View Full Version : Home inspection questions.
We're getting ready to make an offer on the house in Elizabeth and I have some questions about getting it inspected.
We've bought several houses in the city and it's pretty straight forward but I'm not entirely sure for a rural property.
Here's what I think I need inspected, does anyone have an idea on cost for each and would the same people do multiple inspections or should I expect specialists for the well and septic? Anything I'm missing, any other ideas, details or experiences?
General inspection - basically what we usually have done
Roof - I'd usually expect the general inspector to catch roofing issues but since the roof is 10 years old I want to make sure there are no issues so I'm thinking of having a roofing company I trust also inspect the roof.
Well - What all needs to be looked at? GPH, bacteria, etc???
Septic - No idea at all here
Survey - We're saving this till we're a bit further since I understand it is very expensive. We found the original survey done before the construction so I'm contacting that company to see if they can update it. I mainly want to make sure the fencing that was added in 2012 is actually along the property lines. Open to any advice here too.
If anyone here does these kinds of inspections please let me know.
Thanks in advance.
OtterbatHellcat
05-03-2015, 21:07
Coach Kelly.....KellyTTE.
I just purchased a home in the Elizabeth area and was very impressed with my home inspector, owner and operator of the company in the link. He is very thorough and he can also do the water and well tests, which saves money having it all done at the same time. I also had Mike conduct a test of the home for Radon as part of his inspection.
The septic system has to be inspected by a septic company. Contact me via private message if I can provide more information on the home or septic inspection.
http://www.hometeammike.com
PM inbound, thanks for the radon reminder.
I just purchased a home in the Elizabeth area and was very impressed with my home inspector, owner and operator of the company in the link. He is very thorough and he can also do the water and well tests, which saves money having it all done at the same time. I also had Mike conduct a test of the home for Radon as part of his inspection.
The septic system has to be inspected by a septic company. Contact me via private message if I can provide more information on the home or septic inspection.
http://www.hometeammike.com
mtnrider
05-03-2015, 21:44
Just a little tip. If you do buy have your realtor write into the contract that the seller have the septic pumped prior to closing.
Just a little tip. If you do buy have your realtor write into the contract that the seller have the septic pumped prior to closing.
Great idea! Any idea of the typical cost or frequency required for normal maintenance?
mtnrider
05-03-2015, 22:05
Great idea! Any idea of the typical cost or frequency required for normal maintenance?
Don't remember cost off the top of my head but 3-5 years is pretty common for pumping. Of course age of system, how much use etc can play a roll in that. I have a dual tanks/leach fields so I can alternate zones every 6 months or so.
electronman1729
05-03-2015, 23:05
I would also scour the basement for ANY under slab pipes
I would also scour the basement for ANY under slab pipes
Not sure I understand what you mean? It is a slab floor but it's also fully finished so I"m guessing that makes things difficult.
eneranch
05-04-2015, 04:33
Great idea! Any idea of the typical cost or frequency required for normal maintenance?
I have our Septic Tank pumped every 4 years; 2200 gallon tank ran me $435 last August
I would also scour the basement for ANY under slab pipes
Why?
Slab moves and those pipes get sheared off.
Yeah but what are you going to do about it? Most pipes under slab should be drain pipes, but I see them collapse regularly.
Great-Kazoo
05-04-2015, 12:52
Yeah but what are you going to do about it? Most pipes under slab should be drain pipes, but I see them collapse regularly.
Request repairs be done before closing, or deduct repair cost from purchase price.
So you're saying, loot for pipes that are already possibly damaged? If it's not obvious how would I know there's a problem?
Request repairs be done before closing, or deduct repair cost from purchase price.
w0lf, you should be able to trace a pipe that goes under the floor. You'd want to send a camera down the pipe to check for rust, corrosion, shearing, etc.
w0lf, you should be able to trace a pipe that goes under the floor. You'd want to send a camera down the pipe to check for rust, corrosion, shearing, etc.
Would I be able to find anything other than in the furnace room? I seem to remember all of the pipes in the downstairs bathrooms going into the walls and not the floor.
Do any of you guys ever have a new house tested for mold? I've never done it before and I'm not sure how common of an issue it is here in CO.
