Summary Page
| Property Inspection Report | |
| Client(s): | John Doe1 |
| Property address: | 1234 Your Street Anytown,Ga.30540 |
| Inspection date: | 6/8/2010 |
REPORT CONCLUSION
Congratulations on the purchase of your new home. Inasmuch as we never know who will be occupying
or visiting a property, whether it be children or the elderly, we ask you to consider following these general
safety recommendations: install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors; identify all escape and rescue
ports; rehearse an emergency evacuation of the home; upgrade older electrical systems by at least adding
ground-fault outlets; never service any electrical equipment without first disconnecting its power source;
safety-film all non-tempered glass; ensure that every elevated window and the railings of stairs, landings,
balconies, and decks are child-safe, meaning that barriers are in place or that the distance between the rails
is not wider than three inches; regulate the temperature of water heaters to prevent scalding; make sure that
goods that contain caustic or poisonous compounds, such as bleach, drain cleaners, and nail polish
removers be stored where small children cannot reach them; ensure that all garage doors are well balanced
and have a safety device, particularly if they are the heavy wooden type; remove any double-cylinder
deadbolts from exterior doors; and consider installing child-safe locks and alarms on the exterior doors of all
pool and spa properties.
We are proud of our service, and trust that you will be happy with the quality of our report. We have
made every effort to provide you with an accurate assessment of the condition of the property and its
components and to alert you to any significant defects or adverse conditions. However, we may not have
tested every outlet, and opened every window and door, or identified every minor defect. Also because we
are not specialists or because our inspection is essentially visual, latent defects could exist. Therefore, you
should not regard our inspection as conferring a guarantee or warranty. It does not. It is simply a report on
the general condition of a particular property at a given point in time. Furthermore, as a homeowner, you
should expect problems to occur. Roofs will leak, drain lines will become blocked, and components and
systems will fail without warning. For these reasons, you should take into consideration the age of the house
and its components and keep a comprehensive insurance policy current. If you have been provided with a
home protection policy, read it carefully. Such policies usually only cover insignificant costs, such as that of
rooter service, and the representatives of some insurance companies can be expected to deny coverage on
the grounds that a given condition was preexisting or not covered because of what they claim to be a code
violation or a manufacture's defect. Therefore, you should read such policies very carefully, and depend
upon our company for any consultation that you may need.
Thank you for taking the time to read this report, and call us if you have any questions or observations
whatsoever. We are always attempting to improve the quality of our service and our report, and we will
continue to adhere to the highest standards of the real estate industry and to treat everyone with kindness,
courtesy, and respect.
Sincerely,
Stephen Gordy
A-Z Building Inspections
Concerns are shown and sorted according to these types:
 | Safety | Poses a risk of injury or death |
 | Repair/Replace | Recommend repairing or replacing |
 | Repair/Maintain | Recommend repair and/or maintenance |
 | Maintain | Recommend ongoing maintenance |
 | Evaluate | Recommend evaluation by a specialist |
 | Monitor | Recommend monitoring in the future |
 | Comment | For your information |
Exterior
1)
- The gravel driveway is in poor condition. Repairs should be made as necessary, such as filling holes or grading, and new gravel should be spread.
2)
- One or more downspouts are missing. This can result in water accumulating around the structure's foundation, or in basements and crawl spaces if they exist. Accumulated water is a conducive condition to wood destroying insects and organisms, and may also cause the foundation to settle and possibly fail over time. A qualified contractor should install downspout(s) where missing. Also recommend installing extensions such as splashblocks or tie-ins to underground drain lines as necessary to carry rainwater away from the house.
3)
- One or more gutters are missing. This can result in water accumulating around the structure's foundation, or in basements and crawl spaces if they exist. Accumulated water is a conducive condition to wood destroying insects and organisms, and may also cause the foundation to settle and possibly fail over time. A qualified contractor should install gutters and downspouts where missing. Also, extensions such as splashblocks or tie-ins to underground drain lines should be installed as necessary to carry rain water away from the house.
Attic
4)
- No access hatch was found for the attic. The inspector was unable to evaluate the attic, and it's excluded from this inspection. Recommend having a qualified contractor install access hatches as necessary and as per standard building practices to allow periodic evaluation of attic spaces.
Heating and cooling
5)
- Air handler filter(s) should be checked monthly in the future and replaced or washed as necessary.
