http://www.homeinspectioncarolina.com While performing a home inspection in Gastonia NC, Gastonia home inspector Prestion Sandlin found a buried fuel oil tank. What are the dangers associated with buried oil tanks? Buried oil tanks raise increasing environmental, safety, legal and economic concerns for home owners and home buyers because oil leaks underground or even within buildings can lead to both environmental damage and very costly cleanup operations.

Having to install a new above ground indoor oil storage tank involves significant expense, perhaps $2000. to $4000. to remove the old tank and install the new one.

Removing or abandoning a buried oil tank is more costly. If an oil tank has leaked the cost to clean up contaminated soils can be very significant, so much so that a property buyer should not complete the purchase before questions about the condition of oil tanks, past or present at the property, and the chances of leaks from buried oil storage tanks have been answered satisfactorily.

Home heating oil tanks are excluded from Federal Regulations about oil storage tank reporting and monitoring, but in almost every U.S. state or Canadian province, storage tanks are addressed by state or local DEP/DNR/DEC agencies and regulations. For example, in New York, even residential storage sites must be reported to the state DEC if more than 1100 gallons are stored at a single site. (A few U.S. states specifically exclude the regulation of storage tanks when used for home heating oil.)

In any case, should a home heating oil tank causes a release of oil into the environment, at that point the owner of the tank is not exempt from the other provisions of the State or Federal Regulations: the leak needs to be reported (often within two hours of observation), the source of leak/spill would have to be stopped, a site characterization would have to be completed, and appropriate corrective action (cleanup) would have to initiated, and the incident would have to be reported. Above ground oil tanks and clues for the presence of buried oil tanks are not usually examined during a pre-purchase home or building inspection unless specific prior test arrangements have been made.

Oil tank inspection, other than casual visual inspection for obvious leaks is not performed by such inspectors.

Oil tank tests for leaks, soil tests for oil contamination, soil tests for corrosivity, screening for evidence of prior or abandoned oil storage tanks, as well as oil storage tank removal or abandonment require that you use an appropriate expert.

However articles at this website outline easy on-site visual observations that any thoughtful observer can make to spot evidence of a present or previous buried tank and to spot evidence of leaks or other problems with above ground storage tanks.

From a previous use, a buried oil tank may be present or may have been present at a property now served by an indoor, above ground oil tank or even by LP or natural gas.

So don’t assume that because you don’t see a tank that none was ever used or present at a property

When the demand for housing materials was booming back in 2005, partially due to the increase in demand brought about by Katrina’s destruction, construction companies were hard-pressed to meet the demands set by clients. As such, they began to look at more inexpensive options to meet the huge demand for housing while maximizing their profits, with substandard procedures.

There is one particularly insidious danger that threatens the inhabitants of a substandard home. You won’t notice its effects until the signs begin to show, and by then the damage would have been done. The nasty smell of rotten eggs, electronic devices suddenly breaking down and constant respiratory problems that comes from nowhere are three signs of a drywall that emits sulfur gas.

Rotten Eggs
The first and probably the most irritating sign of a substandard drywall is the looming smell of rotten eggs or at least the smell of ignited matchstick-heads when you enter your home. The nose usually gets used to these smells, and this is why you need to get inside straight from the outdoors in order for you to pick up the scent. Some home inspectors will simply dismiss this smell as a ‘new home’ one if they are not aware of the dangers of sulfur gases permeating your home.

Sudden Electronic Failures
Another sign of substandard drywall is the sudden failure of electronic devices like the TV or the air conditioner. Copper coils corrode very easily in high-sulfur environments, and the most prominent sign of this is when copper is covered by a black-soot. What follows next is a slow but sure process of corrosion that will explain just why electrical appliances suddenly fail to function.

Inexplicable Respiratory Problems
A more long-term sign of high sulfur content is the sudden onset of respiratory problems that seem to be aggravated only when you or your family is inside the house. These respiratory problems range from simple coughs to full-blown lung cancer if exposed to the sulfur long enough, and should be enough to warrant an inspection of the home’s interior components.

What can you do?
Even if you experience all the aforementioned problems in your home, only specialists will be able to determine for certain if your drywalls emit toxic levels of sulfur. This is because other problems like mold or radon may be the real cause of your problems, and it would be unwise to jump to the immediate conclusion that your drywalls are the source of your problems.

Another note: if the contractor of your home ordered drywall supplies from Florida or China-based companies, you may especially want to call in a specialist to check your home. A certain company going by the name of Knauf Drywall is the prime suspect when it comes to these substandard drywalls, and in-depth investigations are currently ongoing as to whether or not Knauf Drywalls contain dangerous levels of sulfur.

