Deal Killer

Pictures mean 1000 words they say.

The electrician that rooked the seller with the sub should be lifted by his joules.:mrgreen:

This entire system from the mast to the outlets needed to be upgraded.

I never had seen so many safety issues. There where reverse polarity and open grounds all over. Even the furnace electrical was a mess.

Dave

The rest of the house was a mess. Needed a roof/furnace/water tank/Main DWV stack/garage foundation was broken.

That is a flourescent fixture in the one photo.

I hope this guy walks.

Man oh man…:shock:

Look her over…she ain’t for sale…one more payment and she’s all mine…:smiley: .

Fixer upper eh?

Talk about minutia–David, you’re such a nit-picker…

…course, I guess we all picked a few nits in our time.

Hmm…Nothing but Electrician Haters…lol…What makes you think an Electrician did that

Lets not start pissing on electricians…otherwise it may be CLEAR why they do not like HI’s for the most part…GESSHHH

As a “newbie” I have to ask… when inspecting a house like this, with a multitude of problems, do you ever get to the point where you state in your report that due to the numerous (electrical) problems the entire electrical system should be evaluated by a qualified electrical contractor? It seems if you tried to identify every single one of the problems you may miss something in the “rat’s nest”. Maybe a few comments about the overall condition supported by numerous photos?

With all the problems you have identified on this house I would tend to think this was the work of one dillusional homeowner that may have thought he was qualified to do his own wiring and repairs. Just the narrow view of the furnace shows a lack of any regard for maintenance or upkeep. A lot of jury rigged electrical wiring not typically found on an electrician done job. I recently did a house with similar examples of extreme stupidity. As I was pointing out some of the more obvious nightmares to the prospective buyer the owner chimed in proudly that he had done all the wiring in the addition himself. The deal dropped like a pregnant pole vaulter when I finished the report. This owner thought he could do anything whereas unfornately he could do nothing right and was living in a time bomb with several small children. I think I took over 80 pictures on that one.

And Robert, my answer is yes. After seeing dozens of unsafe and illegal discrepancies I defer the whole thing to a State licensed electrical contractor for a full system eval but I do list all the major problems and give myself a disclaimer that there are more items not detailed out in the report. Others may and will probably disagree as that is the nature of the BB. Do what’s right for your client and yourself. Don’t concern yourself if the deal falls through. Your customer will thank you. Realtor may not but if they are worth a flip they too will thank you.

Yes.

In fact, I’ll do that for the whole house, and my contract states that I’m looking at the general condition, not explicit conditions, so don’t plan on using the report as a repair list (everyone does anyway, though).

And here’s the “click here” reference:

Thanks RR and Doug!

Robert
I agree with your approach. I often refer to Lic. Specialist in there field, if similar conditions are found. My customers understand in my contract that I am commenting on General conditions with specific references, as needed. I am not always a favorite with the Sellers/ R.E. Agts., but I’m working for my client (Typically the Buyer) and I have a fiduciary and moral obligation to report to them.

Since you’re in Georgia, I suspect that you don’t have a fiduciary obligation to anyone as a home inspector. Nor do you want that type of responsibility. It brings on an extra set of responsibilities and liability that a generalist home inspector really does not want.

Check with your attorney and your E&O insurance provider before you go representing yourself as having a fiduciary duty to anyone.

I ran into a mess like Dave’s last month. The electric was a complete disaster so instead of continuing to look at everything about it I reported that because of the many safety issues I recommend the entire electrical system be examined by a licensed electrician.

Ahhh…I love when fellow HI’s keep us Electricians Busy…:slight_smile:

RR “In fact, I’ll do that for the whole house, and my contract states that I’m looking at the general condition, not explicit conditions, so don’t plan on using the report as a repair list (everyone does anyway, though).”

I have a similar statement in my Agreement–my attorney just loved it,
especially when I explained what it meant. Now he’s advising similar
lines in other inspection agreements.
And I got it from RR–so how about that there??