Thread: Selling our home: inspection is sunday

I have a few questions for you guys about our upcoming home inspection on the house we are hoping to sell very soon. Independent inspector chosen by buyer comes this sunday.

2 questions are related to this forum 1 is not so if I am out of line asking the unrelated one in this forum I am sorry ahead of time. We are in Indiana if it makes any difference.

1. Our home is on a slab and the duct work seems to run through the slab. It does not appear to have sheetmetal type ducts in the slab just an open area within the slab itself..like a concrete tunnel. Home was built in 1950. I suspect this will not be an issue since we passed FHA inspection when we purchased this house 5 years ago and it was the same way. Besides being inefficent, which our utility bills are always fairly resosnable, is this going to be an issue?

2. My AC unit has a quirk about it. When I first go to turn it on, the compressor outside cycles on for just an second, then about 90 seconds later it turns on and runs with no other issues. Not sure why, HVAC folks that do our mainteance have not seemed to be worried about it. Is this going to come back and cause me headaches with my sale?

3. Our laundry room had a floor drain when we moved in. A short time later we found it did not drain so when I redid our flooring, I just covered it up. Will this be an issue?

Thanks for reading. I hope your answers to each question are...not a big problem, but life tends to not work out that way for me. I worry so I thought I'd ask and see how much I should be worried, so when I find out one of these is an issue I won't be shocked.
Ryan

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Hi Ryan. I'll try and help here.

1 - Ducts running through the slab of a slab-on-grade home are far from ideal and could be problematic, especially if the ducts are just unlined concrete tunnels. Even if there was actual ductwork there, it would likely not prevent the duct runs from taking on groundwater or allowing insect or rodent entry. Any of these things getting into the duct runs could contaminate the air stream in the house (ie - stagnant water, rodent droppings, etc.). You most likely will not find many home inspectors who are OK with ducts installed in the nature you describe.

2 - If I were to observe this type of condition, I would document what I observed in the report and advise to have the system serviced by an HVAC pro. You already said you've had it looked it and the HVAC company is not concerned about it. Did they give any explanation as to why it is occurring?

3 - I would not have an issue with a covered floor drain that was never operable assuming it had been sealed properly to prevent anything from backing up in the pipe and into the room.

The duct work in the slab, or lack thereof, appears to be the most potentially significant of the three issues you mentioned. Have you experienced any type of air quality issues in the house like odors coming from the ducts?

Nick,
Thanks for your response.

1. eeek and ugh This sounds like bad news for us. While I can't pin point any smells or air quality issues in the house, I also can't say that there are none since a person becomes acustom to the smells of a home over time. This sounds generally bad for us. However the only small saving grace I hold on to is that these same ducts passed FHA inspection in 2006. However we'll be subjected to independent and FHA inspections during our sale.

2. I do not recall what they said about this issue. Will an inspector run the AC if temps are in the 30's-40's outside? Maybe I need not worry? *hopeful* but then again my luck isn't that good

3. Yeah the floor drain never worked and there is no evidence of it in the room now, which is why I asked if an inspector would give us guff for not seeing one.

I appreciate your insight to this as it helps me prepare mentally for what will come back from this inspection. Which doesn't sound promising at this point.

If you haven't already disclosed these items to the buyer, your bad! If so, they probably won't be an issue.

Originally Posted by Benjamin Thompson

If you haven't already disclosed these items to the buyer, your bad! If so, they probably won't be an issue.

Well we haven't disclosed anything because everything still works and is functional. I was just worried about the inspector commenting on the efficency of my setup and the unusual quirk with my ac unit. There is no known water in the slab duct work nor any known problems that prevent anything from working.. is it the most efficent setup? probably not. Air quality from slab ducts seem to be a nonissue as we've been in our house for nearly 5 years and have never had any different or unusual issues with health. We didn't disclose anything because there really isn't anything to disclose....maybe the AC quirk..but again it still works.

Thanks!
Ryan

Ryan, I was just thinking, if your buyer's Home Inspector is reading these posts, he will probably appreciate the "heads up" on these issues you have just raised. My advice is always to be open and honest in any business dealing.... it helps you sleep better at night.

Ryan....the house has to meet the code it was built under. It the duct work was approved when the house was built and is still working properly it should not be a problem now....at least that would be my argument if I was in your shoes. The A/C and drain would either be a small or non-issue I would imagine.

Originally Posted by Ryan Vega

I have a few questions for you guys about our upcoming home inspection on the house we are hoping to sell very soon. Independent inspector chosen by buyer comes this sunday.

2 questions are related to this forum 1 is not so if I am out of line asking the unrelated one in this forum I am sorry ahead of time. We are in Indiana if it makes any difference.

1. Our home is on a slab and the duct work seems to run through the slab. It does not appear to have sheetmetal type ducts in the slab just an open area within the slab itself..like a concrete tunnel. Home was built in 1950. I suspect this will not be an issue since we passed FHA inspection when we purchased this house 5 years ago and it was the same way. Besides being inefficent, which our utility bills are always fairly resosnable, is this going to be an issue?