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Charlotte home inspector Preston Sandlin recently appeared on J. Rosso’s TV show Financial Self-Defense. Also on that show was Jamie McGillis. The purpose of the show was to provide people with some information on how to protect their biggest financial investment, their house. Jamie talked about staging a house to put it on the market. Preston Sandlin talked about the advantages of free inspections. These advantages include finding out the problems in a house before you put it on the market. This would be seller can price out the work getting the best contractor for the best available price. It all of the major things are repaired before the buyer comes into the picture. This helps the seller in two ways. First it takes away the spook factor that might scare the buyer off completely. It also takes away the ability of the buyer to try to get the seller down on the price. A pre-inspected home has a higher perceived value at one that’s not. A Preinspection inspection report can be used as a marketing tool to help sell the house.

The home inspector talked about several other issues as well including radon and asbestos. Radon is a gas that you can not see Smail or touch it comes from the earth and the breakdown of radioactive material. There is asbestos everywhere. It is much more prevalent in mountain areas and the Northwest United States. There have been some pockets of high radon levels found in around the Charlotte area. Home inspection Carolina recommends that you get your house tested for radon. Asbestos was a product that was used up until the 1950s. Asbestos literally means inextinguishable in Greek. The Greeks thought of asbestos is the miracle fiber because it would not burn. Asbestos will not burn and it has a high “R” value. The problem with asbestos is when it becomes airborne or friable. When humans breathe in friable asbestos their body cannot metabolize it. Asbestos has been linked to many respiratory problems. Asbestos was used as siding, roofing, flooring, and insulation wrap. If your house was built in the 1950s or before there is a good chance that you have some asbestos.

Joseph Russo appears as the Host of Financial Self Defense on Channel 4 in North Carolina. Joseph Russo interviews a wide variety of guests on his show to address the challenges of the recession of 2009.

Joseph A. Russo covers topics such as Real Estate issues, Real Estate Fraud, Mortgages, Personal Loans, Credit Reports, and Credit Card management.

Other topics include Small Business Issues, Internet Business startup, Consumer Fraud, Identity Theft, Personal Loan management, Foreclosure Assistance, Foreclosure Scams, Loss Mitigation, Tenant Issues, Automobile Purchases, Automobile Loans, Student Loans, Financial Aid Loans and Reverse Mortgages.

Joseph Russo is the Executive Director of the National Council for Personal Financial Literacy and offers presentations to consumer groups, High School Students, College Students, Senior Citizen Groups and Ministries. www.WeTeachAboutMoney.org

Joseph Russo is an Author, Journalist, Public Speaker, Radio Show Commentator and Radio Show Host, Television Show Commentator and Television Show Host.

Bill Gallagher, One of North Carolina’s best known Real Estate Instructors talks about Radon Gas in The Mandatory Update class in Charlotte NC in September. Bill Gallagher Owns Supeior School of Real Estate in Charlotte but conducts Real Estate classes throughout the state. Preston Sandlin of Home Inspection Carolina is filming him. Radon:

Radon is a cancer-causing natural radioactive gas that you can’t see, smell or taste. Its presence in your home can pose a danger to your family’s health. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in America and claims about 20,000 lives annually.

Do you have hazards around your house? I mean besides the toy fire truck in the middle of your hall floor in the dark in the middle of the night? Besides the Razor scooter that your little girl left behind your car that you didn’t see when you had to back up. Eighty-nine dollars later you learn to look for hazards around your house. If you have kids, you have constant hazards around your home. There are other potential hazards in your house that are not child’s play. I am speaking of environmental hazards than can affect your home. You should consider environmental hazards in your home or when you are considering purchasing a home.

In my experience of inspecting homes in Charlotte, NC I have come across some common environmental hazards you should be aware of. Some of these hazards are asbestos, carbon monoxide, lead, radon, carbon monoxide, and groundwater contamination. In this article I hope to identify the basic environmental hazards and to describe the warning signs, characteristics, causes and solutions of the various environment hazards most commonly found in the real estate transaction.

