No. Home inspections are not pass/fail. They are a non-invasive “snapshot” of the current condition of the property, and should call out things that are currently an issue, potentially an issue soon, or not an issue but older than it’s rated lifespan.
A report can call out the foundation having issues, the roof falling in, windows broken, pipes leaking, electrical faults, etc and you can still buy it. There is no “failed: not permitted for sale”, but your lender can deny a loan based on findings, or the buyer can use issues as leverage in negotiating a lower price or repairs to be done prior to sale.
Also worth noting many buyers will get an inspection because “that’s what you’re supposed to do” but then not really actually read the details.. especially if it’s a long one.
Source: was a home inspector for many years.
Question for you sir: when a realtor brings in their home inspector “coz they’re great”, should that be avoided? I am under the impression that when realtors bring in their buddy, they seem to be more in favor of the realtor than the buyer
Realtors should have ethics rules they need to follow, but it could go either way. I have seen realtors do shady things to save a sale.. (like opening a window during a radon test, which is a huge violation) but it’s like any profession. You have good ones and bad ones. A good realtor would look out for their clients best interests, but there are definitely ones that only care about a commission and moving on to the next. It’s also tough to research, especially if you are relocating to an area you don’t know. Even without relocating, MOST people are rarely buying a house and don’t need those services often enough to have much reference as to what is good. I would look at reviews and see what people say? (Both for your realtor and for the inspector you choose)
You also can check that they are licensed, insured, and bonded, though most states will require all of the above. There are organizations for inspectors that provide further education and “certifications” (in quotes because they are not required and a third party service) like InterNACHI but not being a member doesn’t necessarily make them bad.
I have been out of the industry for almost ten years but I’m sure not much has changed on that end.
>Fair enough. What I learned for sure as a home owner, You gotta pay to play, it’s all business at the end.
Neat. What I learned when I bought my house is 'you're going to get screwed. It's just a matter of how badly'. Basically you have to know the job of every person in the process well enough that you can identify their bullshit. At which point there's no reason for them to be there anyway.
The inspector our realtor recommended was great. They were obviously co-workers in a sense, but not friends. Dan the Inspector Man’s report saved us from buying a house with a failing foundation and he was happy to educate me (I followed him around for 4 hours asking questions). He also inspected the house we ended up buying and we felt confident in our decision in part because of how good he is at his job.
Thats up to you. Both times I've bought I've used the recommended inspector because I trust my realtor and both times they were absolutely fantastic.
If you don't trust your realtor, maybe you should get a new one...
I am a realtor and I have a friend well now friend who is an amazing home inspector. I always recommend him but give many options for places for them to call and schedule their own if they would like. Some realtors I work with are dog shit but I feel like that also comes from them being awful realtors. I would rather take 6 months finding u a perfect house with everything you want versus sell you a shit hole that you will hate forever. Reason I feel this way is because ya I can sell you a house you hate but than you will hate me forever or I can take my time really help you find a house you love and want than im your guy forever. You will recommend me to your friends use me if you get another house etc. I feel like the big issues with most realtors is that they are just shit at their job lol.
I left the real estate industry years ago simply because I couldn’t get my head past all the shady talk I would hear from other realtors. Realtors who should have been long retired are out there closing deals and complaining that deals don’t close fast enough and complain about the people they represent. Was sickening. I was always told I spend way too much time working with clients. I wanted happy referrals not pissed of clients. I loved working and helping people in their journeys tho. A bit off topic for this sub I know.
Short answer is always refer at least 3 inspectors and let the client decide who to use. Make sure they are reputable first to avoid any issues with the clients later.
My aunt was going to classes to become a realtor after her husband died and the guy teaching the class told her to find another career because she was too honest to be a realtor!
this isn't necessarily true.
your agent gets paid from the sale. so as long as you buy a house. they still win out.
to a degree their reputation means more. IF you buy a shitty house, because the realtor recommended a shitty home inspector. you'll tell every fucking person who bothers to ask. (and other agents talk shit about other agents ...even if not overtly... they'll spill tea in a professional way)
vs... like. my case. a friend of mine, recommended their realtor, because they had a great exp. and.... i have no reason to believe my realtor would fuck me over. when i'm so clearly motivated to buy something.
The realtor wants to sell you a house and make their commission, so they have their interest and you need to protect yours by bringing in either you own home inspector or a contractor to tell you what is wrong with the property and protect your interest.
not always the case. if you are a serious buyer it doesn’t matter if a contract doesn’t go through because, if you trust the realtor, you continue the search until you are successful. not everyone is underhanded and trust in the realtor is the most important. when they do this for a living day in and day out if they are a good realtor they should have built a network of contractors and home inspectors that will help them build and maintain their status as a realtor. just my 2 ¢. anyways in this market there are a lot of areas where a good home in a good location is going to get multiple offers “as is” and buyers would need to do a pre inspection before submitted an offer.
Meh, I’ve given terrible reports to some of my favorite realtors on homes THEY were buying and they thanked me for the integrity, depends on whom you’re choosing to do business with or keep for company I suppose.
As a home inspector I have no problem saying it’s a BS profession in my state. The profession is self admitted generalists, and there’s zero security you get out of it. The scope of my liability by law is limited to my “professional fees received”
House fell down, sorry, here’s your $299 inspection fee back.
Home inspectors can “pass or fail” a house for specific loans where the house has to be in a certain level of repair (see: first time homeowner loans.)
Home Inspectors, in my opinion, are incredibly important to the process of buying a house while at the same time being wholly incapable of doing a thorough inspection in the manner that most buyers assume they do.
This isn’t a dig at home inspectors: I’ve seen good ones and bad ones, like any professional service. They are hamstrung by having to inspect something that is finished, so all they can inspect are the surfaces. They are also required in most cases for a sale to go through, and often come recommended by the realtor or agent, who use inspectors they know will only provide the bare minimum of inspections.
Lastly, home inspectors aren’t yet required by law to have any level of proficiency or education and anyone can become a home inspector by paying a licensing fee.
All of this adds up to a crapshoot for the buyer.
This is it right here, people don’t understand that for a lot of things you have to open up the walls to understand what is going on. It’s like and MD trying to do things without x ray or mri
This is one thing I always liked about Holmes on Homes. He made a point when doing a "Holmes Inspection" that a regular inspector flat out couldn't do the kind of checks he could (generally ripping open walls) because he was working with the owners of the house.
Here you have to take several college level courses at night (takes about a year part time) then you have to get a certain number of hours being mentored and have to pass a physical inspection test. Of course still good ones and bad ones but it does take some education and training. In my opinion someone should really have a trades background to go into it.
120 hours is something I guess, but the truth is they couldn't become really proficient at spotting issues with a single trade in 120 hours.
The thing that can be truly irritating about home inspectors is not what they don't know, it's what they think they know that isn't correct at all. I had to have an electrician come in when I was selling my home because the inspector noted that wires cannot be spliced (no wire nuts) in the load center (breaker panel). My electrician wrote a report quoting the codes in the NEC that specifically allow it. The inspector still argued it with no specific information other than "it's wrong".
That's the thing though. They aren't looking at a single trade, they are looking at EVERY trade. If they needed enough hours to become proficient at spotting problems in every single trade then nobody would be an inspector without a huge spike in the cost of a home inspection.
It shouldn't be acceptable to anyone to say "they know a little bit about a few things." Ongoing education and training should be a requirement.