The FHA inspection was most likely the appraisal. This does not mean anything. HUD does not address in slab ducts.

2. My AC unit has a quirk about it. When I first go to turn it on, the compressor outside cycles on for just an second, then about 90 seconds later it turns on and runs with no other issues. Not sure why, HVAC folks that do our mainteance have not seemed to be worried about it. Is this going to come back and cause me headaches with my sale?

The fan runs first?

3. Our laundry room had a floor drain when we moved in. A short time later we found it did not drain so when I redid our flooring, I just covered it up. Will this be an issue?

How did you cover it up? Did you fill it or cap it?

Thanks for reading. I hope your answers to each question are...not a big problem, but life tends to not work out that way for me. I worry so I thought I'd ask and see how much I should be worried, so when I find out one of these is an issue I won't be shocked.
Ryan

Good luck....

Originally Posted by Ryan Vega

Well we haven't disclosed anything because everything still works and is functional. I was just worried about the inspector commenting on the efficency of my setup and the unusual quirk with my ac unit. There is no known water in the slab duct work nor any known problems that prevent anything from working.. is it the most efficent setup? probably not. Air quality from slab ducts seem to be a nonissue as we've been in our house for nearly 5 years and have never had any different or unusual issues with health. We didn't disclose anything because there really isn't anything to disclose....maybe the AC quirk..but again it still works.

Thanks!
Ryan

I disagree. The fact that you are bringing these issues up shows that you are aware that they may be problems. I don't know what the disclosure laws are in your state and may be way off base, but where I am, if you even think something may be a problem, you are required to disclose it.

Everything may be a problem. I think the disclosure is to disclose things that the seller knows are a problem. I don't think that includes guessing.

Ryan has made it public record now by posting it on the internet. Maybe the buyer won't be reading these posts.

rick

Originally Posted by Rick Hurst

Ryan has made it public record now by posting it on the internet. Maybe the buyer won't be reading these posts.

rick

Gee, did I just quote his entire post?

Possible ducts in slab

Thanks for all your replies I appreciate it and if I sounded defensive I appoligize.

I think that a good point is raised in this dicussion...it seems like each inspector will be very different..and it sounds like it all depends. But i do appreciate everyones thoughts. and please don't think I'm trying to hide something from the inspectors or our buyers. I simply just wanted to know if my worries were valid or invalid. And it sounds like the only way to find out answers is to wait....the waiting is the worst

@ Scott
The outdoor units fan spins up and then stops when the thermostat is turned from OFF to COOL. Then about a minute later the system kicks on and runs properly with absoultely no issues. This ONLY happens when the thermostat is changed from OFF to COOL. It does not happen any other time. I think this is why my HVAC folks were not totally concerned since the unit runs fine after that. I think they may have even said something about a funky thermostat toggle. I don't recall though I know the ac works because I am not at all happy in the summer when it is hot

Per the floor drain. The only way I was able to take care of it to cover it was to place a small stopper inside the drain (small piece of wood) mix some concrete (i'm on a concrete slab) and put the concrete on top of the wood stopper. I tested the drain multiple times before filling and knew the concrete wouldn't drain down it because nothing was going down.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

Gee, did I just quote his entire post?

why do i get the feeling you guys think i'm trying to be dirty or something?
I simply want to know how confident or unconfident I should feel about our home sale.
If my questions were phrased incorrectly I appoligize but please don't try to read between the lines or anything I just want to know if I can be excited about getting our new home or if we will continue to live in our house now for a while longer....
just trying to get an idea..i'm no inspector nor do I know the top of things you guys look for...

Start with a happy inspector. Make sure there is good access to the electrical panel, the attic hatch and the furnace, no junk in the way. Put your excess stuff in boxes in the garage if you have to, but leave good access around them. Put the kitty litter somewhere he doesn't have to go near it. Clean up your breakfast dishes and clean out the stinking sink. Clean garbage pails and get recycling out from under the sink, and throw 3/4 of the junk under the bathroom sinks out so he can see under there. Replace burnt out lightbulbs. Don't put rugs over blemishes in the floor or bowls of fruit over burn marks in the counters. The inspector will look under them and know you've tried to hide things. He will dig til he finds them all, stuff you don't even know about. Clean the place up and picture it thru the buyer's eyes. Don't sweat the small stuff if the bigger items are ok. If the price is right, it will sell.

Thanks John,
We had already planned on cleaning our house all up and doing anything we can to make the inspectors life as easy as possible. We are treating the inspection just like a showing and cleaning up everything possible so its presentable. Thanks for the notes about clearing under the sinks..didn't even think about that. Oh we weren't going to try to hide anything we figure stuff will be found anyways we just hope for the best with respect to what is found and hope it won't push our buyers away.

