Home Watcher LV Las Vegas - Blog - Home Watcher LV, Las Vegas, NV

NHWA Virtual Boot Camp with Tony Bailey

8/8/2020

I had the privilege to conduct the NHWA Virtual Boot Camp training with Tony Baily, founder and owner of Buncombe Home Watch located in beautiful Asheville North Carolina.

His business experience and familiarity with business softwares and financials are excellent attributes to create a successful Home Watch company.

Tony completed a full two day virtual training going over “specific” business practices, viewing recorded detailed home watch inspections following the industry's BEST practices. We also went through the NHWA’s Business Basics curriculum created by home watch business leaders throughout the United States and Canada.

By doing this, Tony has reached the level of “Certified Home Watch Professional” and this NHWA certification lets the public know of a Home Watch professional’s commitment to excellence, by upholding the highest standards in the Home Watch industry.

I really enjoyed teaching this virtual class and I want to say CONGRATS to Tony Bailey. You have officially raised the bar for your new company.

A world of unoccupied homes is waiting for you. Best of luck!

JP Lalonde

#NHWA
#Homewatchbootcamp

NHWA Virtual Boot Camp - Carol Stine

7/25/2020

I had the privilege to conduct the NHWA's Virtual Home Watch Boot Camp with Carol Stine, who is expanding her services to do Home Watch for the residents near the Dallas Texas area.

Carol’s business experience was obvious and she will certainly use this experience and knowledge to lay a sound foundation for a successful Home Watch business.

Carol completed 2 full days of 1-on-1 training going over their “specific” business needs, witness a virtual and detailed Home Watch inspection including a long list of typical findings. She has acquired the knowledge and Best Practices from the NHWA’s curricula created by Home Watch business leaders throughout the United States and Canada.

Carol Stine has now received the designation of “Certified Home Watch Professional”. This certification lets the public know of a Home Watch professional’s commitment to excellence, by upholding the very highest of standards in the Home Watch industry.

CONGRATS!!! You have officially raised the bar for your company and your current and future clients!

Water ON or OFF?

6/14/2020

Many clients are somewhat surprised that I talk so much about closing the main water valve if possible.
I was at a client's home today and this is a house where the water supply could not be shut-off for multiple reasons. Well, guess what? The ice machine is leaking, so it started to build ice in the freezer. There is no stopping to this. Fortunately during my visit, I saw the issue and found a way to turn of the water to this freezer as an immediate corrective measure.

This is just to demonstrate how important it is to shut-down the main water valve if at all possible. You never know what can happen. Fortunately, the ice machine leak was not major and water could actually freeze and stay in there but if it had been more significant, perhaps the freezer would have started to leak on the wooden floor. Can you spell disaster??

JP
Home Watcher LV, Las Vegas
#HomeWatch

NHWA Boot Camp with Cameron James

2/12/2020

I had the privilege to conduct the NHWA's Boot Camp training with Cameron James serving the region of Palm Springs CA .
Cameron is a young man full of ambition and wants to start this business the right way.. He wanted to get practical and business knowledge and I have no doubt that Cameron has the right attitude and will be successful.
Cameron completed 2 full days of 1-on-1 training going over her “specific” business needs, conducting onsite home watch inspections following the industry's BEST practices, and going through the NHWA’s curricula created by home watch business leaders throughout the United States and Canada.
Cameron is now an NHWA “Certified Home Watch Professional”. This certification lets the public know of a Home Watch professional’s commitment to excellence, by upholding the highest standards in the Home Watch industry.
I enjoyed teaching this class and I want to say CONGRATS to Cameron James!!! You have officially raised the bar for your starting company.

JP Lalonde
#homewatch

Tis the season.

12/4/2019

Yes, we are here again. It's time to think about protecting your exterior faucets, vacuum breakers and any exposed water lines. Many people say, ahh, don't worry about it, we never covered them. What they do not realize is when a house is vacant and not heated at normal temperature of about 70 degrees, there is less heat available through the walls to keep exposed faucets above freezing. In Las Vegas we may not have one night below freezing throughout the entire winter, but it only takes one cold snap to change everything.

If your faucet freezes, it will start spraying water and cause a significant water leak. The repair cost can be significant if the plumber has to cut through the wall to repair the water line too. If the vacuum breaker freezes, it will no longer be able to seal the water line tight and prevent a leak. Actually I see the plastic cover splitting or breaking at or near the top screws. That is a sign of deformation and it will eventually fail and leak.

The solutions for all of this are quite simple. The faucets and vacuum breakers need to be insulated. There are home made ways with an old towel and plastic wrap or you can use products that are designed for this and available at most hardware stores.

