Deficiencies

Our inspection period is just about over. We’ve found a number of deficiencies which we are asking the seller to correct:

• There are structural issues under the house. A lot of sills and joists need to be replaced or, in some cases, repaired.
• There’s a flat roof over the addition in the rear of the house where water is pooling. It needs to be replaced. There are also some minor fixes needed to some flashing and shingles on the main roof.
• Because of the above-noted problem with the roof, there’s some water damage in the kitchen, so some sheetrock and possibly some cabinetry needs to be replaced.
• The jacuzzi in the master bedroom doesn’t work and needs to be made operable. Jacuzzi, pfft. It’s just a glorified tub, and it’s not even big enough for me to fully extend my (admittedly long) legs.
• There’s some knob and tube wiring. I believe it’s inactive and not connected to anything, but we’d like that verified.
• The furnace is not connected to the gas line.
• There’s no dryer vent.
• The attic stair doesn’t fold up properly.
• The knob on the downstairs bathtub is broken and needs to be replaced.
• The sewer to street connection looks like it may have an issue, so we are asking the seller to either replace the pipe all the way to the street or prove that no problem exists.

Whew. That’s a lot, huh? As far as the big items go — structure and roof — I just can’t see buying the house unless those are remedied.

Of course we would not have spotted any of these if we hadn’t shelled out for a professional inspection by a structural engineer. I decided to take that step only after our termite inspector advised us that he saw structural issues when he crawled under the house — and at the same times I was noticing just how wavy the floor was. There’s so much more we could have inspected but one has to draw the line somewhere.

We got a lead inspection, of course. We found some lead paint inside and out, but almost all of it (save for one inch-wide strip) was pretty well covered up by latex paint. Most of the house is covered with vinyl siding; I don’t like vinyl, but it’s better from the lead perspective. Most of the windows are vinyl, which is good because when they are opened or closed there won’t be friction on a lead-paint surface creating dust. Swabs taken throughout the house indicated a very low level of lead dust. Our inspection also found a worrisomely high level of lead in the soil under the deck in back, but the good news that’s the only bare soil around. The yard, front and back, is covered with new sod.

Anyway, we are submitting our list of deficiencies to the seller. Now we wait and see what he says.