Living in Contra Costa County

On a recent pre-drywall inspection, which usually happens a day or two before the insulation and drywall are installed, I noticed a section of the house that was very wet.  And, before the drywall goes up, things MUST be dry!

This is behind a gas fireplace, with a very large cavity above where a TV would be installed on the wall, with two large shelving units beside.

The cavity is only about 15" deep, but it will be entirely enclosed, not accessible from the back side.

I wondered where this water was coming from.  The roof was supposed to have been finished.

ALL ROOFING HAS TO BE FINISHED BEFORE DRYWALL IS INSTALLED!

Nothing else makes sense.  So where is this water coming from?

And it's a lot of water!  Things are soaked.

We have had lots of rain and it was to continue raining, so they said, for a few days.

So this source of water has to be stopped.

Well, the roof over the fireplace/TV cavity has not been installed yet!

We were jammed into a very small time frame in order to do this inspection (the builder always makes it sound like there's simply no time to do one), because he had "a very tight schedule to get the drywall done."

WELL, I DON'T THINK SO!

And if roofing is quickly placed on top of that little fireplace area and that cavity is sealed with drywall, a lot of moisture will be sealed with it.

AND THAT WILL LEAD TO THE ENCOURAGEMENT, IF NOT DEVELOPMENT, OF MICROBIAL GROWTH SUCH AS MOLDS AND FUNGI.

I suggested to my clients, who should communicate to the builder, that because that area is vulnerable to moisture, and enclosed without access or air flow, that it be sprayed with an protective agent, like copper naphthenate, to help with any future mold issues.

Copper naphthenate is a wood preservative and protector.  It is essentially a knock off of what equine vets use to soak into medical wrappings around surgeries and infections on horses.  It makes the bandages impervious to water, and prevents microbial growth, so wounds can heal.  Builders are spraying it now around the wood framing of basement walls, up about 2', to help control any moisture and discourage termites.  Termites won't touch it!

I have recommended it for years.

This little roof is on the back side of the house, and maybe they just didn't notice.  You have to finish the roofing before you can do the drywall!

I also discovered they had not yet put on the ridge vent cap on top of the roof.

So all in all, they are not ready for drywall!

My recommendation:  on pre-drywall inspections, things need to be done in order.  All phases that need to be completed, must be completed, before the next phase can begin.  When you and your clients are on a pre-drywall inspection, try to insure that things have been done in their proper order!  AND DON'T CLOSE IN MOISTURE BEHIND DRYWALL!

 

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia

www.jaymarinspect.com

People can live in a house and not notice things.  I find that out all the time on warranty inspections.  And because of that, on one year inspections - I am looking high and low.

These photos come courtesy my client as my camera was on the wrong setting!

This is your basic water main.  It is located in the furnace room.

What I don't see often is this kind of proximity to the main drain stack.

But I always check the water main assembly for leaking, pin holes, damage, and so forth.

Often I have to move things to get to the main!  It is blocked.

One thing I noticed on this house was a musty odor in the furnace room.  There usually is no odor there.

Moving things out of the way so I could see this arrangement high and low, I saw how they come into the house at the same place.  And something at the bottom I have never seen.

Water!  And a little mud!

What is causing this?  Is it sewage?  Well no, the lick test proved it was not.  OK, I'm kidding, but it wasn't sewage.

So it must be one of two other things -

1.  a high water table percolating up through a hole in the floor slab, a hole that shouldn't be there or
2.  a leak in the water main.

And this has been happening for a while because the pressure-treated sill plate, the 2x6" board secured to the concrete slab, was already damaged by moisture.  Everything there looked muddy and like it had been there for a while.  There was even a little algae.  This is certainly a location conducive to microbial growth like molds and fungi. 

SO THIS IS A PROBLEM!

Does that protective plastic tube protecting the water main line, which is a glorified hose, extend beneath and slab and all the way to the buried meter?  We don't know!  

Is the water main damaged?  We don't know!

Was the house built on a spring, like my neighbor's across the street?  We don't know!

WHAT DO WE KNOW?  WE KNOW THIS DEMONSTRATION OF WATER IS A PROBLEM!  WE KNOW THAT THIS KIND OF PROBLEM NEVER GETS BETTER!  WHAT HAPPENS NOW?  AFTER DETERMINING THAT THE WATER MAIN IS NOT LEAKING, A HYDROLOGIST NEEDS TO GET INVOLVED!

Was this the only problem with the house?  No, not by a long shot.  Was the number of problems found typical of a one-year warranty inspection?  No, not by a long shot.

My recommendation:  be regular with one-year warranty inspections!  Every new home should have one!  And these inspections always, always, always require follow up to insure that the problems found are problems no more.

