The Game Is Afoot! Home Inspection Problems That Require Detecting
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Sometimes you walk into a house and the home inspection problems announce themselves right away: the smell of gas in the air, a trail of termites along the ceiling, or the way the living room leans to the left.
On other occasions, you have to work for it a little. Do you automatically notice that the water heater is missing a flue pipe? What about the scorch marks on the electrical panel box? Today’s Upon Closer Inspection is devoted to home inspection problems where our inspectors had to do some digging. These examples put the “closer’ in Upon Closer Inspection.
Bathroom Test
We’ll start with an easy one. What Inspector Adrian is doing here doesn’t go beyond the standard test an industry professional would conduct, but it is, as he says, why you want to get an inspection.
This is a newly redone, beautiful bathroom. If you were a buyer touring this home, you would have no reason to suspect anything is wrong, and even if you ran the water on a walk-through before purchase, everything would have been fine. You wouldn’t have discovered this until you took a shower.
Keep in mind, as a buyer you can negotiate repairs prior to sale, but you need to at least be aware of the problem before closing. Don’t let yourself get blindsided after the fact.
Flooring Surprise
As you can see here, this piece of nice laminate flooring is coming up. What you can’t see is that all of the flooring is detached and coming up.
During the inspection, the inspector said everyone was just walking along the floor not realizing the whole thing was detached until he noticed an odd movement beneath his feet. He checked it out and found the problem was widespread.
Muddy Yard?
A little mud in the yard isn’t a big deal… unless it hasn’t rained in a while. Inspector Brian’s attention to detail here may have uncovered a major problem underground and saved someone some major dollars in future water bills.
The real problem though, will be finding out the cost of the repair and whether the leak has caused damage to the foundation. The type of repair necessary could affect whether the buyer chooses to purchase the home or not.
Just a Little Gas
Any type of gas leak is a problem that needs to be taken care of immediately, even a small one like this. I included this one because I just don’t know how many inspectors would have caught it. Our inspectors are like secret agents with their gadgets: if there is a leak, they will find it!
Whether your home is old or new, you may have home maintenance or repair issues to deal with. If you want to have a detective … er … an inspector go over your home with a fine-tooth comb, you don’t have to be buying or selling. You can schedule a seasonal home maintenance inspection anytime!
