Welmoed Sisson
06-27-2012, 06:16 PM
This afternoon's inspection was on a 6700sf McMansion. Original small structure was built in 1938 and enlarged in the 90s (poorly). It's now a short sale. Buyers knew it had problems, but about 1.5 hours into the inspection they had heard enough... we had identified enough issues that would mean a bare minimum of $400K in repairs just to make the house habitable. It was really one of the worst exteriors we've seen, and it was all due to water.
Poor site drainage didn't help... The back side of the house was recessed nearly 20 feet into the side of a hill, and water would run down the side of the back hill and just soak the entire back side of the house. We haven't had any really soaking rains here in a while, and the moisture meter was still pegged along the basement walls. (Of course, the indoor pool wasn't helping matters... it was full, and the AC was turned off. Can you say humid?)
Anyway, here are some pictures from the little adventure. The first shows just one section of the roof (north facing). Second picture is of one of the five (!) outside AC units that has met with some horrible fate (Tree? Bowling ball?). The third shows the horrendous rot on the "conservatory" addition to the kitchen. The fourth picture is of an irregularity on the roof... and it was an area that was completely inaccessible; there was no scuttle. We eventually decided it was probably due to a broken truss, although we're open to other interpretations.
The clients thought they were getting a bargain... A huge house in a very desirable neighborhood, for about half of what other houses in the area were selling for. Now they know why.
Poor site drainage didn't help... The back side of the house was recessed nearly 20 feet into the side of a hill, and water would run down the side of the back hill and just soak the entire back side of the house. We haven't had any really soaking rains here in a while, and the moisture meter was still pegged along the basement walls. (Of course, the indoor pool wasn't helping matters... it was full, and the AC was turned off. Can you say humid?)
Anyway, here are some pictures from the little adventure. The first shows just one section of the roof (north facing). Second picture is of one of the five (!) outside AC units that has met with some horrible fate (Tree? Bowling ball?). The third shows the horrendous rot on the "conservatory" addition to the kitchen. The fourth picture is of an irregularity on the roof... and it was an area that was completely inaccessible; there was no scuttle. We eventually decided it was probably due to a broken truss, although we're open to other interpretations.
The clients thought they were getting a bargain... A huge house in a very desirable neighborhood, for about half of what other houses in the area were selling for. Now they know why.