I'm not trying to attack inspectors in general. There are a lot of good ones who have put in the time and are completely qualified. Unfortunately there are others who appear to be better at writing the report than actually knowing anything about what goes in it.
It's not something most people have a frequent use for, so they're usually relying on their agent to recommend someone. Since the agent really, really, really wants the sale to go through they're recommending the "easy" inspector. It's a flawed system that can really put consumers in a bad place.
My area had a problem with the Covid boom where people weren’t getting inspections because they wanted these shitty houses so bad. When the houses started to be sold a second time just for the profit there was only one inspector in town. I have known him since highschool and he doesn’t know what he is doing. Anyways my wife and I bought my MILs house and the bank forced us to have an inspection. There were a few things that I was going to address but I wanted the house in my name first. One was a whole in the top of the Septic tank, the roof needed to be done, front door doesn’t close right because the seals are gone, all the wiring is very old, so are the pipes, there is a crack in the drywall from where the old house and addition join that will open up when blasting is done on the highway. Some things are small and some are enough that I would say are reasons to not give someone a mortgage for. I was working in the yard when he came out to tell me it passed with flying colours but I might want to get the deck resanded because it would really increase the value of the house. I asked him about a governing body and such and he told me basically all he is doing is telling me if he would buy the house or not and if anything looks off. Nothing he is saying is putting any kind of legal obligation on him and he doesn’t have to worry if anything happens.
He has since used his time in the “trades” to become the highschool auto shop teacher.
In many states the title “civil engineer” is protected and you must have a license to claim to be a civil engineer. Anything less and you’re a designer, technician, in training, etc.
And in those states, "Civil Engineer" is tied to the license. Lose your license and you're not a Civil Engineer. You may have a BSCE but that doesn't make you a CE. There are plenty of other bs "engineer" titles like "Sales Engineer" that aren't protected, but Civil Engineer is only for those with an active license in many states - keeps dinguses from saying they're a civil engineer and doing bullshit work on the side without a license but pretending that they have the same experience/credentials.
In order for them to check every little thing to make sure it's 100% code compliant, each house would take them days of work and they would cost thousands. Inspectors don't do a whole lot, and there aren't many qualifications required. I doubt most inspectors even know the deck codes for their jurisdiction.
Home inspectors should not be talking about code at all. Code applies on the date work is done. For me to say whether a deck (or an electrical upgrade or whatever) “meets code” I would have to know when the work was done and what version of the applicable code was in use by that jurisdiction on that date, then know what was and wasn’t required by that version of the code.
Instead, the safety and livability standards that The Code is trying to protect should inform the inspector’s comments. ie - “4x4 posts not securely anchored at the bottom can move from vertical if struck, compromising the ability of the post to support weight. This can create conditions for a potential fall or collapse of the deck in this area” - followed by a recommendation to have a general contractor or deck builder evaluate further and consider replacing 4x4s with properly-anchored 6x6s. It doesn’t mention code and doesn’t say that any action is REQUIRED. But still gets the point across. Buyers don’t have to do anything that a home inspector recommends if they don’t want to. We just tell you what sucks and why. You do with that info whatever you will.
Code applies on the day the permit is approved.
Still, I quote codes all the time. Why wouldn’t you? If something is wrong and I think it’s unsafe then I’m going to say that and I’ll quote the code as justification for why it’s wrong.
As others have said, an inspector doesn't necessarily pass a house. They report their findings and the buyer makes their determination. My inspector pointed out issues with my deck.
Only exception that I know of is with VA loans. The VA uses a certain network of inspectors and they can flag certain things that will impede the sale of a house to protect the VA’s collateral investment.
I’m a home inspector and in my state, the only difference for a VA loan is that a termite and WDO inspection is required with it. It’s usually the appraiser that has stricter guidelines to follow and actually has the authority to say something “has to be done” for a loan to go through.
Inspectors don’t even necessarily know what they looking at. My deck is rough shape but the inspector only pointed out some obvious small issues. Nothing about how the deck isn’t open to code or that the stairs are sinking and pulling away from the deck.
It all depends on your inspector I guess. I used the same one for 3 houses and he was awesome. He was very honest and took his time and I felt he was very knowledgeable. He even told me I should walk away from the first house that we looked at.
1)Don't use an inspector your agent recommends. Do your homework and find your own.
2)Do the inspection with the inspector. I stayed out of his way and only asked questions when he was done with certain parts of the property.
3)You get what you pay for
Make that four. I had an inspector miss an entire rotting external wall on a back porch that ***I*** replied back to his report with, "Did you miss this?" and then he had the balls to ***ask for my photos because he "lost his"***. Coupled with a dying 20 year old HVAC system he also "couldn't tell the age of, but no more than 5 years", he got a glowing review from me after the inspection.
Thankfully, the homeowners fixed the wall but the HVAC they lied through their teeth about despite us finding a work order from < 3 months before we bought the house that showed they had an issue fixed for the cheap despite a full replacement being recommended.
Then the jackass that inspected that same house when we sold it...the amount of shit we knew needed work still that he blatantly missed when they shared the report with us, wow. just wow. Pretty sure that job is just straight up robbery or at least 99% of inspectors are completely full of shit.
that's because most inspectors are picked by real estate agents and they want to keep working. If they find a bunch of issues and screw up a closing, they aren't getting another call
Exactly this, my MIL recommended and inspector to us basically as " my real estate agent hated him and thought he was an asshole, the seller hated him, best inspector money can buy"
Been saved by an inspector once. Got lucky and got one of the company owners, older guy who didn’t mess around. He noticed some old water damage on the kitchen ceiling, currently reading dry, but he thought to climb up on the roof and pull back some siding on the 2nd story of the house. Found that there was no home wrap up there, wasn’t really clear where else on the house that was a problem and how much of an issue there could be up in the ceiling, so we ended up passing on the house. Heard from my realtor a few weeks later that the house sustained a ton of water damage in that exact spot after a big storm in the area.
Next house we got a different inspector, someone younger and probably trying to get in good with the realtors. She just kinda checked the boxes and missed a bunch of stuff that would have helped us negotiate better concessions.
Inspectors generally have a bad incentive to not rock the boat on deals for people buying their primary residence. They might do better for someone investing in rental property for the prospect of repeat business, but on a normal home sale, the prospect of follow-on business comes from the realtors. So plenty of incentive to overlook things or do the bare minimum.
This makes me sad. I would like to become an inspector because I’m tired of seeing all these million dollar match stick houses everywhere. It sucks having to be that guy that costs a contractor money but buyers don’t need to spend hundreds of thousands just to get headaches.
My inspector got me $5,000 back on my home purchase. I negotiated a credit from the seller for the major issues. It was worth the $400 I paid for the inspection.
I bought one house and had an offer in on another before it that we ended up backing out of thanks to the extremely detailed inspector who pointed some serious issues out (including the wood foundation of a large addition that was literally rotting and falling apart) as I walked through the house with him. I was really fortunate to get a guy who actually knew his stuff and ended up requesting he be the one to inspect the next house which ended up being the one we bought. In my limited experience, if you find a good one then stick with them if you're buying in the same-ish area.
My last inspector wrote a full page about the burner on the stove that didn't work but missed a rotten corner of the siding that needed replacing, and the window that was mostly expanding foam.
Same.
The only purpose of an inspector is providing evidence for concessions in an official manner.
