What I'm Seeing Now

Some problems in a home can be a ticking time bomb.  This, my fifth of six posts regarding What I'm Seeing Now in new home construction, eventually will be a big problem.  A true ticking time bomb.  Or bombs.  There are actually two things:

1. Drywall screws used to secure toilets.  Properly installed toilets can be very secure.  They often hold a lot of weight, for many years.  The installation, though, depends on how the base, called a flange, is secured to the sub floor.  This is easy to see on a pre-drywall inspection.  The flange should be secured with four stainless steel screws.  They should each anchor directly into the wood sub floor - not into a gap, or a seam between two pieces of wood, but solid flooring.  This flange holds the brass screws that bolt the toilet base to the floor!  It must be secure!  It is a damp space.  Drywall screws are not meant for damp applications.  They rust.  As they rust they cause the floor to rot.  This happens quickly and in an unseen area.  It can become a BIG problem.  Who would use drywall screws to secure the flange?  Any unprofessional, perhaps a "plumber" picked up that morning at 7-11.  And I see this very often!!

1. Drywall nails used in shower stalls.  In the olden days lead pans were used under shower stalls.  They lasted a long time.  Today lead is prohibited.  Instead a rubber membrane is secured under the plastic or fiberglass or tiled stall.  It wraps six inches or so up the side walls.  It should be secured with stainless steel or galvanized roofing nails.  Often, instead, interior drywall nails are used.  Drywall nails are not meant for damp applications.  They rust.  As they rust they cause the stud to rot.  This happens quickly and in an unseen area (does this sound all too familiar?).  Who would use drywall nails to secure the rubber membrane?  Any unprofessional, perhaps a "tile" guy picked up that morning at 7-11?  I see this very often too!!

The second post intentionally mimicked the wording of the first.  That is because I see unprofessional work every, every, every day.  It is tiring, maddening, and my clients lose patience with the work and supervisors who are reluctant to fix the problems.  It might take a while for this unprofessional work to manifest as a problem, but it will.  And when it manifests, it will manifest big! 

The moisture invites molds and rot.  Once the molds happen they can be very difficult to eradicate.  And expensive.

My recommendation:   Look around for the use of improper materials.  This could be anything from caulking used in an inappropriate way to drywall screws used where they shouldn't be.  Oh, that drywall screws were used to secure drywall!*  Imagine, no nail pops!  The real value of the pre-drywall inspection is that these sorts of things are visible.  Take advantage!

When I finished my basement I used screws to install my drywall.  It was done right - I really screwed it up!

They say to never say never. Well, in this fourth of six posts regarding new construction I am going over one more thing regarding insulation. What I'm Seeing Now is something that you should never trust - that everything that should be insulated, is insulated.

For example:

1. Corners. Some carpentry employs a framing technique called "California Corners." They may be called something else in other places, but that is what I have learned to call them. In such corners the two corner studs are perpendicular, but there is a small space, about 3.5 inches square, between them that will need to be insulated. If not, believe it or not, that small uninsulated space will influence the whole room!

2. Under fireplaces, bump outs and bay windows. Often, on a pre-drywall inspection, I see where the under side of a gas fireplace or bay window has already been covered with soffit material. Covering it before it is insulated makes it very difficult to insulate completely. And more than that, when they do insulate, if the paper-backed vapor retarder is not touching the under side of the subfloor above it is almot as though it was never insulated at all! And these are areas which need vapor retardation! How often I have heard people complain that when the gas fire is not lit they feel cold air pouring out from the space.

3. Behind bath tubs on exterior walls. Sound unimportant? It is not. Particularly the big master bath tubs which sit in the corner. Sometimes it appears that the exterior walls of these spaces have been insulated, but sometimes it does not extend all the way to the floor. I always check. If the insulation has not been installed for the pre-drywall inspection I suggest that the clients check. Bath tubs are closed, often tiled, spaces. They are full of dead air, and are highly influenced by the outdoor temperature. I have had people call me to ask why the water on the master bath tub is not flowing. Because the pipes have frozen!

4. Cathedral and tray ceilings. And ALL the way to the edge! This is another example of insulation that must be stapled or it will slip (see my post 1 of 6). So very often on a thermal infrared inspection I see that such insulation was never put to the edge, or has slipped, or has fallen from its original vertical position. Those spots are huge energy wasters.

