Property Wire
Some realtors call them the house whisperers. Others refer to them as house doctors.
Either way, home inspectors are a standard part of almost every property closing in the country. After spending a couple of hours walking around a house and checking everything from the front porch to the basement furnace, they can tell you if there is any sign of trouble with the property.
Or more importantly, what might give the home buyer the most trouble in the years to come.
“I look at myself as like the family doctor, you have to know a little bit about everything,” says Kirk Iredale, a home inspector with 20 years of experience and president of Iredale Home Information Inc. in Toronto.
“I can tell the buyer more about the house than even the builder sometimes. Not only what the property is like now but what they may want to watch for in the future’”.
Iredale says home inspectors start in different places –some will walk around the outside and climb up on the roof while others begin by shining a flashlight around and studying the basement. It doesn’t really matter, he explains, “as long as they start in the same place each time.”
The actual inspection usually takes about two and a half to three hours, but can take longer if the buyer has a lot of questions for the inspector.
“I did one 400 square foot detached house where they (were) nervous buyers and it took six and a half hours to go over everything. Their bathroom was in the basement because there was no room upstairs. They wanted to expand later and had questions about that. I didn’t mind in the least, though. There are guys who say why the heck would you want to spend time doing that, but it’s all customer service,” Iredale says.
“Right now almost all my business is through referrals from previous happy clients.”
Iredale says he prefers when the client pays directly for the home inspector rather than the real estate agent, in case his impartiality is challenged later in court.
Some of the more common structural problems home inspectors can find in houses are:
Uneven floors – uneven floors are typical, especially in older homes. Here is a trick to help distinguish between a typical home with character and a structural problem: If the floor sags to the middle of the home, it’s probably just a charming old home. Houses are like people, they sag in the middle when they get older. On the other hand, if the floor slopes towards an outside wall, there is a good chance the house has a significant structural problem.
Leaning House – While no house is perfect, this is one area where you should be very careful. Take a look at the house from across the street. If the house appears to be leaning one way or the other, there may be a structural problem. It may help to line up a front corner of the house with the back corner of an adjacent house just for reference. The corners should be parallel. Stepping back from the house to take a look is always a good idea. It is easy to miss something major by standing too close to it! If there is a lean that is detectable by eye, don’t take any chances, get it checked out.
Horizontal Foundation Cracks – It is not uncommon to find cracks in the foundation. This goes for new houses as well as old ones. While there is a great deal of engineering that goes into “reading” these cracks, there is one rule that you should never forget. “Horizontal cracks are a problem”. Of course not all vertical cracks are acceptable, but they are generally not as serious as a horizontal crack.
Harmless Cracks – Shrinkage cracks in a new house: Most new foundations will develop small vertical cracks. These cracks are a result of the concrete shrinking as it cures. These cracks are about 1 /8 inch wide or less. They don’t affect the structure. The only concern is leakage. If you see small cracks in a new foundation, don’t panic. In fact, in a new home, some builders will pre-crack the foundation and fill the crack with flexible material.
Plaster Cracks Inside A House – Few things are more misunderstood than plaster cracks on the inside of the house.
The following crack types are not generally related to structural movement:
• a small crack (less than 1 /4 inch) that follows the corner of the room where two walls meet
• small cracks that extend up from the upper corner of a door opening
The following cracks may be related to structural movement:
• large cracks (larger than 1 /4 inch in width)
• cracks that run diagonally across the wall
• cracks on the interior finish that are in the same vicinity as cracks on the exterior of the house
The idea of home inspectors first started in the early 1970s in direct response to the growing demand by home buyers. It soon became apparent that selecting a home inspector was becoming as important as finding the right home, according to the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (CAHPI) website.
But as the number of home inspectors grew, so did the complaints. Most provincial governments are now trying to catch up with the industry. For example, British Columbia adopted a licensing program last year, Ontario has had specific criteria for using the “registered home inspector” title since 1994 and Alberta is expected to pass new legislation for the industry early next year.
“That’s a problem out there right now. You have to be careful who you are, how much experience they have and what kind of training they have too,” says Iredale.
The biggest training programs available in the industry right now – through correspondence or at dozens of community colleges throughout Canada and the United States – are designed by Toronto-based CarsonDunlop Consulting Engineers.
“Our programs are the gold standard in the industry when it comes to training home inspectors,” company co-founder Bob Dunlop explains in an interview.
CarsonDunlop’s own home inspectors all have formal engineering backgrounds while inspectors at Boulevard Home Inspections, another CarsonDunlop company, do not.
“Boulevard was for when we had students who took the course and we saw they did really well and had potential in this industry, but didn’t have a degree in engineering,” Dunlop says. “Given their talent, we wanted to find a place for them without changing the standards for our own inspectors. That’s how Boulevard came about.”
When they come back from a home and sit down to write their report, home inspectors can also use Horizon Home Inspection Reporting Software. “That’s one of our companies too,” Dunlop says. “We’ve really tried to help the industry as much as possible when it comes to the need for training or tools.”
So what’s next for CarsonDunlop and the home inspection industry? “There are a couple of things we’re working on for next year but nothing that can really be announced right now,” Dunlop says with a laugh. “You’ll just have to wait and see”.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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