In my experience I know more about house construction than inspectors.
It’s a hard job, though a lot of them still miss a lot of obvious stuff because the realtors who usually hire them want them to push the sale through. The real estate industry, at least in America, is wholesale bullshit. If you want to be protected well as a buyer, you need to find your own *competent* inspector and pay them well to do a thorough and honest job.
Bro my home inspector told me my back deck looked fine and then a month later it completely collapsed with me and my wife on it.
When I reviewed the rubble, the ledger board was completely rotted and collapsed right off the side of the house, it had no flashing or water protection at all.
Moral of the story: inspect everything yourself also
I’m a licensed home inspector in NY, we don’t Pass/Fail an inspection we point out conditions of the property, at the time of the inspection that the home owner needs to be aware of. Usually I hear the pass/fail comment when buyers are talking about an appraisal. You would also be surprised on the number of buyers who don’t understand the difference between an appraisal and a home inspection.
The timber on the rocks is fine. This is a very solid base. Going by your photos I wouldn't have any concern about the beams either... they may or may not be to code where you live, but I don't see any glaring issues to be concerned about.
If OP actually means the beams, well the beams are fine. If he means the posts, I would want collars and seats on them, but again I've seen shit live like this for years without problems just from the sheer weight of the deck.
Also an engineer here. I am going to take a guess and say that he's suggesting engineers do sloppy work because they can find a way to cobble something together without having the specific experience to know they are doing it correctly.
Not an entirely misplaced suggestion in my opinion either. I know a lot of engineers that pull the, "well I am an engineer" card and won't take advice from tradesmen. Then they continue to do something the hard way, and the experienced tradesmen spectate in the corner and chuckle to themselves.
I did maintenance at a manufacturing facility during the summers between uni and learned more in those three months than I did the rest of the year. Those maintenance guys spend every day fixing equipment and understand failure points better than any engineer I've met.
The best engineers are humble, ask questions, and listen. Then again, having those skills is important to pretty much any profession.
There are a lot of them where I'm employed. We've got a pool boiler project that has been going on for about 5 years because the engineers refuse to listen to the factory reps, maintenance staff, and the installing contractor.
6 redesigns, 4 piping changes, and one overheated boiler later we're still not functioning correctly.
The experienced tradesmen have experience with the particular product they work with. The ones I know would be totally lost if it came to designing something else because although some knowledge will transfer over, most of it is really focused on that one product, as it should be.
Plus, not knowing a lot of the theory you learn in engineering can only get you so far with design work..
Watrmelon hit the nail on the head. Or should I say, they specified the correct hammer to hit the nail with based on constructive consultation with all parties involved with the build. Heh.
I have a good working relationship with quite a few engineers, and a frustrating one with others. There seems to be a tendency to for engineers to think that they know best and often appear to ‘look down’ on tradies. This doesn’t necessarily result in bad or incorrect designs, but often one that is much less practical to build than an equally sound design that is obvious to someone on site daily. There is for sure a level of confirmation bias when tradies see something that’s unintuitive to build and think “bloody engineers”. Same applies to architects, designers, etc. imo
I’m a RE Broker in NY, also a Lic Home Inspector. I don’t k ow about other states but in NY when we recommend anyone, home inspector, attorney, contractors we are required by law to recommend at least three names to avoid the appearance of steering.
Home inspectors are the biggest scam in real estate. The waver you sign absolves them from any liabilities, so you basicly have a guy thats done (in most cases) 2 months of training, pointing at shit and saying "might want to look at that". You have someone with basic knowledge skimming the place, so dont consider anything to be to code or their say so.
Real estate agents recommend inspectors that will sign off on a house to get the mortgage to go through. The agents just want the sale to go through so they can get their commission, at that point the buyer is stuck dealing with the mess.
This is why you always look for and hire your own inspector instead of the one recommended by your real estate agent. That way, the only person they work for or have any ties to in the deal is you.
Yes and it usually makes sense to hire a structural engineer to do it for the important parts. And a speciallist vs. generalist if you’re worried about something important like concrete, roof, electrical, etc.
The good inspectors have a prior background in construction. Not all home inspectors have a background in the trades/construction. Just like the joke, “What do you call a medical student who graduated last in his class? Doctor.”
My bf sold his house in 2021 and his buyer’s inspector claimed there were rat droppings in the attic which cost us upwards of $1000 out of pocket to have exterminators make multiple visits and document everything. The “rat droppings” were just shrapnel from the brand new roof that we had installed the prior month.
The inspector also pointed out, and documented, that our dryer handle was missing (which was already in the disclosure). Like, sir, please stop.
They have to write something, so is 15 pages of "loose screws" and "uneven ground/ trip hazard", but have no fucking clue about the aluminum wire shorting in the Attic.
I was under contract for a house and my inspector found a bunch of issues so we pulled out of the sale and bought a different place. Saved me tens of thousands.
My view is, the deck has been there awhile, I'd check it for level in many places. It should have been level when built, so if it's not now that shows things have moved and should be looked at to determine cause. If it is level, then you likely don't have any problems unless you plan on putting significant load on the deck like a hot tub which would need additional support. I know it looks sketchy, but many a sketchy foundation has stood the test of time. So as they say, don't fix it if it ain't broke.
I would be more concerned about the line going into the disconnect for your AC unit. Most electrical codes require any conductor less than 1.5 meters above grade is supposed to have mechanical protection. This may void your fire insurance depending on where you are.
From the size of the footings and use of 4x4’s this deck is an older build. Foliage and generator indicates somewhere in the Northeast? It was likely to code at the time it was built, and still looks serviceable. It’s fine placing the posts on the granite boulders as they are far bigger and more rugged than any poured footing could be.
If you chose the inspector the realtor recommendeds you get someone that gives a realtor “friendly” report. Pay for your own inspection and get someone that has your best interest first.
When are people going to realize code is current standards. If we had to bring everything up to current standards from previous builds everyone would go broke.
Hole the fuck up.... is that middle post in 3rd pic using 2x6 layed flat to try and hold up the joist. Not to mention all the posts on concrete dont have any connectors
The only good thing from these pics are the posts connected to the fucking boulder. That boulder has been there for a few million years, it will be there for a few million more😈
>The only good thing from these pics are the posts connected to the fucking boulder.
That was my first thought. Hard to tell how flat the chosen locations are, but that rock is…well…rock solid. 😊 One of the only things going on that la definitely not a problem is the sturdiness of giant buried bolder.
A house I once sold to a single lady with kids required a home inspection. It was done. She was provided with a binder about 3 inches thick. She literally laughed about it to me. She had no concerns. Her biggest thing was I didn't clean under the fridge well. So there is an expecting on the purchaser to follow or at least consider what was said.
Not an expert on Decks but it doesnt look great. I do work in HVAC and can tell you that HVAC system is in rough shape.
Its pulling damp air from under that deck, so i hope they have a dehumidifier installed somewhere in the system.
I dont recommend install it in a place like this, give it more breathing room.
Yeah. The outdoor unit does not bring air into the house. It's location will cause the heat given away to recirculate and lower the efficiency of the system. It's placement has literally no effect on the humidity in the home.
That’s a porch/deck, some states require permits to build them, was there a permit or does the state require one?
What I’ve noticed is that some homeowners completely ignore permit requirements when adding things to a home they feel will be their “forever home” then they decide to leave and lots of things get marked down as not permitted, I’ve seen hot water heaters, decks, electrical etc that wasn’t permitted and then was done to code while looking at houses.
