We are passing our house on to our daughter and her family after we move to Hawaii. We hired a house inspector, Will Decker to check over the house for any problems and he had lots of good advice. It's amazing how many house codes there are that weren't there 33 years ago. We had to cover all our naked light bulbs in the closets and attic and put an automatic door closer for the door leading to the basement. He gave us the name of somebody who can give us a more ecological way to get rid of carpenter ants. I thought they destroyed wood but Will said they don't eat wood. They just look for rotted areas and make a nest there. He also said we needed to cut back trees with branches over the house and that some insurance companies have a big problem with overhanging branches. We've got quite a few things to take care of before our June moving date. We also went to a Neighborhood Watch presentation and they said you should trim back bushes where burglars can hide. Burglars also look for those little tags that delivery people leave if you're not at home. We were also advised to leave a radio on loud when we leave the house. So much to think about and it's making me a little paranoid. I remember growing up in Hawaii when we'd put the key in a shoe in a little shoe closet next to the front door whenever we left the house. I guess that was a rather funny thing to do since that made it actually quite easy for burglars............but then again, we never were robbed in Hawaii.