The faucets can be protected by using an insulated cup or an insulated sock. The vacuum breaker can typically be protected using an insulated pouch which slides over the unit. Sometimes there are water lines coming out of the wall preventing the insertion of a pouch. In those cases, you have to be a bit creative and cover it with some thick fabric and cover everything with a plastic bag. (be aware, wet insulation is not working)

Happy winter

Insulated pouch (Home Watcher LV)

Insulated faucet cup (Home Watcher LV)

Vacuum breaker leak and frost damage (Home Watcher LV).

Who said nothing happens in a vacant condo?

2/20/2019

Over the years, I heard many times, "Nothing ever happened in our condo while we were gone". That may be the case but the reality is different. During this week's visit to our client's condo, we found a bathroom floor flooded by water dripping from the ceiling. The problem is from the plumbing for the unit above and the repairs are underway. Walls, ceiling and cabinets are damaged. Just imagine if the owner did not have anyone check the condo for months.

JP at Home Watcher LV
#homewatch

A great review received today from a client in Henderson

1/6/2019

Fire Prevention Week. Oct. 7-13, 2018

10/9/2018

This week is the Fire Prevention week as announced by the National Fire Prevention Association. A very simple preventive and life saving measure is to ensure that your smoke and CO detectors and alarms are not only working but that they are within their life expectancy.

How often do smoke alarms need to be replaced? A national survey shows most Americans don’t know. The NFPA and many manufacturers recommend replacing the smoke detectors every ten years. Read this article here.

If you are not home or need help with replacing batteries or checking your smoke detectors, give us a call.

JP Lalonde
Home Watcher LV
Las Vegas
#HomeWatch

Pool pump. Who's watching?

7/13/2018

Pool pump mechanical timers. They are very reliable until they are not. In this case, the ON tab slipped off the wheel and moved all the way to 8:45PM. So the pool pump was basically running from 8:45PM to 6:45PM, 22 hours a day. They say moving water is happy water. I understand that but the owner is not so happy about the high utility bill.

Enjoy summer!

JP

Home Watcher LV
Las Vegas

Pool pump running 22 of 24 hours. #HomeWatch

No, it was not the wind.

4/30/2018

Unexpected finding. We had windy days lately but nope, it was not the cause of this problem. It was a hit and run.

The wall was rebuilt quickly and everything is back to normal.

JP
Home Watcher LV
Las Vegas
#HomeWatch

Exterior Electrical breaker box.

3/20/2018

Just imagine that kids or burglars are casing your house. They might trip the main electrical breaker and wait a couple days before gong back. Why? Your security system, if you have one, will be dead. Your powered security cameras, your VOIP telephone, your internet modem and router will all be dead.

Unfortunately, your refrigerators and freezer will also be off potentially causing damage and losses.

Locking your exterior breaker box is the right thing to do.

JP at Home Watcher LV
Las Vegas

#HomeWatch

Home Watch Boot Camp Training instructor

3/18/2018

JP Lalonde from Home Watcher LV is an instructor for the National Home Watch Association for the Certified Home Watch Professional Boot Camp training program.

You can visit the NHWA websites for more details.

http://www.homewatchbootcamp.com/ and
https://www.nationalhomewatchassociation.org/certification/

JP Lalonde
Home Watcher LV
Las Vegas NV

#HomeWatch

A silent killer. Today's finding

3/12/2018

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a gas that can kill you quickly. It is called the “silent killer” because it is colorless, odorless, tasteless and non- irritating. That is why we must have a CO monitor in the house however, if your device is not ready to warn you, this will cause a vulnerable situation.

During a home walkthrough, a quality Home Watch Service should pick-up on audible alarms and notice abnormalities like this defective CO sensor.

JP at Home Watcher LV
Las Vegas NV

#HomeWatch

Home Watch check and finding

Today's find. Water Softener leak

1/24/2018

Here is a short video of the softener control head leaking. Fortunately, I was inspecting the garage as the softener was going through its cycle. Et voila. This leak would cause significant damage is not seen for a long period of time. Service is scheduled.

JP Home Watcher LV

#Homewatch

Water softener leak.

Door buster attempt

1/18/2018

Flyers or packages at your door are inviting for the wrong crowd but look at this video and ask yourself if your doors would resist this brutal attack. Let's discuss inexpensive improvements to strengthen one of the most vulnerable point in your home.

All points of entry should be looked at, not just the front door. Side or rear doors, garage doors, windows and sliding doors, etc. Another item to be considered are the electrical breaker panels or main electrical breaker access point.

There are several aspects to be assessed when thinking about how secure your property is.

JP at Home Watcher LV

#HomeWatch

Today's finding. Windy Las Vegas.