My recommendation: Suggest to your clients (or have a peek yourself while with them) that they check these kinds of areas. The energy costs add up! No insulation, or poorly placed insulation, is the near equivalent of keeping a window open. These areas will influence the indoor environment summer and winter. Don't assume that they will get done. You know what happens when we assume... Better yet, hire a certified home inspector to help with the process!

Sometimes home inspectors say things that might sound trivial, but they aren't.  This blog entry is one of those things.  It is the third in this list of What I'm Seeing Now:

Bath tub overflow drains.  This is something that might seem insignificant,

until someone takes a bath!

Then, suddently, when things start dripping below, where is that water leaking from?

On a pre-drywall inspection I always check the overflow drain to make sure the overflow joint been glued together.  Often, and I mean OFTEN, they have been dry fitted and never glued by the plumber.  How can you see if the fitting is glued?  Take the cover off the overflow drain (some pull off and some screw off) and look inside.  If you see purple primer then in all likelihood it has been glued.  Plumbers put the purple primer on immediately before the glue.  If there is no purple primer you would have to look very carefully for glue.  But even if the glue is there, it can still be an improper fitting. 

The purple primer removes grease, dirt and finger grime from a PVC fitting so that the glue adheres properly.  The glue literally melts the two pieces of plastic together and makes them one.  Without purple primer does the glue adhere?  It may or may not.  But with it there is a "properly" fitted joint. 

So, look inside!  Or suggest that to your clients.

On final walk throughs where I have not done the previous pre-drywall inspection I will check for purple primer.  If there is none, I fill the tubs and make the overflows don't leak.  Yes, there have been more than one incident of leaks!  It makes a mess that no one, particularly the builder, appreciates.  But, hey!  That's why we're there!  Better for the clients to find out then...

My recommendation:   be a snoop.  Suggest to your clients that they snoop.  Some things, like this one, may sound trivial or insignificant, but really aren't.  Your best bet - hire a competent home inspector for a careful pre-drywall review.  For that, my clients INSIST on Jay Markanich.

This post continues with What I'm Seeing Now and my list of typical pre-drywall problems.  You will recall that I will list six in total.  This post treats the second - weight transference and support.

Structurally, how weight is transferred and supported in a structure is critically important.  Is the house balanced?  For example, does the support under one side of a beam match the support under the other end?  Are load-bearing walls on the upper level, resting on top of the load-bearing wall below and all that supported by foundation wall or steel beam in the basement?  Load must transfer onto something that can properly support it.

Not too long ago houses were more simple.  Rooms had four walls, a couple of windows and doors, and lots os places to hang pictures!  Not so any more!  Buyers today are demanding wide-open spaces, high walls, cathedral ceilings, rooms which open to other rooms (kitchen to eating area to family room), floating cat-walk hallways, tall stone fireplaces, and so forth.  All this needs proper support.  Materials have been created to accommodate this architecture - so called MicroLaminate beams and posts, huge I-beam floor joists, etc.  Loads must be supported and structure balanced.    This sounds like common sense and it is, but here is What I'm Seeing Now --

1. The other day I saw two different load points rest onto two 2"x4"x14' studs nailed together.  They were alread bowing and coming apart.
2. A multiple stud array under steel beams that is not strapped together and separating.
3. A load-bearing column intended to rest on a steel beam, but missed it by nearly two feet.
4. A load-bearing wall similarly missing a steel beam underneath.
5. Columns which rest on floor joists, without a supportive column below.  Yes, the floor joist was bowing!
6. Wide windows without proper headers, which are bowing, or soon will.  Windows are NOT load support!
   
7. Bay windows not strapped, which will encourage them to bow outward.
8. Load-bearing walls constructed out of 2x4's, which should have more properly been 2x6's.  I have seen all the studs in walls such as this bowing very shortly after they were built.
9. Long, steep roof valleys which drain directly onto what will be a vinyl-sided wall above the corner.
   

This certainly isn't all, but will do for now.  I can add to this post later, or create an addendum.

