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As a buyer you want someone on your side protecting your interest. Below is an example of what a good home inspection report should look like .

Click here to read about a recent termite inspection that I was involved in

WEATHER CONDITIONS

Temperature high 80s; humidity near 100%; winds still; sky partly cloudy.  Recent weather events impacting on inspection conditions:  heavy rain each of past few days.

IMPORTANT

FINDINGS NOT BINDING

Your Home inspector  is not a real estate brokerage and does not practice the profession of real estate sales, nor does anyone have a degree in law and practice that profession.  Therefore the recommendations made in this report for repairs, renovations, improvements, or any other effect, have no bearing on the consummation of a contract for sale and are expressly not meant to imply obligation or propriety on any party to the impending transaction for the purposes of consummating the sale.

THE CONCERNS OF YOUR HOME INSPECTOR

Although the report is not organized this way, your home inspector has only four areas of concern:

1.  The physical safety of those who inhabit or visit the property;

2.  The property’ s current physical condition;

3.  The property’s ability to protect itself from deterioration;

4.  The operating efficiency of the house.

Matters your home inspector believes need attention are printed in orange type; suggested responses are highlighted in yellow; the estimates found at the end of the report are taken from the yellow highlights and are accompanied by page references.

OVERVIEW

10334 Lillian Highway is a two-story, contemporary style waterfront house build in 1997.  Construction is conventional wood framing above a slab poured on grade and fill, with prefabricated trusses forming the roof.  The exterior walls are plywood.  Interior walls and ceilings are drywall.

The house consists of a small living room; dining room; family room; kitchen; full bathroom; laundry room; large screened-in back porch; and single-car garage on the ground floor and four bedrooms and two full bathrooms upstairs.

The property includes a low bulkhead, pier, and boat dock, a full-sized in-ground pool, and an underground sprinkler system.

It is served by overhead electricity, telephone, and cable, and by public water.  Sewage is disposed of by septic tank and field lines.  Heating and cooling is by two central split-system conventional air conditioners and electric furnaces.  Water heating is electric is by gas.

*    *    *    *    *    *

The framing, roof, ceilings, interior walls, and basic pluming system of this house are solid and in good physical condition.  The pool appears well constructed as far as may be seen with its water opaque green from lack of maintenance; the pier and boat dock are very solid.  Beyond this, most of the house is in an exceptionally poor state of maintenance and repair.    Significant defects and/or deterioration were found in the exterior walls, electrical and HVAC systems, windows, and incidental plumbing.

Without consideration of purchase price or appraised value, neither of which your home inspector knows or wants to know, the sum total or repairs and refurbishing needed in this property is well worth undertaking because of its unique waterfront location, as well as with or in comparison to what is undamaged and strong about the structure.

STRUCTURAL

FOUNDATION, CRAWL SPACE, and SUBFLOOR STRUCTURE

FOUNDATION:  Slab on grade and/or some fill.  Only the garage slab is visible in sufficient area to be significant.  Although it is not a monolithic extension of the living area slab, it is presumed poured at the same time, of the same material, by the same labor, and should be representative.  The quality of the material appears good.  Hairline settlement and/or curing cracks are present in the vast majority of garage slabs and are not a matter of concern.  The absence of any cracks speaks well of the ground preparation and quality of the concrete construction.  No such cracks were seen here).

There are no secondary signs of slab problems.  Such signs would be significant buckling of the exterior plywood wall panels, gross distortions of the planes of the roof, cracks or extensive looseness in joint tape between ceilings and walls, door or window frames with expanded or compressed corners, etc.

ROOF

The roof was inspected by full walk-over and attic entry.

It is formed with prefabricated trusses, plywood roof decking, and fiberglass composition shingles. 

Trusses are of average, competent construction, made with lumber sufficiently clear for this use.  Joint plates are large enough for good strength.  Webbing (interior bracing) is typical.  No significant defects and no post-construction modifications were seen in any area open to reasonable sight lines during attic entry.

NOTE:  Gables of this house do not have diagonal bracing (photo below, arrows) but the roof does have hurricane ties.  Diagonal bracing of the gables, if installed, would qualify for a significant reduction in the spiraling rates of Florida’s ridiculous windstorm insurance program.  Other discounts, which this house could qualify for with modifications, are hurricane bracing of the vehicle door and installation of storm shutters.  The diagonal bracing your home inspector sees in new houses is a single long 2x4 installed from the intersection of the ridge and the gable wall, slanting in and down at less than a 45% angle below horizontal, secured to all the vertical center webbing pieces of the trusses, down to ceiling joist level. 