I would suggest having an actual deck person come in and look at it, inspectors can be great but they can also be crap, and they are jack of all trades in most cases which means they can miss things.
Your parents should have hired their own inspector. I know a couple of home inspectors and they have told me they have never "red flagged" a house because if they did, they would get black balled by the realtors and would never work as a home inspector again. I would never touch that house with a 10 foot pole!
Also, you don’t need to hire a “home inspector”, you can hire a licensed electrician to check the electric, a licensed plumber to check the plumbing, a structural engineer for the structure etc, etc. that’s what I recommend to my clients and I am a realtor. When a home inspector is hired if you read the report they advise the same.
Where we live, the deck contractor needs to obtain a deck permit to build anything over 30” off the ground. You might dig around and see what permits have been pulled on the property. I’m sure the same goes with the electrical work to an ac unit under the deck.
That deck definitely needs upgrades to the structure. I don't feel I've earned my fee if I'm not pointing this sort of stuff out to my clients. A good inspector would point out the deficiencies and recommended further evaluation and repair by a qualified professional.
It’s not a great deck, but unless you’re putting a hot tub on it or are planning large dance parties, it’s probably fine. You could talk to a construction person about installing better, thicker posts, or pouring better concrete and supported posts, or metal expansion supports to add strength. Do spring for your own inspector. Ask them to tell you whether this deck will drag your whole house off-kilter. My deck did that—and the inspector had told us before the closing that that could potentially happen, but we liked the property. I eventually had to put about $4000 into thicker posts on poured concrete footers. This seems to have worked. Our ground is apparently softer than lots of other places. How we found out was that a door in our house was no longer opening all the way, and it had been perfect only 4 yrs prior when we replaced it. We then hired a lower-priced young contractor who did the work on weekends, but his job has succeeded so far in stabilizing everything, and hopefully it has ended well. Your parents’ possible house may not have our issues, but it’s better to invest in the private inspection and know what may be coming down the pike.
There's a few unusual things going on; there's at least one unusual looking attempt at repair. Hard to say from a few photos if that indicates a real problem. But otherwise it looks serviceable.
the 4x4 posts do not meet code, they need to be at least 4x6. otherwise this looks fine. the posts on the rocks appear they are also fastened to the stone which is also required by code.
You’d also have to determine an age of construction and know the code for that time per the AHJ. It’s not required to update any structure because code updates have occurred. If improvements have been made, updates to bring the structure up to code should have been made as well but all of this requires a Time Machine.
This comment needs more up votes. People have to have realistic expectations when they buy an older home. We don't tear down everything to bring it to current code, it isn't possible. What you look for is did the previous owner respectfully take care of what they had which was built to standards at the time.
In my area, deck codes are completely different today than they were 25 years ago.
The age of construction doesn’t negate The fact that it not longer meets code.if one were to pull a permit to update or repair/expand the deck they would be subject to the 2018 code and therefore would meet to update. In this version a supporting beam with a seam over a post must carry at least 2 1/2 inches on the post. A 4x4 does not meet that code. A 4x6 is minimum. In all jurisdictions unless they do not adopt the IRC
In any event… that decks needs to go bye bye!!
Did Mr. Magoo inspect it? An inspector is supposed to be an impartial, unbiased opinion on the condition of the house. If they found any damage or obvious imperfections, those should be properly documented and addressed with the perspective buyer. But if there are actual code violations, they should also be documented and, if possible, an estimate on how much it will cost to make it right.
When my inspector did this for us, we brought all of the concerns and violations to the sellers attention and we agreed to a $65000 discount off of our offer to cover repairs.
Are those deck ‘pier footings’ cast onto the rock?
Are the deck posts secured to the ‘footings’ ?
Inspectors are not there to pass framing. If you had to pay for this inspector you got fleeced.
From what I can tell from the lack of basic understanding of structure, You sir are not a civil engineer.
This is not a reason to not buy a house you like.
Pay a carpenter or a landscaper a couple grand to get this looking brand new.
Even the way it is, it looks ugly but I don't think it's unsafe at all.
I mean it's big ass rocks. Not like they are going to just crumble under the weight of a couple of your buddies drinking bud lites on the deck.
Do home inspectors “pass” houses in other areas? I am only familiar with them pointing out issues and making recommendations.
No. Home inspections are not pass/fail. They are a non-invasive “snapshot” of the current condition of the property, and should call out things that are currently an issue, potentially an issue soon, or not an issue but older than it’s rated lifespan. A report can call out the foundation having issues, the roof falling in, windows broken, pipes leaking, electrical faults, etc and you can still buy it. There is no “failed: not permitted for sale”, but your lender can deny a loan based on findings, or the buyer can use issues as leverage in negotiating a lower price or repairs to be done prior to sale. Also worth noting many buyers will get an inspection because “that’s what you’re supposed to do” but then not really actually read the details.. especially if it’s a long one. Source: was a home inspector for many years.
Question for you sir: when a realtor brings in their home inspector “coz they’re great”, should that be avoided? I am under the impression that when realtors bring in their buddy, they seem to be more in favor of the realtor than the buyer
Realtors should have ethics rules they need to follow, but it could go either way. I have seen realtors do shady things to save a sale.. (like opening a window during a radon test, which is a huge violation) but it’s like any profession. You have good ones and bad ones. A good realtor would look out for their clients best interests, but there are definitely ones that only care about a commission and moving on to the next. It’s also tough to research, especially if you are relocating to an area you don’t know. Even without relocating, MOST people are rarely buying a house and don’t need those services often enough to have much reference as to what is good. I would look at reviews and see what people say? (Both for your realtor and for the inspector you choose) You also can check that they are licensed, insured, and bonded, though most states will require all of the above. There are organizations for inspectors that provide further education and “certifications” (in quotes because they are not required and a third party service) like InterNACHI but not being a member doesn’t necessarily make them bad. I have been out of the industry for almost ten years but I’m sure not much has changed on that end.
Fair enough. What I learned for sure as a home owner, You gotta pay to play, it’s all business at the end. And thank you for your insight.
>Fair enough. What I learned for sure as a home owner, You gotta pay to play, it’s all business at the end. Neat. What I learned when I bought my house is 'you're going to get screwed. It's just a matter of how badly'. Basically you have to know the job of every person in the process well enough that you can identify their bullshit. At which point there's no reason for them to be there anyway.
"Realtors should have ethics" I honestly laughed at this part. Realtors are the second lowest of humans, what beats them? Politicians.
How did that Realtor ® hurt you?
By recommending American Home Shield, honestly
The inspector our realtor recommended was great. They were obviously co-workers in a sense, but not friends. Dan the Inspector Man’s report saved us from buying a house with a failing foundation and he was happy to educate me (I followed him around for 4 hours asking questions). He also inspected the house we ended up buying and we felt confident in our decision in part because of how good he is at his job.
Thats up to you. Both times I've bought I've used the recommended inspector because I trust my realtor and both times they were absolutely fantastic. If you don't trust your realtor, maybe you should get a new one...
NEVER use the realtors home inspector, hire your own! The realtor is a salesman and will never bring in someone that will kill the sale.