Originally Posted by James Duffin

Ryan....the house has to meet the code it was built under. It the duct work was approved when the house was built and is still working properly it should not be a problem now....at least that would be my argument if I was in your shoes. The A/C and drain would either be a small or non-issue I would imagine.

He said the ducts looks "like a concrete tunnel". In my area, that usually means Asbestos.

Still think it should not be a problem?

If the buyer wanted a pefect house they probably would not be interested in yours. Since they are interested and proceeding with the tranaction, my advice is to not worry about it. If there is something in the report from the HI that throws cold water on their intentions ,,, it can be negotiated - ie; fixed or bought (pay them via price concessions to close the deal). In any event, wait until you hear from them before you try to imagine a problem. I would imagine that you have better things to do.

The things people spend their time worrying about usually don't happen. Life's larger problems always come from the blind side.

Originally Posted by Ryan Vega

why do i get the feeling you guys think i'm trying to be dirty or something?
I simply want to know how confident or unconfident I should feel about our home sale.
If my questions were phrased incorrectly I appoligize but please don't try to read between the lines or anything I just want to know if I can be excited about getting our new home or if we will continue to live in our house now for a while longer....
just trying to get an idea..i'm no inspector nor do I know the top of things you guys look for...

I think most of us are just playing with you a bit...

I would not worry about the drain and since it is not even visible I would not even mention it. But, you have already done that on this public discussion board, so you should place it on the sellers disclosure form as being sealed and not functional.

As for the A/C, this sounds like more of an issue with the thermostat.

Your largest hurdle to overcome will be in the in-slab air ducts. It all depends on the inspector, maybe he will attend church on Sunday before the inspection and he will be in a benevolent mood.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

I think most of us are just playing with you a bit...

I would not worry about the drain and since it is not even visible I would not even mention it. But, you have already done that on this public discussion board, so you should place it on the sellers disclosure form as being sealed and not functional.

As for the A/C, this sounds like more of an issue with the thermostat.

Your largest hurdle to overcome will be in the in-slab air ducts. It all depends on the inspector, maybe he will attend church on Sunday before the inspection and he will be in a benevolent mood.

Scott,
Thanks for the reassurance. I am at a very high stress level right now with the buying and selling of our homes plus our first baby boy is due just about 2 months so I'm really stressed to the max...so thanks again for clearing that up. I just want everything to go ok.

Someone had mentioned asbestos...I'm almost 100% sure (never seen them it person but compared to pictures on google) that my heating does not run through asbestos. All sides look and feel exactly like concrete. Again hopefully if the inspector does mention it to the buyer they won't mind all that much. Our house is at a first time buyers price point, in ready to move in condition, and we are already taking a loss on selling it so we will be fixing nothing unless its less than $30. Plus our average utilities bill over the past few years is less than $90 a month which is pretty good so even if the duct work sucks it does the job at a fairly decent rate...not as good as it could but still not costing a ton.

Thanks again for your input. Sorry if I was a little sensitive, but again I'm super stressed and want our move to go through as seemlessly as possible before the holidays and baby arrives.

Originally Posted by Ryan Vega

Scott,
Thanks for the reassurance. I am at a very high stress level right now with the buying and selling of our homes plus our first baby boy is due just about 2 months so I'm really stressed to the max...so thanks again for clearing that up. I just want everything to go ok.

Someone had mentioned asbestos...I'm almost 100% sure (never seen them it person but compared to pictures on google) that my heating does not run through asbestos. All sides look and feel exactly like concrete. Again hopefully if the inspector does mention it to the buyer they won't mind all that much. Our house is at a first time buyers price point, in ready to move in condition, and we are already taking a loss on selling it so we will be fixing nothing unless its less than $30. Plus our average utilities bill over the past few years is less than $90 a month which is pretty good so even if the duct work sucks it does the job at a fairly decent rate...not as good as it could but still not costing a ton.

Thanks again for your input. Sorry if I was a little sensitive, but again I'm super stressed and want our move to go through as seamlessly as possible before the holidays and baby arrives.

$90.00 utility bills? I would say that you never run the air conditioner and the heat you must set at 65 in the winter and walk around with long johns, a double layer of clothes and a bath robe on top of that and some warm an fuzzy slippers

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

$90.00 utility bills? I would say that you never run the air conditioner and the heat you must set at 65 in the winter and walk around with long johns, a double layer of clothes and a bath robe on top of that and some warm an fuzzy slippers

Yep $90 on average over the last couple years...and nope we stay comfortable , infact I have bad circulation so my hands and feet are always cold so I tend to knock it up a couple notches in the winter, and I'm crabby when its too hot so in the summer i tend to keep it nice N cool. Its a small home, less than 800 sq feet, with a 95% efficency furance (at least it burns at 95% effency, the crappy duct design eats some of our efficency i'm sure), recently insulated exterior walls, and programmable thermostat, all our bulbs are CFL, we switched from desktop pcs to laptops because they use less power, I'm an enviromental nut so we do all we can to save energy and money... The utilities are what we are using to help market our house to buyers...Avg last 12 months only is $62.46... median of $57, lowest $44, highest 89. We are not on any special program or budget plan with our provider just low bills from controlled usage.

