Evaluating Structural Framing. A MUST READ for every home inspector!!

[Nick Gromicko]

Evaluating Structural Framing

[Bob Elliott]

Good Roof framing sketches

[Bruce A. King]

A quote from the article: In evaluating homes, at one end of the spectrum are great architectural designs and engineering, quality workmanship, and top-quality materials. At the other end of the spectrum, all those things are poor and failing. Homes that are either in great shape or terrible shape are easy to inspect because they require very little judgment.


This is not true of the high end homes, while the overall materials and workmanship might be well above average it can be deceiving if you know where to look. You should never be impressed with a house to the point where you fail to properly inspect it. I have found missing nails on LVL hangers over master bedrooms but it required walking the beam and looking under the insulation. These large homes also have some other major issues with the framing but might only be found during a pre-drywall inspection.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Nice article. Thanks.

The log home foundation photos were exceptional. Who inspected that log home?

[Nick Gromicko]

Kenton did. Basically, we've retired Kenton. He no longer accepts inspections unless it is something that really interests him, like a multi-million dollar log home. If it's not juicy, he turns the work down. And he always brings a few cameras.

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

Originally Posted by bking

A quote from the article: In evaluating homes, at one end of the spectrum are great architectural designs and engineering, quality workmanship, and top-quality materials. At the other end of the spectrum, all those things are poor and failing. Homes that are either in great shape or terrible shape are easy to inspect because they require very little judgment.


This is not true of the high end homes, while the overall materials and workmanship might be well above average it can be deceiving if you know where to look. You should never be impressed with a house to the point where you fail to properly inspect it. I have found missing nails on LVL hangers over master bedrooms but it required walking the beam and looking under the insulation. These large homes also have some other major issues with the framing but might only be found during a pre-drywall inspection.

One $12 million property I actually worked on was terrible, just terrible. A spec home built over 2 years, the the subfloor was exposed for a long time. The exterior walls were CMU with 6-inch used for the first floor and 8" used for the second floor. None of it grout-filled that I found.

It's true that things will be hidden, but I meant from a judgement standpoint, if you see bad, bad things you don't have to as hard try to figure out what to say in the report... it's obviously bad... or good.