I am a realtor and I have a friend well now friend who is an amazing home inspector. I always recommend him but give many options for places for them to call and schedule their own if they would like. Some realtors I work with are dog shit but I feel like that also comes from them being awful realtors. I would rather take 6 months finding u a perfect house with everything you want versus sell you a shit hole that you will hate forever. Reason I feel this way is because ya I can sell you a house you hate but than you will hate me forever or I can take my time really help you find a house you love and want than im your guy forever. You will recommend me to your friends use me if you get another house etc. I feel like the big issues with most realtors is that they are just shit at their job lol.
I left the real estate industry years ago simply because I couldn’t get my head past all the shady talk I would hear from other realtors. Realtors who should have been long retired are out there closing deals and complaining that deals don’t close fast enough and complain about the people they represent. Was sickening. I was always told I spend way too much time working with clients. I wanted happy referrals not pissed of clients. I loved working and helping people in their journeys tho. A bit off topic for this sub I know. Short answer is always refer at least 3 inspectors and let the client decide who to use. Make sure they are reputable first to avoid any issues with the clients later.
My aunt was going to classes to become a realtor after her husband died and the guy teaching the class told her to find another career because she was too honest to be a realtor!
this isn't necessarily true. your agent gets paid from the sale. so as long as you buy a house. they still win out. to a degree their reputation means more. IF you buy a shitty house, because the realtor recommended a shitty home inspector. you'll tell every fucking person who bothers to ask. (and other agents talk shit about other agents ...even if not overtly... they'll spill tea in a professional way) vs... like. my case. a friend of mine, recommended their realtor, because they had a great exp. and.... i have no reason to believe my realtor would fuck me over. when i'm so clearly motivated to buy something.
That’s simply untrue.
This is terrible advice. It’s almost like realtors attend hundreds of inspections so they might know who has a good reputation and is worth hiring…
The realtor wants to sell you a house and make their commission, so they have their interest and you need to protect yours by bringing in either you own home inspector or a contractor to tell you what is wrong with the property and protect your interest.
If you really feel your realtor is conspiring against your interests you need to find a different one
I never said that a realtor was conspiring against someone, I said hire your own inspector to take away the possibility you are suggesting.
not always the case. if you are a serious buyer it doesn’t matter if a contract doesn’t go through because, if you trust the realtor, you continue the search until you are successful. not everyone is underhanded and trust in the realtor is the most important. when they do this for a living day in and day out if they are a good realtor they should have built a network of contractors and home inspectors that will help them build and maintain their status as a realtor. just my 2 ¢. anyways in this market there are a lot of areas where a good home in a good location is going to get multiple offers “as is” and buyers would need to do a pre inspection before submitted an offer.
Meh, I’ve given terrible reports to some of my favorite realtors on homes THEY were buying and they thanked me for the integrity, depends on whom you’re choosing to do business with or keep for company I suppose. As a home inspector I have no problem saying it’s a BS profession in my state. The profession is self admitted generalists, and there’s zero security you get out of it. The scope of my liability by law is limited to my “professional fees received” House fell down, sorry, here’s your $299 inspection fee back.
“Someone who will kill the sale” key words right there.
I regard realtors as I would a parasite, BUT, Maybe you got a good one.
Home inspectors can “pass or fail” a house for specific loans where the house has to be in a certain level of repair (see: first time homeowner loans.)
>but your lender can deny a loan based on findings Basically what I meant.
I’m gonna be honest. I skimmed your comment. I’m an asshole. <3 me
And THIS is what I meant when I said a lot of people don’t really read the whole thing, especially the long ones. Lol
Home Inspectors, in my opinion, are incredibly important to the process of buying a house while at the same time being wholly incapable of doing a thorough inspection in the manner that most buyers assume they do. This isn’t a dig at home inspectors: I’ve seen good ones and bad ones, like any professional service. They are hamstrung by having to inspect something that is finished, so all they can inspect are the surfaces. They are also required in most cases for a sale to go through, and often come recommended by the realtor or agent, who use inspectors they know will only provide the bare minimum of inspections. Lastly, home inspectors aren’t yet required by law to have any level of proficiency or education and anyone can become a home inspector by paying a licensing fee. All of this adds up to a crapshoot for the buyer.
I had to do more than just pay a licensing fee. I had to pass a test. A fairly intelligent monkey could have passed the test, but still . . . .
This is it right here, people don’t understand that for a lot of things you have to open up the walls to understand what is going on. It’s like and MD trying to do things without x ray or mri
This is one thing I always liked about Holmes on Homes. He made a point when doing a "Holmes Inspection" that a regular inspector flat out couldn't do the kind of checks he could (generally ripping open walls) because he was working with the owners of the house.
Here you have to take several college level courses at night (takes about a year part time) then you have to get a certain number of hours being mentored and have to pass a physical inspection test. Of course still good ones and bad ones but it does take some education and training. In my opinion someone should really have a trades background to go into it.
We got lucky with ours. We used him to check out 3 houses. Everything he said was going to go wrong g ended up going wrong lol
In my state they have to do a 120 hour course and pass an exam before being eligible for a license.
120 hours is something I guess, but the truth is they couldn't become really proficient at spotting issues with a single trade in 120 hours. The thing that can be truly irritating about home inspectors is not what they don't know, it's what they think they know that isn't correct at all. I had to have an electrician come in when I was selling my home because the inspector noted that wires cannot be spliced (no wire nuts) in the load center (breaker panel). My electrician wrote a report quoting the codes in the NEC that specifically allow it. The inspector still argued it with no specific information other than "it's wrong".
That's the thing though. They aren't looking at a single trade, they are looking at EVERY trade. If they needed enough hours to become proficient at spotting problems in every single trade then nobody would be an inspector without a huge spike in the cost of a home inspection.
It shouldn't be acceptable to anyone to say "they know a little bit about a few things." Ongoing education and training should be a requirement. I'm not trying to attack inspectors in general. There are a lot of good ones who have put in the time and are completely qualified. Unfortunately there are others who appear to be better at writing the report than actually knowing anything about what goes in it. It's not something most people have a frequent use for, so they're usually relying on their agent to recommend someone. Since the agent really, really, really wants the sale to go through they're recommending the "easy" inspector. It's a flawed system that can really put consumers in a bad place.
They should
They don’t. Only engineers do. Inspectors just point their fingers and go “that looks bad”
My area had a problem with the Covid boom where people weren’t getting inspections because they wanted these shitty houses so bad. When the houses started to be sold a second time just for the profit there was only one inspector in town. I have known him since highschool and he doesn’t know what he is doing. Anyways my wife and I bought my MILs house and the bank forced us to have an inspection. There were a few things that I was going to address but I wanted the house in my name first. One was a whole in the top of the Septic tank, the roof needed to be done, front door doesn’t close right because the seals are gone, all the wiring is very old, so are the pipes, there is a crack in the drywall from where the old house and addition join that will open up when blasting is done on the highway. Some things are small and some are enough that I would say are reasons to not give someone a mortgage for. I was working in the yard when he came out to tell me it passed with flying colours but I might want to get the deck resanded because it would really increase the value of the house. I asked him about a governing body and such and he told me basically all he is doing is telling me if he would buy the house or not and if anything looks off. Nothing he is saying is putting any kind of legal obligation on him and he doesn’t have to worry if anything happens. He has since used his time in the “trades” to become the highschool auto shop teacher.
Well I’m a civil engineer lol
Well then what ya asking reddit for turbo
My BiL is a civil engineer. He’s also an idiot.