Ryan,

You probably have nothing to worry about. If the inspector is coming out on a Sunday, he's probably what we refer to as a "newbie" and is performing home inspections as a part-timer.

Lucky for you, cause he probably doesn't know sh*# from Shinola.

He'll probably catch those loose door knobs though, so you might want to tighten those up.

rick

Originally Posted by Rick Hurst

Ryan,

You probably have nothing to worry about. If the inspector is coming out on a Sunday, he's probably what we refer to as a "newbie" and is performing home inspections as a part-timer.

Lucky for you, cause he probably doesn't know sh*# from Shinola.

He'll probably catch those loose door knobs though, so you might want to tighten those up.

rick

HAHAAH well we'll see. I'm to the point now where all I can do is hope. We can't afford to fix anything major if its found because we are already taking a loss on the sale. So its out of our hands now..and in the buyers and inspectors hands...Thanks for your input!

Originally Posted by Darren Miller

He said the ducts looks "like a concrete tunnel". In my area, that usually means Asbestos.

Still think it should not be a problem?

In my area a concrete tunnel is called a concrete tunnel. Your area should change their terminology to an asbestos tunnel it seems if you folks are calling concrete asbestos. I see nothing wrong with blowing air through a concrete tunnel so I still won't see a problem until one exists. Never been one to make stuff up....sorry!

Originally Posted by Darren Miller

He said the ducts looks "like a concrete tunnel".

Concrete is not an approved duct material.

If the ducts look like a concrete tunnel, that may mean the steel duct is rusted out and gone, and that would not be good.

Seriously Ryan, the house is a bit older now and time takes it's toll no matter how well the owner tries to maintain it. What you are concerned about may not be a big deal to the buyers inspector (or they might) but they may find other issues that are important that you may not be even aware of. That is one of the reasons people hire a home inspector, to discover potential issues that may not be readily apparent.

I suggest hiring your own home inspector to give the place a once over. Express your concerns to them like you have done here, to be addressed on site. After that, you will have a good handle on the condition of the rest of the home as well as the problems you have or perceive to have now.

Then when the buyers inspector toddles in and "discovers" an issue you should be able to say, "Yeah, my inspector told me about that and I decided to just lower the price of the house a bit to compensate for it instead of fixing it. That way the buyer will have the money to fix it if they wish". Or, you can fix an issue your guy finds and then not have to say anything to anybody about it.

For a relatively few dollars, ultimately you will gain a detailed insight into the condition of your home at that point in time giving you the background to (hopefully) successfully argue against a price decrease because "things need to be fixed", as we HI's so often see happen after an inspection.

Bob,
Thanks for your response. We thought about that but as I said we already are taking a loss so we'll just have to risk the buyers inspection and see what comes back if there is anything major then we'll know for next time.
*crossing our fingers and hoping*

Originally Posted by James Duffin

Everything may be a problem. I think the disclosure is to disclose things that the seller knows are a problem. I don't think that includes guessing.

So James, If you were filling out a disclosure on a home you were selling, would you mention any of the items he is asking about?

now now rick

i do inspections on sundays---and i'm not a newbie, have done over 1000 inspections in my five years. yes i only do one inspection a day, because i want it that way, i take my days off mid week to play golf to avoid the weekend hackers. so go easy my good man.
there are some great inspectors who do weekend inspections. i'm sure more now adays with the business slow in some areas. but it's not slow for me

cvf

Ryan,

Think of filling out your seller disclosure this way: For the house you are BUYING ... if the seller knew what you know ... would you want the seller to disclose that information on the seller disclosure FOR YOU when buying THEIR HOUSE?

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Ryan,

Think of filling out your seller disclosure this way: For the house you are BUYING ... if the seller knew what you know ... would you want the seller to disclose that information on the seller disclosure FOR YOU when buying THEIR HOUSE?

The thing is there is nothing broken to disclose...perhaps the quirk in the thermostat but again I was told to not worry too much about that by my HVAC folks since it cycles on properly once its in run mode...So thats what I have done..and I figure what is there to disclose ...is there any problems that will pop up 2 weeks after we sell that I am intentionally hiding? No absolutely not, at least not that I am fully aware of or been made aware of..In fact if we were to stay I expect everything in this home will continue to function for a good time with out problems... Ethics problem solved. My initial reason again for posting was to just see how confident I should feel about our home sale since its our first home we are selling, thus our first inspection we've been though. The things I bought up are just some things that I wondered about and if an inspector would note them and to what extent. I didn't want to get our hopes up if one of these factors (the only things I've noticed while owning the house that I could think of that may or may not be an issue). Not trying to hide anything....not covering up anything....using experts in areas that I'm not fully educated in and following their advice.. I understand that there may be visitors here that try to fool the system... I am not one of those people I just came here looking for an idea as to if I should get that home selling/buying joy and excitement yet or stay reserved and prepared that some of my items may be kinda bad. I don't know the first thing about home building, contractors, , or many of the things involved in building or analyzing a home. i'm an IT guy...so I came here to see if I was just over thinking our pending inspection or if I should be prepared to hear something bad about one of my items. I would like to feel happy that our house has a buyer and also the fact that we found a new home that accepted our offer for it..but with so many hoops to jump though before a house sells I thought this would be a great place to ask how happy or cautious I should feel. Thats all. Sorry for ranting the stress of dealing with all this home stuff, mortgage apps, new baby, and normal day to day stuff has really started to take its toll on me. For those of you who have provided a answer to my basic original questions I thank you once again. The answers to my questions seem to be mostly it depends on the inspector as to what is found and reported. And I am ok with that it was just worth asking to see if I could ease my curiousity ahead of time.

