Introduction - homes and home inpections

Hi, my name is Al Garrett, and welcome to my blog.

This blog is dedicated to the wonderful world of homes and home inspections.

Here is a quick definition of the two:

home - one's place of residence
home inspection - An visual nspection of a home done by a professional, to establish the structural and mechanical integrity of the house.

Over the pasted 36 years, I have dedicated my life’s work to the building trades. Currently, I conduct training classes and seminars for home inspectors as well as provide technical support nationally for home inspectors. I have an extensive background in all aspects of commercial and residential construction ranging from historical renovations of Colonial and Civil War-era buildings to new construction projects such as shopping centers, hospitals, and nuclear power plants.

As a residential contractor, I built and repaired homes. I constructed county rehabilitation housing projects and created the Project House Program - where I taught new homeowners how to properly repair and maintain their homes. I served for years as Department Manager of a construction department, where I supervised the construction department. I created guidelines for all potential sub-contractors, and monitored and reviewed the stats of all work in progress and completed.

In the early seventies, I worked with my dad as an apprentice brick mason doing historic renovation on some of the famous historic sites in Richmond and Williamsburg, Virginia. After four years as an apprentice, with the skills I developed working with my dad, I moved on to a company where I became foreman of an historic renovation company. As a young man I left my historic roots to built high rise buildings. I slowly came back to my roots as a residential contractor, doing repairs, renovation, and new construction. This was not enough - I had to perform home inspections, and form that, I developed a strong desire to teach people how to properly maintain their homes.

This blog will contain stories, instructions, pictures and more! Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope that you enjoy the infomation regarding homes and home inspections that I will provide.