| Structural Pest & Home Inspection Report | |
| Client(s): | xxxxxxxx |
| Property address: | xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxx xx |
| Inspection date: | Tuesday 19th April 2005 |
Thank you for choosing SureLook Homes Inc for your structural pest & home inspection.
The scope of this report is written in accordance with:-
1) The Standards Of Practice issued by The National Association Of Certified Home Inspectors. http://www.nachi.org/sop.htm.
2) Wood Destroying Organism Inspection Standards of the Washington State Pest Control Association, in accordance with Washington Administrative Code 16-228-2005 through 2045.
Please note that this report is not technically exhaustive of all concerns/problems of the said property but a general overview and insight of it's condition.
The costings and prices contained in this report do not have any contractual relevance and they are pure speculation and are co-incidental to have been printed in this report. They should be treated with complete irrelevance. Any credence given to them by any party reading this report does so at their own financial risk.
It is recommended that any deficiencies and the components/systems related to these deficiencies noted in this report be evaluated/inspected and repaired as needed by a licensed contractor/professionals prior to the close of escrow. Further evaluation prior to the close of escrow is recommended so a properly licensed professional can evaluate our concerns further and inspect the remainder of the system or component for additional concerns that may be outside our area of expertise or the scope of our inspection.
 | Safety | Poses a risk of injury or death |
 | Major defect | Correction likely involves a significant expense |
 | Repair/Replace | Recommend repairing or replacing |
 | Repair/Maintain | Recommend repair and/or maintenance |
 | Evaluate | Recommend evaluation by a specialist |
 | Serviceable | Item or component is in serviceable condition |
 | Comment | For your information |
Structural Pest Inspection Concerns
Items marked with the following icons relate to the structural pest inspection
 | Infestation | Evidence of infestation of wood destroying insects or organisms (Live or dead insect bodies, fungal growth, etc.) |
 | Damage | Damage caused by wood destroying insects or organisms (Rot, carpenter ant galleries, etc.) |
 | Conducive conditions | Conducive conditions for wood destroying insects or organisms. (Wood-soil contact, shrubs in contact with siding, roof or plumbing leaks, etc.) |
Table of Contents
General information
Exterior
Detached garage
Roof
Electric service
Water heater
Heating
Attic
Plumbing and laundry
Basement
Interior rooms
| General information | Return to table of contents |
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1) Overall this house is "Prime Real Estate" being low level water front with the Seattle skyline and surrounding area views. The closeness of neighbors and the level of lower end housing in the area may depreciate it's value slightly. The value of this kind of property in today's market would seem to be very high due to the "price of the view". The basic house is probably worth $xxx-$xxx,000 and thereafter the view at $xxx,000-xxx,000. Repair and remodeling costs are highly volatile as personal finish and style vary so much but this house probably leans towards at least $75,000 and as much as $150,000 depending upon the investor involved. Smaller sums could also be spent in revitalization of this house. Completely renovated this house may provide a sale price of something in the order of between $xxx,000 - $xxx,000. So a buying price of around $xxx,000 is suggested with a budget for remodeling as follows. 1) Demolition and removal of wrap around deck/storage areas - $3,000 2) Clean out of basement - $1,500 3) Seal external open areas - $5,000 4) Evaluate and re-support two sun rooms - $5,000 5) New AC system - $10,000 6) New water heater and plumbing test etc, - $1,000 7) New electrical installation - $8,000 8) New wrap around deck etc, - $10,000 9) Garage repairs - $5,000 10) Roof check etc - 1,000 11) New cabinets/plumbing fixtures etc, - $5,000 12) New Laundry area $2,000 13) Various drywalling/general builders work including basement etc etc, - $10,000 14) New floor coverings and general decoration - $15,000 |
| Exterior | Return to table of contents |
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2) Multiple problems have caused failure of the wrap around deck and hot tub platform. Mainly due to poor structural construction and thereafter rain water and plumbing water penetration and degeneration of timbers and decking.
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3) The wrap around deck was then also enclosed to form storage areas and again various problems including poor construction and general lack of TLC have left an open and poor shell to work with.
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4) What looks to have taken place at the front of the house is that a double tiered external deck has been used to extend the house walls and then enclosed to form two sun rooms. The deck then has been extended to form a wrap around with a section for a hot tub.
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5) Various siding defects are present on the main structure and on the lower storage area. Obviously the main area will need repair including possibly the upper sun room roof. Those lower levels where storage was and the sun deck probably would be best served by demolition with a new wrap around sun deck installed, particularly if the main outer sun rooms are kept. |
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6) On the south side of the house a breakfast nook has been extended out and is supported on a treated beam with piers and posts. Vegetation is covering these posts which needs to be cut back to ensure against any possible rot that may be occurring. Support off the house should also be examined and if necessary repairs should be carried out.
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7) The foundation of the building looks to be intact but only a partial external viewing could be seen and therefore further in depth inspections would need to be carried out to be totally satisfied. This can be better achieved after the basement has been gutted etc. | |||
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8) At the rear an entrance has been covered and looks to have been built over the basement entrance and the retaining wall has been used for a foundation. Again some clearing and cleaning is required to examine these walls for structural stability.