Ryan,
I can certainly appreciate how you would feel having an inspector come through your house, I would not wish to have one come through mine right now.
A good inspector will report on the conditions as he finds them, he will describe the impact to his client and make recommendations as to how the problems should be fixed.
If for some reason, this particular deal does not go through, you should consider hiring your own inspector for a pre-sale inspection. You can them make the corrections and then your stress will be reduced.

Originally Posted by James Duffin

In my area a concrete tunnel is called a concrete tunnel. Your area should change their terminology to an asbestos tunnel it seems if you folks are calling concrete asbestos. I see nothing wrong with blowing air through a concrete tunnel so I still won't see a problem until one exists. Never been one to make stuff up....sorry!

James,

I've never seen a 'concrete tunnel'. I've seen asbestos that sellers and 'contractors' thought was concrete.

I don't know the area he lives in; if asbestos was common during the period of construction. here in NJ, I see underfloor asbestos all the time.

Hey Ryan; open a register and shoot some pictures of these "ducts' for all of us to see. Take one look down from the living space then hold your camera inside the ducts and take a couple of shots.

Originally Posted by Darren Miller

James,

I've never seen a 'concrete tunnel'. I've seen asbestos that sellers and 'contractors' thought was concrete.

I don't know the area he lives in; if asbestos was common during the period of construction. here in NJ, I see underfloor asbestos all the time.

Hey Ryan; open a register and shoot some pictures of these "ducts' for all of us to see. Take one look down from the living space then hold your camera inside the ducts and take a couple of shots.

I am not sure how you are identifying asbestos unless you carry a microscope around with you. The WAG method is not approved in the NC SOP.

Ryan
You must have been a first time buyer when you purchased this home. And was under the misconception that you were getting an inspection through the HUD that you did pay for. And I do hope you learned something. HUD is not there to protect you. There purpose is to protect the loan. There is a big difference between a Home inspection and a HUD inspection.

If I was the inspector that was inspecting your home I would like to know about the covered drain. I would not make a big issue of it but would like for my client to know about it so it is not a surprise in the future. And them finding it and thinking what else were they hiding. And when they call me having and to tell them that they are going to have to call you. Disclose everything about the home that you know. Then it does not come back to bite you. The disclosure is to protect you.

Not seeing your ducts, an early 1950s home. there is the possibility of having asbestos in them. That does not make them bad in its self. They can be sealed. And that is all that is required. See Managing ASBESTOS. Allot of the Asbestos products were a hard concrete product. There are many good products out there today to seal the ducts with. When you remove Asbestos is when it becomes expensive. Your ducts may just be concrete ducts. It was allowed in the forty's and fifty's and was cheaper than putting in asbestos. Was used allot in the early slab and basement homes. If they are concrete asbestos or just concrete, makes no difference. If I was doing the Inspection I would recommend that the ducts need to be cleaned, further evaluated and possibly sealed by a qualified professional. I can only report on what I can see. The ducts are 60 years old. It is what I can't see that becomes the issue.

I have done inspections sense 1998 and have always given my clients the option of Sat. or Sunday.
Bruce Adams

Bruce,
Thanks for your honest response. While its not exactly music to my ears I do appreciate your info. Yes we were first time home buyers for this house... live and learn I guess. I am hoping that based on the size and location of my house they went for the cheapest form of building it and skipped the asbestos..both for my family's health and financial security and for the hope of our sale.
I'm actually more fearful now of what we might have been living in and not just selling the house..
The only way I will be able to find out what exactly the ducts are made of for sure is to hire a home inspector for ourselves or is that a different individual that would be able to tell me that? It sounds like from what others are saying that concrete...concrete asbestos...could be hard to distingush even if you saw it in person.
It looks like my only small piece of hope is that somewhere along the history of this house someone had an inspection done and it was deeemd asbestos free. I pray that we have not been putting our self in a health hazard.

Ryan,

you said: "It looks like my only small piece of hope is that somewhere along the history of this house someone had an inspection done and it was deeemd asbestos free."

