Who left the Window Open?

I have been to 4 homes in the last 2 weeks to look at jobs.
Guess what? Every single home had a window left open. When I asked the owners if they realized it, they said no.

Here's why it is important to check them. On every occasion, the owners did not recall when they opened the window and said it could have been open for 2 or 3 years since they last had the house painted.
One person said, "we've owned the house for 5 years and neither of us have checked to make sure the windows work correctly..."..... guess who gets the first call when there are window issues?

Check your windows now before pollen makes its way in.... or bats, squirrels, you name it!

On one occasion about 4 years ago in July, I went to a home where the client needed the living room ceiling repainted. That was it. It was a tray ceiling with 4 can lights. They had a small amount of mold. So I educated them on  air sealing the can lights to keep attic air from being sucked into the living room from the HVAC system. They didn't want that upgrade. So I did my work and 2 weeks later they were back in town and now the ceiling looked like it was raining with moisture on it like your bathroom walls look when you forget to turn on the shower. This happened because I used a primer sealer intentionally to seal that drywall.  They had an HVAC contractor there to "replace the old duct work because that was causing the moisture problem in the living room."
These poor people were scammed.

I asked the owner to walk around the outside of the house with me... They said the master suite seemed to be uncomfortable and the new duct work would help. I explained it was a good investment but not the solution to their problem. We looked at the windows to the master bedroom.... 2 were open at the top about 1 inch. I told the owner-- that is causing the moisture and comfort issue. We walked around more and found 2 more windows open in the guest bedroom. The back patio door was not weather tight. Next day I came back with a smoke pencil. He said the duct work made a difference because there was no moisture on the ceiling. I said- no- yesterday we closed the windows, THAT is the difference and his wife thought I was insulting them because they had spent $4800 to replace duct work.... I explained not at all.... then I showed them what happens when you turn on the HVAC system with a window open, using the smoke pencil...
Go to 2:30 to see how a smoke pencil works.

Smoke Pencil in use at 2:30

We opened a window, turned on the HVAC system. The Tray ceiling was the highest ceiling in the house and it was 5 feet  from the patio door that was not weather tight. Guess where the smoke went? Into the tray ceiling.  The tray ceiling was between the patio doors and the return air grill..... After that, I was asked to check and air seal all the doors and windows, receptacles, and any other areas in the home that may leak unconditioned air into the home.  Apparently their power bill dropped down to half of what it was in June and July....After that, I was asked to renovate their guest bathroom and do more work.
Very Nice couple.

So- check your windows! Your house will thank you!
You're Welcome......