Cardinal Home Inspections

Hello, Friends! Protecting Your Family and Home Recently there have been a number of home break-ins and auto thefts in our Charleston communities. Last week in Cane Bay, cars were broken into and one was even taken from the driveway of one family while they were packing for vacation. Thanks to law enforcement the vehicle was found, unfortunately for the owner of the vehicle their vacation money was in the vehicle at the time of the theft and was not retrieved. Home Security Monitoring There are lots of do it yourself options for home security that can save you money like the nest security doorbell monitor or the  SimpliSafe Home Security System . There are also professionally installed systems that may save you time and effort. Special Offer In light of recent events we have partnered up with ADT to offer all current and past Cardinal Home Inspection customers and agents access to exclusive Home Security off...

If you have a fireplace (or are considering buying a house which has a fireplace), you probably know how nice an amenity that a fireplace can be. It is a wonderful place to gather the family and guests around, it provides warmth and can add stunning ambiance to your home. But traditional wood-burning fireplaces are not energy efficient, and if not operated properly, they can be very dangerous. This article discusses: 1. how a fireplace works, 2. how to improve it’s energy efficiency, 3. what typically goes wrong with fireplaces, and 4. the routine maintenance you should do for your fireplace. How A Fireplace Works Despite their appearance of being all warm and cozy, fireplaces tend to be very inefficient for home heating. In fact, the energy efficiencies of fireplaces typically range from only 10% to a minus 10%. The reason the efficiency can be below zero is that the fire draws in heated air from inside the home and vents it up the chimney. In ot...