hausdok

Hi, Well, HUD and FHA haven't required any special FHA protocol inspections for the past 8 - 9 years, although they used to. Since then, when you purchase an FHA or VA financed home it must be inspected by a competent inspector using a standard home inspection report format - whatever the heck they interpret that to mean. However, you do have to be approved as a 203K consultant and be on their approved list of inspectors to do the HUD 203K inspections. Those requirements are less stringent than they used to be. There was a time when one had to go through a formalized certification process. The current requirements can be found here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I lived in a house with one when I was a kid and later on as an adult. It'll definitely burn a kid's feet. Get them used to wearing slippers. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Beats me. I've sent samples to a local lab - usually about a tablespoon's worth. They're hitting asbestos 50/50 and have never complained about the size of the samples. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Joe, I go over the pre-inspection agreement with the client before I allow the client to read it. I think that doing so helps to prevent misunderstandings. I have a third party liability clause in my contract. When I get to that portion, I usually say something like, "Now, this third party liability clause is something that I want you to pay particular attention to. If you want to, you can share portions of this report with your realtor and even with the seller. However, if you decide to walk away from this house you may not, under any circumstances, sell, trade, barter or otherwise transfer this report to a subsequent buyer of this property. The report is done for you and for your transaction only. If someone else wants my report on this property, they can hire me to come back here, I'll execute another one of these agreements with them, I'll inspect the home again, do another report, and then they can pay me for my work." Works for me. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

If it's a gas fireplace with a glass door, and it gets its combustion air from the outside, I wouldn't be concerned about it. However, if the firebox gets its combustion air from the interior and is open to the interior through the floor of the box, so that fiber can get into the house, just tell them to take a spoonful down to the local testing lab, get it tested for less than $50. If it turns out to be asbestos, get rid of it. If not, don't worry about it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Most of the ones I see have a pair of heavy metal flappers with fiberglass seals on the top of the firebox. They're closed and sealed by weight. However, if there's a delayed ignition and a flash, they act like pressure relief valves to allow all of that expanded air to escape the box without shattering the frontglass. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Here's an article wherein Al Heavens, a columnist for the Realty Times, waxes eloquent about a seller with unreasonable expectations of his buyer's inspector. Heavens makes a few correct observations but then, true to form for many real estate professionals, he can't help himself and states his opinion to his readers that the listing agent should have been present at the inspection and should have received a copy of the report from the inspector(?). This is interesting stuff, and begs the question; why is it that the real estate folk seem to think they somehow should have the right to say how our profession interacts with its clients? Can you imagine the squeals that would come from real estate sales land, if inspectors made it a habit to interfere with the interaction between real estate agents and their clients? Where do these real estate sales people come up with such outlandish ideas, and are there actually places in this country where inspectors routinely provide copies of their reports to sellers and listing agents? If so, why? To read more and to provide your feedback to the gentleman, click here.

Hi, While I applaud Pella for stepping up to the plate and actually committing to detailed instructions, I don't think that pointing to one manufacturer's installation instructions provides the consensus of the window industry. I'd certainly use those instructions to back me up on a Pella installation but they'd be useless for a Milgard of Pozzi installation. OT - OF!!! M.

No Chris, It isn't stucco, it is like stucco in the way it is installed on a bed of mortar, on lath, over two layers of paper. I think you could call it a "type" of masonry veneer. I think the stuff in your pictures will drain well even without a weep screed. However, when the joints are struck and smoothed there needs to be a way for moisture to get out as with masonry veneer or stucco. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi John, Yeah, the buyer does have to disclose what you find, but that isn't necessarily bad. After all, there's no such thing as a perfect house and buyers know that. The thing I found interesting about these was the way that the sellers are able to use them to take the wind out of a buyer's sails. Usually, the buyers come all ready to negotiate an offer with an inspection contingency and then go back to the table to renegotiate after the inspection. With these, the seller can put the report out along with the disclosure report, advertise the fact that the home has been inspected by a professional, and doesn't have to fix a thing - only disclose it. Here comes the buyer and says to himself, "Ha, I'm not going to trust that inspection report - I'm going to hire my own inspector and then I'm going to come back here and whittle that price down." Then he tries just that. Well, at that point, the seller can simply say, "Hey, I had the home inspected, declared all of those issues in the disclosure documents, and set my price accordingly; I'm not coming down a penny, unless you can show me where my inspector missed a significant issue." By then, the buyer has put down earnest money, invested money and time in finding his own inspector, and has gotten his report back. He's most of the way there and the choice the seller has given him is to either walk or accept the deal. He thought he was going to be able to negotiate when he made his offer but now he's no longer the one in the position of power. If we've done a good inspection for the seller, the likelihood of the buyer suing us over some perceived error is greatly diminished, because the buyer will have hired his/her own inspector and because we have no fiduciary duty to the buyer. It's that second part; the part where it's human nature for the buyers to distrust the seller's inspection report and hire his/her own inspector that is the win-win for our profession, because it means a seller's house might be inspected several times before a buyer whose just too invested in the house accepts defeat and goes through with the purchase. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Is anyone else having trouble with the link? It's working fine from here. OT - OF!!! M.