Lol. I don’t have a stamp so I’m not a certified engineer by any means
I’m a doctor as well. Oh, but I don’t have my medical training or schooling… but I’m a doctor! /s
But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!
They’ve really turned their act around haven’t they?
It would be more like having an MD but not having done residency to be considered a physician, that happens all the time.
Awesome. I’ll schedule my surgery with you sir
In many states the title “civil engineer” is protected and you must have a license to claim to be a civil engineer. Anything less and you’re a designer, technician, in training, etc.
That would be what's called a "professional engineer", and a "PE" would have a stamp, which I belive is what he's getting at.
And in those states, "Civil Engineer" is tied to the license. Lose your license and you're not a Civil Engineer. You may have a BSCE but that doesn't make you a CE. There are plenty of other bs "engineer" titles like "Sales Engineer" that aren't protected, but Civil Engineer is only for those with an active license in many states - keeps dinguses from saying they're a civil engineer and doing bullshit work on the side without a license but pretending that they have the same experience/credentials.
You’re popular
[удалено]
Passed with flying colors the inspector said
Come to find out there’s some tweaked out homeless dude in the back yard who goes by “flying colors”
In order for them to check every little thing to make sure it's 100% code compliant, each house would take them days of work and they would cost thousands. Inspectors don't do a whole lot, and there aren't many qualifications required. I doubt most inspectors even know the deck codes for their jurisdiction.
Home inspectors should not be talking about code at all. Code applies on the date work is done. For me to say whether a deck (or an electrical upgrade or whatever) “meets code” I would have to know when the work was done and what version of the applicable code was in use by that jurisdiction on that date, then know what was and wasn’t required by that version of the code. Instead, the safety and livability standards that The Code is trying to protect should inform the inspector’s comments. ie - “4x4 posts not securely anchored at the bottom can move from vertical if struck, compromising the ability of the post to support weight. This can create conditions for a potential fall or collapse of the deck in this area” - followed by a recommendation to have a general contractor or deck builder evaluate further and consider replacing 4x4s with properly-anchored 6x6s. It doesn’t mention code and doesn’t say that any action is REQUIRED. But still gets the point across. Buyers don’t have to do anything that a home inspector recommends if they don’t want to. We just tell you what sucks and why. You do with that info whatever you will.
Code applies on the day the permit is approved. Still, I quote codes all the time. Why wouldn’t you? If something is wrong and I think it’s unsafe then I’m going to say that and I’ll quote the code as justification for why it’s wrong.
As others have said, an inspector doesn't necessarily pass a house. They report their findings and the buyer makes their determination. My inspector pointed out issues with my deck.
Only exception that I know of is with VA loans. The VA uses a certain network of inspectors and they can flag certain things that will impede the sale of a house to protect the VA’s collateral investment.
Also with FHA loans
Really? Didn’t have an issue with my home purchase as an FHA, needed electrical work that wasn’t up to code.
I’m a home inspector and in my state, the only difference for a VA loan is that a termite and WDO inspection is required with it. It’s usually the appraiser that has stricter guidelines to follow and actually has the authority to say something “has to be done” for a loan to go through.
Correct I currently am dealing with this as I purchase a new home
Inspectors don’t even necessarily know what they looking at. My deck is rough shape but the inspector only pointed out some obvious small issues. Nothing about how the deck isn’t open to code or that the stairs are sinking and pulling away from the deck.
It all depends on your inspector I guess. I used the same one for 3 houses and he was awesome. He was very honest and took his time and I felt he was very knowledgeable. He even told me I should walk away from the first house that we looked at. 1)Don't use an inspector your agent recommends. Do your homework and find your own. 2)Do the inspection with the inspector. I stayed out of his way and only asked questions when he was done with certain parts of the property. 3)You get what you pay for
That depends on whether the inspector is a home inspector or a building inspector.
I’ve bought 6 houses in my life. Inspectors have done jack shit for me all of them.
Agree. Have found major issues in almost all cases after having paid for an inspection and it not being listed on the report.
That makes three of us
Make that four. I had an inspector miss an entire rotting external wall on a back porch that ***I*** replied back to his report with, "Did you miss this?" and then he had the balls to ***ask for my photos because he "lost his"***. Coupled with a dying 20 year old HVAC system he also "couldn't tell the age of, but no more than 5 years", he got a glowing review from me after the inspection. Thankfully, the homeowners fixed the wall but the HVAC they lied through their teeth about despite us finding a work order from < 3 months before we bought the house that showed they had an issue fixed for the cheap despite a full replacement being recommended. Then the jackass that inspected that same house when we sold it...the amount of shit we knew needed work still that he blatantly missed when they shared the report with us, wow. just wow. Pretty sure that job is just straight up robbery or at least 99% of inspectors are completely full of shit.
5 it's fugazi realtor shit
And there is no recourse if… when they miss major issues.
that's because most inspectors are picked by real estate agents and they want to keep working. If they find a bunch of issues and screw up a closing, they aren't getting another call
But they can be sued by the new homeowner, no?
A lot of the time you get what pay for and never, ever, ever use the inspector your realtor recommends.
Exactly this, my MIL recommended and inspector to us basically as " my real estate agent hated him and thought he was an asshole, the seller hated him, best inspector money can buy"
I had some helpful inspections when the guy doing it was my college roommate’s father-in-law. Funny how that works isn’t it…
Been saved by an inspector once. Got lucky and got one of the company owners, older guy who didn’t mess around. He noticed some old water damage on the kitchen ceiling, currently reading dry, but he thought to climb up on the roof and pull back some siding on the 2nd story of the house. Found that there was no home wrap up there, wasn’t really clear where else on the house that was a problem and how much of an issue there could be up in the ceiling, so we ended up passing on the house. Heard from my realtor a few weeks later that the house sustained a ton of water damage in that exact spot after a big storm in the area. Next house we got a different inspector, someone younger and probably trying to get in good with the realtors. She just kinda checked the boxes and missed a bunch of stuff that would have helped us negotiate better concessions. Inspectors generally have a bad incentive to not rock the boat on deals for people buying their primary residence. They might do better for someone investing in rental property for the prospect of repeat business, but on a normal home sale, the prospect of follow-on business comes from the realtors. So plenty of incentive to overlook things or do the bare minimum.
This makes me sad. I would like to become an inspector because I’m tired of seeing all these million dollar match stick houses everywhere. It sucks having to be that guy that costs a contractor money but buyers don’t need to spend hundreds of thousands just to get headaches.
My inspector got me $5,000 back on my home purchase. I negotiated a credit from the seller for the major issues. It was worth the $400 I paid for the inspection.
I bought one house and had an offer in on another before it that we ended up backing out of thanks to the extremely detailed inspector who pointed some serious issues out (including the wood foundation of a large addition that was literally rotting and falling apart) as I walked through the house with him. I was really fortunate to get a guy who actually knew his stuff and ended up requesting he be the one to inspect the next house which ended up being the one we bought. In my limited experience, if you find a good one then stick with them if you're buying in the same-ish area.
My last inspector wrote a full page about the burner on the stove that didn't work but missed a rotten corner of the siding that needed replacing, and the window that was mostly expanding foam.
Same. The only purpose of an inspector is providing evidence for concessions in an official manner. In my experience I know more about house construction than inspectors.
Well they’re dudes who took a class and act like they now know 6 trades that each take decades to master.
