Messages posted by: PointMan

It's so crazy to me what SOME realtors are willing to say or due to push a sale, and at the expense of the buyer at that! I just inspected a home for a single mother who was going through a divorce. Overall the house was nice, but there were obviously some things that came up. The home was flipped and the flipper didn't pay any attention to the roof. There was also a Federal Pacific panel which MOST realtors will say it needs replaced. Well the selling realtor is going back on the fact that nothing came up in the point of sale inspection, so she's not advising her client to fix anything.

I've also noticed that some realtors feel like they know more than the inspectors because they've been present for so many inspections. It gets annoying informing your client on things just to have the realtor chirp in and provide inaccurate information.

haha I get it and appreciate it!

Thank you for sharing Stephanie!

Out of the tests I've done, the highest I've seen was around 18. Most of mine have been 10 and under.

I've never personally had the need to use a camera on a pole. I've been able to access areas I've needed to access in other ways. Especially for the cost I've seen in this thread. I can think of other tools I'd rather have for that price. But I'm just one guy.

jtroth wrote:Contact Michael Doerr or Jandry Jacobs at RWS. They can help set you up and explain things. You will end up paying nowhere near the full price for the normal home warranty. What inspectors buy is for short term warranties 90 days to 6 months mainly. The new homeowner also gets a chance to buy an 18 month home warranty for the fee of 12 months through RWS.

call ISG directly at 888-854-0798 or go here https://www.inspectionsuccess.net/contact

They will steer you correctly.

I appreciate the info!

Brian Walker wrote:There is a ton of information to learn about during a home inspection. But what are the main questions that you should you ask your home inspector? Here are just a few suggestions.

I think a couple of those questions, if answered could lead to trouble for the inspector. I've heard of a couple guys saying how to fix things completely incorrectly. Also answering about how much time is left in "such and such" can lead to issues should it fail sooner.

jtroth wrote:Of course, there are logical "catches" Can't expect any warranty company to replace a furnace that is 40 years old, a water heater that is 12 years old and ready to fail, etc.
The warranty companies need to set limits as to what is covered, just like home inspectors have to set limits to the scope of the inspection.
We use RWS to get our warranties and it has worked out very well. Clients can select their own contractors to repair things. It has worked out well.

How do you go about offering that? I see they are $629 for their warranty.

I'd love to know the outcome of this. I think that's the unfortunate part about being a home inspector is that we are visual only, and many times we do not hear the end result of things we find.

Nathan, in looking this one appears to be for the home owner paid by the homeowner.

I believe you have one for inspectors as well, or is this tied in somehow? I've only recently began looking in to the warranty stuff for inspections.

inspectionsavvy wrote:any porous surface expose to moisture and rain will deteriorate for sure. raise it as a material defect in your report since this is an structural issue.

I'd be careful with that one and we can be thinking different things. Foundation insulation is meant to be exposed to the elements, if that's indeed what we are looking at. It's what it looks like to me with a protective coating on the outer portion.
Just because it looks porous doesn't make it wrong. I still can't tell if that's exactly what it is based on the pictures provided, as it's relation to the siding is throwing me off. They do have products out to protect the insulation from physical damage, but the foam itself is not exactly the "waterproof" portion for the foundation walls.

jtroth wrote:Unless the area is wet I would first think about if there are any ductwork routed in those areas. Just the presence of duct work will warm floors and walls in which they are routed under or behind.
Also if a duct work has gaps that also will increase the heat loss behind those areas.

An inspector with thermal imaging may be able to help "see" the concern.

Definitely good insight on to the situation. I wouldn't rush to suspect a leak without looking for other signs. Even a pinhole leak is going to let a lot of water out in a short amount of time. As jtroth stated, get with an inspector that has a thermal camera. I'd also want to put a moisture meter on it. You can pick a cheap one up at a local home improvement store for fairly cheap. While it's not as good as more expensive ones, it'll certainly tell you if there is a high moisture content in the wall should it have soaked through.

I didn't have a picture of an HVAC vent running behind a wall, but I'll add a picture of radiant heat and show how valuable thermal imaging can be as a tool in the arsenal.

There's one you seldom see!!

jtroth wrote:At one point there were some inspection companies running/managing their own warranty system. Most if not nearly all home inspection companies that have warranties now actually purchase those from a warranty company. Definitely a better way to do things.

Report systems need to be reader friendly. You do not want to spend time showing people how to read the report.

I understand that most companies are using third party warranty companies to handle the warranties. It's just I know many times with warranties they are tough to cash in on should something truly go wrong. That's why I'm skeptical. It's like it sounds great, but there is almost always a catch.

I definitely agree with the report system. A 5th grader should be able to navigate it and understand it without issue... more or less haha

Like a cold glass of water on a hot day.