I am a first time home buyers so no idea about this stuff. My agent recommended "E" (home inspector) to me. We did a walkthrough of the house together with my agent, "E" found minor details aside from the noticeable ones and I was impressed. I thought I was lucky to get his service. Now I regretted it.
About a month after we moved in, I discovered water from the upstairs bath was dripping to the basement which happens to be where the electric panel was located. We don't usually go to the basement so I just discovered it when I happened to be there while someone was taking a bath upstairs. I had pointed the water stains to "E" during the inspection but he assured me that they were old stains and should not be of any concern.
A few months after, I decided to add more attic insulation to prepare for the winter. An insulation contractor inspected my attic and discovered a big nest in a corner. He said that it looks like it has been there for quite some time, definitely not a few months old. He is not sure if the nest is still inhabited and advised us to get it removed first. The contractor was even surprised when I mentioned that we recently had a home inspection and it wasn't discovered back then.
While doing renovation in the basement shower, the contractor found that the shower drain was draining poorly and when excavated found that the p trap was punctured and a piece of old tile was plugging it. It seemed that some of the water was seeping out of the punctured drain which he said will be an issue sooner or later because it will cause the ground underneath to soften. The slow drain should have been noticed during the house inspection though.
During renovation as well, it was discovered that water was seeping behind the tiled shower wall and the lower part of the drywall on that side was rotten. I know inspectors cannot see behind walls but on the other side of that wall was the unfinished part of the basement therefore the other side was exposed and with careful inspection the rotting part at the bottom should have been noticed.
I know I should have been more attentive during the inspection so it is partly my fault that I haven't seen those potential issues but that is also the reason why I hired a house inspector in the first place. I am very much disappointed with his service. Our visit during inspection lasted about 2 hours in total, my agent said it was a small house so it did not take long but now I realized that this was also an old house so it should have been more thorough.
I feel xcheated and I was terribly disappointed with the service I got. I’m not sure I can trust any home inspector again, it is not cheap mind you. I definitely will not recommend him to anyone.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $500.00