Gee, I dunno, John. Last Gremlin I screwed around with was a lemon. Best to just turn 'em into a planter on the front lawn. [:-jump] OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, I know. Last week I read one of those columns by a real estate pundit wherein the pundit was strongly advising someone to get a home inspection. At first I thought, "Kewl!" and then he told the person that they shouldn't pay any more than $300 for a home inspection and that put me completely off my feed. Hell, when I got into this business in 1996 as a member of a franchise, our lowest fee was $275. So, adjust that for inflation over the past 11 years and where should it be today? I tell you where - a hell of a lot more than $300. However, I notice that in the same time frame the realtors commissions have pretty much stayed the same but they've been paid a whole lot more because prices of homes have gone up 200 to 300% since then. Grrrr. [:-banghea [:-gnasher [:-grumpy]

Maybe it's just me and maybe it's because I spent so many years as a cop, but I refuse to let people address me in condescending tones and I really chafe when someone tries to tell me how to price my services. I would have asked her just who the hell she thought she was; telling me how to price my services, and then I would have asked her how she'd like it if I were to dictate to her what her commission should be when she sells a home. Then I would have told her to kiss my ass and walked away. Yeah, I know, not very diplomatic, but since when have I ever been known to be diplomatic? We must start calling real estate folks on this kind of shite. Most of them now believe that they literally control the home inspection profession. As more and more newbies get into the HI business and charge rock-bottom prices in order to suck up to agents, the agents' hold on the business is strengthening. We really do, as a profession, need to become more aggressive and stop being so lilly-livered about putting these folks in their proper place. Chris, I'm not referring specifically to you; I'm just ranting in general at what the founders failed to do and the situation that the toadies continue to perpetuate today. If the founders had taken that attitude years ago and taught it, instead of allowing their descendents in this business to teach the whole suck up to realtors for referral thing, we wouldn't be where we are now and no agent would ever do that. I can't help but see it as one of the biggest obstacles to our business becoming a true profession. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I do them occasionally, I tell them that it's no different than a regular inspection, I charge the same, and I report it exactly the same. I warn them up-front that there will probably be things that I find that they won't like. I've never had an argument with a seller over what I've included in the report. Maybe it's the face. I look pissed off 99.9% of the time, so folks don't argue with me much. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Dunno, I've seen plenty of smooth-sided lumber in homes from before 1920. OT - OF!!! M.

This story from the Vancouver Sun is about a B.C. couple that opted to forego the home inspection in a competetive market and ended up sharing their new home with a large number of flying rodents. To read more, click here.

This article from NBC News affiliate KOAA.com is about a home purchased by some first-time homebuyers who relied on a $139 home inspection and their real estate agent's promise that an engineering study had been done. To read more, click here.

Do you find that it's sometimes hard to make a client understand what certain construction components are? It's that way with drainage. Sometimes, they just don't get it. The next time you need to try and make a client understand what a French drain is, direct the client to this short video on the HGTVPro site.

Hi, It ranges from dirty white to medium gray mulched newsprint. Sometimes it's light brown and clearly made from mulched cardboard. It's usually so finely ground that you can't make out that it was ever part of a publication. However, sometimes, very rarely, you'll find that it's not ground too fine and can actually see letters on it. It's dry and dusty and treated with borate so it won't burn. Makes a great sound deadener and is great as a draft stop. OT - OF!!! M.

This article from the Kington Whig-Standard details some of the issues encountered by home inspectors with grow ops house. To read more click here.

In his column in the Contra Costa Times, pundit Barry Stone explains to consumers the advantages of a pre-sale home inspection. To read more click here.

For many moons, these "piers" have stood the test of time. Many thanks to Jim BairdComer, GA

Fixing historic masonry with the wrong mortar formulation and inexperienced labor are two of the most problem-prone areas of any masonry project, especially as they relate to the strength and breathability of historic masonry. Mortar mixes today are much less forgiving and far less breathable than historic mortars once were: if a failure occurs after a modern mortar has been installed, its repair may be extremely expensive and difficult to achieve. Failure to identify and establish a compatible replacement mortar or improperly install the mortar results in damage to valuable historic brick and stone. One needs a clear knowledge of mortar history and traditional ingredients to know when a straight lime mortar should be used. On September 13 - 16th 2007, the U.S. Heritage Group and HistoricProperties.com, along with the Help and Support of their sponsors; Essex County Museum and Historical Society, Old House Journal, Traditional Masonry Magazine, Caravati's Inc., Expert House Movers, and Arbortech Inc., will host a 4-day Hands On Historic Masonry & Lime Mortar Workshop as part of the Woodfarms restoration in Tappahannock, VA. This workshop will provide those attending with practical information and show how to solve masonry deterioration problems in historic properties. Hands on techniques illustrated by successful case studies from Chicago will be included in the sessions. For more information about the workshop or to download the registration form, click here.

It never fails; discussions about report writing here always seem to stir up a little bit of contentiousness. I've always chalked it up to the fact that most of us in this business are old farts who chafe at being contradicted. Sure, we say we're open to criticism, but inside that criticism is like sand in our shorts. Take it easy, Guys; it's all good. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike