thank my dog

[John Dirks Jr]

I took my dog to the park on Monday. A woman approached me and mentioned the sign on the back window of my SUV.

...."yes I'm a home inspector"....

...."oh good, I'm a real estate agent"....

Yada yada bla bla bla... and my phone rings today. So here is a pic of what I'll be inspecting on Sunday. So thanks to my dog and I guess the sign just paid for itself.

1941, elec heat, elec range, wood stove. I'm hoping to find some upgraded electrical. This is the only picture I could find. Do you see anything I should focus on?

Image Insert:

24.69 KB

[AHI in AR]

Little hard to tell from a tiny pic, but...

Chimney looks short.

Is there proper flashing where the shed roofs in the front adjoin the brick?

I would guess that the home was originally wood siding and the brick and rock or rock-like material were added later since the design looks atypical. ( I could be wrong. Regional differences in methods abound.) If so, look for points of water entry around doors and windows.

Electrical looks a little odd even in a Lilliputian scale. Is that some sort of flex conduit crawling up over the left side of the meter?

Look carefully at the wood stove installation for clearances. Probably would be a good idea to recommend an evaluation by someone familiar with the brand.

And what is that pipe splitting the gable in the front? Must be pretty tall--it has braces. Clearances/flashings an issue there also.

I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions on things to look for...

[chrisprickett]

The entry vestibule looks like its an add-on and the slab that it sits on may have been originally poured as just a stoop. You might want to see if there are any signs of settling or heaving.

[kurt]

What Chris just said. That front vestibule looks very strange.

I'd be real curious about the (what looks like) fake/adhered stone on the lower wall.

It just has the look of something that's been remuddled.

[Richard Moore]

What others said...

It looks like the SE cable(s) just lay on the shed roof before crawling down to the meter. I'd guess you are going to have a bunch of electrical issues.

And what are those two pipes coming up from (going down to?) the hose bibs (?) at the front and side?

Looks like one of those small houses that generates a big report.

Have fun!

[John Dirks Jr]

I studied this picture before posting here. I too took note of most of the things you all have mentioned. Thanks for affirming my observations.

Yes this is a small one. Not many come smaller. It looks like I'll be doing the crawl space shuffle on this one too.

[Jim Katen]

The last time I inspected a house that looked like that, it took me 6 1/2 hours.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[AHI in AR]

Originally posted by Jim Katen

The last time I inspected a house that looked like that, it took me 6 1/2 hours.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

I was thinking something along the same lines but I didn't want to fill you with dread too far in advance. It should be good for experience.

Maybe by the time it's over you'll change the name of the post to "Blame My Dog."

[John Dirks Jr]

I bet I spend 3 hours collecting info and 4 hours writing a report. If so that wil be an improvement over the last one.

[Bill Kibbel]

John,

Don't worry about Jim's comment. He's probably old and slow.

Us young guys could find twice as much in half the time. [:-eyebrow