Sooner Or Later We Will All Step In It

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

As we go through life, certainly, sooner or later we will all step in it.

BUT WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT IN OUR KITCHEN!

On a recent pre-drywall inspection I noticed something, looked to see why, and then explained it to my client.

She had been through the house many times, even with her parents.  I noticed about 10 things that caused me pause, and would be chicken bones in the throat of the buyer.

This is one of those things.

On the left is where a hole had been prepared in the floor to house the HVAC register.

To the left is the kitchen pantry, and family room on the right.

However, with the floor joists running from where I am standing toward the door, those cavities can be used for many things.

In this case that particular cavity was used to house the dryer vent tubing, which was installed prior to the HVAC duct work.

Since there is not room for the dryer vent and HVAC duct, the duct was moved to the right.

What's my problem with that?

IT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR!

That floor register will be metal, or wood or plastic or whatever.  Sooner or later it will be stepped on and bent or broken.  And if the door is open even a little when either the heat or AC turns on, it will whoosh right out the door.

Does anyone doubt that?

So, it is what it is.  By far the better position for the floor register would have been to the left where the door is stationary.  The guy installing the dryer vent tubing saw the hole in the floor, knew what it was for, and apparently didn't care.  The supervisor didn't catch it and now they are left with this option.  At this point the work has advanced such with plumbing and wiring it would be difficult to change it back and reroute everything else.

My recommendation:  this is the kind of thing that should have been caught earlier by the supervisor on the site.  It is never a good idea to have a floor register right where people work or stand.  This is not a code issue and will never be.  The builder says they will "only fix" what are code violations.  That's myopic at best.  I have seen floor registers in front of the kitchen sink, in front of the master bathroom toilet, and in the wall of a small hall linen closet, blowing INTO the closet!  And I am seeing these things long after they have been completed and after someone along the way either did not notice or did not care.  It's always best to have a pre-drywall inspection!

 

 

 

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 (84)

Lottie Kendall
Compass - San Francisco, CA
Helping make your real estate dreams a reality

What a shame this wasn't planned better--guaranteed to be a major headache for the owner, and for no good reason.

Sep 22, 2012 01:51 AM
Sharon Parisi
United Real Estate Dallas - Dallas, TX
Dallas Homes

Contractors do the darndest things!  Even perimeter registers away from doors can get damaged.  What was this contractor thinking? Or was s/he?

Sep 22, 2012 03:29 AM
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Great one Jay, with all the money people spend for new construction, you would think that the builders would at least try to get it right, and fix it when they make a mistake.

Sep 22, 2012 04:37 AM
John DL Arendsen
CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments - Leucadia, CA
Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer

The ones that really amuse me are when they vent the dryer under the home. It's always a lot of fun crawling around through years of built up lint.

Sep 22, 2012 04:49 AM
Arizona Home Group RE/MAX Excalibur
The Arizona Home Group - Scottsdale, AZ

It's unbelieveable what builders do and how some things just don't make any sense at all. It's as if the people building the homes have never lived in an home. I honestly belive resale is better just because you at least get to see exactly what you are getting when you buy it. If you do build it's imperative that the buyer visit the home site OFTEN and definitely do pre-drywall inspections...and also have an outside inspector (not a city or code inspector or the builder's inspector) inspect the home prior to the punch list inspection with the builder so the buyer can have a complete list of items needed to be corrected prior to close. For all of the above reasons, this is why buyers need buyer representation by an agent other than the one at the builder's office!! 

Sep 22, 2012 05:41 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Thanks Beth, I'm glad the title did draw you!  I try to be creative but sometimes the titles are just silly!

Emmanuel - you could put up a post of just that response!  Thanks!  And you are right - it might have been approved, even though it lacks common sense!  You need a photo too!

Dorte - having a register right in front of the door would drive me batty.

Lyn - that's a good word for it!

Sep 22, 2012 10:04 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Lottie - it was planned, then not planned, then covered for the broken plan!

Sharon - they no thinko, me thinko.  That's perfect Spanish.

Bob - and, excuse me, why would anyone think that?!

John - that's as bad as the dryer vent through a roof 40' high!  Good luck seeing when to clean that out, and cleaning it!

Arizona - I agree with all that!  My mom used to say that engineers should be required to cook on their stoves before they put them on the market!  She had a point...

Sep 22, 2012 10:07 AM
Frank Castaldini
Compass - San Francisco, CA
Realtor - Homes for Sale in San Francisco

Thanks for the aricle.  It's clearly a dumb move as certainly it will be walked on and eventually damaged.  It can't be code compliant.  

Sep 22, 2012 11:27 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Frank - I don't know that the code addresses this.  The code is a minimum standard and this requires thinking somewhat elevated from that point...

Sep 22, 2012 11:48 PM
Lizette Fitzpatrick
Lizette Realty - Richmond KY - Lexington, KY
Lizette Realty, Lexington KY MLS - Kentucky Homes

THe one in my house is in front of the dishwasher. It is a dirt catcher for sure.

Sep 23, 2012 01:25 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Not the best spot Lizette!  And it likely gets really dirty!

Sep 23, 2012 05:55 AM
Brad Baylor
ERA Coup Agency - Milton, PA

Jay - It's just laziness on the part of the contractor, plain and simple.  This was the easiest way to do it, and that's what was done!

Sep 24, 2012 12:21 AM
Evelyn Kennedy
Alain Pinel Realtors - Alameda, CA
Alameda, Real Estate, Alameda, CA

Jay:

Good thing the buyer has you to catch the problem.  I hope the buyer paid to have the vent replaced to the area you suggest.  In the long run it will be worth it.

Sep 24, 2012 03:53 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Brad - for whatever the reason - fix it!

Evelyn - for sure.  Why is it I see this when I walk into the room?

Sep 24, 2012 05:06 AM
Gary L. Waters Broker Associate, Bucci Realty
Bucci Realty, Inc. - Melbourne, FL
Eighteen Years Experience in Brevard County

I am thinking it is just a quick fix that was spur of the moment done by one of the workers....while the supervisor was sleeping!

Sep 24, 2012 11:16 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Yeah, the dryer guy Gary!  And it was let go!  Or not noticed.

Sep 24, 2012 11:53 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Jay

Great title that drew me, and others in!!

It's hard to come up with an explanation for why this would have been done this way. For builders who do this work all the time one would think this would be more than obviously a dumb thing to do.

Jeff

Sep 25, 2012 12:02 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

How could I agree with you more Jeff?  Let me think...

I don't know!

I often put up provocative titles to draw people in!  Here's one:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/817441/i-discriminate-every-day-i-really-do-

Sep 25, 2012 12:11 AM
Liane Thomas, Top Listing Agent
Professional Realty Services® - Corona, CA
Bringing you Home!

Title caught me, that is something I probably would have missed, too.

Sep 27, 2012 04:19 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Gee, Liane, what image did you have?  I doubt that if you lived there you would have missed that hole in the floor!

Sep 27, 2012 04:25 AM