I would not walk out onto this deck!
Why? Because it looked to me like it would collapse at any minute.
These are only a couple of the problems with this deck.
Ledger beams are the long boards that attach to the house. In this era ledger beams were lag bolted onto the house, and every 24". That is no longer the case. Now through bolts are used, they are in a W pattern, and much closer together.
The ledger beams on this 40 year old house were lag bolted, and coming loose because the siding material onto which they were screwed was completely rotted.
Also, the straps were very deteriorated and many of them had actually broken! The joists were ready to pop off or out of them at any minute.
AND THESE WERE ONLY A COUPLE OF PROBLEMS WITH THIS DECK!
I did not want to go out onto it and asked the family not to. But they insisted and the whole crew, including a baby, went out, despite my protests, and began bouncing to see how strong the deck was!
I did not want to go out onto it and asked the family not to. But they insisted and the whole crew, including a baby, went out, despite my protests, and began bouncing to see how strong the deck was!
And here is the kicker. Not only did my inspection save them untold stress and tens of thousands of dollars from this poorly-cared-for house, they canceled the contract. I got a call from the agent last night saying they had a contract on another house and wanted me to do the inspection. But they wanted a 50% discount! They felt they deserved the discount because they already had to pay for another inspection.
Ummmm ... no. I did an inspection, IN THEIR LANGUAGE!, and did it well. They paid me for my service, and paid my minimum fee. I have a minimum fee for a reason, and they will have to honor that or get someone else.
My recommendation: home inspections are to inform. Sometimes the information is bad! And there are times when I even save the buyers lots of future expenditure. That should be worth a whole lot! But it is not worth a 50% discount...
Comments(13)