wmayne

How far do you dig when something alerts you to an issue? I find sometimes I think too much, complicating things instead of just writing down what I've observed. Yesterday's inspection was a crappy beat up semi -detached, recently flipped by someone with a very low budget and even lower reno skill levels. I think the bank owned it ... no occupants. One bedroom over the garage had a flat roof. I couldn't see anything from the ground, so got out the ladder. The roof was covered in snow, but I kicked some aside with my boots. Ice and water under the snow. Here's where I probably should have stopped. But here is also where it started to get interesting. 1 One section about 6 x 12 had no gravel cover ... what looked like a new section of torch down membrane. Right here I should have just said "roof has been repaired, ask seller about it", but now I was curious. 2 Inside the house there were a few light stains and sloppy patching job on the ceiling directly below. I ran my Tramex moisture meter all over this area, pegging the meter in a few places. I have to get a pin-type meter to use as confirmation! The Tramex could just be reading taped areas or areas thick with drywall mud ... I've seen this before. 3 My IR camera showed large colder spots (about 6 degrees F) here. Yes, I know ... sometimes IR cameras can really lead you down the garden path if you don't know how to interpret the images properly. Could it be that the roof was successfully repaired, but not allowed to dry out? Could it be that it really was dry, but insulation was compressed by leaking water and never bounced back, hence the cold areas? Add in my built-in distrust of flat roofs on houses (No one around here seems to get it right), and my brain is just chasing it's tail. I always wonder "why not just slope the roof a little?" The water just runs right off ... it's really pretty slick! What would Mike Holmes do? Probably rip it all open and call it crap ... but I can't do that, right? Maybe I should have just stayed off the roof, and reported that I couldn't see it from the ground. Oh, and up in the attic, I found that the rest of the roof (sloped, with 3 year old shingles) had sheathing that was all spotted black with rot or mold, and wet! Everywhere! But the insulation was dry. No soffit vents ... just peak vents ... condensation? Some days I should just stay in the truck and eat my lunch. And not think so much.

Thanks gentlemen, I appreciate all the replies. I knew the utilities own the service drops, tell clients about that if they ask, but must have had a brain fart. I learn something new every day. I seem to forget something every other day.

A house I was in today had a 200 amp breaker for the main disconnect, and 3/0 service entrance conductors out to the drip loop (good for 200 amps, I believe). The conductors of the service drop from the splices out to the street were 2 gauge (good for 125 amps). I want to write this up as being unsafe (better to be on the safe side?), but I've heard that wires for service drops can be smaller because they're in free air, and won't overheat. This small house doesn't have electric heat, and a simple load calculation would not come anywhere near 125 amps. Can someone with much more experience help me out? Thanks Woody Mayne Mayne Home Inspections Ltd. Ontario, Canada

As you said David, I only heard about it from the realtor, who's wondering who is right about the leak(s). Has anyone had positive results finding wet sheathing, framing, insulation, etc. by scanning with an IR camera from within the attic? Perhaps I'm looking for a "magic bullet" that doesn't exist? It would seem from clients' comments that possible roof leaks are one of their biggest concerns. I just don't feel my visual inspection is sufficient, considering there are areas in most attics where I can't get close enough to touch, probe with a meter, even see clearly. I know, our standards say "visual inspection".

Humble Newbie here. Can anyone suggest a practical approach for evaluating moisture levels in concrete basement floors and walls? I've found that in a lot of older homes my moisture meter (Tramex ME+) reads high everywhere on the floor, and usually the lower few feet of the wall. In fact I'm finding it so often I'm reconsidering my comments ... maybe it's not a problem unless it's right off the scale. Homes built in the last 10 years or so have 6 mil poly under the slabs, so they are nice and dry, and "drainage planes" keep the walls dry too.

I did a pre-listing inspection a couple of weeks ago. While I usually walk (crawl, squirm) as much of the attic as I can, the relatively low slope roof on this one made it hard to move around much. I found lots of stains on the trusses from previous leaks, and a couple of spots where the plywood sheathing was a little soft, but my trusty moisture meter (Tramex ME+) said it was dry. I walked the whole roof on the outside. Shingles about a year old, original flashings, but in good shape and re-fastened and caulked where needed. Client said the roofer had replaced any questionable sheathing when the shingles were replaced. Everything looked good, and that's what I put in my report. An inspector hired by the eventual buyer reported that the roof was leaking, some of the sheathing, framing and insulation was damp, and the buyer negotiated for a reduction in the sale price because of this. Now, I'm a newby, just over 300 inspections under my belt, this concerns me. Someone a lot smarter than me wrote "learn from the mistakes of others, 'cause you won't live long enough to make them all yourself". So far, I seem to be learning too many from my own. How did I miss the wet areas? How did the other inspector find them? Would an IR camera help check for moisture in those areas I can't normally get close to?

