8,000 sq. ft Without a shred of insulation.

[Dale Duffy]

The house I inspected this morning is a year and a half old, the owner who only lives here in the winter had me inspect it for the two year warranty he has with the builder.

I simply could not believe my eyes when I went into the attic, which is the FULL 8,000 sq. ft. of the building.

Not a single piece, shred, stitch, hunk, chunk, of insulation in the attic what so ever.

I cannot imagine for the life of me how the City inspectors, all the contractors who have been in and out of it during the last year and a half installing various NEW items like a security system, speaker wiring, HVAC repairs which were done a year ago, and not a soul mentioned to this man he does not have ANY INSULATION in the attic....simply mind boggling.....

1.8 Million with about 10 grand of insulation MISSING....he said he even paid for an R-38... an UPGRADE by Arizona standards which is an R-30 for attic-ceilings..........

[Steven C. Waskewicz]

Dang nice catch Dale, ring that bell with him...

[chunt1]

Unbelievable.....did the owner mention that it seemed to take a long time to warm up the place?!

[ccurrins]

I think if I would have paid 1.8 mil. I would have taken a peek in the attic. It's a good thing he had you.

[Dominic J. Maricic]

Wow. That's unbelievable!

[John McKenna]

City inspectors in Houston sometime have to look at 30 houses per day.
Considering traffic jams between houses, that allows about 5 min per house
on a busy day.

I'm suprised they find much of anything.

[Larry D. Kage]

That is a new "heavy air" blanket of insulation...sheeesh!

[Dale Duffy]

Pretty crazy huh guys....I simply cannot believe nobody told the man the builder didn't have insulation installed.

Now the man who owns this house is a retired CEO of a very large corporation, probably in his middle 70's, like I said only lives here in the winter, and goes back east in the summer. He is not able to get on a ladder to look for himself.

He was telling me about all the new sound systems, security, video, etc, that was installed from the attic in the last year and a half since he closed escrow, and probably had 20 different people up there doing one thing or another, and when I told him there wasn't a lick of insulation he thought I was BS-ing him.

Simply unreal.

Not many people care about anything anymore, really a crying shame.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by dduffy

Simply unreal.

Not many people care about anything anymore, really a crying shame.

Yeah! Don't rock the boat. I need that next job/referral from the GC. It's like those writing fluff reports for realtors to make sure thay get the next referral.

There may be problems with the insulation job if pot/down lights are not approved for insulated ceilings (IC). Will require IC approved fixtures or build approved protective boxes (if allowed) over each light requiring protection. I once refused an attic blown insulation job due to fact that 24 potlights installed by licensed electrician were not IC approved. Contractor would not pay enough for my men to build appropriate boxes.

[Ian A. Niquette]

I'll bet the poor guy payed for the missing insulation though. Highway robbery!

[Barry Adair]

$1.8M, I'm not feeling so sorry folks. Client may have gotten what he was unwilling to pay for.

Not that this out an out attempt to rip someone off is acceptable.

1. No phase inspection or the other inspector should be buying the already paid for insulation, along with the builder
2. No 1-yr warranty inspection or the other inspector should be buying the already paid for insulation, along with the builder
3. 2-year warranty inspector finds the obvious infraction

As far as other trades notifying, I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

How many times do we here on this board have discussions/arguments about what we do and don't inspect/report, where we do or don't go...and excuse the behavior or lack thereof by "it's excluded in my contract"?
This in our minds makes it all hunky dory and someone else's job to notify our client, because we aren't.

If you're holding your breath waiting for a cable, audio, HVAC, anyone to notify who, of what...something they may not be privy too? I'll see you on the other side

BIG SHOCK! There are builders that will install on one job to pass insp. and get paid, only to remove and reuse on one down the road, down the road, down the road you get the picture...

Good job doing the job you were paid to do. Hope the owner gets blown before another day goes by

[John M. Acaron]

Does not surprise me at all. Back in 2006 I was called to inspect a house by the owner. The house was 1.5 year old. The house was built by two local Realtors (investment) and sold to this guy. No inspection was done. The guy trusted the Realtor because he was also the builder. It turned out that no insulation was found inside the attic and three code violations were also found.

Now, who is to be blame? The county building inspector? The builder who happens to be the Realtor or the buyer for being so ignorant?

This tells you that even new homes can also have severe issues. I nailed the builder (Realtor). He was pissed with me because I discovered these issues and cost him several thousands of dollar to fix them.

I have been called a DK in my area because we do a good job.

Inspected Once, Inspected Right!!!

John M. Acaron
HOMEINSPECTORUSA

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by jacaron

Does not surprise me at all. Back in 2006 I was called to inspect a house by the owner. The house was 1.5 year old. The house was built by two local Realtors (investment) and sold to this guy. No inspection was done. The guy trusted the Realtor because the was also the builder. It turned out that no insulation was found in the attic and three code violations were also found.
Now, who is to be blame? The county building inspector? The builder who happens to be the Realtor or the buyer for being so ignorant?

This tells you that even new homes can also have severe issues. I nailed the builder (Realtor). He was pissed with me because I discovered these issues and cost him several thousands of dollar to fix them.

I have been called a DK in my area because we do a good job.

Inspected Once, Inspected Right!!!

John M. Acaron
HOMEINSPECTORUSA

New homes take me longer than older homes!!!! More regular code items that you have to look at. Have had 4 litigations on expensive new homes in the past 2 years.

[Jeffrey S. Campbell]

makes you wonder if there was any insulation in the walls?

[Karl E. Gerhauser]

Really Barry?????

Good job doing the job you were paid to do. Hope the owner gets blown before another day goes by