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Mr. Jay's School of Inspectology - Flipper's Fun Fantasy!!

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

You know what the sign says, "Gorgeous inside!"  And the listing information full of fun facts!  This house was totally remodeled, inside and out.  FYI - these are only a few of the photos I could publish.  I won't comment until the end.  See what you see and what is wrong.  Have some fun.  I did!

 

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Did you catch all to see?  Well, heah 'tis:

1.  New front porch roof slightly askew.  No doubt for better rain run off.  2.  Hard to see, but the front porch stoop was, um, redone with a lovely 1/4" slathering of mortar to cover the old.  Poly-foam was used to "seal" the hole under the siding.  There is a large gap under the new front door threshold, which can be see inside!  3.  Wonderfully new duct work.  4.  Bath vent tubing not attached.  Which is probably okay anyway as that tube vents onto the roof sheathing.  5.  MUCH of the new wiring was cut and split.  6.  MANY of the new junction boxes were overloaded and without covers.  7.  Hard to tell in this photo, that guardrail base was never screwed down.  It is glued with caulking, or maybe Elmer's.  8.  Second floor bedroom replaced with a "kitchen."  To do so a 22' wall was removed.  You can see the floor and ceiling replacements.  The smoke detector is about 8' from the range.  It might go off now and then...  9.  To their credit, they tried to span that 22' with a double Microlam beam.  But the attachment of the truss rafters to it was very weak and it rests on the original stud work beside the kitchen counter.  There was no evidence that there was a triple or quadruple stud under it for support.  And the insulation job is terrific too.  10.  They kept the original 15amp bedroom circuit to service the new "kitchen."  Kitchens should have two 20amp circuits.  And the fridge was plugged into that lone circuit, and delightfully covered by the one kitchen GFI outlet.  11.  New glass door installed from the kitchen to the house, with a delightful step downward to enter inside.  12.  I could not get the filter out of the slot provided.  And the sill plate is not pressure-treated wood (that's the 2x4" board nailed to the concrete slab).  13.  The plumbing clean-out cover blocked the clean out.  The cover was glued to the wall.  14.  That's a drywall screw holding the dishwasher to the filler strip at the end of the cabinet.  VERY secure!  15.  Bat access panel.  Very green.  16.  Delightful array.  I could not determine how they got this to the vented main drain stack on the other side of the house.  17.  Conveniently missing siding revealed that the new siding, a different color from the front, was installed over the original fiber board, and recycled some of the other rusty nails they found when the older siding (whatever that was) had been removed.  Also, the siding is nailed too tightly to the wall.  Vinyl siding expands and contracts a lot and must be hung on the wall, not nailed to it.  That is why the wide slots are provided for nailing.

Do you think they had a permit for this?

There were more things that could have been included.  But this gives you an idea of Mr. Jay's world. 

 

Can Mr. Jay interest you in a different nut?

When you feel like a snack, eat Lotsa Nuts!

Because you are what you eat!

 

Boy, do I need a snack.  And some more ice for my head.

 

Can we go home now?

 

 

 

 

Posted by

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC  

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia.

Office (703) 330-6388   Cell (703) 585-7560

www.jaymarinspect.com


Comments(29)

Clint Mckie
Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections - Carlsbad, NM
Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586

Hey Jay, Wow a test. I didn't even study. I will remain calm and say I passed. LOL.

This is why we need to inspect each and every home sold within the United States.

Clint McKie

Apr 23, 2011 12:43 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Clint - every day is a fun day!  As demonstrated!

Apr 23, 2011 12:51 AM
Robert Butler
Aspect Inspection - Montreal West Island, QC
Montreal Home Inspector | Aspect Inspection

As I've always said, 'flip' is a 4 letter word. it's one thing when a home owner does some DIY work and doesn't really have the skill. 'Flips' are often done poorly because the 'flipper' is being cheap. That's usually poor quality work and materials. Some times it's dangerous conditions.

Apr 23, 2011 02:15 AM
Robert Butler
Aspect Inspection - Montreal West Island, QC
Montreal Home Inspector | Aspect Inspection

Photo # 9, looks like this attic zone is a bit short when it comes to insulation and the vapour barrier is not in evidence.