By far the best source of information I've found so far in my career is this site. My thanks to the many people who take time to share their knowledge and experience. Posts are almost always short, not always so sweet. (Sounds like the recipe for a good report?) Hey, if I want a pat on the head, I'll go see my mom. Jim, I tell all clients during my short little explanation of what I do that no house is perfect. I've seen a few people (especially first time buyers) bounce from house to house, scared off because each one has a "punch list". It may save everyone some hassle if I tell them ahead of time that yes, I will find flaws, my report will be x number of pages long, this will be the case for any house, even new ones. And I remind them that no house is maintenance free, there is almost always something needs painting, caulking, fixing......

Thank you for your advice, gentlemen. It always sounds so logical and simple when someone with the experience and training that some of you have had chimes in. I like logic. Simple is good too. I believe we are bound by our respective standards of practice and codes of ethics to explain to our clients any significant issues (even latent ones) that we have found during an inspection. However, often the hard part is to help them keep the items in the report in proper perspective. No house is perfect, right? We tell them what we found, what might happen as a result, and move on. Yes, I had one instance where I really wanted to tell the client to run ......., but I don't think we can (or should) make that decision for them. Reminds me of something I heard about air traffic controllers. If I have the story right, they cannot legally tell a pilot he shouldn't fly, even if the weather is really nasty. Unfortunately many pilots of small planes, especially if they fly only occasionally, are not good at making this kind of decision themselves. But sometimes the controllers will present every snippet of information about the weather that might dissuade the pilot from taking off. "Low ceilings, limited visabilty, wind shear, hail 200 miles south, thunderstorms 200 miles east, local streams are higher than usual, that small tree at the end of the runway hasn't been trimmed in a year, and it's getting dark in a few hours too".

Inspected a 50 year old home on Saturday that had originally been a cottage sitting on blocks, which was raised onto a full basement foundation in 1988. A double wide driveway slopes over a distance of about 35 feet to the garage floor, which is level with the basement. Basement is about 5 feet below grade. The only drainage for this natural "catch basin" is a 1 1/4 inch pipe opening flush with the concrete outside the garage door. The pipe leads to a small sediment pit inside the garage, which is drained by another 1 1/4 inch pipe (I don't know where it drains to, if I was the homeowner I would hope the storm sewers). The whole setup is kind of scary. The man door to the house is just a cheap plywood veneered door, no closer. A lot of the supply and drainage plumbing for the house is exposed, hanging below the garage ceiling. A lot of drywall was removed to install this plumbing, hence no gas tight barrier between the garage and the house. All of this plumbing would freeze in the winter (southern Ontario) except there is a hot air vent and cold air return in the garage. Now I have several times commented to clients, while trying to explain the importance of proper grading, roof gutters, etc. that a basement is basically just a hole in the ground. If you don't take certain measures, nature tries to fill the hole with water. I've never been partial to basement level garages with sloping driveways, because this arrangement just acts to funnel more water into the hole (not to mention the problems of driving your car up a snowy or ice-covered driveway). While trying not to sound too alarming, my report did make mention all of the water stains on the wood paneling and concrete in the basement (basically all the wall areas below four inches), the loose floor tiles, and the presence of two (not one.......two) sump pumps. I was careful to explain the implications of questionable drainage, and recommended having a basement waterproofing contractor evaluate the drainage system. I don't like passing the buck like this, but I am honest about my limitations. The buyers (a couple near retirement age) were happy with my verbal assessment on Saturday, but their agent called this morning to say that my report had them spooked, they were walking away from the deal. I'm a rookie in this profession, about 100 inspections so far. I have some background in homebuilding and renovation, but I often have trouble with the wording in my reports. How could I present a balanced assessment of this garage and basement, without glossing over the possible problems, and without sounding like Chicken Little ("the sky is falling!). Is a 1 1/4 inch drain big enough? Would the interlocking brick on the driveway, being a permeable surface, really catch and funnel much water? Naturally, I have been getting a lot of referrals from this realtor (probably 25 percent of my business so far), but I need to be able to sleep at night.