Asbestos is a mineral that was once used as insulation because it was resistant to fire and contained heat effectively. Asbestos was used in residential buildings up until it was banned in 1978. In my inspections I usually found asbestos in older homes on heat ducts at the joints. It’s usually that white wrap on the joints of metal ducts. Asbestos can be found covering pipes, ducts, and heating and hot water units. Its fire resistant properties made it a popular material for floor tile, exterior siding and roofing products. Today we know that breathing asbestos fibers may result in a variety of respiratory diseases. Just the presence of asbestos is not necessarily a heath hazard. Asbestos is only harmful when it is disturbed or exposed causing it to become airborne. This often happens during renovation. Asbestos is highly friable. As it ages it breaks down easily into tiny fragment and particles. When these particles become airborne, they pose a risk to humans. Asbestos is costly to remove because the process requires state licensed technicians and specially sealed environments. Removal itself may be dangerous. Improper removal may further contaminate the air within the structure. The waste generated should be disposed of at a licensed facility. This further adds to the cost of removal. An alternate method of control that may be preferable is encapsulation. Encapsulation is the sealing off disintegrating asbestos. More information on asbestos-related issues is available from the EPA (telephone: 1-202-554-1404). The EPA has numerous publications that provide information on asbestos.

Lead-based paint was used on houses built prior to 1978. Lead-based paint may be on any interior or exterior surface. It is particularly common on doors, windows and other woodwork. About 75% of all private houses built before 1978 have lead present. That is approximately 57 million homes. Crawling babies can ingest lead dust from the hands. It can also be ingested in water from lead pipes or lead solder. Elevated levels of lead in the blood can cause serious damage to the brain, kidneys, nervous system and red blood cells. The degree of harm is related to the amount of exposure and the age at which the person was exposed. Presently, there is no federal law that requires homeowners to check for the presence of lead-based paint. Lead-based paint hazards must be disclosed however. In 1996 the EPA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued regulations requiring disclosure of the presence of any known lead-based paint hazards to potential buyers or renters. A lead based paint disclosure statement must be attached to all sales contracts and leases regarding residential properties built before 1978. Buyers or renters must be given ten days in which to conduct risk assessments or inspections for lead-based paint hazards. Buyers are not bound by any real estate contract until the ten-day period has expired. Real estate agents are to ensure that all parties comply with the law. For more information and pamphlets on lead-based hazards, call The National Lead Information Center, 1-800-424-5323

Radon is a radio active gas produced by the natural decay of radioactive substances. Some areas are known to have more significant amounts than others. Radon is found in every state. The highest concentrations can be found in the plains states, the upper Midwest and Northeastern United States. In the open air, radon usually dissipates into the atmosphere and is not likely to cause harm. When radon enters buildings and is trapped in high concentrations, it causes health problems. This usually happens in basements with poor ventilation. Radon is odorless and tasteless. It is impossible to detect without testing. Radon levels are relatively easy to reduce by installing ventilation systems or exhaust fans. The modern practice of creating energy-efficient homes and buildings with practically airtight walls and windows may increase the potential for radon gas accumulation. Heating and ventilation systems can spread radon gas throughout the house once it has accumulated. Radon has been proven to cause lung cancer. Individuals who smoke and spend considerable time indoors are particularly at risk. The EPA has a pamphlet ” A Citizen’s guide to Radon” It is available online or at your local EPA office.

Another colorless and odorless gas that poses health risks is carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a by-product of a fossil fuel burning appliance or heating system. It also can come from a car exhaust. A few years ago in Charlotte, four people were killed when someone left their car running in a townhouse garage. The garages were under the units. Apparently someone pulled in their garage and forget to turn their car off. It killed four people. After that Charlotte made it a law to have a carbon monoxide detector if you have any gas-burning appliance. When these appliances are ventilated properly there is not a problem. When improper ventilation or equipment malfunctions and permits large quantities of CO to be released into the structure, it poses a significant health hazard. Its effect is compounded by the fact that CO is so hard to detect. CO is quickly absorbed by the body inhibiting the blood’s ability to transport oxygen. This causes dizziness and nausea. More than 200 deaths occur from CO poisoning each year. Carbon monoxide detectors are available and their use is mandatory in some areas.

Groundwater contamination is a problem in some areas. Groundwater is the water that exists below the earth’s surface. Any groundwater contamination can threaten the supply of pure, clean water for private wells or public water systems. If the water gets contaminated, the earth’s natural filtering may not be adequate to ensure the availability of pure water. The groundwater can be contaminated in several ways. There is runoff from waste disposal sites, leaking underground storage tanks and pesticide and herbicides are usually some of the sources.

There are several hazards one should consider and test for in their own homes or one they are considering buying. Some of these hazards include but are not limited to radon, asbestos, lead based paint, carbon monoxide, and groundwater contamination. The costs of testing for these hazards are relatively small. The cost is especially small when compared to the cost of the presence of an environment hazard that you don’t know exists. For more information about environmental hazards around your house, please contact Preston Sandlin at www.homeinspectioncarolina.com