Thinking of Buying a Flip? Here Are Some Professional Screw Ups to Watch For

Every week, the detail-oriented folks at Green Scene Home Inspections will give CandysDirt.com readers an education in inspection. Want to see what they see? Tune in for “Upon Closer Inspection.”

There are several causes for the kinds of problems home inspectors find: Normal wear and tear, lack of regular maintenance, bad DIY repairs. But sometimes we find problems that were caused by home professionals doing poor work.

Here are some examples of times the “pros” really screwed up.

Don’t Judge a Roof By Its Cover

In negotiating the contract, the home seller agreed to replace the old roof. Our client, the buyer, asked the inspector to double-check the roof. He said he’d driven by, and it looked good from the street, but he wanted to be sure.

In this picture, you can see that the street side has been replaced, but the back-facing side is still the old roof.

Lipstick on a Pig

This midcentury flip house was billed as having brand new, energy-efficient windows. This is … true … but if you don’t set and seal them properly, you’ll have water and air coming in through the sides no matter how energy-efficient the windows are.

No Shortcuts to Success

And definitely no shortcuts to good HVAC flow. In this newly constructed house, the cool air is totally cut off to the office.

Whether a house is old or new, a home inspector is there to give you an unbiased view of the state of things so there are no surprises down the road.