Home Advantage Inspections

Vacation Alert!

Home Advantage is currently booking inspections for the week of July 20th, 2025. While we are away, we will have very limited access to email. Please feel free to email and we will reply upon our return July 19th.

To reserve your inspection for July 20th and later, please visit our website and click the "Book An Inspection" link. Thank you for your patience, we value your business!

Home Certified Home Inspection Barrie Orillia Collingwood Wasaga Beach Innisfil Orillia Midland Bradford Essa Clearview Tiny Tay Severn Ontario

WHAT IS RADON?
Radon is a gas formed by the breakdown of uranium, a natural radioactive material found in all soil and rock. Long-term exposure to radon is the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer after smoking and the leading cause of lung cancer for people who have never smoked.

In 2009, Health Canada conducted a two-year study of radon concentrations in homes across Canada. This study found that:
• Approximately 7% of homes have high levels of radon
• Radon levels vary significantly across the country
• There are no areas of the country that are ‘radon free,’ but there are areas of the country where high levels of indoor radon are more prevalent.

No matter where your home is located, the only way to know if it has a high level of radon is to test.
https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/documents/services/environmental-workplace-health/reports-publications/radiation/radon-reduction-guide-canadians-hc.pdf

Vacation Alert!
Home Advantage is currently booking inspections for the week of April 1, 2025 as we are taking a well-earned vacation. While we are away, we will have very limited access to email. Please feel free to email and we will reply as quickly as we can.

To reserve your inspection for the week of April 1st, please visit www.yourhomeinspector.ca and click the "Book An Inspection" link. We will follow up on March 31st to confirm.

Thank you for your patience!

Home Certified Home Inspection Barrie Orillia Collingwood Wasaga Beach Innisfil Orillia Midland Bradford Essa Clearview Tiny Tay Severn Ontario

Most Canadian homes have basements, and many of those basements suffer from foundation water leaks. These leaks may be worse as spring approaches and we experience lots of rain, but the ground around your foundation may still be frozen. This can increase the water pressure around your home’s perimeter and provoke leaks at foundation cracks. Normally, when the ground is not frozen, that rainwater can drain more freely away from your home. Or, for a variety of reasons, you just may have a home that regularly experiences excess ground water pressure. There is a widely used remedy.

A sump pump installation can remove excess water from under the floor of your basement and thus reduce the water pressure around your foundation walls.

Consult a qualified plumber for help choosing a suitable location and to complete the installation. In simple terms, an empty “well” will be created in the floor of your basement and an electrically powered pump will be installed in that well. That pump will be connected to a pipe or hose that will discharge the water at the exterior of your home, well away from your foundation. The pump will only be activated when the water that seeps into the well rises to a level that triggers a floating switch. When the water level is sufficiently lowered, the pump will shut off.

Given that storms are often accompanied by high winds that can disrupt your power supply, ask your plumber about installing a battery back-up for the sump pump.