Hope will not keep you out of trouble later on. If the Inspector arriving Sunday is new and he does not inspect the ducts, or cannot determine the "possibility" of asbestos in the lining, and you had a hunch from previous posts here that it might, then this is exactly the reason "disclosure" is important to you. It is for your protection down the line. Just modify your disclosure and include that you do not know for sure. It will then fall to the buyers to have this reviewed by another professional should they be concerned and it will probably not fall on your shoulders. I don't believe you are required to pay for this type of testing if you disclose it. However, if you don't mention it in disclosure and the Inspector (Sunday) raises a concern you may be asked to have further testing performed.

This is only a possible scenario but is something to consider. You might want to discuss it with your Agent and modify your disclosure statement. Even mentioning the quirky thermostat could be important. IMHO

Also, do as suggested in an earlier post and put some digital pictures up on here so we can see the ducts (wide shots, inside, describe each and where it is shot from, etc ).

Good luck.

Mitchell
Thanks for your response I am very grateful of the input you guys have provided but I fear that I am making myself super crazy over this. I have absolutely no hunch, thought, idea, consideration, fact, belief, opinion, or anything else as to any hazardous materials in my house. Others here are spectulating that is may be possible but that is based on only date information and vauge descriptions of materials from an unknowing home owner. My claim is that I am 100% unaware of any hazards my house poses to myself, my family, others, or buyers. If something is found at any point in time from it will be news to me and my wife. That is the claim I make now and that is the claim I made on my disclosure. We've not brought any materials into this home or done any modifcations since buying it to make the living environment a hazard to anyones health.

Asbestos is not only possible, it's likely to be in just about any older building. It was used in over 3,000 products, including many building materials during the last century. Here is a link to more information than you probably want:
Asbestos | US EPA
Please read up on it for your own peace of mind (or not).

It's far beyond the scope of a home inspection to detect environmental hazards, that would be up to a specialist. If I inspected your home, I would ask for an evaluation of your heating system, hopefully by a contractor with the equipment to video scope those "tunnels" to make sure there is nothing in there to threaten health, like water, mold, etc.
Your system could be just fine, but I would want to know for sure before living there.

Originally Posted by Ryan Vega

Bruce,
Thanks for your honest response. While its not exactly music to my ears I do appreciate your info. Yes we were first time home buyers for this house... live and learn I guess. I am hoping that based on the size and location of my house they went for the cheapest form of building it and skipped the asbestos..both for my family's health and financial security and for the hope of our sale.
I'm actually more fearful now of what we might have been living in and not just selling the house..
The only way I will be able to find out what exactly the ducts are made of for sure is to hire a home inspector for ourselves or is that a different individual that would be able to tell me that? It sounds like from what others are saying that concrete...concrete asbestos...could be hard to distingush even if you saw it in person.
It looks like my only small piece of hope is that somewhere along the history of this house someone had an inspection done and it was deeemd asbestos free. I pray that we have not been putting our self in a health hazard.

Ryan
A home inspector is not the person you need for inspecting the ducts. I wish it was that easy. You would need to contact an enviromentalist for sampling and testing. Although I do Sampling using government standards there are not many Home Inspectors that have the equipment nor certification. And is not a part of the home inspection. If it becomes an issue, address it at that time. Have it sealed and move on. It does not have to be removed. Modify your disclosure statement to say that the home was built in 1950 and may have Asbestos and possible lead paint. And that you covered a floor drain. Most people know that if they are purchasing that old of home these are possible. If the sale falls through think about having the ducts cleaned and sealed with a proper coating. Then disclose what was done. Remember to me I do not care if they are Asbestos concrete or concrete, they both have issues. As the home owner you can do this yourself. I do not recommend you doing it yourself. Have someone that is qualified that can give you the certification that it was done correctly with the proper products. If you were to call me to sample the ducts for Asbestos. I would inform you the I would be more than happy to take your $150.00 per sample plus lab fees. But you are wasting your money. Spend the money to do what is needed to take care of the problem.

Originally Posted by James Duffin

I am not sure how you are identifying asbestos unless you carry a microscope around with you. The WAG method is not approved in the NC SOP.

Identifying asbestos is not that difficult (if you know what to look for and are willing to look for it). If you're in an area that has lots of asbestos, you better be looking out for it and your clients best interest.
In this area it's fairly common on heat piping, duct insulation, furnaces and boilers, flue pipes, and of course what other people may call 'concrete tunnels'.
As a matter of fact, just last week on found asbestos on a transition pipe from the roof downspouts to the underground pipe. So even though it's outside the scope of a HI, I would rather 'mis-identify' a material then have my clients at risk.

WAG's may be common in your area, but here the good inspectors protect their clients. But then again, good inspectors don't kneel down to realtors ;-)

Ryan,
Like Home Inspector, Environment Inspector, Mold Inspector, Etc. who have expertise in their individual fields and can speak to issues that they have knowledge and experience about. Each is expected to be compliant in their field and usually require licensing to demonstrate that expertise. Your knowledge and relative expertise is limited to what yu know and what you have seen. To that fact state what you know as fact to all parties concerned in the sale of you property. Do not hide or obfuscate any issues you have with the property. It is possible through conjecture to come up with just about any thing imaginable. Is is possible that your house was built over a graveyard, hello Poltergeist the movie. Stick with what you know not what fears you can dredge up. Let the Home Inspector do his/her job answer questions with what you know as fact not speculation and take everything in stride.