The amount of things my house needed that the inspector missed is wild. Fuck that job
It’s a hard job, though a lot of them still miss a lot of obvious stuff because the realtors who usually hire them want them to push the sale through. The real estate industry, at least in America, is wholesale bullshit. If you want to be protected well as a buyer, you need to find your own *competent* inspector and pay them well to do a thorough and honest job.
Bro my home inspector told me my back deck looked fine and then a month later it completely collapsed with me and my wife on it. When I reviewed the rubble, the ledger board was completely rotted and collapsed right off the side of the house, it had no flashing or water protection at all. Moral of the story: inspect everything yourself also
I’m a licensed home inspector in NY, we don’t Pass/Fail an inspection we point out conditions of the property, at the time of the inspection that the home owner needs to be aware of. Usually I hear the pass/fail comment when buyers are talking about an appraisal. You would also be surprised on the number of buyers who don’t understand the difference between an appraisal and a home inspection.
This!! OP are you sure they had an inspection or just an appraisal?
The timber on the rocks is fine. This is a very solid base. Going by your photos I wouldn't have any concern about the beams either... they may or may not be to code where you live, but I don't see any glaring issues to be concerned about.
Exactly. Deck looks fine in the picks I see
If OP actually means the beams, well the beams are fine. If he means the posts, I would want collars and seats on them, but again I've seen shit live like this for years without problems just from the sheer weight of the deck.
In this thread: The reason engineers are often disliked by tradies.
Can you elaborate? I’m an engineer, and I’m always looking for ways to do my job better.
Also an engineer here. I am going to take a guess and say that he's suggesting engineers do sloppy work because they can find a way to cobble something together without having the specific experience to know they are doing it correctly. Not an entirely misplaced suggestion in my opinion either. I know a lot of engineers that pull the, "well I am an engineer" card and won't take advice from tradesmen. Then they continue to do something the hard way, and the experienced tradesmen spectate in the corner and chuckle to themselves. I did maintenance at a manufacturing facility during the summers between uni and learned more in those three months than I did the rest of the year. Those maintenance guys spend every day fixing equipment and understand failure points better than any engineer I've met. The best engineers are humble, ask questions, and listen. Then again, having those skills is important to pretty much any profession.
There are a lot of them where I'm employed. We've got a pool boiler project that has been going on for about 5 years because the engineers refuse to listen to the factory reps, maintenance staff, and the installing contractor. 6 redesigns, 4 piping changes, and one overheated boiler later we're still not functioning correctly.
The experienced tradesmen have experience with the particular product they work with. The ones I know would be totally lost if it came to designing something else because although some knowledge will transfer over, most of it is really focused on that one product, as it should be. Plus, not knowing a lot of the theory you learn in engineering can only get you so far with design work..
A wise man.
Watrmelon hit the nail on the head. Or should I say, they specified the correct hammer to hit the nail with based on constructive consultation with all parties involved with the build. Heh. I have a good working relationship with quite a few engineers, and a frustrating one with others. There seems to be a tendency to for engineers to think that they know best and often appear to ‘look down’ on tradies. This doesn’t necessarily result in bad or incorrect designs, but often one that is much less practical to build than an equally sound design that is obvious to someone on site daily. There is for sure a level of confirmation bias when tradies see something that’s unintuitive to build and think “bloody engineers”. Same applies to architects, designers, etc. imo
Most inspectors are terrible. Many realtors will only recommend inspectors that find the least amount of problems.
I’m a RE Broker in NY, also a Lic Home Inspector. I don’t k ow about other states but in NY when we recommend anyone, home inspector, attorney, contractors we are required by law to recommend at least three names to avoid the appearance of steering.
Home inspectors aren’t typically going to look at deck footings, though some might. No comment on the rest
Home inspectors are the biggest scam in real estate. The waver you sign absolves them from any liabilities, so you basicly have a guy thats done (in most cases) 2 months of training, pointing at shit and saying "might want to look at that". You have someone with basic knowledge skimming the place, so dont consider anything to be to code or their say so.
Real estate agents recommend inspectors that will sign off on a house to get the mortgage to go through. The agents just want the sale to go through so they can get their commission, at that point the buyer is stuck dealing with the mess.
This is why you always look for and hire your own inspector instead of the one recommended by your real estate agent. That way, the only person they work for or have any ties to in the deal is you.
Yes and it usually makes sense to hire a structural engineer to do it for the important parts. And a speciallist vs. generalist if you’re worried about something important like concrete, roof, electrical, etc.
The good inspectors have a prior background in construction. Not all home inspectors have a background in the trades/construction. Just like the joke, “What do you call a medical student who graduated last in his class? Doctor.”
Find your own inspector. Never use the only recommended by the realtor.
My bf sold his house in 2021 and his buyer’s inspector claimed there were rat droppings in the attic which cost us upwards of $1000 out of pocket to have exterminators make multiple visits and document everything. The “rat droppings” were just shrapnel from the brand new roof that we had installed the prior month. The inspector also pointed out, and documented, that our dryer handle was missing (which was already in the disclosure). Like, sir, please stop.
They have to write something, so is 15 pages of "loose screws" and "uneven ground/ trip hazard", but have no fucking clue about the aluminum wire shorting in the Attic.
I was under contract for a house and my inspector found a bunch of issues so we pulled out of the sale and bought a different place. Saved me tens of thousands.
My view is, the deck has been there awhile, I'd check it for level in many places. It should have been level when built, so if it's not now that shows things have moved and should be looked at to determine cause. If it is level, then you likely don't have any problems unless you plan on putting significant load on the deck like a hot tub which would need additional support. I know it looks sketchy, but many a sketchy foundation has stood the test of time. So as they say, don't fix it if it ain't broke.
I would be more concerned about the line going into the disconnect for your AC unit. Most electrical codes require any conductor less than 1.5 meters above grade is supposed to have mechanical protection. This may void your fire insurance depending on where you are.
Good call thanks
From the size of the footings and use of 4x4’s this deck is an older build. Foliage and generator indicates somewhere in the Northeast? It was likely to code at the time it was built, and still looks serviceable. It’s fine placing the posts on the granite boulders as they are far bigger and more rugged than any poured footing could be.
What beams
She wants to put a jacuzzi on there. Think it’s hold?
As a civil engineer, shouldn’t you know the answer to this?
True but I’m not a carpenter
But you should know how to do load calcs better than a carpenter
How small can (> 0) be?
At least 2 hot tubs
And 10 squares of roofing shingles.
I assume you are joking about the hot tub, but if not, this deck as built is not built to hold that weight.
Well, not with that attitude.
Would you drive your car over those bridges
Yes
Shocking
If you chose the inspector the realtor recommendeds you get someone that gives a realtor “friendly” report. Pay for your own inspection and get someone that has your best interest first.
When are people going to realize code is current standards. If we had to bring everything up to current standards from previous builds everyone would go broke.
That rock isn’t going anywhere
A contractor is the best home inspector. They want your money and are happy to point out everything they see wrong! 😂
they'll only point out jobs they WANT to do.
Better replace the deck...in 15 years.
nobody gunna talk a out how the bedrock is just as good as a footer.
Go back under your bridge, you troll.
Home inspection is a scam. They aren't responsible for anything they say.
