No attic access

I inspected a home the other day that had what I consider two significant problems and I would like other opinions. First the home only had one gable vent, no ridge, soffit or roof vent. No attice fan either. Second, there was no attic access. Although I was told the roof was only a year old, and after walking the roof I could attest it was in great shape, I cannot believe the life expectancy of the roof will not be shortened due to lack of proper ventilation. Second, I told the client that his energy costs would be affected in a negative way due to the lack of ventilation. Obviously I did not inspect the attic. When I say no access, I do not mean the scuttle hole was inaccessible, or in a closet where I could not get to it. I mean it did not exist. Solid ceiling throughout. Would anyone have advised differently?

You did fine so far as I can tell. If you can't see a defect you can't report it!

What year was the house built?

Here is our comment for that situation. "No access hatch was found for the attic space. The inspector was unable to evaluate the attic, and it's excluded from this inspection. Ask the present owner if an access hatch exists, if one does not exist the recommend installing access hatches as necessary and as per standard building practices to allow periodic evaluation of attic spaces."

tom@heartland wrote:I inspected a home the other day that had what I consider two significant problems and I would like other opinions. First the home only had one gable vent, no ridge, soffit or roof vent. No attice fan either. Second, there was no attic access. Although I was told the roof was only a year old, and after walking the roof I could attest it was in great shape, I cannot believe the life expectancy of the roof will not be shortened due to lack of proper ventilation. Second, I told the client that his energy costs would be affected in a negative way due to the lack of ventilation. Obviously I did not inspect the attic. When I say no access, I do not mean the scuttle hole was inaccessible, or in a closet where I could not get to it. I mean it did not exist. Solid ceiling throughout. Would anyone have advised differently?

Tom, once in a while you hit the jackpot and no attic, c/s or other hassles to inspect! Perfect!

I find a lot homes 50-years old or more with new roof coverings that have very few roof vents present. These tend to be areas with little enforcement of construction codes. Unless the local code inspector calls this out on an inspection, who's to stop them from saving a few bucks on skipping more ventilation when replacing the roof coverings.

Yeah i advise adding an access and definately more ventilation. I referance energy cost and difficulty climbing up and removing gable vent just to inspect attic or do work. You did good! Post 6

Note that this area was a limitation and recommended further evaluation of the attic area at the earliest opportunity or request access prior to the purchase of the home. Report waht you see and cover your but by noting the limitation of the inspection.

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