Did I ever mention how much I hate the home inspection industry
Ron Natalie
7 years ago
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cpartist
7 years ago
elpaso1
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Have you ever said: 'I hate this' and leveled it to start over?
Comments (12)I've never completely leveled a garden but I've gone nuts before. This is my usual MO: I photograph my beds throughout the season & study them in winter to see what should be changed. I research the plants I'm interested in & make mental lists. Fortunuately, I tend to get a few garden center gift certificates at Christmas, so I plan. Then as soon as spring is in the air, I go shopping. I end up with some things from my list & some impulse buys. Then I store everything on the back deck during the spring rains & replan. I wait until a day with light rain & go nuts. I start digging things up, moving things around, tossing stuff I never realized I hated, planting the new plants in areas I never planned to plant them, get myself all muddy, take days to get all the dirt out of my fingernails, take aleve for back pain (lol) and sit back & wait to see what it does. I've found those beds turn out much better than the ones I planned. I tweak a bit until the 3rd year & then consider another overhaul though not as major. Anything that underperforms gets replanted out back or tossed in the woods. Eventually I'll just buy a new house/yard & start the whole process all over again. =P...See MoreJust got home inspection...I'm overwhelmed
Comments (34)WOW... active seismic zone, and there's FRAMING/strapping issues, in what I assume is a FRAMEd house? Surely, by now, someone has coined a catchy acronym to describe the now-proverbial "So-Cal-nightmare-hacked-together-during-boom-by-illegal-labor-with-no-meaningful-inspections-by-AHJ..." ;') In most states the current owner would have legal recourse against the builder for 10 YEARS, but it's 40:1 odds this shoddy builder has folded shop and vamoosed, circa 2005-07. It's not hard to imagine the FOUNDATION/soil preparation was done with similar "quality". If this dubious house is really a contender, it would be cheap insurance to hire a licensed Geotechnical Engineer, who specializes in foundations, to do "the kitchen sink" inspection, including drilling core samples, peeky-peek with a borescope, etc. Oh yeah. Knowledge is power, not to mention further negotiating leverage, buyer's market and all. At the very least, determine other homes in the 'hood built by the same hosers, and talk to the owners, especially original owners. OTOH, I do envy the apparently significant legal liability HIs work under in high-tax CA. Here in corrupt ol' low-tax FL, the HIs are on the hook ONLY for the price of the inspection--at most--I kid you not!...See MoreHome Inspection Warning --don't make the mistake I did
Comments (18)First and foremost, I'm not trying to be snide, but seriously, you get what you pay for...and $250.00 for a home inspection pretty much gets you a walk through...which is probably why he missed the red flags. That said, lets talk about those red flags. The sealer alone is not a red flag...because bottom line is that chances are that at some point most basements will experience water intrusion even if they have gone for years and never had a drop. This is because things change....the most obvious is development, which creates more impervious coverage, so the water flows to places that it never did before...often entering basements. The weather pattern has also been very weird for at least few years now, in terms of sometimes raining for days on end, overwhelminmg even the driest of basements. This is why many places are enacting new storm water management measures etc. That said, it is pro-active to seal the basement walls with seller...so that is not necessarily a "red flag". It is also best to have a sump pump? Do you have one? If not...have one installed. A friend who has owned his house since new 15 years ago had a flood in his basement for the first time a few months ago...a sump pump would have saved him a lot of grief. Of course, IF the staining along the floor and walls were present on the day of inspection, and did not develop between the day of inspection and the day you closed, and IF it was not concealed by the sellers possessions...yes, he should have noticed this and reported it.. If he took pictures of the basement and you have them to prove that the staining was present, you can make a case for money back. Otherwise, probably not. The porch is whole different story, as all of that should have been reported. If he did not include that in his report, I would send him documentation of what he missed, and tell him you want him to refund the cost of the inspection for that reason alone, water intrusion or not. However, you may need to prove that the porch issue caused water to intrude. You still have not said what the waterproofing company plans on doing about the water main issue, and the unknown source. Until you have definitive info on all of this, IMO, he will probably not comply as he can say that you can't pinpoint the cause as being the porch. Before spending huge bucks on the WP company, hire a professional landscaper to check the grade...as that could be your problem. You may also want to hire a forensic HI, to see if he can determine where the problem is coming form...as water has a funny way of appearing no where near the actual source of entry. Expect to pay at least $500.00. Last but not least...what state do you live in? I can check for you to see if they regulate the HI profession..if so, you should report him to the licensing board..or at least tell him you will..as that has far more impact than the BBB. ....See MoreHome Inspection - can I be present?
Comments (30)jane ny: "I was not impressed with these inspectors. They seemed to push further inspections on the things they could offer referrals. I saw him hand the buyer a card and state he would highly recommend a particular chimney man. He explained that the cracks could cause the house to burn down and implied that the buyers children would be in danger. He spoke about the septic system explaining how it worked and if it failed could cost the buyer $30-35,000 to replace. I thought the buyer would faint! Poor man gasped. He then handed a card and recommended the buyer call this company for follow-up inspection." It does sound as if these inspectors may be getting some sort of compenstion from the companies to which they are referring further inspections. If so, they are in violation of the NYS COE. You can of course file a complaint and ask that they be investgated for such...as being made aware of possible violations is the only way thay the licensing board would be able to enforce the regs. Below are the COE's pertaining to this issue: (b) Home inspectors shall not accept compensation, financial or otherwise, from more than one party for services on the same project or for services pertaining to the same project unless the circumstances are fully disclosed and agreed upon by all involved and interested parties. (c) Home inspectors shall not solicit or accept financial or other consideration, directly or indirectly from persons other than the home inspectors client. (j) Home inspectors shall not accept commissions, fees or other consideration directly or indirectly from contractors or other persons or entities dealing with clients or employers of the home inspector in connection with work for which the inspector is responsible for, or has reported upon. (a) Home inspectors are prohibited from sharing any portion of the fee collected for home inspection services to any person other than: another licensed home inspector, employee or associate of the home inspector including a legally authorized trainee practicing under the direct supervision of the home inspector...See MoreRon Natalie
7 years ago
greg_2015
7 years ago
ncrealestateguy
7 years ago
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
7 years agoncrealestateguy
7 years ago
graywings123
7 years agoPyewacket
7 years agoC Marlin
7 years agogbauer48
7 years agoauntpetunia
7 years agoC Marlin
7 years agogreg_2015
7 years ago
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