Kris Explains It

Kris Explains It We explore, explain, and question everything to help you think, learn. Ask questions. Get answers through deep dives into science and history.

Residential & Commercial Inspector
Mold • Lead • Asbestos Testing
https://tr.ee/r0YLzRBnXj
LHI #11331 Avid Inspection Specialists, LLC is a home and commercial inspection company servicing south Louisiana.

06/13/2026

😤🦠 Few things are more frustrating than walking into a “completed” mold job and realizing your client may have just spent five figures… and the problem is still there.

This one wasn’t remediation—it was encapsulant sprayed over heavily impacted drywall instead of correcting the moisture source, removing damaged materials, cleaning properly, and verifying results.
Encapsulation is not remediation. It has a place under the right conditions—but coating severely mold-damaged drywall and calling it fixed isn’t solving the problem.

Drywall is porous. When it’s extensively impacted, you don’t cover it—you replace it.
💸 Clients lose money.
🏠 Homes stay damaged.
😞 Trust in the industry takes the hit.

Find the source.
Fix the moisture.
Remove what can’t be saved.
Clean correctly.
Verify the outcome.

Do it right—or don’t call it remediation.

🎥 Kris Explains It

06/06/2026

🌧️🏠 “We get hurricanes here” is NOT a reason to ignore attic ventilation and moisture control. 🌧️🏠

A lot of people assume that because they live in hurricane zones with wind-driven rain, the safest move is to limit or eliminate traditional attic ventilation… but moisture physics doesn’t stop because of storms.
This attic had soffit vents only and absolutely no effective upper exhaust ventilation. The result? Humidity was nearly 100% in the attic space. That pushed the dew point up to roughly 87°F, which meant almost every surface in that attic became a condensation target.

💧 Framing was sweating.
💧 Mechanical components were sweating.
💧 Insulation was trapping moisture.
🦠 Under nearly every insulation batt that was lifted… mold growth was present on the wood.
🤢 And the smell carried throughout the home.

This is where people get into trouble trying to create “passive inhalation” of an attic without actually giving moisture a controlled path out.

If conditions, design limitations, or climate concerns make traditional intake/exhaust ventilation impractical, a sealed attic strategy done correctly is often the better path — which can mean closing off soffit ventilation and using dedicated humidity control such as an open-face dehumidifier designed for the space instead of leaving the attic in a stagnant near-saturation environment.

Attics don’t fail because of rain alone.
They fail because moisture enters… and has nowhere to go.

Control the moisture. Control the dew point. Protect the structure. 🏠🔬

06/03/2026

Historically lead products also appeared in:
🪵 Varnishes
🪵 Lacquers
🪵 Stains
🪵 Furniture coatings
🪵 Clear wood finishes

During renovations people often unknowingly create lead dust events inside their own homes.
And dust is the problem.

EPA’s floor dust clearance level is now 5 μg/ft². That is an unbelievably tiny amount of material across an entire square foot.

Think:
🧂 Crush a grain of salt into powder
➡️ Spread tiny amounts over several floor tiles
➡️ That’s the scale regulators are measuring

You can’t trust your eyes.

Children are especially vulnerable because contamination ends up exactly where they play.

Article reference:
https://archive.cdc.gov/www_atsdr_cdc_gov/csem/leadtoxicity/biologic_fate.html

05/31/2026

🏠 How do you know when a roof needs replacement instead of repair?

One of the biggest indicators is when the shingles begin showing exposed fiberglass reinforcement, significant granule loss, and widespread moss growth.
Granules protect shingles from UV degradation. As they wear away, the asphalt deteriorates faster. Moss makes matters worse by holding moisture against the roof and sometimes growing beneath the shingles, where it can accelerate damage and create pathways for water intrusion.

By the time these conditions become widespread, repairs are often no longer the most practical solution.
A failing roof doesn't just affect the roof—it can affect the decking, attic, insulation, ceilings, and indoor air quality.

🔍 Have your roof inspected before small issues become expensive ones.

