new property inspection before contract signing

Hi all, I’m new to brownstones. Have agreed on a price for a property. Now need to do an inspection. From my lay persons view, the property looks in great condition. But I want to uncover any bodies… What should I look for in an inspector? What should I pay? Besides structural, roof & boiler, what else? Electrical, plumbing? Make sure appliances working, bath tiles solid, etc? Can I request repair history besides the inspection I do? Is there a full list of due diligence steps I should or can follow? Thx for any advice from the experts on the list.

hullsean

in General Discussion 11 years and 10 months ago

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hullsean | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Thx bedstuytownhouse.

bedstuytownhouse | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Btw – we used George from Old House Inspection and cannot recommend him highly enough. He is extremely knowledgeable and will take time to answer any and all questions you may have. He’s not cheap, around $1200, but I’m a firm believer in the idea that you DON’T get what you DON’T pay for.

greenmountain | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Ha! not late for me, I keep checking this thread because I see so much damage from direct adhesion of shower tile to porous substrate and obsolete shower pan/two stage drainage systems. If you keep your wall and floor cavities around your shower wet for years, you might reasonably expect to see insect damage. Surprisingly, I have not seen termites or other bugs in the area of leaking tub surrounds and stall showers. No matter. The slowly rotting wood studs and joists are sometimes dangerously weakened, as they would be if quickly consumed by fire. I have seen two adjacent formerly-solid wood joists, reduced to less less than 1/2″ tall with the rest of the 3 x 10″ original scattered as brown and black dust. Why the cast iron bath tub did not fall to the floor below (with a person and water in it) I don’t know.

bedstuytownhouse | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Sorry for chiming in a little late but I highly recommend that in addition to the home inspector, you hire a pest control professional to check for termite damage. All home inspections will say there is some evidence of termite damage but you’d really want an expert to have a look to avoid any costly misses. We found Parkway Pest Control on this board and it was only a couple of hundred dollars and well worth it.

theoperadiva | 11 years and 10 months ago

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We used Rich Perry and, dare I say, would not recommend. We were gutting our house and he knew it, so perhaps he wasn’t terribly detail-oriented on our job, but I too felt he was more interested in giving us his spiel than doing a thorough inspection. I think he ultimately undersold some significant issues in our house that ended up costing us far more than he had estimated they would. He missed a couple of major (and now very obvious) structural details that needed attention (read: $$$) and had he made those clear before we went into contract, we might have been in a better bargaining position with the seller. Again, we were gutting anyway, so it wasn’t as much of a concern, but if you are hoping to keep the house relatively intact, I might recommend trying to find someone more thorough. My opinion, though, is clearly in the minority, as we found Rich through many positive recommendations on Brownstoner.

hullsean | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Thx all for the suggestions!

dylan621 | 11 years and 10 months ago

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+1 on bk’s experience with Rich Perri. Nice guy and I’m sure he knows a lot about buildings but in retrospect I don’t think he was very through.

nalusurf | 11 years and 10 months ago

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We recently bought a brownstone and used Matt Wynne. Found him here from other recs and we were very happy with him. Very thorough, spent over 3 hours at the property pouring over everything from cellar to roof. Received a comprehensive report that I refer to fairly frequently as we move forward with renovations and changes. I think we paid about $650\. His contact info is below. Good luck! Matthew Wynne Aberdeen Building Consulting 877-492-9800 http://AberdeenBuildingConsulting.com

greenmountain | 11 years and 10 months ago

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I understand it was long ago. Perhaps if a similar problem recurred after you left that place, you might not know. Or, perhaps the improvements worked “well enough” but you still had to clean a little mold at the tub rim or shower floor, and perhaps you caulked and applied “sealer” once and a while, but your neighbors stopped complaining about their ceiling. But the memory of your horrible, caved-in shower has stuck with you. Sometimes being an expert or trusting experts without questioning obvious logical failures is not helpful. In this case, you raised an important issue, and you may be just fine without an expert. It is really pretty simple: all the water should go down the drain (period). That is not the way most showers work (don’t work). It is not hard to understand tile and shower failures, but it is hard to hold your ground when over and over the advice is to do what your neighbors are doing, even when it is the same as what failed before. Better and cheaper ways exists. Of course, I am thinking of real capital improvements, not superficial repairs of obsolete systems. Consider the long-term cost/benefits of getting a shower right, not only a cheap initial price.

hullsean | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Thx. Found his site. For those interested: http://richperri.com

bkk | 11 years and 10 months ago

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I used Rich Perry (mentioned a thousand times on this site) for a rowhouse inspection. He was thorough, knowledgeable and covered most of the bases, however he did seem more interested in going into his spiel instead of actually inspecting the house.

hullsean | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Thx greenmountain. It was a long time ago now, so I may be forgetting all the details. Also I’m definitely not an expert on all things tiling. But the wall was basically caving in.

greenmountain | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Durock? I don’t use Durock. It is horrible to work with and unnecessary. Porous tile substrate like Durock is designed to stay strong when it gets wet. Put another way, your shower was not defective when “cracks were letting water behind the tiles, and leaking behind the durock…” If the substrate stays dry, why use Durock? I don’t expect an answer from a home inspector and I don’t compete with the friends of the super.

hullsean | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Thx Greenmountain. Yeah I bought a property which had some cracking in the tiles surrounding the shower. We didn’t catch it during inspection. Turned out those cracks were letting water behind the tiles, and leaking behind the durock, into an apartment a floor below. In the end we had to tear out all of that, replace durock, and retile everything to get it right. My super hoocked me up with a subcontractor so I got the whole job done, labor & materials for $1800\. 🙂

greenmountain | 11 years and 10 months ago

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I am amazed you mentioned “bath tiles solid.” You must have some bad experience with a tiled shower stall or tub surround. Thank you for including this. I visit more than 50 properties each year, not as a house inspector, but as a tile setter and bathroom installer. Quite often, the solution I recommend is more comprehensive than the home owner wants. The reason tile issues are often ignored by inspection reports is the same problem exists in nearly all bathrooms: no waterproof membrane between tile and substrate in wet areas. Home owners contact me after recently purchasing a home, or renovating their bathroom, but are already suffering from water-soaked substrate. It is the same in new and old homes, with the most expensive fixtures and tile, and the stuff from Home Depot. Many home owners also ask me to help them sell their properties by re-attaching their loose tiles and painting over their moldy walls. I focus on bathrooms because I learned modern waterproof membranes prevent mold, don’t require lead and keep tile looking new. But the usual way, without membranes, includes mold, lead, and repairs.

hullsean | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Thx est. I have two recommendations at the moment. Would love to have a third. If you come across the card, please post here or email me: hullsean@gmail.com. Thx.

est | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Hullsean, I don’t have his card on me, it’s at home. Just talked to my husband and he said he thinks the guy did a good job, but that while he flagged some important stuff, he missed a couple of things. So maybe go with the other name for now and if you still need another, let me know and I will get for you.

hullsean | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Thx mortgagepro

mortgagepro | 11 years and 10 months ago

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I cannot speak personally, but in the past many Brownstoners have spoken highly of: Joseph A Pasaturo P.E. AVT Engineering Brooklyn, NY 11228-0291 718-720-5088 http://www.AVTEngineering.com License Number: 16000005388 -Adam Roberts South Shore Mortgage 631-956-0111 x218 adamr@fast2fund.com