Good luck with the sale

Originally Posted by Darren Miller

Identifying asbestos is not that difficult (if you know what to look for and are willing to look for it). If you're in an area that has lots of asbestos, you better be looking out for it and your clients best interest.
In this area it's fairly common on heat piping, duct insulation, furnaces and boilers, flue pipes, and of course what other people may call 'concrete tunnels'.
As a matter of fact, just last week on found asbestos on a transition pipe from the roof downspouts to the underground pipe. So even though it's outside the scope of a HI, I would rather 'mis-identify' a material then have my clients at risk.
WAG's may be common in your area, but here the good inspectors protect their clients. But then again, good inspectors don't kneel down to realtors ;-)

Darren
I disagree with you. You can not always tell if something has asbestos by what you think you know. I can lay two materials of siding side by side one with asbestos and one without. They will look the same. I can take two peaces of tape one asbestos and one without. I can take two peaces of insulation one with. one without. You would not be able to tell the difference. I have done samples that I would have bet everything on to have asbestos and no asbestos was found. If you suspect it then tell your client that there is a possibility that there is asbestos and recommend further evaluation. The lab person will tell you that he does not always know until the test is complete. I have found Asbestos in buildings built in the 80s and asbestos has been outlawed sense 1973. I have taken samples from a 80 year old spider furnace that I would have bet that would have had asbestos. No asbestos was found. If you were looking at the ducts on this home and they looked like concrete would you be able to tell that they were asbestos. And then tell your client they are asbestos. Better not go there. Leave it to the lab. Tell your client that there is the possibility of asbestos and you recommend further testing. By the qualified people.

Ryan,

Tell us the outcome.

Bruce,

You have a PM

Today is the big day!

Hey everyone. The initial report, via what little the inspector could tell my agent legally, and by finding our buyer on facebook and the comments were positive about the inspection. I hope this is true because we have to get our inspection done on our new home before wednesday since thats the last day we put in the contract for an inspection, thus why my agent was trying to get any info possible from the inspector. I've never been so glad for a weekend to be over.

Any tips on what to look for when hiring a home inspector? I assume licensed, insured, and certifed...anything else?

Facebook can be a dangerous thing. Precisely why I am not on it.

Glad to hear it sounds as though things went well Ryan. But I do wonder if the ducts in the slab raised any suspicions for the inspector or if they registered with him at all.

Originally Posted by Ryan Vega

Hey everyone. The initial report, via what little the inspector could tell my agent legally, and by finding our buyer on facebook and the comments were positive about the inspection. I hope this is true because we have to get our inspection done on our new home before wednesday since thats the last day we put in the contract for an inspection, thus why my agent was trying to get any info possible from the inspector. I've never been so glad for a weekend to be over.

Any tips on what to look for when hiring a home inspector? I assume licensed, insured, and certifed...anything else?

Give us a location and someone here can give you a name. Need more time? Ask the seller of the new home for more time! You are the guy with the cash, remember that.

Originally Posted by Ryan Vega

Hey everyone. The initial report, via what little the inspector could tell my agent legally, and by finding our buyer on facebook and the comments were positive about the inspection. I hope this is true because we have to get our inspection done on our new home before wednesday since thats the last day we put in the contract for an inspection, thus why my agent was trying to get any info possible from the inspector. I've never been so glad for a weekend to be over.

Any tips on what to look for when hiring a home inspector? I assume licensed, insured, and certifed...anything else?

Ryan
Go to the site for American Society of Home Inspectors since they are the only ones that meet the requirement of certification of the government. Or the the site for National Society of Home Inspectors. There certification is verily good. They are both good organizations. The other one a 12 year old can pass there test. I know for a fact. Contact who ever you choose and be sure to talk with them on there qualifications. Ask if you can be there during the inspection. Get there at the beginning of the inspection and go over any concerns you have with the home then leave and come back towards the end. So the inspector can go over everything that they find. Be sure you understand. Ask questions. If the inspector says they do not want you there call another inspector. Remember he/she works for you.
Bruce

[quote=CHARLIE VAN FLEET;150206]now now rick

i do inspections on sundays---and i'm not a newbie, have done over 1000 inspections in my five years. yes i only do one inspection a day, because i want it that way, i take my days off mid week to play golf to avoid the weekend hackers. so go easy my good man.
there are some great inspectors who do weekend inspections. i'm sure more now adays with the business slow in some areas. but it's not slow for me

cvf[/quote

AS I SAID - DO THE MATH...............

Charlie has done 1000 inspections on Sundays in 5 years.
hmmmmmmmm that is mathematically impossible.
I didn't know there were 200 Sundays in a year!

