Sodak Elite Home Inspections

11/02/2026

Here is more detail on ledger board attachment to walls or other surfaces where debris and moisture may be trapped resulting in rot or deterioration. In this particular application a joist was installed parallel to the wall of the home which would mean it would be directly applied on top of the original ledger board. This is a case where ledger board spacers are used to allow fastening to the wall of the home with structural screws while also leaving a 1/2" gap to allow moisture to run away from the wall without introducing wood rot. Managing moisture flow away from the wall of the home and preventing the trapping of debris between the deck and the wall of the structure is extremely important and one of the top three problems that I find when inspecting homes.

10/23/2026

I see deck support post and beam problems, along with improper deck ledger board attachment issues on almost every home I inspect. No concrete support piers, decks bolted directly on top of siding, and undersized or improperly constructed post and beam structures are all very common. These issues always come up as questions and sometimes debate during a home sale closing.

For further clarification I am including some videos from one of my current construction projects. (Does the home inspector you hired do this kind of work every single week of the year for the last number of decades?😉) This deck is part of a remodel that is a unique opportunity to share because it involves both a ledger board attached to the home that is being replaced, and areas of free standing deck structure that are unattached to the wall. I will share some videos on the different construction details involved in each situation.

And I have two more videos on this topic coming in the near future. Stay tuned.

03/16/2026

I get a LOT of phone calls in weather like we are having in South Dakota right now from people who think they have windows that need replacement. They all say they have ice and water on their windows, a lot of cases there is visible mold at the bottom corners. In pretty much 99.9% of the cases the problem is interior humidity. This chart shows what humidity levels in a home should be at various outdoor ambient temperatures in the upper midwest. With our part of the world being an extremely humid climate maintaining low enough humidity to prevent condensation and mold is always a problem. In most cases I find very high indoor humidity readings plus humidifiers running to make the problem worse. So, to resolve these issues the recommendation would be, if you own a humidifier take it directly to the garbage can, and in the summer months run the central air and a dehumidifier and regularly check the relative humidity in your home. In this type of climate finding humidity is not the problem, the problem is maintaining it at a low enough level.

12/12/2024

Here is a video of a little garage that I built when I wasn't out and about home inspecting. It's important to ask yourself how much your home inspector actually knows about construction when you hire them.

01/03/2023

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