering the alarm. Download this chart on photoelectric smoke alarms (PDF, 782 KB). For each type of smoke alarm, the advantage it provides may be critical to life safety in some fire situations. Home fatal fires, day or night, include a large number of smoldering fires and a large number of flaming fires. You can not predict the type of fire you may have in your home or when it will occur. Any smoke alarm technology, to be acceptable, must perform acceptably for both types of fires in order to provide early warning of fire at all times of the day or night and whether you are asleep or awake. For best protection, it is recommended both (ionization and photoelectric) technologies be used in homes. In addition to individual ionization and photoelectric alarms, combination alarms that include both technologies in a single device are available. Information provided by the NFPA Well I'm sure we have all seen this type of statement on a brochure or on a listing before. Over the years I have learned that 75% of the time this is CODE for "Buyer beware" and it just makes me look a little harder to see what I can find that was covered up. Many times updates are only skin deep or what the eye can see. Have you ever heard this saying "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig"! This is from a recent inspection, this was on a 125 year old home in historic East Nashville, TN. I have looked at many homes in this area and for the most they are all in the 100 year old range and those that have been properly updated are really fine homes. But, I have also found many where the owners or agents claim that they have been updated when I'm sure they meant to say that they have been freshly painted! The next few pictures are what I found in the basement of this updated home: Sump pump not working   This is a 6x6 post newly installed and supporting the new master tub!  New High Efficiency HVAC split system sitting in mud from being flooded because the sump pump was not working. Unit was distroyed and will need to be replaced.
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AuthorScott Patterson has been a professional home inspector since 1995. Scott works out of the Greater Nashville TN area. Contact his team at Trace Inspections for all of your inspection needs. 
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