6)
- The estimated useful life for most forced air furnaces is 15 to 20 years. This furnace appears to be approaching this age and may need replacing at any time. Recommend budgeting for a replacement in the near future.
7)
- The estimated useful life for air conditioning compressors is 8 to 15 years. This unit appears to be approaching this age and may need replacing at any time. Recommend budgeting for a replacement in the near future.
Plumbing and laundry
8)
- The clothes dryer is equipped with a vinyl or foil, accordion-type, flexible exhaust duct. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission considers these types of ducts to be unsafe, and a fire hazard. These types of ducts can trap lint and are susceptible to kinks or crushing, which can greatly reduce the air flow. This duct should be replaced with a rigid or corrugated semi-rigid metal duct, and by a qualified contractor if necessary. Most clothes dryer manufacturers specify the use of a rigid or corrugated semi-rigid metal duct. For more information, visit:
http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/5022.html
Fireplaces, woodstoves and chimneys
9)
- One or more fireplace or woodstove hearths are less than 18 inches deep. This is a fire hazard. At a minimum, non-combustible hearth pad(s) should be installed. Ideally the hearth(s) should be modified as necessary or installed by a qualified contractor so they are at least 18" deep.
10)
- All solid fuel burning appliances (woodstoves and fireplaces, etc.) should be inspected annually by a qualified chimney service contractor, cleaned and repaired as necessary.
Crawl space
11)
- Evidence of "light to moderate" rodent infestation was found in one or more areas. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) defines this as less than 20 feces per square foot. Rodent infestation may be a safety hazard due to the risk of contracting Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). HPS is a rare (only 20-50 cases per year in the United states) but deadly (40% mortality rate) disease transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings, or saliva. Humans can contract the disease when they breathe in aerosolized virus. For example, from sweeping up rodent droppings.
Recommend following guidelines in the CDC's Clean Up, Trap Up, Seal Up article for eradicating rodents, cleaning up their waste and nesting materials, and preventing future infestations. While Hantavirus is believed to survive less than one week in droppings and urine, specific precautions should be taken during clean up. The client(s) may wish to consult with a qualified, licensed pest control operator for eliminating the infestation. A qualified licensed abatement contractor or industrial hygienist could be contacted for clean up. If the infestation was minimal, clean up of rodent waste and nesting materials in non-living spaces (crawl spaces and attics) may not be necessary, or may be performed for aesthetic reasons only (odor and appearance).
12)
- Evidence of prior water intrusion was found in one or more sections of the crawl space. For example, sediment stains on the vapor barrier or foundation, and/or efflorescence on the foundation. Accumulated water is a conducive condition for wood destroying insects and organisms and should not be present in the crawl space. The client(s) should review any disclosure statements available and ask the property owner(s) about past accumulation of water in the crawl space. The crawl space should be monitored in the future for accumulated water, especially after heavy and/or prolonged periods of rain. If water is found to accumulate, a qualified contractor who specializes in drainage issues should evaluate and repair as necessary. Typical repairs for preventing water from accumulating in crawl spaces include:
Ideally, water should not enter crawl spaces, but if water must be controlled after it enters the crawl space, then typical repairs include installing trenches, gravity drains and/or sump pump(s) in the crawl space.
13)
- No vapor barrier is installed. This is a conducive condition for wood destroying insects and organisms due to the likelihood of water evaporating into the structure from the soil. A qualified contractor should install a vapor barrier. Standard building practices require the following:
Better building practices require that:
Kitchen
14)
- One or more cabinets and/or drawers are damaged and/or deteriorated. A qualified contractor should evaluate and repair or replace cabinets and/or components as necessary.
Bathrooms
15)
- Tile and/or grout around one or more bathtubs is damaged or deteriorated. For example, deteriorated or missing grout, cracked, missing or loose tiles, etc. A qualified contractor should evaluate and repair tile and/or grout as necessary. both main and master bath need grout
16)
- shower head in master bath needs replaced
17)
- One or more sinks are cracked or broken. A qualified plumber should replace the sink(s) where necessary.
18)
- Caulk is missing or deteriorated around one or more shower surrounds. It should be replaced where deteriorated and/or applied where missing to prevent water intrusion and damage to the wall structure.
Interior rooms
19)
- ceiling fan in master bedroom missing globe
20)
- hole in master bedroom ceiling has hole from previous leaky.
21)
- wall in living room has tore wall paper.
22)
- Carpeting in one or more rooms is soiled and/or stained. Recommend having carpeting professionally cleaned as necessary.
