Home inspectors, when writing about the defects they find in homes, will report their "Findings," the "Implications" of those findings, and then "Recommend" what should be done.  I like to recommend the specific trade or trades that I want to see perform the repairs.  For example, in the State of Washington, we are required to recommend that treatment for Wood Destroying Insects be performed by a State Licensed & Bonded Pest Control Operator.

      I question the abilities and training of a home inspector that does not know which trade to recommend for a repair.  And while I, as a home inspector, could conceivably be taking on some additional liability by doing this, I think it is worth the extra risk in order to provide better service for my buyer.  Part of my business model is to:  "Leave my buyer with the experience of being taken care of."

     That said----

      recommending licensed and bonded trades to do the repairs is no guarantee that the repair is going to be done professionally or properly (nothing quite like job security).  But, such recommendation should be more often successful than recommending repairs by Uncle Bubba or Uncle Bubba's cousin Dubba.

     On an inspection I did several months ago, I called out for repairs, by a licensed plumber, of an improperly terminated TPRV on a water heater.  In this case the drain went up hill.  We all know that drains can't drain up hill----gravity can be a pain in the butt sometimes.  Water that stays trapped against the valve can corrode the valve rendering it non-functional.  (I urge you to watch this video from Mythbusters if you doubt what can happen.) 

      This past week I was called back to re-inspect the property, including the repair to the water heater TPRV drain----supposedly repaired by a "licensed plumber."  The picture on the left is the picture from the initial inspection.  The picture on the right is the "repair."  While the "changes" are obvious, the "repaired" drain still traps water against the valve.

      Once again I have to repeat my recommendation for proper repairs by a licensed & bonded plumber.

Charles Buell 

     PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed) all  pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.