Buyer beware

In real estate, the seller tries to present a home that can generate enough interest so that many buyers will compete to be the new home owner. Unfortunately, this creates a ‘buyer beware’ environment where sellers’ presentation of the home can blind prospective buyers to the actual state of the house. While sellers are supposed to declare everything wrong with the house, this requirement is difficult to enforce. If the seller claims that they ‘didn’t know’ a problem exists, it is hard to demonstrate they were aware. In this blog post, I provide some observations from a recent inspection request; while the prospective buyers did not proceed with an offer (and therefore the inspection did not happen), a review of the realtor photos caught my interest.

First off, there are many exterior issues.

At the front of the house, the front step is wood and contacting the ground. This pressure treated wood is not rated for contact with soil and should be 6 to 8 inches off the ground to allow for air flow and to maintain a dry environment to prevent rot.

The railing on the upper balcony is also constructed of wood; railings have a maximum span of 6 feet according to the Ontario building code. This means there should be 3 posts instead of the 2 posts that are present. The implication is that it can fail when you need it the most (i.e., when you lean on it or grab it if you lose your balance) and end up falling to the ground.

The downspout for the eavestrough on the entryway is located on the right side of the porch while the drainage off the slope of the floor of the balcony should be to the front. Because of this, the water that falls on the balcony likely pools along the front. Further, the addition of the extension to the eavestrough downspout across the garden suggests that water is pooling in the front corner of the garden. When this type of pooling happens, it is because the grading is incorrect and water is more likely to enter the basement. Finally, the garden surface is built up above the siding which is going to promote leakage into the wall structure.

From this view of the exterior, you can see more problems.

The driveway’s retaining wall is constructed of wood and, based on the short height, it would not have been appropriately tied back into the driveway. This can lead to the failure of the retaining wall with the weight of a car on the driveway; the misalignment and upheaval that is already showing on this retaining wall suggests that it is already starting to fail.

On the front left corner, the electrical mast has been covered with the vinyl/aluminum siding which can lead to overheating of the supply conductors and a fire. The location of the electrical mast head is also within reach of the balcony which is a code infraction for safety reasons.

The front deck and siding on the front corner is again buried and contacting the soil, ideal rot conditions. A much better idea would be to build the deck out of a water resistant material like concrete. Contacting soil and being wet will accelerate the deterioration of the deck and wall structure.

From this view, you can also see that the trees on the right front corner are touching the roof of the house. This contact can damage the eavestrough, increase leaf buildup in the eaves, and the branches will rub on the on the shingles with any wind leading to their premature loss of gravel on the shingles. A single tree removal will cost you $2000 or more.

And the electrical issues outside continue to appear…

DANGER: Do Not Touch

The electrical supply wires are supposed to be over 8 feet above a flat roof or deck. The wire run and drip loop visible in this picture is within reach of a person standing on the deck which can lead to a serious electrical shock. They also appear to be very close to the metal soffit because they can short out to the entire house resulting in the skin of the house being electrified. I would be alerting the Electrical Safety Authority about this serious danger.

There are more problematic wires at the rear of the house!

I can’t tell which type of wires these are from the photo and whether they are electrical, but they should at least be securing to the wall. The penetration through the siding for the wires should also be done with a proper box so that the hole can be sealed preventing the elements from entering the wall cavity.

This photo depicts another electrical design choice that is not recommended.

Having an electrical appliance within reach of a hot tub is addressed in the electrical standard. Although the TV might be compliant with the code’s requirement of a minimum of 5 feet between tub and receptacle, and compliant with the TV’s receptacle being ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protected, keeping electrical appliances well away from water sources is a much safer choice!

In this photo, there is an electrical box connected to the porch skirting. That is not a secure location for an electrical box for a number of reasons. First, the skirting is likely only 3/4” thick and relatively for the fasteners to pull through or fail. Second, the skirting is in contact with the dirt. Once again, wood in contact with dirt will deteriorate which is not providing a consistent point to secure this electrical box. In addition, although not against code, it isn’t wise to have electrical wires routed through your garden. Lots of gardeners like using shovels and forks to dig and the last thing you want to do is puncture an electrical wire with a metal tool!

Finally, there is the structural issue with the using deck blocks with a deck secured to the building. The problem with deck blocks is that they will move up and down with the freezing and thawing of the ground. This movement will pull the deck apart at the ledger board or rip the ledger board off the wall. This is why using deck blocks on the surface of the ground isn’t safe for the construction of attached decks; they must be sunk into the ground below the frost line. Obviously, this is not a registered or compliant deck.

The interior photos show a house that is very visually appealing. This lovely front hall photo is an example. However, as a home inspector, I look beyond the visual appeal.

One question I ask is “what are the heat sources for any rooms with an exterior door?” The real estate listing indicated this house has a forced air system, but there are no registers in the entry wall or bathroom to the right (I reviewed the 360 videos to determine this). As a result, these two rooms will get very chilly in the winter unless they have in-floor heating which is not indicated in the listing. With no heat in the bathroom, there is also a concern about the plumbing freezing, especially with the sink on an outside wall.

Going through the remainder of the house photos and 360 videos, heating seems to be a repeating issue with missing and improperly placed registers in much of the house. A number of windows and patio doors do not have a register in the area which can lead to condensate and mold on window panes, and cold spots in the house. This isn’t a code requirement, but your home inspector should point this out because to will affect your experience in the house.

I personally love basements with unfinished ceilings and wall because I can see the piping, how it is installed, whether it is in good shape, electrical wiring sizes, how the wire is routed and secured, and whether venting is appropriately routed indicating a good design and thoughtful upkeep. The forced air duct shown on the left of this picture is not a good example of ducting. Ducting should flow with minimal bends and as directly to the venting terminal (i.e., register) as possible. I wonder (somewhat sarcastically, but that is how I lean!) if someone was paid by amount of piping that they installed.

Basements also tell you about the general state of the house structure since you can see joists, beams, posts, and the foundation. The foundation is made up of two parts, the footings and the walls. You can’t see the footings, but you can see foundation walls in unfinished basements which can be very telling! Foundation walls show whether there are issues from the outside that are damaging your house (i.e., leaks, cracking) and whether the homeowner is successful at maintaining their investment. To the right of this picture, you can see that items seem to be strategically located at the bottom of what appears to be a crumbing brick foundation wall, potentially to hide this damage. In the bottom 5 to 6 rows, the mortar is deteriorating and the bricks show signs of spalling (i.e., the front of the brick is breaking off). This is the inside surface of the foundation wall so I can only imagine what the wall looks like on the dirt side of the basement. Keep an eye out for items like this when you are doing a home tour!

I hope this helps you to see that, when you are shopping for a home, you need to look past the glitter and pizzazz, and to consider what might be missing, wrong, or in need of repair.

#HomeInspection #BuyerBeware #InformedDecisions #HomeOwnership