Putting cosmetic items in your inspections

[Brian E. Kelly]

Would this be cosmetic????

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

Would this be cosmetic????

No. That's poor workmanship. (What country was he from? Persia? )

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by jfunderburk

No. That's poor workmanship. (What country was he from? Persia? )

You gotta great memory Joe.

[David A. Andersen]

Personally I do not feel that I should be wasting my time with those issues.

Give your client a roll of tape and give them something to do while you're inspecting the house!

I will often stick a piece of tape on a defect, but it never goes in the report!
If I do it once, I be expected to do it again sometime.

It seems to me that I read somewhere that we are to report on "significant deficiencies" and I don't see a bad paint job as a significant deficiency on the interior of the house.

By the way, I have never been asked to identify or document deficiencies like this. In 12 years, the house is usually polkadotted with tape before I arrive or the client is there doing it at the same time I'm inspecting.

There are things that appear cosmetic, such as i improper tile grouting against the bathtub or shower. Water infiltration will destroy the sub floor and walls and cause mold growth on the interior of the finished walls, so that is really not a cosmetic deficiency to begin with.

[mthomas2]

IMO when to comment on "cosmetic" issues is largely a function of their possible financial implications.

For example when I encounter damaged/missing vinyl siding I mention in my reports that even if replacement material is still available sometimes the remaining siding will have faded sufficiently so that the new material will not match, and that if this is the case repair will always have a "patched" appearance. I think that's something my client will want to know, and something the average person is not likely to be aware of.

In these situations however IMO the report should at a minimum also state clearly that this is a cosmetic issue - that if properly installed the new siding will not be significantly deficient in functional terms - and in my reports I go the extra step of breaking out such comments into a separate "FYI" category to make this distinction clear.