Home Inspection

[FisherChief]

Hi there, We've just purchased a 27 year old basement entry home (2 level) in a mature, treed area. It is finished very nicely and sits on a 10000 sq ft flat lot in a cul-de-sac. It has a 1 yr old energy efficient furnace, 1yr hw tank, and 7 yr old torch-on roof. We have decided to not go with a professional home inspection. We will be doing it ourselves. I am an electrician, however i could use some suggestions as to what to look for with the drain tile (city sewage), brick chimney (contains 2 gas fireplaces), torch-on roof, and foundation. The house is completely finished in drywall, but the attached garage is open for looking inside things. There is no attic, or crawl space. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks, FC

[Mr Fixit eh]

Get a good home inspector with good insurance and references.

The little bit you save will not be worth it in the long run. Also gives you something concrete to use as a bargaining tool in price negotiations. When the seller sees the estimated repair in black and white, it's pretty hard to say they can't come down in price to allow for the repair. Now no disrespect intended, but you say there's a repair needed, they say, "what do you know."

My .02
Good luck.

[suemarkp]

While you make good points, I've never used a house inspector for the following reasons:

Finding one that knows anything can be difficult (I don't trust the judgement of most of my friends for technical competance).

The seller may want to make the repair instead of paying X dollars to fix it. I probably won't like how it was repaired or they are too cheap to come down on price.

You can only see so much without cutting into the walls or taking the time to figure out where everything goes. Not having an accessible attic or crawl space makes a visual inspection even more difficult.

Whether you or some "inspector" comes up with a list of things to fix doesn't carry a lot of weight. In the end, you pay X for a house with known "qualities". This can end up being a ****ing contest over piddling issues like whether a bathroom should have a GFCI. Either negotiate a price or move on.

There are some great techniques that a good home inspector uses to judge the condition of things. Finding out these techniques is difficult, as they don't tend to put these in cheap books or websites. If you are confident in your ability to checkout all of the house systems, I would fore go the inspector.

But since you're asking here, perhaps you do need someone to look at things. The killer ones are structural/foundation issues, and you really need to look for those. Otherwise, much of what the inspector does is show you where things are, how they work, and verifies that they work (is the water hot, pressure good, does the furnace heat and the A/C cool, is the airflow adequate, does it hit a limit...). If you can't tell a main water shutoff from a furnace thermostat, then an inspector would be helpful and you should tag along with him.

Since you're an electrician, you should know how to check for aluminum wire and look for major no-no's in the main service panel.

[FisherChief]

I did the inspection, and everything turned out fine, except it is aluminum wiring. Myself, being an electrician, it does not bother me too much because i will ensure every splice and connection is secure and safe. However, my concern is that insurance companies may charge a higher premium down the road, or not even insure at all! Also, should i be negotiating a lower price now that i have found this out?

[Wgoodrich]

If you can talk to the neighbors asking if history of flooding, wet basements etc. Check with your planning department to find if this is in a 100 year flood rating per the FEMA maps. Often times people swear it is not in a floodway fringe then find out at closing you must have flood insurance that can choke a horse for the life of ownership required by the mortgage company. Look for high water marks on the outside siding or discoloration on the drywall in the basement. Look in the sump pit in basement to see if water is flowing in and pumped out if you have a sump pit. This will warn you of water concerns.

Look along the inside of the outside walls for termite tracks, rot, moist floor joists or beams.

If you have vinyl siding open a piece of siding here and there checking to see if insulation and vapor barrier behind the siding. Also look for rot or damage of siding etc. hidden by that siding.

Look in attic and soffit area for mold residue due to not enough air infiltration to dry roof decking etc. Moisture damage can often be found in the low point of the roof where the insulation is cramped along the top of the wall. This is often where the moisture is trapped. Look for proper soffit venting and roof venting requiring 1 square inch of vent for each 100 cubic foot of attic space. If cathedral ceilings look for vent ridge for airing of roof ceiling construction.

Check for cracks in the basement wall if at all possible. If drywalled with suspended ceiling use a flashlight looking down the walls from above.

Check for settling by looking for doors jambing, cracked drywall or tape showing where patched.

Smell the carpet in many places smelling for animal excrement or mildew smell telling of past problems hidden by new carpet or stained old carpet.

Check for gaps above top cabinets or counter space to wall where walls or ceiling have warped or settled.

Use a match if windy day and check for leaks around doors and windows not properly insulated.

Look in garage for cracked cement floor.

If brick or rock veneer outside in areas look for cracks along those walls outside.

Check for loose banisters.

Those fireplaces look for cracks or damage in the heat chambers. Light a match and check for proper draft. Look outside to see the chimneys reach the height equal to the peak of the roof or at least 2' rise above any roof surface within 10 feet of each chimney.

Flush toilets to ensure waste system is working properly.

Check water pressure and banging when rapidly shut off water.

Look for at least 6" fall in 10' away from house so surface flooding is not a problem to your home.

Look for outlets of storm gutters to ensure directed away from home.

Look for railings around any porches over 30" high from finished grade.

Look for cracked approach from drive into garage as well as cracked cement or asphalt driveways.

This is a few of the points to hit during your building inspection.

Good LUck

Wg

[suemarkp]

I did the inspection, and everything turned out fine, except it is aluminum wiring. Myself, being an electrician, it does not bother me too much because i will ensure every splice and connection is secure and safe. However, my concern is that insurance companies may charge a higher premium down the road, or not even insure at all! Also, should i be negotiating a lower price now that i have found this out?

Aluminum branch circuit wiring is one major item that would force me to lower the price. Yes, you have the skills to rectify this, but it is expensive and difficult because finding CO-ALR devices is more difficult and they cost more. The wires are easy to break off, so when that happens you have to fish a new one. Not having a crawl space or attic will require that you remove sheetrock to fix any messed up circuit, as fishing is now impossible. Even replacing light fixtures is problematic, as your wire is not 90C and most new fixtures require that. If you're picky about electrical, adding new circuits will be a pain, and in a house this old things are probably somewhat inadequate.

If you plan to gut the place, then none of this will be an issue.