I said previously that the builders all have good specifications and that the supervisor on site and the subcontractors are all important in seeing that those specs are met.  And that is true!  These flaws above would not be designed by an architect.  Often these houses have been built all over the country, and without the red flags above.

My recommendation:  You can be the eyes looking for such things.  Think common sensically. Tell your clients to look for things that don't feel right (they visit the house 5 times a week anyway...) and report them to the supervisor.  The client is the boss of the project, though the builder doesn't want them to think so.  Let them participate!  But most important -- hire a competent home inspector for a pre-drywall inspection.  It's some of the best money your clients can spend, except for, perhaps, YOUR fee!

In Northern Virginia there is still a lot of new home construction.  New homes are a great source of business for me.  People often ask me if this or that is a good builder.  My answer is:  it depends on the supervisor who is on site every day, and on the quality of the subcontractors.  All the builders have good specifications for their homes and want to put out a good product.  It is the crew on site that makes that happen.  And if the subs were picked up in a parking lot somewhere ("We need plumbers today - are you a plumber?") you will have problems...

When I am called for such inspections, I only recommend two to my clients as relevant:  pre-drywall and just before their final walk through.  Of the two, the pre-drywall may be the most important.

Pre-drywall inspections afford the only opportunity to see the house while in a skeletal state.  It should be conducted just before the drywall installation and after the insulation has been applied.  Many issues are visible because many systems are visible.  Things can be seen that will become problems later.  It sounds like common sense to have such inspections, but many people don't.  Then someone else buys the house down the line and flaws pop up, flaws that may or may not have previously manifested themselves.  Such as these:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/18/REKL1388O1.DTL

However, I thought it useful to provide a small list of What I'm Seeing Now on pre-drywall inspections.  While nothing is "common," these seem to happen a lot.  There are six in total.  I will treat them in separate, subsequent blog posts.

The first is insulation that has not been stapled to the studs.  This can be a big problem.  The supervisor might say that it's "oversized" insulation and held in place by the drywall.  It may be oversized, but it is not held in place over time - gravity works! 

When people call for one-year warranty inspections, I always suggest that they pay extra for an infrared inspection.  Click the "Thermal Inspection" tab at the top of the home page on my website for an explanation of what this inspection is.  I will ask the client if they have any rooms that are really hot in the summer or cold in the winter.  Invariably they do.  It is amazing what a thermal infrared camera will "see!"  Depending on the season I may have them turn up the heat or down the AC - to get a good temperature variance (called "Delta T") between indoors and out. But often it is hot or cold enough outside to get a good look at the exterior walls and ceilings abutting the attic space.  Clients are amazed when they see whole sections of walls or cathedral ceilings seemingly without insulation!

They can see that it was not stapled and slipped.  Sometimes it had been removed by the builder to effect some repair and was never replaced.  You would never know that without a thermal investigation!  The cameras aren't cheap!  But they are very worth it.  Few home inspectors even have one...

My recommendation:   On a pre-drywall inspection always look for a quality insulation job.  And look to see if it has been properly stapled.  If not, make that point to your supervisor.

There are so many foreclosures and short sales!  And they are owned by banks.  There are usually local realtors who have been asked to list the house and manage the listing.  To sell the house, a selling agent contacts the local listing agent and works through that contact.  It might be that 50% of my inspections are on foreclosures, but it could be slightly more or less.  It is certainly close to one half!

The problem with that?  Often the houses have been winterized.  Or the utilities are turned off.  Smart buyers want home inspections.  The selling agent will have to work through the listing agent.  This is fine and proper, except the listing agent has to rely on a bank.  Where is the bank?  It could be anywhere.  And this particular house is one file of many, perhaps hundreds, that the contact person at the bank is handling.  This house may not be the priority of the day!

My recent experiences are -- the selling agent calls the listing agent to say when the buyers would like an inspection.  The listing agent calls the bank to have the utilities turned on.  The bank calls back and says the utilities will be on by the date of the inspection.  The listing agent so notifies the selling agent.  We go for the inspection, and, yep, no utilities.  For whatever the reason, there are no utilities.

It has gotten to the point that I am telling the selling agents that if we go to the house and there are no utilities, we will do what we can toward an inspection, and then have to return after there are utilities.  I have no choice, and everyone understands.  But...!