12/20/2017

Home Watcher LV Findings

Today was very windy in Las Vegas. This yard gate was pulled off the hinges and was partially open. In this case, there is a pool in the yard and as everyone knows, this is a vulnerable situation and could have been a disaster.

Home Watcher LV, Las Vegas

#HomeWatch

This week's findings

12/10/2017

Mushrooms anyone? When you see this in Southern Nevada, you know something is wrong. After investigation, a warm water line was leaking under the floor slab causing high humidity and higher then normal temperature in the bathroom.

This is a faucet leaking slowly under the sink in the cabinet. This could have been much worse if the faucet internal seal would have let go completely.

JP @ Home Watcher LV, Las Vegas NV

#HomeWatch

What is this?

7/15/2017

While performing a walkthrough a few days ago, I noticed a reduced water flow at the bath tub.

This is frequent and can be caused by sediments collecting at the faucet strainer. So I took the aerator out to find it almost completely clogged with small light brown particles. I knew exactly where these are from and it can be a disaster.

These particles are media beads from the water softener. The beads are not supposed to be found in the plumbing but when the media strainer fails, the beads are free to travel through the entire plumbing system and clog up aerators and in some cases plug water lines completely.

I immediately switched the water softener to by-pass mode to prevent this from getting worse and to stop the flow of beads in the system. Then I removed and cleaned aerators and ran every faucet, shower head, bath tubs, toilets, etc. I am sure we will see beads coming out of the lines for months.

The photo shows what came out of the bath faucet when I flushed the line without the aerator. If you look carefully, you will see thousands of small brown media beads.

Water softener service has been scheduled.

The joy of hard water.

JP
Home Watcher LV

Be an Angel - Don't water on Sundays

6/14/2017

The Southern Nevada Water Authority was talking about this for a couple years and now it is official.

From May 1 through Aug. 31, watering restrictions prohibit landscape irrigation between the hours of 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday watering also is prohibited. During the hottest hours of the day, water is often lost to evaporation from the heat and high winds.

Water your landscape early in the morning, before sunrise, to reduce evaporation caused by wind and heat. Experts agree that running drip irrigation less frequently is much better for plants than daily watering.

We will verify your irrigation timer to set the schedule according to the latest watering restrictions.

JP @ Home Watcher LV.

A new pond in the yard.

4/23/2017

Yes, sometimes you get what you were wishing for. Unfortunately, the cost and timing is not right.
Home Watching pays off. Who knows, perhaps you'd end up with a lake and a huge water bill.

This is a water leak caused by a cracked plastic water supply line to the irrigation system. Fortunately the problem was found prior to significant damage to the property.

JP @ Home Watcher LV
#HOMEWATCH

Professional Home Watching. Is it really an option?

4/12/2017

Here is an interview with a Real Estate professional providing some valuable tips for anyone leaving their home for an extended period of time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVBenUl7-hk&feature=share

JP at Home Watcher LV

Windy Vegas. Who will tell you about the wind damage?

4/2/2017

Yes, it can be windy in Las Vegas. If you are not home, who will tell you about this? How long will it take? Two days, two weeks, two months, perhaps never?

These are concrete roof tiles that were flipped over in our most recent wind storm two days ago. Some of the tiles flew away and can possibly cause additional damage like break a window or land on a car.

The real issue is, who will notify the owner?

JP at Home Watcher LV
Las Vegas NV
#Homewatch

Surprise, surprise...

3/15/2017

This is a friendly warning for all the vacant property owners who are not able to or elect not to close the main water valve. Fortunately in this case, someone was home and heard this splashing noise in the laundry room. The washer hose connection had corroded over time and became weak. That morning was the end of its life. The hose popped out and the flooding started. Within a few minutes, there was water everywhere on the laundry room floor and quickly expanding to other rooms.

The washer water supply valve was closed quickly to avoid a significant disaster.

The bottom line is, close the main water valve when the property is vacant AND have a look at the washer hose connections at both ends. Any evidence of corrosion is a sign that the hoses should be replaced.

JP at Home Watcher LV.
#HomeWatch

It starts with a drip, then...

3/12/2017

A pool filter can leak for many reasons but this one is a disaster in progress. The casing is cracked and leaking significantly. The minor dripping was previously reported but now, it has become a more significant and urgent issue.

JP at Home Watcher LV
#Homewatch

Client's feedback.

2/2/2017

Feedback sent to Evolve Vacation Rental Network about Home Watcher LV this morning.

I depend on him so much! He has been very easy to work with, responses quickly, and reports damage to my home as soon as possible. He is awesome.

Thank you very much for the great feedback. It is much appreciated.

JP at Home Watcher LV