We used USInspect (http://www.usinspect.com/services/home-inspections) for our rural purchase in 2013.
They did a thorough inspection and gave us a detailed report.
Charged as follows:
HOME INSPECTION $365.00
WELL FLOW $50.00
SEPTIC WALK $50.00
The seller paid to fix a few of the issues noted in the report.
We easily performed the Well Test ourselves - through the El Paso County Health Dept.
Septic certified inspection cost us $200
The realtors paid for the cost of having the septic pumped - believe it was around $450
We also had to pay a prorated Propane charge for what was in the tank at time of purchase.
Do any of you guys ever have a new house tested for mold? I've never done it before and I'm not sure how common of an issue it is here in CO.
Home inspector should look for mold.
I had a troop get orders to Belgium and had to sell his house in Florissant quickly.
The buyer's inspection found his attic was full of mold.
The builder had vented the bathrooms and laundry directly into the attic.
Sale fell through. I believe he had to sue the builder - not sure how it turned out in the end.
Yes, Colorado has mold.
Home inspector should look for mold.
I had a troop get orders to Belgium and had to sell his house in Florissant quickly.
The buyer's inspection found his attic was full of mold.
The builder had vented the bathrooms and laundry directly into the attic.
Sale fell through. I believe he had to sue the builder - not sure how it turned out in the end.
Yes, Colorado has mold.
Cool, I've checekd a copule of places recommend on this thread and they both charge about a $200 additional fee for a mold check putting general, well, radon and mold at about $1100. I've never done one before but I can see how it makes sense.
METH TEST!
After what we went thru, for the money it seems like a worthwhile investment. Unless it's single owner ever and you are beyond a doubt they were clean.
Other thing is, I dont know what the market your looking at is like (high end enough to not be as competitive), but one thing that seems shitty about this hot market, is that as easy as it is to sell, sellers are getting off with not fixing/conceding a lot. Worst case they say no, and in 1-3 days have a new contract.
Walker2970
05-04-2015, 17:21
have a smoke test done on the hvac heat ex-changer it it is forced air this is a fool proof way to see if there are any issues with it
METH TEST!
After what we went thru, for the money it seems like a worthwhile investment. Unless it's single owner ever and you are beyond a doubt they were clean.
Other thing is, I dont know what the market your looking at is like (high end enough to not be as competitive), but one thing that seems shitty about this hot market, is that as easy as it is to sell, sellers are getting off with not fixing/conceding a lot. Worst case they say no, and in 1-3 days have a new contract.
Single owner and high enough that around Elizabeth it has been on the market for 6 months even though it's fairly priced. Hopefully they weren't cooking meth but you never know. :) We're making a full price offer with a somewhat unusual contingency (non-refundable earnest) so we will see what happens tomorrow. We're going that route since our house won't be on the market for another week and we don't want to run into a situation where ours sells and there's no place to go.
electronman1729
05-04-2015, 18:49
Why?
I had one the inspector missed that was not part of the main drain line and the pipe had completely dissolved under the slab.
electronman1729
05-04-2015, 18:50
Yeah but what are you going to do about it? Most pipes under slab should be drain pipes, but I see them collapse regularly.
Had the inspector caught it, I would of walked away from the house.
This "extra" drain line was the drain for the sink in the kitchen that Tee'ed off the main under my slab. When water went down the pipe my sump well would fill with the water from the sink and the sump would kick on.
Had the inspector caught it, I would of walked away from the house.
This "extra" drain line was the drain for the sink in the kitchen that Tee'ed off the main under my slab. When water went down the pipe my sump well would fill with the water from the sink and the sump would kick on.
I thought you meant that you'd walk away from a house that had pipes under the slab, period. Broken ones, of course I agree.
I know this is not you, but for anyone else reading re meth: http://www.9news.com/story/news/2015/05/05/dont-buy-a-meth-house/26911991/
TLDR for mine was, we ended up losing a fair bit in inspection and a lot of time because the last thing to come back was the meth. Seller was a current Police officer. Whernt able to work it out, and so he was left with either A: Lying to next seller like in article, B: Remediating which cost many many thousands and depending how thourough means belongings in home should be destroyed I was told... Guy still lives there, think gave up on selling and just got a roomate to keep the house (Believe it was a sale from divorce).
