Forclosures

[Reece D. Welch]

Does anyone put a caveat in their report that plumbing in homes that have not been occupied in some time may have "dry" seals and gaskets that may leak in the future?

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

Yep.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Nope.

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

Sometimes.

[Harry E. McClard]

Sometimes. Depends.

[Reece D. Welch]

Okay. Thank you all for the enlightening answers.
A better question would be what wording do you use?

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by rwelch

Okay. Thank you all for the enlightening answers.
A better question would be what wording do you use?

I don't but if I did I may use something like this:

Originally Posted by rwelch

Plumbing in homes that have not been occupied in some time may have "dry" seals and gaskets that may leak in the future.

[Bob Elliott]

I tell my clients that it seems 90% of the time they winterize a place there are issues with plumbing after it is turned back on.

If turned on just before your inspection there may be hidden leaks occurring that even a IR camera may not find till later.

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

Originally Posted by rwelch

Okay. Thank you all for the enlightening answers.
A better question would be what wording do you use?

Amazing that you have all those State Certifications, letters after your name, and are a CMI to boot and yet you don't have some simple language like this written already.

[Reece D. Welch]

Originally Posted by sstanczyk

Amazing that you have all those State Certifications, letters after your name, and are a CMI to boot and yet you don't have some simple language like this written already.

Actually, Stephen, I do already have simple language that I use for this. I wanted to see what others were doing (ie if anyone gave this same caveat). I am in SW Florida and we don't winterize homes here, so leaks from lack of use are far less frequent.

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

Just bustin your chops Reece. I have a notice in my plumbing limitations section that I use for vacant homes. Over 90% of the homes I have inspected in the last 2 years have been vacant and a majority of those have been winterized for some period of time. But then our climates are vastly different.

"Due to the change in the national economy and the real estate industry, many homes for sale have been vacant for prolonged periods of time. During the inspection, normal care will be taken to look for leaks around pipes and fixtures. Many properties have been without water due to a winterization process. This can allow some gaskets, washers or O-rings to dry out and crack. Once full pressure has been introduced to the system for a longer period of time, leaks may appear. Repairing these leaks should be considered a part of normal home owner maintenance.

[Joseph Hagarty, CMI]

Originally Posted by rwelch

Does anyone put a caveat in their report that plumbing in homes that have not been occupied in some time may have "dry" seals and gaskets that may leak in the future?

I prefer to test all.
The visualization of the leak works better than a comment that the fixtures "may" leak...

[Reece D. Welch]

Thanks Stephen. I don't say anything about the economy in my statement. I like that, though. I think I'll revise.