The decking is plywood, which is more   resistant to water and impact damage than the cheaper waferboard which followed it, and is less prone to sagging between rafters.  Here there are no indications in the exterior appearance of the roof or from an examination of significant areas of the underside of the decking that there are any installation errors or any significant damage from water infiltration or impact.  However an examination of the underside of the decking shows dark water stains (but no delamination or significant weakness) immediately inward from the chimney housing, the result of a past flashing leak between chimney enclosure and roof (photo at right).

Shingles are the familiar “20-year” fiberglass composition shingles.  They are well installed and for the most part are in good condition.  There is a damaged shingle or two at the southwest corner of the upper roof, exposing the eave metal and allowing water infiltration under the shingles and onto the roof deck.

Plumbing vent flashings are the “rubber donut” variety, which degrade under ultraviolet radiation, become brittle, and crack and finally crumble as they expand and contract; average life span in full sunlight is around seven to ten years. Three are in good condition; the one closest to the southwest corner of the upper roof has degraded and been patched, and is now in need or replacement.   HINT:  One or two thick coats of oil based paint will protect the flashings from ultraviolet radiation and greatly extend their life.

The two bathroom exhaust fan caps are covered with surface rust but are still serviceable and appear well flashed to the roof..

Ridge vents are in good condition but are loosely attached in several areas.  All the roofing nails attaching them have exposed heads; these nails do not have washers, and all pose a leak threat.

GUTTERS

There are two runs of guttering, one a conventional seamless aluminum run across  a portion of the front eave of the lower roof, the other built into the aluminum screened porch roof.  The front gutter is filled with tree debris and its downspout has been crushed closed.  The porch roof gutter is also filled with tree debris.

EAVES

Eaves are fully enclosed with fir fascia (vertical surface immediately below the edge of the shingles) and plywood soffit (horizontal overhang).  They are well constructed and show no deterioration.  Intermittent perforated sections provide good attic ventilation.

WALLS

Exterior walls are plywood panels.  There is widespread rot in the plywood panels and in vertical corner trim.  It is your home inspector’s rough estimate that 30% of the 4x8 panels need complete replacement and another 30% to 40% need repair (cutting off the bottom foot or so, installing a Z-channel and new plywood below.  Particularly bad areas are the second floor west wall, where only one panel is salvageable, it obviously being a replacement panel; and the east part of the north wall, in from the fig tree.  There are at least minor areas of wood rot in all other walls except the downstairs west wall inside the back porch.  A gallery of photos of wood rot in the walls is included at the end of this report.  There are too many to insert in the text.  Note that it includes areas of wood rot in panels on the second-floor level of two-story walls, especially on the north wall behind the chimney.

Fresh paint has been applied over all the rotted wood, most of which is obvious to any painter and any owner.

COLUMNS

There are seven columns at front and back porches, all of solid 4x4 posts.  No damage or defect was found.

DOORS

All doors were fully opened and closed and frames, weatherstripping, thresholds, hinges, locks and latches, fit, ease of operation, general physical and cosmetic condition, and condition of glass (including thermal seal if double-glazed) were all examined.  The frame and sill of the door in the south wall (utility hall) are damaged by wood rot.  The exterior plywood laminated of the same door is weather checked and is delaminating.  This process is irreversible and will destroy the outer skin of the door, letting water into the “engineered wood product” (read “coarse particleboard”) inside, at which time the door will be destroyed.  No other defects were found.  (Happily, all the deadbolts in the house operate with the same key.)

WINDOWS

All windows are double-glazed, single-hung windows with anodized aluminum frames.  All were raised and lowered; lock function and integrity of the thermal seals were examined.  The following defects were found:

·         All four dining room window panels are fogged.

·         The bottom kitchen window panel is fogged.

·         The bottom panel of the northwest bedroom window is fogged.

·         The top panel of the master bedroom window is fogged.

·         The southwest bedroom window will not stay open when raised.

·         The northeast bedroom window will not stay open when raised.

·         The master bedroom window falls freely; its weight is enough to kill a child or crush the hands of an adult.

·         The two bottom panels of the living room windows are broken (and will fog).

·         One of the kitchen window locks is missing.

·         The tip-in latches are broken on the northwest bedroom window.

·         The octagonal window in the downstairs bathroom will open but binds and must be pushed fully closed from outside.

(NOTE:  Fogging is just a symptom of the real failure of double-pane glazing, a break in the hermetic seal which allows air exchange between the space between the panes and air outside that space, that change destroying the thermal insulation property of the window—the very reason double-pane windows exist and for which people pay more for them.)