05/30/2026

🚿 WATER SHOULD FLOW TO THE DRAIN... NOT COLLECT IN THE CORNERS.
This shower floor has multiple low spots around the perimeter that trap water after every use. 💧

The white crusty deposits you're seeing are mineral deposits left behind as the standing water ev***rates. But the bigger issue is what's happening below the surface.

⚠️ Grout is porous.
⚠️ Standing water increases moisture pe*******on.
⚠️ Excess moisture can migrate into surrounding materials.
⚠️ Mold and moisture damage may develop over time.

A properly built shower floor should have a consistent slope that directs water toward the drain without creating puddles or birdbaths.

Have you ever noticed water still sitting in your shower hours later? That's not normal.

05/28/2026

🚨 THIS WATER HEATER COULD BECOME A BOMB! 🚨

One of the most dangerous defects I find during inspections is a missing Temperature & Pressure Relief (TPR) valve on a water heater. In this case, someone actually removed the safety valve and capped the opening shut! 😳

The TPR valve is designed to automatically release water if the temperature or pressure inside the tank becomes excessive. Without it, a malfunctioning thermostat, failed gas control valve, or overheating condition can allow pressure to build until the tank violently ruptures.

On a gas water heater, the danger can be even greater because the burner can continue adding heat to the tank. If temperatures climb high enough, water can rapidly flash into steam when the tank fails, creating an explosion powerful enough to destroy portions of a home.

⚠️ The TPR valve is not optional.
⚠️ It should never be removed.
⚠️ It should never be capped, plugged, or altered.

If you ever see a water heater with the TPR valve missing, have it evaluated and repaired immediately by a qualified plumbing professional.

05/27/2026

🚪🔥 That “extra security” could actually become a deadly hazard.
This home had a keyed deadbolt on the interior side of the exit door — meaning you need a KEY to unlock it from inside the house. In an emergency like a fire, smoke condition, or electrical event, every second matters. Searching for keys in panic conditions, darkness, or heavy smoke can delay escape long enough to turn a survivable situation into a tragedy.
Many building and fire safety standards require egress doors to be openable from the inside without keys, tools, or special knowledge for exactly this reason. A standard thumb-turn deadbolt allows fast emergency exit while still maintaining security.
🔥 Smoke can reduce visibility in seconds.
🔥 Panic causes fine motor skills to fail.
🔥 Children and guests may not know where the key is.
Security matters… but life safety matters more.

05/26/2026

So this had me excited for a second on this home inspection lol 😂😂😂 doing a home inspection and I'll look up and I see an envelope in the supply register!!! You know I had to peek inside 😂🤷🏽 Big fat nada. 😉

05/21/2026

🏠🌫️ SOUTH LOUISIANA CRAWL SPACES & FLOORING DISASTERS 🌫️🏠

One of the biggest mistakes I see in South Louisiana pier-and-beam homes is installing v***r-barrier style flooring like sheet vinyl or certain LVP products directly over a crawl space. Even with a WELL ventilated crawl space, the physics of v***r drive still matter.

💧 Moisture ALWAYS wants to move from areas of higher humidity to lower humidity.
In South Louisiana, that means humid crawl space air is constantly trying to migrate upward through the wooden subfloor.

When you install low-perm flooring that doesn’t allow upward drying, moisture can become trapped between the flooring and the wood subfloor. That leads to:

⚠️ Buckling floors
⚠️ Mold growth
⚠️ Musty odors
⚠️ Delamination
⚠️ Rotting subfloors
⚠️ Flooring adhesive failures

A properly designed floor system over a crawl space needs:
✅ Adequate crawl space ventilation
✅ Proper ground moisture control
✅ Good drainage around the structure
✅ Flooring assemblies that ALLOW controlled v***r diffusion and upward drying

The sweet spot is often flooring systems with a permeance roughly between about 0.7–10 perms depending on assembly design and climate conditions. Too impermeable, and you can create a moisture sandwich that traps humidity inside the structure.

In hot-humid climates like South Louisiana, building science matters. 🌎🔥💦

05/19/2026

Sparkys! Electricians! Chime in! Nothing was loose, yet clearly fire damage and no tripping of any breakers. What typically causes this kind of damage with seemingly no failsafe that failed to protect?

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3425 LA-1
Napoleonville, LA
70390

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