Now caveat to all that is. I guess there is no real substantive proof on what levels are high enough to actually affect people. So the state limits (higher in CO than elsewhere) are all pretty low. A slight reading over limit I even agree is probably no big deal, just dont lick the walls. I dont remember the numbers but seemed like limit was .5 and that house had a reading of 2.5.
Course now the current house has some small but decent levels of radon I need to get around to making a system for. (unused basement)
I thought you meant that you'd walk away from a house that had pipes under the slab, period. Broken ones, of course I agree.
The last two places ive bought have had bad sewer mains.
Discounts are good
On the shitty line issue, I also have a line out in my front yard that came "unglued" or something they said from the scope, so it's pulled apart an inch and dropped an inch for an offset. Another fun problem to watch and see if I need to drop the 3k+ to get the front yard trenched and fixed...
So yeah do sewer line scopes too.
rockhound
05-10-2015, 11:03
First off who is your buyer's agent? If you are making the offer through the guy who's sign is in the yard you are making a big mistake, he/she is not your friend. They are working for the seller. If you have ever read the Colorado real estate contract required to list a home you would understand exactly how much loyalty he/she owes the seller.
If you had a competent buyer's broker you would not be on this site looking for advice from the rest of us. I guarantee you that my clients have never had to go to the social media to make sure they got a good deal on a home and had the home properly inspected.
For your well, get a professional water company to come out and do the testing. Yes, as some mentioned there are home inspectors that can draw a water sample and have it taken to the state lab and tested for potability. Big deal you can drink it... The state lab only tests for bacteria.
The wells in colorado can have a lot more in them than bacteria. I use Todd Hart, The water Guy, he will test everything from alkalinity, to radon in your well. Your are not goiing to get this service from any home inspection company.
I was a general contractor for years. Most home inspectors don't know there ass from a hole in the ground and could not find it with both hands and a flashlight. Get a good referral. I have few that I use because I know they are competent. If you had your own agent this should be a simple thing to do. A good home inspector will also do the radon testing
The well production test is important. You can only get this properly done with a state certified well company. To do it properly the well must be opened. Only a state licensed well contractor is supposed to open the well head. The well must be treated afterward for bacteria. A good well company will not only test the well to make sure it flows water (this is a two hour test), but they will run their probe that will give them feedback as to recovery rates and static water levels. Running the faucet for an hour doesn't cut it. You need to pull the original well file from state. This will have production rates from the day the well was first pumped. You want to compare the well production and static rates from then till now. A well that has slowed significantly is an indication the well is failing.
The septic should be pumped. We usually try to get the seller to pay for that (it is their poo). A licensed septic company should be able to perform a "NAWT" inspection. If they don't do that move on to the next guy. This certification is required by many counties prior to transferring the deed.
You should also have the septic line to the tank video inspected, although if the home is newer with PVC lines this is less important. We do see low spots in those lines though that can also cause backups.
Other items to consider
seller to have the furnace cleaned and certified
built before 1978 have Colorado Lead Safe Testing certify the home to be lead free. If you plan any remodeling this is very important.
chimney cleaned and inspected
I may be way off base, but is sounds to me like you need a good agent on your side. If you are in a contract with another agent this is not intended to be a solicitation.
I'm just wondering out loud here, but I also had to have my house that I recently sold tested for radon, and it was found to be slightly elevated over the allowable level, but I wonder, if radon is so predominant and also dangerous, how come we're not required to have radon detectors in our houses? I mean, every house that sells has it tested for radon, if found, it must be mitigated, but yet know one is requiring detectors.
I think the radon thing is a rip off. If it were really dangerous, somebody would be telling everyone that you must have detectors, such as the case with fire detectors.
My own little rant.
Waiting to hear if Elizabeth has a new resident coming soon.
Yeah, I also think Radon is a rip.
They don't even test for asbestos in other states. Radon is a government backed scam the likes of carbon credits, in my opinion.
rockhound
05-14-2015, 06:16
I personally have my own opinion on radon, but when protecting my client's interests i have to error on the side of caution
Since Radon is now regulated by the government, it is in your best interest to make sure the seller covers all those bases so you (as the buyer) don't get saddled with those code upgrades.
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