LIGHTING

Exterior lighting consists of a pair of wall lights flanking the front door; two eave-mounted security lights (at least one controlled through a photoelectric/motion sensor) on the south corners of the house; a wall light beside the south door; a wall light outside the back door; and a ceiling fan light hanging from the screened porch roof.  Only one front door light works; the south door light does not work; the light beside the door to the screened porch is broken and hanging from its wires, and the (possible) switch for this light (which might have been a switch for a pool light) has been removed from its box; one bulb is missing and the other broken at the southeast eave light (with the sensor unit); your home inspector could not find the switch for the light at the southwest corner (which might be controlled through the sensor on the southeast corner light); the light beneath the back porch ceiling fan doesn’t work.

PORCHES, PATIOS, and DECKS

The front porch is only an entry shelter and design element. It is nicely tiled, but the tile pockets a little water on the north end.  The plywood overhead is in good condition.

The back porch is very well constructed and in good condition.  It’s slab, cast on grade, is fully covered with indoor-outdoor carpet and so is not available for direct inspection, but seems to be completely intact.  The 2-inch-square anodized aluminum screen framing and roof support is in good condition and is undamaged; the fiberglass screening is intact.  The roof, made of standing-seam aluminum panels, is in good condition, shows no evidence of leaks, and appears to be sealed effectively (no leaks) to the eave of the house.  One of the three exterior doors has a badly damaged kick panel at the bottom (somebody kicked it) and needs to be replaced.

MECHANICAL

ELECTRICAL

SERVICE:  Overhead at 200 amps

MAIN PANEL:  In the terminology of this report, the main panel is one immediately below or beside the meter.  It is of 200-amp capacity and provides for and is wired with six 240-volt circuits:

                                Distribution panel (“Main”)    100 amps          100 amps    Subpanel left of main panel (“Main”)

                                                 “Work Building”      40 amps              60 amps    Heat    (downstairs?)

                                                                     Heat      40 amps                60 amps    Air conditioner subpanel (“AC”)

Capacities are appropriate for the uses as labeled. 

The panel was opened and checked for rust, corrosion, signs of arcing, loose connections, loose internal components, breaks in wire insulation, missing wire clamps, and open twist-outs, signs of excessive heat, and other visible problems.  One of the legs (wires) of the air conditioner subpanel circuit shows heat damage in its insulation adjacent to the breaker.  Your home inspector cannot say if the heat was caused by the present or a previous breaker, or by a lightening strike on that circuit, or by a malfunction of one of the air conditioning condensers served (one is a replacement).

The cable serving the 40-amp heater circuit is unraveled where it comes out of its breaker. 

NOTE:  There is not a circuit labeled for the clothes dryer, which should be of at least 30, and much more probably 40 amps.  As the “work building’ label was made differently from other labels, it may be that circuit actually serves the clothes dryer, and the unlabeled 20-amp circuit in the subpanel (see below) powers receptacles and lights in the work building.  Again, a safety issue exists due to incomplete, vague, or incorrect labeling.

The panel, and with it the entire electrical system, is grounded by means of a ground cable and a ground rod.  The clamp between the cable and rod is not visible above ground, roughly below the main panel.  Tightness of the clamp between cable and rod is very important to electrical safety in the whole house.  It would be wise for a new owner to excavate the clamp by following the ground cable from where it enters the ground, and be sure that the clamp is tight.  If it is loose it should be removed and all connecting surfaces should be brightened with sandpaper before reassembly.

SUBPANEL:  This is the small panel immediately to the left of the main panel.  It provides for two 240-volt circuits, one of 50 amps for the range, the other of 20 amps for an unknown use.  Your home inspector considers unlabeled and incorrectly labeled electrical circuits to be safety hazards needing correction.

HVAC SUBPANEL:  This is the small subpanel on the exterior wall above the two air conditioner condensers.  It is presumed served by the 60-amp main panel circuit labeled “AC,” and provides two 30-amp circuits, one each for the two condensers.  It was not opened.

DISTRIBUTION PANEL:  This is the interior panel located in the utility hall.  It is of 125-amp capacity and provides for twelve 120-volt circuits using full-sized breakers.  It is wired with one 240-volt and fifteen 120-volt circuits, all using half-sized breakers.  Of these latter, eight are of 20-amp capacity and serve wall receptacles in high-demand areas (such as the kitchen) and built-in appliances, and include one GFCI breaker (see GFCI subsection below); seven are of 15-amp capacity and serve installed lighting and wall receptacles in low-demand areas (such as a bedroom). This is normal construction practice.  The division of circuits provides dedicated (isolated) circuits for the dishwasher and clothes washer.  The 240-volt circuit serves the water heater.