John McKenna

AMERICAN HOME INSPECTION

Years ago many houses in east Texas did not use large enough lumber, or enough lumber, to support the rafters and joist of a house.  As a result, many of your older homes develop sags in the rafters and joist.  If you inspect out in the rural areas, you will find some short cuts may have been used in trying to brace a roof.  The dips in the valley, cracks in the garage ceiling and waves in the roof line are many times the evidence of this lack of proper support.  Sometimes the roof will reflect foundation movement also, but we shall save that for another day.

I find that most people gravitate to two primary ways of looking a situation like this.

1- Is something functional enough so that I can live in it?

2- Will this flaw affect market value later when I want to sell?

There is a lot of gray area in both of these thought patterns.  You might indeed be able to live in the house, but your  roof and ceiling materials may continue to move over time, making the damage worse.  At what point do you pay the bucks and seek the benefit?  I call this question "the pain vs the benefit" question.

If you try to bring every hump and bump of an older home up to being perfectly straight and true again, you may succeed, but did the value of your home increase?  Maybe, maybe not. You also run into the problem of causing secondary movement, cracking or separating  when you try to jack up old bent lumber that has become set in place over many years.  Be careful when looking at your options and always seek a qualified structural contractor to advise you.  Sometimes a structural Engineer has be brought in to help end the debate of what to do and what no to do.  This is a very subjective field and your decision may cost you down the road.  The Seller should not get offended when these problems are discovered, because in the end, the discovery may be the very thing that protects him later.  An Inspector may create some questions instead of finding all the answers, and this can be frustrating to the selling process.

But if everyone goes into the deal with their eyes open, there is less hard feelings later.  That could be worth more than you will ever know.  Deal with it and be patient until you find the balance that fits your needs exactly.  Always get written warranty in case something needs attention down the road.  Try to relax.  Repairs can have a way of causing stress and certain people's personality may not be able to deal with it. This is when the true MASTERS of the  real estate profession shine.

John B McKenna is a Certified Master Inspector serving the East Texas area. John has been licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) and approved by TREC as an inspector trainer. He has more than 25 years experience in the construction industry and is certified by the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI). He continues to update his yearly education and testing requirements. Visit his company website at www.texas-inspection.com, or call his office at 1-888-818-4838 (Toll Free) for more information. 
 
Complete Home Inspection Service For Conroe, Lufkin, Bryan, Crockett, College Station, Livingston, Palestine, Nacogdoches, Athens, Jacksonville, Huntsville, Lake Palestine, Lake Conroe, Lake Livingston, Corsicana.