Apr 23, 2011 02:17 AM
Don MacLean
New England Real Estate Center Inc. - Easton, MA
Realtor-Homes for Sale- Easton, Mass 02356

Save the ice for my drink I will be making to go with those nuts.

I new that even through all that there would be at least 1 drywall screw LOL, a carpenters favorite.

Enjoy the day

Apr 23, 2011 05:03 AM
John Mulkey
TheHousingGuru.com - Waleska, GA
Housing Guru

Jay - With the number of "flips" we'll continue to see in the coming years, you should have plenty of job security : )  But it's too bad that many "investors" have such little concern for the overall safety and utility of their work.

Apr 23, 2011 05:58 AM
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

Another example of some wonderful work.  I missed some of them, because I was looking at the other things that were wrong.

Apr 23, 2011 06:55 AM
Barb & Sal Dragotta
Macomb, MI
Macomb County Michigan

Jay...did get some correct, but must say don't, wouldn't and couldn't do the job that you do  Again, one's best tool in the box is the Checkbook.   Pay now or you will pay later, & later,& later.

Good post with 'visual-flash-cards" too.
Have a great Easter.

Barb  

Apr 23, 2011 08:35 AM
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

Just re-read it while referring back to the pics.  #15 bat access panel is awesome.  :D

And there was a drywall screw involved as I suspected!  I was thinking on #7 that they had to have used drywall screws as well, but to have used none is even better.  NOT!

Apr 23, 2011 11:17 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Robert - in addition to skimping on materials, I find they have little experience in construction, or hire people who do.  They moved the insulation, too little by modern standards, to install that double beam, but never replaced it.  With blown-in insulation here they don't put vapor retarders, unlike your neighborhood.

Valerie - it wasn't so much intended to stump as to instruct!

Don - what's a drywall screw if not ubiquitous!

John - and unsafe and dangerous to boot.  You are right, I think this will go on for years.

Apr 23, 2011 01:40 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Jeremy - there is a lot to choose from!

Thanks Barb.  I hope it was an educational post.  Happy Easter to you and yours too, thanks.

Both of those are classic Jeremy.  Too bad the empty holes in that guardrail post didn't show up better!

Apr 23, 2011 01:42 PM
Steven L. Smith
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Mr Jay,

Will you please keeps your flipper to yourself, or this hitman will shoot it off for Easter. Then Mr Jay will be missing his flipper.

Nutsy

 

Apr 24, 2011 03:05 AM
James Quarello
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC - Wallingford, CT
Connecticut Home Inspector

Love the under sink plumbing! The dry wall screw in the dishwasher is classic! Must've been a fun report to write. And permits, they don't need no stinkin' permits.

Apr 24, 2011 03:20 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Not my Flipper, Nutsy.  I think that one belongs to a studio somewhere...

Jim - it was a looong report to write.  No matter though.  By the end my clients were afraid of the place.  Since this inspection, I have already performed another for them and they bought that place!  Another flip, with all permits provided!

Apr 24, 2011 06:27 AM
Anne M. Costello
Weidel Realtors - Yardley, PA

Jay: This is a wonderful primer on the perils of buying some investors' properties. Even some of our experienced realtors also invest and I am always reticent about showing them. Thanks for a great post.

Apr 25, 2011 12:25 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Thank you Anne.  Many home inspector posts could be primers on many topics!

Apr 25, 2011 12:49 PM
Reuben Saltzman
Structure Tech Home Inspections - Minneapolis, MN
Delivering the Unbiased Truth.

That report must have taken a long time to write.

Apr 25, 2011 02:43 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

'Twas, Reubs, 'twas.  And even though they ran like Monte Python from the attack rabbit, I included everything in the report.  Interesting how inspectors always see these kinds of homes as "long reports."  ;)

Apr 25, 2011 11:53 PM
Chris Smith
Re/Max Chay Realty Inc., Brokerage - New Tecumseth, ON
South Simcoe, Caledon, King, Orangeville Real Esta

Jay, even with you pointing to some issues, I couldn't find them all.  That is why I suggest using a professional home inspector when one is considering purchasing real estate.

Apr 26, 2011 03:11 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Well, Chris, they shouldn't need to stand out.  But there are a thousand things to see during a home inspection!

Apr 26, 2011 01:06 PM