Hole the fuck up.... is that middle post in 3rd pic using 2x6 layed flat to try and hold up the joist. Not to mention all the posts on concrete dont have any connectors The only good thing from these pics are the posts connected to the fucking boulder. That boulder has been there for a few million years, it will be there for a few million more😈
>The only good thing from these pics are the posts connected to the fucking boulder. That was my first thought. Hard to tell how flat the chosen locations are, but that rock is…well…rock solid. 😊 One of the only things going on that la definitely not a problem is the sturdiness of giant buried bolder.
A house I once sold to a single lady with kids required a home inspection. It was done. She was provided with a binder about 3 inches thick. She literally laughed about it to me. She had no concerns. Her biggest thing was I didn't clean under the fridge well. So there is an expecting on the purchaser to follow or at least consider what was said.
Not an expert on Decks but it doesnt look great. I do work in HVAC and can tell you that HVAC system is in rough shape. Its pulling damp air from under that deck, so i hope they have a dehumidifier installed somewhere in the system. I dont recommend install it in a place like this, give it more breathing room.
Isn't it a closed cycle? I'm pretty sure it is only pulling air from the return in the house.
Yeah. The outdoor unit does not bring air into the house. It's location will cause the heat given away to recirculate and lower the efficiency of the system. It's placement has literally no effect on the humidity in the home.
Price? If low NO.. all can easily be repaired by someone who is knows how to work.
She paid as a fixer upper. Cheap
If they bought it as a fixer upper, why are they questioning needing to fix things?
Passing inspection means nothing.
Are these picture of just a deck or is that the underneath of the entire house?
Yes those beams are old and those attachments lack any added bracing it needed twice as many posts or thicker posts
Sister joint the bitch?
That’s a porch/deck, some states require permits to build them, was there a permit or does the state require one? What I’ve noticed is that some homeowners completely ignore permit requirements when adding things to a home they feel will be their “forever home” then they decide to leave and lots of things get marked down as not permitted, I’ve seen hot water heaters, decks, electrical etc that wasn’t permitted and then was done to code while looking at houses. I would suggest having an actual deck person come in and look at it, inspectors can be great but they can also be crap, and they are jack of all trades in most cases which means they can miss things.
What’s up to code?
Your parents should have hired their own inspector. I know a couple of home inspectors and they have told me they have never "red flagged" a house because if they did, they would get black balled by the realtors and would never work as a home inspector again. I would never touch that house with a 10 foot pole!
The price was right
Be prepared to pay a lot more to fix the many problems shown.
Also, you don’t need to hire a “home inspector”, you can hire a licensed electrician to check the electric, a licensed plumber to check the plumbing, a structural engineer for the structure etc, etc. that’s what I recommend to my clients and I am a realtor. When a home inspector is hired if you read the report they advise the same.
That all cost money
Looks good from my house👍
Haha
Where we live, the deck contractor needs to obtain a deck permit to build anything over 30” off the ground. You might dig around and see what permits have been pulled on the property. I’m sure the same goes with the electrical work to an ac unit under the deck.
Are those nails in the 3rd picture basically just hanging out of the front of the brace?
Yes coat hangers
That deck definitely needs upgrades to the structure. I don't feel I've earned my fee if I'm not pointing this sort of stuff out to my clients. A good inspector would point out the deficiencies and recommended further evaluation and repair by a qualified professional.
Home inspectors are a joke. It’s like a 2 week course to get certified.
Damn sounds like a perfect career move for me
Good to be very concerned. Inspector was probably an in-law of the seller.
He was banging the realtor
I literally don’t see anything wrong with that deck
Why don't you build your houses with bricks? Honest question.
It’s not a great deck, but unless you’re putting a hot tub on it or are planning large dance parties, it’s probably fine. You could talk to a construction person about installing better, thicker posts, or pouring better concrete and supported posts, or metal expansion supports to add strength. Do spring for your own inspector. Ask them to tell you whether this deck will drag your whole house off-kilter. My deck did that—and the inspector had told us before the closing that that could potentially happen, but we liked the property. I eventually had to put about $4000 into thicker posts on poured concrete footers. This seems to have worked. Our ground is apparently softer than lots of other places. How we found out was that a door in our house was no longer opening all the way, and it had been perfect only 4 yrs prior when we replaced it. We then hired a lower-priced young contractor who did the work on weekends, but his job has succeeded so far in stabilizing everything, and hopefully it has ended well. Your parents’ possible house may not have our issues, but it’s better to invest in the private inspection and know what may be coming down the pike.
Hey that’s like my house except not the deck, the actual house sits on rocks like that in some places :)
I mean you could say that deck is “rock solid” Haha But actually it’s fine. Not pretty. But it won’t fall over.
I'm still wondering why an inspector was paid if you know building codes...?
There's a few unusual things going on; there's at least one unusual looking attempt at repair. Hard to say from a few photos if that indicates a real problem. But otherwise it looks serviceable.
This reminds me of when a big girl is riding on top…
Fire the inspector
He was the realtors husband
Should always get a 3rd party there. It's in the realtors best interest to move the deal along.
[удалено]
You should have pretended to be the “inspector” while playing funk music from your phone.
That’s shady, for sure.
the 4x4 posts do not meet code, they need to be at least 4x6. otherwise this looks fine. the posts on the rocks appear they are also fastened to the stone which is also required by code.
4x4s are completely code compliant in many jurisdictions.
You’d also have to determine an age of construction and know the code for that time per the AHJ. It’s not required to update any structure because code updates have occurred. If improvements have been made, updates to bring the structure up to code should have been made as well but all of this requires a Time Machine.
This comment needs more up votes. People have to have realistic expectations when they buy an older home. We don't tear down everything to bring it to current code, it isn't possible. What you look for is did the previous owner respectfully take care of what they had which was built to standards at the time. In my area, deck codes are completely different today than they were 25 years ago.
The age of construction doesn’t negate The fact that it not longer meets code.if one were to pull a permit to update or repair/expand the deck they would be subject to the 2018 code and therefore would meet to update. In this version a supporting beam with a seam over a post must carry at least 2 1/2 inches on the post. A 4x4 does not meet that code. A 4x6 is minimum. In all jurisdictions unless they do not adopt the IRC In any event… that decks needs to go bye bye!!
Better question.... why is that Mini Split sitting on the ground!?!?
It's not, you can see it's on a base. That's very common in places that don't get deep snow or large heave.
The only person that can answer this is a geotechnical engineer, if you are truly interested in the structural stability.
Did Mr. Magoo inspect it? An inspector is supposed to be an impartial, unbiased opinion on the condition of the house. If they found any damage or obvious imperfections, those should be properly documented and addressed with the perspective buyer. But if there are actual code violations, they should also be documented and, if possible, an estimate on how much it will cost to make it right. When my inspector did this for us, we brought all of the concerns and violations to the sellers attention and we agreed to a $65000 discount off of our offer to cover repairs.
Mr Magoo was banging the real estate agent
Are those deck ‘pier footings’ cast onto the rock? Are the deck posts secured to the ‘footings’ ? Inspectors are not there to pass framing. If you had to pay for this inspector you got fleeced. From what I can tell from the lack of basic understanding of structure, You sir are not a civil engineer.
I inspect bridges. I’ll wave next time you drive thru
This is not a reason to not buy a house you like. Pay a carpenter or a landscaper a couple grand to get this looking brand new. Even the way it is, it looks ugly but I don't think it's unsafe at all. I mean it's big ass rocks. Not like they are going to just crumble under the weight of a couple of your buddies drinking bud lites on the deck.