Home : Blogs : Jack Feldmann : Jack's Blog

A little nervous today

I was inspecting a 64 year old flip house today. Got to the basement stairs and looked down and got a little nervous. First of all, there wasn't a handrail. Second, the stairs were pretty steep, and thirdly, I could not see the bottom step. The last step looked like it ended a few feet above the floor.

So I decided to proceed slowly and be ready for a sudden trip to the floor. I got to the bottom and just had a hard time figuring out just what they might have been thinking.

I got enough photos on this house to make up at least a dozen blogs. Stay tuned for more postcards from the fringe. Got to love those flippers

Posted by Jack Feldmann on 04/07/2009 02:44 PM

Comments (10)

flipping stairs, what do we do now

Post is included in group: Property Inspection Discussion
Post is included in group: Independent Thinking Inspectors
Post is included in group: Home Inspectors across the country
Post is included in group: Home Inspections
Post is included in group: ASHI

10 Comments on A little nervous today

APR

I bet they just ran out of wood. Or maybe they didn't want water to touch the wood and rot the steps. Maybe they just wanted that last step to be moveable.

Jack,

Great photo! I wait with anticipation to see the rest of the photos.

Whoever built this house, probably built the one I inspected a week or so ago, with the electrical panel in the shower.

Oooo...

A guessing game. My guess is that the last step rotted from all that water coming from the HVAC (?) unit.

Electrical panels in a shower? Even I, a woman, knows better than that :)

TLW...ROAR!

LOL! Being a flipper in a former like this is something that I would never do but have seen many others do. Short cuts are no way to make a name for yourself. I subscribed to your blog and look forward to other posts about this house! Thanks for the laugh!

Looks like they recently hosed the place down and got it clean for ya!

Doesn't that meet code!?

Jack, that is great! I also can't wait for the rest of the photos from this house.

Jack it looks like the basement could have used a little flipping.

That looks like a scary home. why were those stairs left in that condition -- scary?

MAY

Hi Jack - I don't know if I could do your job. I've seen inspectors crawl into places I wouldn't go on a good day lol.. Those pictures are amazing and it's even more amazing that a "flipper" would be selling a home in that condition. I admire the work you do and rely on the expertise of those in your field so I can do my job.

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?