 

 

 

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia

www.jaymarinspect.com

I would love to be able to appeal to "common sense" as the solution to several issues present in the picture below.  Of course the picture is of one defect in particular, but also captures several other issues.  I took the picture to document the cutting of the floor joist.  It was cut to allow for running the duct from the down draft exhaust fan of the kitchen cook top.

Once again this is "new construction."  

I would like to appeal to the installer's "common sense," in terms of the "other" issues present, but I think that anyone that would cut the joists like this, without providing additional proper supports, likely would be the wrong person to look to for "common sense."

It is not likely very hard for you, my readers, to understand what is wrong with cutting this joist like this.  Over time this area of the floor will likely suffer from some amount of deflection---especially as there is a very heavy granite covered kitchen island above, and the span is considerable.

Obviously the insulation being out of place and the ductwork not being insulated are other issues but there is also another issue that should be addressed.

The rectangular duct that drops through the floor has a nice end cap on it and the round duct pipe that runs to the exterior is connected into the side of that rectangular duct.  The problem I have with this installation is that a sort of "unapproved" grease trap is created at the bottom of the rectangular duct.  If all the floor and ductwork was properly insulated nobody would be any the wiser that the condition was even there.

Excessive grease in ductwork is considered a fire hazard and that is why ducts need to be properly cleaned every now and then.  To create a special place to unintentionally collect large amounts of grease, over time, just seems a little risky.  

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the "whipped cream" was installed to keep the rats out of the island kitchen cabinets. 

 

 

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

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More new construction fun!  And guess who it's with ... again?  And the same tricks - late afternoon phone call, the inspection needed to be done the next day, enormous amounts of insurance information - same old, same old.

The buyer called me in a panic.  We had previously corresponded many times, but she did had not been told the requirements the builder has pertaining to inspectors and inspections not realizing things were far enough along to have the inspection.  Even though I had warned her, she did not believe me (they seldom do).  I told her to call the lady in the office back (we're buds) and to say that "Jay" was doing the inspection, she would have her information overnight and we would be there at 7am the next morning.

My office buddy offered a new wrinkle, "We won't fix anything unless it's a code violation."

YEAH, RIGHT!  Why do they keep trying to pull this, um, this stuff?

May I offer two of the things they fixed the very afternoon of our inspection?  Were they against the code?  I HAVE NO IDEA!

#1 - This little beauty is a vent that starts in the powder room on the first level, passes through two floors to exit through the wall above one third-level bedroom, to travel another 25' or so to the left of this photo to exit through the roof.

Can a powder room fan push air up and that far?  I HAVE NO IDEA!

How far is that air pushed?  I calculate 50'+.  What size fan is needed to handle that distance?  I HAVE NO IDEA!

Does the code cover the size of a fan and how far a vent tube can extend before it exits through a roof?  I HAVE NO IDEA!

Worse, just a couple of feet to the left of this photo is the little anomaly seen below.

Gee, ain't it perty?

The insulation around that very solid vent tubing is missing just a bit.

Won't that create condensation inside the tubing?  Why yes, yes I think it just might!

Where will that condensation collect?  I'm going to guess it will collect in that little hitch in the get along, seen above.  I pushed on the bottom of that little, teensy downward bulge and, heaven to Betsy, it was already full of water!  Why I bet the cover on the roof wasn't there the whole time!

THAT'S WHAT MADE THAT EXCELLENT TAPE JOB TO THE RIGHT COME LOOSE AND EXPOSE THE VENT TUBE AS IT STRETCHED FROM THE WATER WEIGHT!

Hey, eventually won't that tube fill with enough water to prevent air from passing through that improvised trap above?  Why, yes, yes I think it just might!

Does the code DEMAND that the builder fix this interesting arrangement?  I HAVE NO IDEA!  But they did...

#2 - While they were at it, they also fixed this little beauty above the master bathroom!

If you are going to do something in life, BE CONSISTENT!

And these vent guys are nothing, nothing I tell you, if they are not CONSISTENT!

Were these two vents the only thing the builder fixed following my inspection?  You already know the answer to that!

Were all the things they fixed because of the code?  I HAVE NO IDEA!

But I do know those things were schmuck work and that's why they got fixed!

And my little bud in the office knows that if they don't fix them, that information might just get out into the public...

My recommendation:  when the builders play their games, don't participate!  And when they say they won't fix things unless they are code violations, don't buy that either!  Why?  Schmuck work is schmuck work, and they won't want it attached to them in public.

And my office buddy is probably thinking that I am the only home inspector in the area!

 

 

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia

www.jaymarinspect.com