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Home Inspection

Does The Seller Need to Fix This?

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“Does the seller need to fix this?”

That’s a common question that home inspectors are asked when we find defects at houses that we inspect, and the answer is always no.  While a municipal inspector may come up with a big list of required repairs for a seller if their city has required point of sale / Truth-In-Housing inspections, a home inspection is usually completely independent of any type of government regulations.  Here in Minnesota, the entire home inspection industry in completely unregulated.  Issues that come up during a home inspection may be negotiable, but there are no hard and fast rules about repairs that sellers need to complete as a result of a home inspection.  When a home inspector finds defects during a home inspection, there are four common ways for the buyer to deal with them: pay less for the house, cancel the purchase, have the seller perform repairs, or do nothing.  Today I’ll give my two cents on each.

Deteriorated RoofLower the price of the house.  With this option, the buyer can hire their own contractors to do the work, and they can oversee the whole project after they own the house.  This is a common approach, but it’s not always a practical approach because it doesn’t leave the new home buyers with any cash to pay for repairs unless they’re going some special financing, such as a 203k loan.

Cancel the purchase.  This happens when the buyer decides there are too many problems with the house, when buyers and sellers can’t come to an agreement, or when there is just no equity in the home to lower the price.  Usually when a deal falls apart as a result of the inspection, it’s because there are major defects with the home that the seller either wasn’t aware of or didn’t disclose.  Some of the biggest deal-killers are foundation problems, wet basement problems, roof problems, siding problems, and major plumbing or electrical problems.

Snow In The Freezer

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Do you find more snow in the freezer every time you open the door? It’s super annoying and is hides your food. The good news is the solution is simple.

The Problem

For snow to appear in the freezer moisture needs to be present. There is likely a break in the seal along the perimeter of the door for moisture to sneak in.

Snow in the freezer? Fix it.

Roof Leak at Bath Fan? No, Probably Not.

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It’s extremely common to find stained ceilings around bathroom exhaust fans while conducting home inspections in cold climates, such as Minnesota.  We see this happen all the time.

stain at ceiling fanWhile the knee-jerk reaction from most homeowners is to call a roofer, this type of staining isn’t the result of a roof leak. This is the result of condensation.

What’s the job of a bathroom exhaust fan? To remove moisture and odors from the bathroom. When moist air is carried through a duct that passes through a very cold attic space, moisture will condense inside the duct. When enough condensate accumulates, it will drain to the bottom, leak throught the fan, and stain the ceiling. It’s as simple as that. To prevent these stains from occurring, take these steps to help prevent condensation inside the duct.

  • Use an insulated duct inside the attic.  This is a no-brainer.  If you have an uninsulated duct in your attic, don’t try to wrap a bunch of fiberglass insulation around it in a feeble attempt to insulate.  That’s a time consuming chore that probably won’t work work out well.  Instead, just replace the uninsulated duct with an insulated one.  They’re not that expensive, and it’s a lot less work than trying to insulate an existing duct.  Click here for an example of a pre-insulated 4″ duct sold at Home Depot.

Home Appliances: Gas vs. Oil Vs. Electric

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How are your home appliances powered?  It’s quick and easy to figure this out in almost every case.  Here’s a list of common home appliances, and how to determine what powers them.

Dishwasher, clothes washer, air conditioner, refrigerator: These appliances are always electric, with the potential exception of very old refrigerators and air conditioner; some were gas powered.  No joke.

Range: Almost all new ranges will have a 120 volt plug to power the clock and the ignitor, but to determine if it’s gas or electric, take a look inside the door to either the oven or the bottom drawer.  There should be a label giving either the BTU ratings or the KwH rating.  If it talks about BTUs, it’s gas.  The photo below shows an example of a label on a gas range.

label on gas range

KwH = electric.   If it’s a fancier new oven, it may be both; these ovens typically have a gas cooktop and an electric oven.

Doo-Hickeys Explained

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Something that all home inspectors get asked while walking around the outside of houses is “What’s that thing”?

Easy.  It’s called a doo-hickey, every time.

I’ve put together a list of common doo-hickeys that can be found at the exterior of houses.  These are all items found at houses in the Minneapolis / Saint Paul area, but a lot of these items can be found throughout the country.

Automated Meter Reading equipment

Water meter transmitter

For houses with a basement, there will often be a phone line going from the water meter to this transmitter at the exterior of the home.  That transmitter is part of an AMR (Automated Meter Reading) system.  That’s how municipal water departments know how much to charge homeowners for their water usage.  A worker aims a wand at this device from the road or yard, and gets their data that way.

These older transmitters are being replaced with a newer type of AMR device that can transmit data for several miles.

Do Furnaces Really Need to be Inspected Every Year?

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The companies that manufacture furnaces all recommend annual inspections and maintenance by a qualified HVAC tech.  They also state in their warranties that damage to furnaces caused by improper maintenance is not covered under warranty.  Does this mean that furnaces actually need to be serviced annually or the warranty is voided? Probably not, but it’s not a bad idea.  It’s a little like going to the dentist every six months for a check-up and cleaning; not necessary, but recommended.

Boiler leaking exhaust gasSome HVAC contractors recommend getting newer furnaces checked every other year, but once they’re over ten years old, have them checked annually.

What exactly is a “tune-up”?  It depends.  The service you get when you purchase a $39 pre-paid coupon will probably be quite different from a $200 “tune-up”.   Heating contractors have carefully worded language with subtle differences in the descriptions, making it nearly impossible to compare services between different companies.  A few common terms are “safety check”, “certification”, “check-up”, “tune-up”, “basic tune-up”, “complete tune-up”, and “annual maintenance check-up.”

Exactly what you get from a heating contractor will vary depending on who you call and what you pay.  Case in point: last year I inspected a boiler in Minneapolis with a missing flue cap at the roof, an undersized vent connector, and a rust hole in the middle of the cabinet that was leaking carbon monoxide into the home.  This boiler needed to be replaced.