homnspector

Good info, I have never heard of perimeter bond. I did unscrew a couple of registers and saw the glue but it was completely loose, no bond at all. Seems like in a bathroom, water would be more likely to get between the vinyl and subfloor if it isn't glued down.

One inspection today was a new manufactured home. The kitchen and bathrooms had cheap (imagine that) vinyl flooring that wasn't glued down. Normally, I may not have noticed this, but the hall bathroom flooring rose up about an inch in the center when the HVAC was on due to air leakage around the floor register. I told the client it would be more likely that moisture damage would occur to the subfloor in these wet areas and the life of the vinyl would be reduced. Any other ill effects I should mention? Anybody know if this is standard practice in a manufactured home?

"Why would it have to be fuses, couldn't one side of a 220 breaker be bad?" Could be, but not in Jim's house. Maybe there is no handle tie? Never mind, not in Jim's house.

UhOh, Bonnie has an alter ego. Maybe I should put it at the end: "Items noted in the report in need of service, repair or replacement should be addressed by a licensed contractor or technician in the appropriate field to fully determine the extent of the issue and costs involved in repair or replacement (prior to close of escrow) ." Preferably I should leave that out, I don't really care when they do it. But I can see it coming, "How was I supposed to know a new roof would cost so much? Nobody told me I should check the price before I closed!"

Well said Kurt and Brian. I would like (for entertainment) to read a report that follows any organisation's standards to the letter, no more, no less. I am thinking it would be of no benefit to anybody (except maybe the buckethead) and completely uninformative. Maybe I'll try it sometime on a fictional home as an experiment. I don't mind the state having standards but sure don't like the way they are enforced by the letter, not the spirit.

Ditto to the above 2 posts, but I'm guessing you have a 220 volt fused disconnect and one leg blew. (Forever branded as "Less secure with electricity")

Thats pretty close to what I do, the first line of the report reads: "Items noted in the report in need of service, repair or replacement should be addressed prior to close of escrow by a licensed contractor or technician in the appropriate field to fully determine the extent of the issue and costs involved in repair or replacement." Can't tell you if it holds water, hopefully I will never find out. I also slip in a few lines like "Unless otherwise noted in the report, all gas appliances have individual gas shut off valves installed at the appliance." It gets pretty ridiculous. "The front door is in need of painting. Full evaluation and repainting by a licensed painting contractor is recommended." Unfortunately, when you get bureaucrats involved in something that they have no clue about, this is what you get. If there ever is a national standard, you can be pretty sure it will be garbage like this. Be careful what you wish for.

Your reporting method depends somewhat on where you are doing business. This is directly from the Arizona Board of Technical Registration website: Respondent failed to note, or did not sufficiently note the following components: second-level floor structure, wall structure of exterior decks, balconies, railing and steps, functional drainage, main over-current protection device, amperage, interior floors, attic ventilation and roof drainage systems. Letter of Reprimand Peer Review of Respondents next three (3) home inspection reports, including pre-inspection contracts. Registration Respondent shall maintain a current registration at all times during his peer review. Open Book Test , Take and successfully complete an open book test on the Boards statutes and rules. Respondent noted the following items were in need of immediate major repair, however, Respondent failed to make recommendations to correct, monitor or have evaluated by the appropriate persons for the remedy of the following adverse condition: a defective seal in the upper living room window, a crack in the fireplace brick, moisture stains on the ceiling of the garage, a piggy backed circuit in the electrical service panel and a broken roof tile. Cost of Investigation Pay cost of investigation in the amount of $270.00. He didn't report that there was a second story! Do you think he missed that, do you think the buyer didn't know there was a second story? He got nailed for a bunch of stuff that was OK but he didn't report on. He reported a bad window seal (in an upper story window, come to think of it), a cracked brick and a double tap as in need of immediate repair but didn't say it should be further evaluated or monitored! What part of Immediate repair do they not understand? How hard is it for the client to figure out what type of service should be called to repair a damaged window? We don't have the luxury of not reporting the things that are fine. BTW, the standards are identical to ASHI and the standards committee is ASHI guys. Posted by Kurt: "I've never reported on stuff if it's OK. I describe materials and their locations, and I describe defects or concerns. "If I was unable to find any defect in the electrical system, I'd tell them "The electrical system was in satisfactory condition"." This sounds like reporting to me.

Thats funny. You didn't miss much, the last semester was less about Biology and more about how to be a game warden.

Randy, I think I have a copy of the policy, I'll look and fax it to you if you want. I would call FREA at some point and speak to Nigel Bonnie (sp?), he is a very smart lawyer, symphathetic to the target on our backs, and will advise you on how to handle this. He works for FREA (us), not AIG (the ins. co.). I hope you don't have an experience like Mike did (I would swear off all insurance forever). I don't think you will. Then, like Brian says, delete the thread.

I hate those convoluted pests!