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9) The first course of action in a project of this scale is to define a time scale for work with budget allowances. A minimum of 6 months and a sum of $75,000.00 is suggested as a starting point. This could be doubled and anything in between may occur, depending upon the actual extent and finish of the work required. If funds are tight, repair of the existing structures is feasible with a partial strip out and insertion of new structural beams to ensure the two story's are adequately supported as at present visual indications suggest this not to be the case. Some footing foundation work may also be necessary. With regards to the footing, the existing needs to be examined as the second storey was an attic conversion, permits should have been raised and this should have been done to code. Information from the seller and the county records should be investigated. Thereafter some excavation may be needed to see if the footing was altered to allow for the additional building load or not. Advise form a structural engineer may be necessary. |
| Detached garage | Return to table of contents |
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10) The garage requires an extensive evaluation to render structural issues occurring. The western elevation supporting wall is inclined due to ground movement of the retaining wall foundation. An open area underneath is stuffed full of old timbers which may be harboring wood destroying organisms incuding insects These should be removed and all items stored with in the building so access for a structural engineer can inspect and evaluate with proposals for repair etc.
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| Roof | Return to table of contents |
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11) The roof was not accessed due to height but does not look to be that old. Recommend that a roofing contractor inspect/clean/repair as necessary including the guttering systems.
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| Electric service | Return to table of contents |
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12) One or more circuit breakers are "double tapped", (in the basement panel), where 2 or more wires are clamped in a circuit breaker terminal, and the circuit breaker is only designed for 1 wire. This is a safety hazard since wires may come loose and cause arcing, sparking and fires.
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13) This home has solid-strand branch circuit aluminum wiring. This type of aluminum wiring is a potential fire hazard. Problems due to expansion and contraction can cause overheating at connections between the wire and devices such as switches and outlets, or at splices. The Consumer Products Safety Commission recommends either discontinuing use of circuits with aluminum wiring, or pigtailing copper wiring onto the ends of the aluminum wire. Recommend having a qualified electrician evaluate and repair or replace this wiring. For more information, visit: http://www.inspect-ny.com/aluminum.htm
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14) Due to the poor electrical installation recommend that a rip out and re-installation occur. Costings for such a job could range from $6-9,000. |
| Water heater | Return to table of contents |
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15) The estimated useful life for water heaters is 8-12 years. This water heater appears to be at this age or older and may need replacing at any time. Recommend that old heaters be discarded and a new installation occur with a thorough test of all the plumbing services. Typical costs might be $700-$1,000.
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| Heating | Return to table of contents |
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16) The house is only provided with a few heaters and much of the house heat was probably left to solar gain. Various rooms including bedrooms have no heaters. Highly recommend that a Heat Pump Air Conditioned system be installed as this will provide the best source of conditioned air through out the whole building including the basement. Costs would be great but the benefits are high. A budget price for such a system with appropriate controls may be between $8-12,000. Obviously a simple forced air heating only system could be $5,000 and only baseboard as little as $2,500.
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| Attic | Return to table of contents |
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17) The attic area was partially traversed and the under side of the roof was inspected. No adverse conditions were noted and we can assume no specific defect is present but recommend that a professional roofer evaluate and repair as necessary as mentioned in the roofing section. |
| Plumbing and laundry | Return to table of contents |
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18) The washing machine point is on the upper level built into a small alcove. The clothes dryer point was not noted at this time. Recommend that a purpose built area be provided for both with plumbing, electrical and exhaust outlets provided appropriately.
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19) The plumbing service looks to be a minor mix of old and mainly all new within the last 10-20 years. The service was off at the time of the inspection and therefore was not tested. Obviously as long as the existing areas are kept the same the main plumbing services could be utilized as appropriate once tested and repaired.
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| Basement | Return to table of contents |
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20) The basement areas were noted to be contaminated with mold spores growing in various places. All seemed to be caused by basic deficiencies i.e. Ventilation and heating with an appropriate food source in the form of minor moisture problems. Two samples were sent to an approved laboratory for testing and proved to be the following :- 1) Cladosporium - Commonly found on dead plants,woody plants, food, straw, paint and textiles.Common cause of extrinsic asthma (immediate - type hypersensitivity : type 1). Acute symptoms include edema and bronchiospasms; Chronic cases may develop pulmonary emphysema. 2) Commonly found in soil, food, cellulose and grains. It is also found in paint and compost piles. It may cause hypersensitivity pneumonitis and allergic alveolitis in susceptible individuals. Common cause of extrinsic asthma (immediate-type hypersensitivity: type1). Acute symptoms include edema and bronchiospasms; chronic cases may develop pulmonary emphysema. Recommend that the whole basement area be stripped out back to studs ets. All mold affected areas (if basic building material) should be disposed of. Concrete if affected may be able to be cleaned down with substances like ZYMO CAT. For more information search the internet for www.startremodelling.com
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21) Once a complete strip out has occurred in the basement area a further evaluation can be made of any addition works required. Some floor joists could be seen to have been affected from rot from many years ago and had been re-strengthened. The moisture problems need to be identified and remedied. Some waterproofing/sealing of basement walls/floors may be necessary, etc etc. All other services that need to be attended to can be done so with slightly more ease at this stage.
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| Interior rooms | Return to table of contents |
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22) The upper level sun room has been poorly installed by someone "trying their hand at construction". The roof ceiling joists are nailed and pulling away from their ledger board. The floor can clearly be seen to be sloping probably due to no specific support from underneath. As suggested this could be remedied by installing some new beam supports and interjoin these through the two levels this would save time and money and may be an option to a complete rip out and timely permits etc. Recommend evaluation from a compitant builder or Structural Engineer.
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23) Overall all the interior rooms need some attention in one form or another with bathrooms probably in need of some updating replacement as does the kitchen but in general all could be worked with to help keep the financial costs down.
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