DIY- Know your limits

It's very cool that you were able to go underneath and see what is going on Don!  And here I thought puddles like that in the shower was to wash your feet when no shower was planned.

Don, for those that have never tried a "crawl space shower"----they just don't know what they are missing :)

Don,

You are right on point here. I think that because it looked so easy opn TV, more tackle things that they are not qualified or physically able to do. Even the basics can be tough for someone with the start of back problems. The TV shows never really show how much work is involved in just the clean up.

Add poor time estimates to overwelming labor and shortcuts become more attractive.

THEN, add to that the "IDKWIDK" factor (that stands for I Don't Know What I Don't Know) ..... and you have a minor disaster.

Thanks for the post Don.

Don -- just saw episode of one of those TV shows where they fix things up, and they were doing a shower, and they showed the guys doing the entire underlayment in about 10 minutes, so totally misleading!  Too bad for the seller of the home you were inspecting- that will take some time and money to fix.

Don, When we deal with properties that we are going to list, we do the walk through and turn on all the light and water outlets to check them, When we find anything that is not proper or needs work, we often hear the owners say they will fix it or say it's not a big deal... After sitting the down and talking to them about the impact of not fixing it or fixing it right "Half assed" we usually have them call a professional to do the work.  It's easier to deal with, safer and the workers a licensed in the area of work they are doing. 

Don, 

This is why I love inspections and inspectors.  Knowing what you are getting into is key for buyers.  We typically see a home twice before we put an offer in for buyers, so you see things you miss the first time.  However, having an eagle eye look things over is required for my buyers. 

All the best, Michelle

Hi Donald,

This is why we inspect like we do.

The Buyer is really fortunate to have you inspecting for them.

Better to say look what I found than to say it looked o.k.

Have a great weekend in the great Northwest.

Best, Clint McKie

Nice find.  That's going to be one heck of an expensive repair.

I'm happy to not have had any crawlspace showers. In fact happy to have very few crawlspaces to inspect. Full basements are standard here. Just having a crawlspace is an issue here.