FREA, same here Brandon. I have no complaints about how they handled things, except that they paid for a portion of a bogus claim, but that is not really my concern, its theirs. As long as my rates didn't go up. I'm OK with that (course the $1000 deductable kinda sucked) but with me, like with Randy it was a $750 inspection so I wasn't too much in the hole. FREA will not drop you or increase your premium at least for one claim as far as I can tell. I guess my feeling at the time was why should I deal with it? I have better things to do. Let the experts determine who was at fault.

I have to say, If I was not ready and willing to turn over any claim or dispute to my insurance company, I wouldn't be paying for it. Personally I think you are making a mistake either (1) not letting them handle it or (2) paying the outrageous premiums.

Mike, I agree, and that is pretty much what I did tell her, but, it made me realize that many of our clients really have no clue. She really wasn't upset with me, she just didn't understand what I meant by "insect damage". "Termites" she could get. It seems we have to write these reports to the lowest common denominator. But, then, often that is why they are hiring us, because they realise they do not know what they are looking at. I guess my point was that I realized at that point who my audience was, that I had to spell things out very clearly no matter who it pissed off. Its a hard lesson and one I am still confronting daily.

I have to say, I have had completely the opposite experience. The one time I had an issue like this, I gave them the ins. info and stepped out of it, I figured that was what I was paying them for (my god, why else are we paying these premiums?). They handled everything. Yes, i did end up paying the deductable, they settled for some reduced amount, I never heard from them again and my rates did not go up. Maybe it depends on the Ins. Company.

"Basic Principles That Work: Slope to Drain at the Roof, Overhang, Overlap, Clearance, and Sloped to Drain at the Ground" Spoken by a man from the wet country. around here we are lucky to see 2 of 5.

There is nothing in the state HI regs. It was mentioned in my "most excellent" home inspection classes in 1997. What I have been told it we have to call it "insect damage" because we aren't qualified to determine if it is termite damage. I got is a bit of a pickle early in my career over this, I identified several areas of "insect damage" in a house. A few months after the client moved in, I got a call, wondering why I didn't tell her about the termite infestation. I pointed out the areas in the report where I noted insect damage. She said, " I didn't know you meant termites". After that, I just called what I saw.

Hmmmm, is there a minimum pitch for modbit or torch down? I thought that was the material of choice for nearly flat roofs. Randy, these situations suck, you want to do the right thing but don't want to get screwed. Do you have E&O? If so, I would let them deal with it since the potential liability is supposedly $30000. Personally, I would rather pay a $1000 deductable than give back an undeserved $745. If they decide to settle, they will have her sign a liability waiver. She may be happier with the outcome too (or not) and you don't have to worry anymore. If you don't have E&O, I would adamantly deny any responsibility if there weren't signs of leakage when you inspected. I would feel that whoever did the patch is responsible for the repair and liability. Or perhaps the homeowner should foot the bill, what a novel concept!

Here in AZ, the WDO inspection business is governed by the structural pest control board. I have had WDO inspectors tell me that it is illegal for me to mention termites in my home inspection reports because I am not a licensed pest inspector (mostly when I point out damage they missed). This seems ridiculous to me so I e-mailed the board but never got a response. I continue to use "termites" in my reports and am secretly hoping to get chastised, wouldn't that be a great first amendment case? But seriously, has anybody else heard of such a thing?

I must have missed that day, but there were lots of days I don't remember. Keep in mind, the genus is always capitalized but not the species, so technically it is Freakinbitchitus realtyagentis. I have run into the subspecies Freakinbitchitus realtyagentis ignoramus, today in fact. This is an unusually aggressive parasitic subspecies, but it is generally theorized that the aggression is a fear response to Dealus mortis homeinspectus. Obviously, more research is needed. You know, with my past education and current profession, I could probably get a government grant......? Your bookmark link doesn't work and sounds really interesting.

I see refrigerant lines buried mostly on older homes, I never thought to call it out, some are 40 years old and still apparently not leaking. Usually newer homes ac lines are in the flexible black 4 inch pipe (pvc?), the non-perforated version of foundation drain pipe. Then they shoot a can or two of "great stuff" in the ends. Is there some limitation to the distance the electrical flex conduit can extend across the ground or in the air?

Dang, we can all become engineers. Maybe a law school will follow. I have sometimes regretted my decision not to pursue engineering. i was afraid of the math. So, instead, I have a degree in wildlife biology which I use every day in my home inspection career.[:-graduat Do you have a link to the MIT website that offers this?

Thats great, but trying to read that in the dark....[:-bigeyes I agree, the code check series is great. I didn't think of looking there, I was wading through the IRC.

Thanks!

Nice work! "When writing my report, I eliminated the use of the expression "appears to be" and replaced it with "is" or "will". I learned that here." Me too. I finally figured out I really wasn't limiting my liability at all, and it sounds much less wishy-washy.