Thoughts? Lots of thoughts. My comments are below....
"phaeton" wrote in message
oups.com...
Well, fwiw my fiancee pulled this inspector out of the book and I'm the
one who pays for it, so if she (the inspector) has any agendas, they'll
be mine

I wasn't there for the inspection, but my fiancee was, and she followed
her all around.

She - I have never met a home inspector who was a she.

She says that she did a very thorough job- spent
nearly 3 hours on it and crawled into everything she could fit into.
She says she was 'impressed' with some things, such as how cool the
attic was, and that it had that perfect balance of ventilation and
insulation. She said all the wiring is 100A and it was all replaced
recently, and the electrician did a good job of it.

How big is the house? Is there gas for the oven and heat? Does it have
central air? 100A service could be getting a bit small. The reason I ask
about gas is that you will not have as much crunch if your dryer, over and
heat is gas or oil. If all these things are electric then 100A could be
getting too tight if you are planning to add circuits. Did she not how many
open, or free, breaker slots were left in the panel?

The floors were
sloped a little (which is to be expected) but they were all very solid
and the entire house was very structurally sound.

Sloped floors can be an indication of some pretty BAD things or maybe not. I
hope the inspector determined what caused the sloped floors and indicated
that they would not continue to get worse. I would want to know why they
were sloped, if it were me.

The basement appears
sound and solid, though it was very humid (about 65%) and she pointed
out all the places water was getting in and getting trapped. Most of
it is stuff like fixing gutter downspouts that drop right in front of
windows, minor flashing, etc. She did note that the ground slopes
*toward* the house all the way around, and that backfilling/planing so
that it slopes away from the house would make a lot of difference.

Agreed - I called this one w/o seeing the house!!! Create slope AWAY from
house, extend downspouts away, fix window wells, add window well covers (If
non standard sizes see http://www.windowbubble.com/ for custom made ones).
This will take care of most water problems in any basement. That will reduce
your humidity in your basement. The water in your basement is most likely
what caused your floors to be sloped (Either through rot of your sill or
excessive settling of your foundation)

The other big thing was the cracks in the exterior walls i had
mentioned. The house has all new windows in it, but apparently when
they were replaced, the timber around the windows wasn't replaced, even
though it was probably already starting to rot and it wasn't ever
caulked. So now the wood around the windows is all rotten and that's
allowing water to get into the concrete and make it crack. She says
that once the window situation is fixed the concrete cracks are 100%
repairable through various means. She gave the name and number of a
local guy that specialises in old house restoration, particularly stone
ones. She also recommended a book titled "Renovating Old Houses" by
Nash. Most everyone i've talked to about pulling the windows out and
re-doing the framing around them says it's not nearly as bad as it
sounds, and that the epoxies and things that fill concrete are actually
stronger than the concrete.

This one has me worried a bit too. I'm not sure what "the timber around the
windows" actually is. If its some structural framing then it could get very
messy and expensive to replace. Repair of rot is difficult and if not done
correctly will be a waste of time and money because the decay will just
continue on to unrepaired areas. Replacement is usually better. If the wood
you are referring to is just trim then its easy. If repair will involve
removing windows that is likely a big job, maybe up to $1,000 per window,
more or less.


Most of the plumbing is either copper or PVC, there is one lead pipe
leading from the well to the pump area and might be original.

Did she give you a sense as to the flow rate of the well? Usually measured
in Gallons per minute. Also measure how well the well recovers. In other
words, if you draw down all the available water in the well (Is that
possible first of all) then how long will it take to be able to use it
again, etc. I do not have a well so others may interject on the common
measurements here. Running a new pipe to the well head is no big deal. I
would only worry about it if I had babies or was planning. (If it really is
lead)

The
plumbing all appears to be fine, and completely redone recently. Only
thing is they re-did it to old standards- it has an S trap instead of a
P trap and no gas vents, but since there is a lot of the plumbing
readily accessible in the basement (all wrapped with insulation, mind
you) this is something that can probably be updated easily.

If it aint broke don't fix it. The insulation - Did the inspector give you
an opinion as to the possibility of asbestos? Again - I wouldn't worry too
much unless its falling apart. If its intact and not flaking off its
probably no big deal. Others would disagree I'm sure.

There are
a few things that aren't quite up to code, but they could be made that
way easily and inexpensively. Case in point: local fire codes require
that the water heater sit at least 6" from any wall. This one is right
up against the basement wall, but it's a stone wall so the chances of a
house fire are probably minimal. It's one of those things that i can
probably get to leisurely before anyone would call me on it.

Most places do NOT require an old house to me current codes when sold.
Again - If it aint broke don't fix it. You have a lot of other things to
work on!


Then there's a lot of stuff that I already knew about. There's a newer
concrete block chimney on the outside of the house that isn't anchored
and hangs about 1.5" from the wall all the way up.

Could be a major job to fix properly. Most likely the chimneys foundation
wasn't properly installed. Plus the water issues discussed above. I would at
least consider anchoring it to the house or knocking it down if its not
used.

According to owner
legend, it has been that way since they bought it in 1984. There's
some rusted out ductwork in the basement coming from the oil furnace
(it appeared to me that water was seeping in through a slipshod plaster
job and contributed to it rusting). My handyman guy (the fiancee's
grandpa) says that there's about $50 worth of ductwork to replace in
the basement.

Don't replace the duct until you prevent the water from coming in. One point
I should have made before. Keep the water outside. Repairs from the inside
are fruitless as evidenced by the "slipshod plaster job".

The oil furnace was getting serviced by a really old guy
that probably originally installed it, but he couldn't remember when
exactly- he guesses late 1980s.

Then there's lots and lots of little stuff- you know all the "death by
a thousand paper cuts". The dryer vents to the basement instead of the
outside

Significantly adds to humidity

, the kitchen faucet leaks,

$.05 cent repair that will take all day Saturday, 3 trips to hardware store
and $50 in tools! I've been there.

the front door has no working locks
on it, the doors that do have working locks have no keys,

This one can be a really pain. These are probably what's called 'full
mortise' locksets. Finding replacements that fit the existing cutouts will
be next to impossible unless you are willing to pay BIG $$$ for replicas or
restored antiques or what ever. So what, I'll just get the $10 sets at the
blue store. Well, now you need to fill in the holes left by the old se,
drill the new holes, etc. Its a lot of work per door. May want to first have
a locksmith some in and see if he can just repair what you have and make
keys as necessary. That's where I would probably start.

the garage
door 'safety backup' switch thingy doesn't work,

Could be repairable vs. buying a whole new unit.

the kitchen and
bathrooms have well maintained but well used floors, there is some
hideous wallpaper and panelling choices throughout.


Fun stuff but fix the water, rot, etc. before you start to tackle the
aesthetic stuff.

I read through
this list and i'm not scared yet.

The inspector left with us a very organized and detailed report. She
says that most houses half this old run into 40-50 pages of stuff to
address, this house has about 12. She listed the loose railing on one
side of the front deck as the biggest safety hazard. (!)

All in all she says that the house is very structurally sound and safe,
and will remain that way for a long time if i keep the water out. I'm
quite pleased, and I'm glad I had it done. I understand that when I
move in there will be plenty o' things that i'll find, but it sounds
like all the big and/or dangerous stuff is covered.

thoughts? Thanks!

Whew - Maybe I'm in the wrong business. Can you post some pictures?


-Phaeton