Home > Blogs > Jay Markanich > A Northern Virginia Home Inspector's Perspective

It's Curtains, I Tell You, Curtains!

By Jay Markanich

Home Inspector with Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC 3380-000723

November 29, 2009 09:35 PM

When bathrooms are put into places they are not intended there might not be room to do certain things, like shower doors.

This shower opening is so narrow that a sliding door might leave too small an opening (15") for some people to fit through.

The alternative to a door is a curtain.

When a curtain is employed, it must be situated so that it actually seals the opening all around. If not, it can leak.

Hardwood floors do not handle constant wetness well. And it takes a while for what you see in this photo to happen.

I noticed the floor before I entered the bathroom. It was cleverly hidden under many bathroom rugs, which you can see in the foreground. The bulge under the rugs and the toilet listing like the Titanic was a sure give away.

When I first entered the bathroom I had not yet seen the decorator's touch on the walls. Or the constantly leaking "shower" tube coming out of the wall. Continual splatter from that will also damage a floor.

This toilet has been lifted up so high the wax donut (which seals the gap between the toilet and the toilet flange) has opened up and there has been leaking around the toilet base as well. It is only 6" or so from the shower.

All in all, this "bathroom" was a mess.

My recommendation: When there is a bathroom in spots that don't look right, they probably are not right. And often that portends problems down the road. This "bathroom" is curtains...

Re-Blog

Comments(10)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

James Quarello

JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC - Wallingford, CT

Connecticut Home Inspector

What a mess indeed. Why on earth would anyone let this bathroom get into such a state. Boggles the mind.

Nov 29, 2009 09:50 PM

Jay Markanich

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA

Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

It's easier to try to hide the problem under rugs, James. Out of sight, out of mind. It's one of many problems, as you already know.

Nov 29, 2009 09:54 PM

Bill Saunders, Realtor®

Meyers Realty - Hot Springs, AR

www.BillSellsHotSprings.com

The shower leak is minor compared to the leaky wax ring :) You would have thought that THAT might have given the owner some initiative to get it fixed...wow.

Nov 29, 2009 10:57 PM

Well, Bill, they surrounded it and the entire floor with rugs. Out of sight, out of mind, like I said. It is not healthy!

Nov 29, 2009 11:05 PM

Charles Buell

Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA

Seattle Home Inspector

Jay now that would make a great listing photo:)

Nov 30, 2009 03:35 AM

Good idea Charlie! Should I let the realtors know?

Nov 30, 2009 11:13 AM

Suesan Jenifer Therriault

JTHIS-Professional Home Inspection Team - Blakeslee, PA

"Inspecting every purchase as if it were my own".

Sometimes you have to wonder what people are thinking, if they're thinking at all. Hiding the problem under rugs wasn't going to make it go away and thinking the home inspector wasn't going to find it was dumber than using the rugs.

Nov 30, 2009 11:59 AM

Dumber is the leaking shower with a poorly-placed shower curtain!

Here's a good one Sue. You won't believe this one - years ago I did an inspection on the Mars family (you know, M&M's, Nestle, etc.) penthouse suite in the Watergate Complex (yes, the same Watergate). They owned two huge units which they cut out the wall between and created a 12,000 sq ft mansion area, including the roof. From the roof you can see all the famous monuments and have a great 4th of July party with the fireworks less than a mile away.

Inside they had herring bone parquet floors with huge, and I mean huge, Oriental rugs. Some of the rugs were 30'x50'. We picked one rug up and underneath was plywood! That's an old colonial technique - put your rug over the cheap floor and your good flooring around! There were huge sections of plywood!! Thousands of square feet.

The buyers asked if the rugs conveyed. Well, no, they are worth millions all together. They don't convey. You know what the buyers wanted! Herring bone flooring throughout. The Mars family rolled over on that, swallowed their embarrassment, and put in the floors. Imagine what would have happened had we not picked up the corner of one rug!! On their final walk through the buyers would have walked in and seen thousands of square feet of plywood in a penthouse worth millions of dollars. What a pip that would have been...

Nov 30, 2009 08:53 PM

Yep, that would have been something for the lawyers, no doubt. An inspector friend of mine inspected a pretty nice home here in Pa. Not a mansion by what you and I would consider a mansion, but many here called it just that. Six months later my husband gets called in to do some electrical and plumbing repairs. As the men are going over the repairs the wife continues showing me around their new home, trips and lifts the corner of the rug in the center of the dining room floor to discover that there is no ceramic tile under the rug. One thing leads to another and come to find out that the tile is imported from Italy and very expensive. Guess I don't need to tell you what my friend the home inspector ended up paying for. I always lift and look under the rugs.

Dec 02, 2009 05:41 AM

Are inspectors required to pick up rugs and look underneath? What if they are completely filled with furniture. I guess I'm not sure why your friend would have to pay for anything. What was the circumstance of the inspection? Empty house? Furniture? Wow, what a problem!

Dec 02, 2009 09:17 AM

It's Curtains, I Tell You, Curtains!

Comments(10)

Jay Markanich

Service Areas

Real Estate Resources

Recent Posts

Additional Information