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What's on your home inspection report?
We also want to hear from you seasoned restorers, too—what's the most worrisome item you've encountered on an inspection report, and how did you deal with it?
Tags: From the Editors, home inspection
Views: 462
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by desiree mccrorey on -
After watching many Holmes on Homes TV episodes where inspections where presented as useless, and given that parade of inspectors for my house never mentioned the asbestos wrapped furnace ducts nor that the kitchen lino flooring likely had lead in it, I'm of the opinion inspections are a nearly complete waste of money.
But what can one expect in an industry where no one is held accountable for their performance (or lack thereof), ignorance or laziness. Every page of my inspection report clearly stated the inspector was not responsible for anything. I don't expect x-ray vision or anything, but come on. :)
I certainly wouldn't mind getting paid for a job where I look at things, take a few pictures, state the painfully obvious and not be held accountable for anything.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Finley on -
Having owned two 18th century houses I've just about seen it all on inspection reports. We've had termite damage, crumbling chimneys, leaky roofs, cracked windows, sagging floors, faulty electric, faulty plumbing, bulging foundation walls, ancient septic systems and much more. Honestly, none of it has really scared me off as long as I know its there. I would recommend finding an inspector who specializes in old houses and knows what to look for. Our current house (1740s) was sold "as is" so we knew it had issues. The inspector spent over 8 hrs in it looking in every possible corner and gave a very thorough report. He even took me to the attic and pointed the flying squirrels nesting next to the chimney. We went over everything in detail and he said that as long as I knew what I was getting into, there were no showstoppers there. The septic system was the biggest worry as the realtor and former owner kept telling us how old it was and that it was too small for my family of 5 and it was bound to fail soon, so we should just budget in another $20K to have it replaced. I called a plumber friend out, he tested it and said "if it ain't broke don't fix it". That was 4 years ago and we've never had an issue. Eventually it will need some repair - maybe just a new drain field but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Meanwhile, I'm still battling the flying squirrels!
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Permalink Reply by Sarah Felix Burns on -
an eight hour inspection! wow - that's impressive! I'm curious about how much the inspector charged you for that?
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Permalink Reply by Jim Finley on
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it cost me $1000 but it was well worth it. a typical inspection is about $500 around here.
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Permalink Reply by desiree mccrorey on
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Jim wrote:
> ...and said "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
I've noted wrt to many of the conditions in my house, half the inspectors/contractors have said that. The other half look at the same condition and identify reasons it *must* be repaired/replaced.
My house inspector noted his concerns with the washing machine that's jury-rigged to drain into a old toilet bowl. Another inspector thought it was so funny, he took pictures, but didn't think it was necessarily a major problem. Subsequently, I've had several plumbers visit where I include the washing machine setup in the house "tour". Most of them have said "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
I'm learning (this is my first house) that not everything in my old house has to be replaced just because it's old and even when something needs attention, it's not automatic that the new replacements will be of better quality than what was produced decades ago.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Finley on
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"washing machine that's jury-rigged to drain into a old toilet bowl" I love it!
I've also had many people tell me never to replace old high volume flush toilets with the new low flow models. I've have both and I usually end up flushing the new one at least twice as 1.8 gal just isn't enough to do the job.
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Permalink Reply by desiree mccrorey on
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I was told the same thing. I did replace my old toilets last year but with 3.5 gallon ones. I was also told by a plumber one of the problems that can happen with the 1.8 flushers is they might not push enough water through the older plumbing system to properly move things along. The older plumbing, typically cast iron, needs a higher volume of water. Newer low volume toilets need PVC piping to work best.
So the combo of low flushers with pipes that need higher flow can sometimes mean a greater chance of buildup and clogging somewhere underground between the house and the city sewer system. It can also mean the sludge that is in the sewage pipes is more concentrated because there is less water to dilute it. In the end more corrosive sludge lingers longer in the pipes. I'm sure the pipes aren't happy under those conditions.
So the money one saves by flushing less water can be put towards digging up the yard and laying new pipe. :)
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Permalink Reply by Annette K Weber on -
Bought my house in 1984, inspectors told us needed a new furnace. The one there was a converted coal burner installed in 1947. It was working and I had the oil company come and check it out, They told me they would not cover it under any waranty, My X had attitued, if it isn't broke why replace it. Well, it's still in working order, did have to replace the circulator and starter and 1 fuse.
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Permalink Reply by Andy Streenz on -
I've owned two old homes (1915 and 1885) and never had an "official" house inspection done. What I *did* do was combine the knowledge I had at the time with inviting a couple of friends who also own old houses and have experience in construction/remodeling. Together we looked over the houses and drew our conclusions based on our combined knowledge. I have high suspicion of "inspectors" and "appraisers," many of whom don't even own property. Also, as it was stated elsewhere in this thread, they are not liable for anything. So why are their opinions so highly regarded (and paid for)? Of course, the short answer to this, no doubt, is Big Lenders and Big Insurance Companies.
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Permalink Reply by McCall Emerald on -
We bought a house we saw on the internet, in WV while we were living in CA. No report, just husband flew back to "inspect" it and made offer, and was accepted the same day. some updates had been done wiring up to 200 amp. replacing knob and tube and new plumbing the plumbing at least was done by the PO or her son, not a plumber but works, other than a small leak that turned into a major nightmare, but that is another story.
We bought in September of 2010 and been down about five times now to work on it. Once while there a neighbor told me the house had been condemed and scheduled for demolishon, but the PO did the work I mentioned and a few other costmetic things and got it spared. Worries me though because it is on the towns radar now. It really surprised me as the house itself is in very good sound condition, yes it needs some cosmetics but certainly nothing to be torn down.
I have since found that this town is very demolishon happy.
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Permalink Reply by kevin on -
Well it seems that there are as many opions of inspectors as there are ...well you know what. Its not a bad idea to have someone else look it over that is not caught up in thoughts of granduer, Ive inspected cars for 25 years and its easy to miss major issues when you get the desire to have something. When i buy a house i look at it numerous times ,making a list each time ,this includes the neighborhood ,how busy is the street ,flight paths, and stop by the zoning office to see whats gonna be built or what could be built . A lot of people seemed scared of the foundations but most can be repaired ,it may mean digging a footer and rebuilding a wall but rarely could i imagine completely replacing it ! my house is from 1906 and had holes all over the brick foundation, we repaired this during the summer taking out a section and cleaning the old bricks then mortaring them back up, repointing the other sections ( this means scrapping out the loose mortar and putting new mortar in ) it really isnt that hard, I had my 14 yr old do it ,my back was hurting !! As a child my fathers house was built on tree stumps ! we dug a basement under half and footers around the other sections , this increased the living space and some banks wont loan money on a house sitting on pillars. by the way the tree stumps he thought might be rotten where petrified and had tap roots 7 feet down ! Anyway the more you know about a house the better.
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