Excessive Deferred Home Maintenance

Excessive deferred maintenance, both inside and outside, often present difficult and dangerous work conditions for me. In most cases, where I find excessive deferred maintenance, I also find excessive furnishings and storage, both inside (see Figure 1), in the garage (see Figure 2), and outside (see Figure 3). While I strive to prepare an accurate report of the condition of the property at the time of the inspection, it is virtually impossible to do so in such circumstances due to the time-limited nature and generalizations inherent with a property inspection, as well as areas of the property not being visible, not being accessible, or being considered dangerous and unsafe. So be careful while on the property until conditions are improved.

The information contained in your property inspection report should not be construed as an exhaustive, complete, or definitive list of defects and areas of concern under any circumstances since that is not the purpose of a property inspection. However, simply moving into a structure that has been subject to excessive deferred maintenance for any significant period of time means that renovation of any part of the property will expose additional defects which were not noted in your property inspection report because they were not visible at the time of the inspection. In other words, I’m just not going to find everything under these conditions. If you have any concerns about things that might have been missed under the conditions present at the time of the inspection, you should schedule a re-inspection after all the furnishings and storage have been removed from the property, as well as thoroughly checking everything during your final walk-through. If you plan on doing any renovation, you should increase your budget to account for unexpected and unforeseen circumstances due to conditions at the time of the inspection. Additionally, before you close escrow, create a list of service professionals (plumber, electrician, etc.) to call in an emergency situation.

Following are some examples of deferred maintenance from actual inspections:

Figure 4 shows shelf paper holding the tiles to the wall in the shower. When the shelf paper was removed, the tiles fell off the wall, exposing moisture damage to the wall and floor, as well as significant mold growth. The whole bathroom had to be gutted and renovated.

Figure 5 shows a corner of the foundation of a house. There were extraordinarily large cracks in the walls at that area of the house; daylight was visible since the cracks were large enough to put a pencil through. The foundation had disintegrated and virtually disappeared. When the cracks got too large, I guess they found some river rocks to shore up the floor and walls.

If you look at Figure 6, the juxtaposition of the wall of beer cans with the workout equipment would have been funny if my Clients had not discovered many, many holes in the wall during their final walk-through, holes that the sellers had not disclosed. Obviously, the person using the workout equipment took it out on the wall when he didn’t meet his workout goals, but he sure had a nice beer can collection. This is a very good example of why you should do more than just laugh at some of the unique conditions that you see at the time of the inspection. So note very carefully the condition of the property both at the time of the inspection and again at your final walk-through.

Figure 7 shows the cooling condenser overgrown with vegetation. Under these conditions, cooling capacity will be diminished, not good if a hot, dry day. The conscientious sellers had disclosed that the cooling system was “lacking.” It’s no wonder. The vegetation here is a type of English ivy that has very strong, invasive, and destructive roots. However, when the heating and cooling professional simply removed the vegetation, the cooling system wasn’t “lacking” anymore. This is an example of what looks to be a serious and possibly expensive problem (cooling system doesn’t work) but could have been resolved easily, and before the property inspection, by the home owner, the gardener, or a good handyman, probably costing no more than forty or fifty dollars.

Figure 8 shows a rooftop “swamp cooler.” In this case, out of sight, out of mind. No, the cooler did not work and there was no way to repair it; it had to be replaced.

Figure 9 shows the most common deferred maintenance that I usually find. Due to the inherent nature of working in the air, roofs are expensive to maintain, repair, or replace, so they usually are the last item that gets the repair money. And yet it can be easy and inexpensive to take care of a roof; click here for roof maintenance tips and tricks.

Figure 10 shows rooftop vegetation growing in a water heating solar panel. Obviously the solar panel was not working anymore. As I drove up to this property, the vegetation was visible from the street, so I pretty well knew what to expect in the interior, and I was right. The vegetation are cat tails, which take quite some time to grow to that size, so it’s obvious that this deferred maintenance had been present for a few years. The rotted attic sheathing and living room ceiling under the solar panels confirmed that the problem had been present for quite some time.

Figure 11 shows a home owner trying to repair a rusted sink and drain connection with silicone sealant. Silicone sealant is a great material to use on a smooth, dry surface to prevent water leaks (we use them in aquariums), but trying to get it to stick to wet surfaces or rust just isn’t going to work.

Figure 12 shows what happens when maintenance is deferred for many years. . They are called “haunted houses” and were the joy of the city youth, including me, each year around Halloween.

If you have any questions about anything, simply contact me.

Figure 1. Excessive furnishings and storage in a bedroom.		Figure 2. Excessive furnishings and storage in the garage.		Figure 3. Excessive furnishings and storage outside.
Figure 4. Shelf paper being used to hold shower tiles in place.		Figure 5. River rocks being used to support the foundation.		Figure 6. Beer can wall in the workout room.
Figure 7. Cooling condenser overgrown with vegetation.		Figure 8. Rooftop “swamp cooler” that didn’t work.		Figure 9. A roof judged to be past the end of its useful life.
Figure 10. Rooftop vegetation growing in water heating solar panels.		Figure 11. Silicone sealant being used as plumbing repair.		Figure 12. Haunted houses result from ongoing deferred maintenance.

                      

                  Thank you for using The Upscale Home Inspections Service.

                                                            www.upscaleinspections.com