Columbus Ohio real estate

DATELINE:  Northern Virginia – the purchaser of a new home was frantic to find a home inspector to try to evaluate why a floor in his home under construction moves up and down. The dining room floor bounces. And not a little bit!

Looking on the Internet, this purchaser was able to find a local home inspector. His popular website offered just the relief this purchaser needed. He determined to get in touch with the website’s principle inspector. Well, it’s only inspector!

Forensic Detective, aka Home Inspector, Jay Markanich, was called to the scene. The home’s purchaser noticed what he thought was a real give to the floor in question. He had brought it up to the supervisor who dismissed it as “normal.” The builder was scheduled to install drywall the next day, which prompted this purchaser to make an emergency call to the Detective.

Detective Markanich came as soon as he was able. And just in time!

Arriving at the scene, Jay was able to prove, to himself and to his client, that this floor was indeed the jumping experience! Detective Jay called it Trampo-Floor, an area almost 3’ wide, and at one end of the room. And it was right in front of a large hole in the dining room wall, about 2’ square, and rimmed entirely with metal. The detective was able to confidently answer his client’s question as to what this hole was intended to be. One of the main level’s HVAC returns!

Not a fan of a return low on the wall in a dining room (Jay’s opinion is that such a placement inhibits the ability to place furniture where desired and can add annoying background noise to dinner conversation), Detective Markanich pointed out that the wall housing the opening was a load-bearing wall, and likely right on top of a steel beam.

Having not been to the basement yet, the Detective determined to see if what he suspected was in fact the case. It was a quick trip to the basement. With his client in tow Detective Markanich turned the corner and made his way to the underside of the dining room.

This is what he found!

Just as suspected! While perhaps not the work of Hammerman, this was certainly the work of Sawman. HVAC guys have a tendency to, um, move things out of the way of duct work they want to install! This case was no exception. This is NOT "normal."

This floor was bouncing because the end of a floor joist was cut!  And bouncing right on top of a gas line!  Yikes!

And the next day the underside of the dining room would have been covered over completely with drywall!

After that it would have been very difficult to determine why such a bounce was present. And much harder to fix!

No wonder the builder did not give this purchaser much notice before announcing the drywall installation!

This reporter’s recommendation: Get a pre-drywall inspection! It is the only time you will have to inspect a house while skeletal! Home inspectors do not have X-ray vision! They may have a good sense of construction and location of things in a home, but the more experienced they are the less they are able to see inside walls. Take the hint…

Oh, Detective Markanich was able to find a bunch of other things which he suspects put off drywall installation a couple of days. The purchaser was, shall we say, grateful! As to the drywall installation? Well, curses, foiled again!

It was a phone call from a concerned, potential, client.  He is building a new townhouse.  A friend told him to hire a roofer to make sure that rubber was put between his roof and the houses next to his.

Yes, that puzzled me too.

I told him that step flashing and some form of counter flashing, even if it was vinyl siding, is an appropriate transition between roof and sides.  And that I had never heard of using rubber.  But, "I can check that flashing for you.  You really don't need a roofer.  In fact, a roofer is going to charge you almost as much as I will for a complete home inspection."  Asking my price, he confirmed that.

He set up an inspection.  "But, I might be calling you back because I want to check one more thing."

He called back.  "I'm no longer going to need your services."  

"Well, you're the boss," I said, "but why not?"

"Because I am told you home inspectors are just placebos."

Suppressing a laugh, honestly, I needed to pursue this one!  "Sir, this is the first time I have heard that one!  Please, explain!"

"Well, you almost never find anything.  And when you do, the builder won't fix it anyway because they build everything to code and won't change that."

I am REALLY amused at this point and wouldn't want to do his inspection anyway, but this was too good.  Now I am laughing.  "Who in the world told you that?!"

"THE SALES LADY IN THE BUILDER'S OFFICE."

That's right!  The sales lady.  The sales lady!!  Miss Information herself!!  (Read that misinformation...)

"Sir, I am going to bet you did not have a pre-drywall inspection, am I right?"

"I didn't need one.  The builder gave me a walk through."

During the conversation I found out what he did for a living.  This is a very intelligent person.  But, CLEARLY,  not at all smart in this regard!  Here is someone who CLEARLY doesn't know what he doesn't know.  He is listening to a friend who CLEARLY doesn't know what he doesn't know.  He is listening to his builder who CLEARLY doesn't want him to know what he doesn't know. 

AND I AM A "PLACEBO..."  How do you spell Aaaaaarggghhh?  Is that close enough?  I could say more, but I will leave this as polite as I can.

 

My recommendation:  Don't call a placebo.  Call a home inspector.  Call an objective, independent home inspector.  Call one with experience.  Call one who stays current with annual continuing education (I usually do 35-40 hours annually).  And call one who wants you to know what you don't know.

For sure you won't be calling one of these pills to the left.

Oh, and don't take your advice from friends or "the builder!!!"  Because you never know.

When a roof abuts anything, there needs to be some sort of flashing to prevent water from getting between the roof and what it abuts.

On a recent inspection on a one-year old house I noticed something missing.  Flashing.  I looked everywhere.  Still could not find it.  I called, held up a box of treats, called and called and no flashing showed up anywhere.

I looked around the neighborhood.  There were five other houses like the one pictured here.  Only one had been flashed correctly.

That is more than disappointing.

What you are looking at is a roof that was completed before the brick work.  Sometimes, often, well usually,  the bricks are installed first, but not in this case.  These shingles actually extended under the bricks!  After the mason was finished placing the bricks along the roof line, the roofer should have returned to install flashing.  He probably didn't because it would have required cutting each shingle to fit flashing underneath.

Properly done, there were be "step flashing" installed under each shingle, starting from the bottom and all the way to the top. 

Then that flashing should have been sealed against the brick.  They usually use a black tar material.  But that can look a bit erratic and unsightly.  It's unsightly appearance can be corrected.

On top of the erratic step flashing is installed a counter flashing.  This would be a solid strip, cut to fit appropriately, which begins at the bottom and runs to the top.  The counter flashing leave a nice straight line, and actually adds another layer of protection to the step flashing.

When done, the two together provide a very good water seal. 

In the case above there was no such seal, as you can see.  Inside this roof the ceiling forms one of two very  pretty cathedral peaks in the master bedroom.  What do you suppose we saw inside?  Your guess should be staining and evidence of leaking.  And this after only one year.

Of the other five houses in the neighborhood, only one was done correctly, as I said.  One looked just like this, two had step flashing only which had not been glued to the brick (!!), and one, interestingly, had only counter flashing, which did not even reach the shingles!  On that one not even mortar was placed to fill the space...  I was tempted to knock on their door, but withheld. 

Keep in mind, this is a one-year old neighborhood.  The builder's supervisor was there every day and never noticed this?  Not to mention the county...   Paaaleeeeease...

My recommendation:  Always have a home inspection before the final walk through of a new home.  This is the kind of thing that a home inspector would have caught on that inspection.  Don't buy the builder's line that there have already been many inspections on your home before your walk through and that the supervisor is there every day to make sure things have been done correctly.  There is no guarantee that they have been!!

Personally, I usually have more problems on brand-new homes than on older ones.  FYI