My recommendation:  someone needs to go by the house to physically determine that the utilities are on!  I even suggest to the selling agent that they go by!  If the house is near to mine and there is a combination lock box, I offer to do it.  Someone needs to.  People are taking off work.  Sometimes they travel from other places.  I am holding an inspection slot for the buyers.  We would all like to make good use of our time.  It makes no sense not to go by to insure that the inspection can properly take place.

Everyone wants the process to move toward completion - and, most likely, particularly the bank!  They would love to move that file, the one of so many, off their desk! 

It's going to take a little extra work.  But such is the market we are in now.  Working together we can make a difficult situation just a bit easier and certainly more smooth. 

I LOVE the K.I.S.S. principle - Keep It Sweet and Simple!  I know, I know, but I don't like to use the word "stupid."

In Northern Virginia I have been doing many home inspections on foreclosures (and more recently short sales) for over a year.  Years ago, foreclosure meant "trashed," with people so mad they left the house taking all they could and damaging what they couldn't.  At the outset of the recent foreclosure wave the houses seemed to be in relatively good shape.  Pride in ownership was evident.

Lately, however, things have changed.  What's left on the market unsold is often left with conditions that aren't good.  Here is some of what I'm seeing now:

1. First and foremost, houses that have been altered.  In Northern Virginia we have a large illegal population.  They are leaving houses left and right.  And why not?  An easy, no-doc deal on a house, perhaps using someone else's social, and the house is worth much less than owed.  What is the negative to leaving it?  What they have done, however, has been to alter the houses dramatically, and not to code.  Seven, eight, nine "bedrooms."  Second "kitchens."  Laundry rooms turned into "bathrooms."  The wiring is frightful.  Scorches here and there.  The plumbing is frightful.  Evident, previous leaking.  The rooms are unsafe.  Fire code violations.  Windows nailed shut to keep out their "friends."  No heat or AC in the rooms.  No lights or outlets in some rooms, which have to be serviced by overloaded extension cords.  One "bedroom" I saw recently was the rear basement entrance to the house, and formerly the laundry room.  It was 6'x8', and the plumbing had been altered to accommodate a new sink and toilet (virtually a hole in the floor connected to the small drain) glued onto the floor.  The door was locked so only the exterior entrance would get you into the room.  And the concrete block foundation walls were sprayed with a substance, some form of cellulose I think, to act as "insulation."  But, it had a light (!) and an outlet, from which a new "outlet" was created and hung on the wall.  The door and small window were covered with newspaper.  It was an inviting space!
2. Secondly, houses that have been sitting.  There are problems here because previous and improper plumbing or AC installations had leaked extensively before the utilities had been turned off.  That, combined with stagnant air, has created mold.  Lots of mold in some houses.  I saw a recent listing where the agent suggested that anyone entering her listing do so wearing booties, rubber gloves and face masks.  Yes, it is that bad!  So much mold will continue to amplify if unchecked.  It is a serious problem.  It is not only expensive to remediate, but can be very, very difficult to eradicate.  If you walk into a house and smell mold, likely there IS mold.  Your nose is your best mold detector...  so pay attention!
   
3. Thirdly, appliances that were misused and left broken.  The refrigerators are moldy beyond the ability to clean.  I saw a microwave, installed INTO the cabinet (sticking out the back in another room), and wired directly into the back of the oven!  It looked fried and should have.  One kitchen wall switch in a recent house turned the refrigerator on and off! I saw a gas space heater (YIKES!!) in a "bedroom" closet, with a flexible gas line running through the floor and joined into the solid furnace gas line in the basement below!
   

What this adds up to would be huge expenses to bring the houses back into a livable, code-compliant condition.  Often the lower prices of these foreclosures is an attraction to those who otherwise could not have entered the market.  What they are finding, though, are houses that would be extremely expensive to occupy.  These may not good deals for the young couple looking to buy their first house.  Unless they have lots of time, talent and money, it might be best to look elsewhere.  If they have those things, go for it!

My recommendation:  A careful, thorough home inspection, by an experienced inspector, is worth its weight in gold!

Beware - if there are problems you CAN see, that usually means there are other problems you CANNOT see!