With ALL DUE RESPECT - Charlie would not be my inspector of choice.
And even with 1,000 inspections would be considered a novice inspector
in my service area.

mf.

So when in your area are you no longer a novice?

[quote=matt faust;150711]

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

now now rick

i do inspections on sundays---and i'm not a newbie, have done over 1000 inspections in my five years. yes i only do one inspection a day, because i want it that way, i take my days off mid week to play golf to avoid the weekend hackers. so go easy my good man.
there are some great inspectors who do weekend inspections. i'm sure more now adays with the business slow in some areas. but it's not slow for me

cvf[/quote

AS I SAID - DO THE MATH...............

Charlie has done 1000 inspections on Sundays in 5 years.
hmmmmmmmm that is mathematically impossible.
I didn't know there were 200 Sundays in a year!

With ALL DUE RESPECT - Charlie would not be my inspector of choice.
And even with 1,000 inspections would be considered a novice inspector
in my service area.

mf.

No one is a novice at 1,000 inspections. It does not mean they are a good one nor does it mean that someone with 5,000 inspections is any good at it or any better than a novice.

Again, no one is a novice after 200 a year for 5 years. 1 inspection a day x 5 days a week with several weeks of slow and golf over the course of the year is about 200 a year x 5 years is about a 1,000 inspections. Is he any good at it? I have no idea. Are you any good at it ? I have no idea.

Originally Posted by Ryan Vega

Hey everyone. The initial report, via what little the inspector could tell my agent legally, and by finding our buyer on facebook and the comments were positive about the inspection. I hope this is true because we have to get our inspection done on our new home before wednesday since thats the last day we put in the contract for an inspection, thus why my agent was trying to get any info possible from the inspector. I've never been so glad for a weekend to be over.

Any tips on what to look for when hiring a home inspector? I assume licensed, insured, and certifed...anything else?

So it was a Newbie as I suspected.

Tips on an Inspector, yeah someone on this site.

rick

Ryan, I know several experianced inspectors in Indiana. What part of the state are you in?

You do want a person with experience. Experience in our profession tends to mean a good amount of learned knowledge. Learned knowledge is the stuff they can't teach in the one week home inspector class!

Certified does not mean diddly squat. A person can become a Certifed Home Inspector in as little as an hour with this organization International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI). You are in a licensed state, this is what you need plus an inspector that has been in the profession more than a few years.

Hey guys, thanks for your reponses.
I checked out both the National Society of Home Inspectors and American Society of Home Inspectors websites, gathered some recommendations from my agent, and spoke with a few people who had home inspections done in the past. I did find one that I liked that was on both the ASHI website and our agents recommended inspectors list that we scheduled for the inspection and radon testing.

Thanks again folks!

Share his report on here when you get it so we can rip him a new one.

rick

Originally Posted by Ryan Vega

Hey guys, thanks for your reponses.
I checked out both the National Society of Home Inspectors and American Society of Home Inspectors websites, gathered some recommendations from my agent, and spoke with a few people who had home inspections done in the past. I did find one that I liked that was on both the ASHI website and our agents recommended inspectors list that we scheduled for the inspection and radon testing.

Thanks again folks!

Sounds like you are good to go! Good luck and let us know the outcome. I feel like I now have an extended "Yankee" family!

matt

where did i say i only do inspections on sundays???.
it was suggested that if an inspector works sundays, he is a newbie, but i disagreed. 1000 inspections and i'm a newbie. poppycock

i sometimes do 6-7 inspections a week, but read my lips,ONLY ONE A DAY. and that is my choice. i refer others out.

with the housing market slow these days--i still got my 200 in--and the year isn't over
read what was written not what you want it to say

good day


cvf

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

matt

where did i say i only do inspections on sundays???.
it was suggested that if an inspector works sundays, he is a newbie, but i disagreed. 1000 inspections and i'm a newbie. poppycock

i sometimes do 6-7 inspections a week, but read my lips,ONLY ONE A DAY. and that is my choice. i refer others out.

with the housing market slow these days--i still got my 200 in--and the year isn't over
read what was written not what you want it to say

good day


cvf

Charles
I have noted that to often on here that someone reads something into what is said that isn't there. Don't take it to heart. I understood what you were saying. I have more than 5000 inspections and must still be a newby. Because I do inspections on Sunday when the client requests that. I work for the client.
Bruce

As a small business owner, there are only 2 kinds of days. Days you're making money and days you're spending money. The given name of the day means nothing.

If the day of the week ends in the lettters 'd' , 'a' and 'y' in that order - I do inspections. Usually one - sometimes two if circumstances permit. Sundays, schmundays...whatever! I never really thought about 'fully qualified' and experienced Inspectors only working weekdays, hmmm, interesting, looks like I can give myself a day off.

ip

Well this thread took a fun turn...

I work Monday - Friday. Weekends are for the family and Church. It has worked well for my family and I for the past 15 years.