Goodbye Star Tribune

I'm sad to say that this is my last entry for the Star Tribune. I've blogged here weekly for the past nine years, and I've appreciated all of the support. I've learned a lot, I've appreciated your comments, and I've truly enjoyed sharing what I know about houses. Teaching is my passion, and this has given me a platform to reach more people than I ever thought possible.

For almost a decade now, I've been writing about homeownership and how to best take care of the home you own and live in. As a second-generation home inspector, I've inspected homes of every age, condition, and size, from 400 square foot condos in the city to enormous mansions on Lake Minnetonka. I've loved sharing stories and finding solutions to the many challenges facing homeowners, from ice dams to basement flooding to skeletons in the attic.

My biggest faux pas here was my first and last attempt at some April Fool's humor back in 2014. I joked that the state of Minnesota was going to mandate the installation of fire sprinkler systems in all existing homes. I thought this sounded preposterous, but this resulted in an early-morning phone call from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. As it turns out, they don't appreciate being flooded with phone calls from angry homeowners first thing in the morning. Lesson learned, stay in my lane.

My favorite posts have always been the annual Top 20 Home Inspection Photos, my own personal New Year's Eve tradition. My favorite part of blogging is the comments and reactions to these pictures--I enjoy them as much as everyone else enjoys the photos.

Please visit me at https://www.structuretech.com/blog/ as I continue to write about homeownership and home maintenance. You can also subscribe at https://follow.it/home-inspection-blog to have these posts emailed to you directly.

Thank you for reading. And to the fine folks at the Star Tribune, thank you for allowing me to have a voice here.

And before I go, here's a sneak peek at one of this year's Top 20 Home Inspection Photos. I hope you enjoy these posts ;-)

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections