Browse Forums Real Estate 1 Jan 10, 2014 4:48 am I bought a house two months ago and haven't really moved in. The house passed building inspection, but several defects were pointed out to me. Since spending more time at the house, I've discovered that: 1. The kitchen window is broken (hidden by closed blinds) 2. A toilet's water was turned off to hide that it is leaking. 3. In a storm, water comes in under the front door, laundry door and two other doors that lead outside. The building inspector pointed out to me that the laundry door was scraping the tiles. It is now obvious that this is because of water expanding the door. 4. An upstairs sliding door and accompanying insect screen door leave large gaps down the bottom when closed. The door is at the end of the house (along the length, not width). This is worrying -- does this indicate subsidence the end of the house? 5. Large holes in the wall were hidden by a wall rack. 6. Toilets seem backed up. Paper disappears when flushed but reappears. Should any of these have been picked up by the building inspector? If he missed a few things like the broken window and swollen door is due to flooding when it rains, and the gap in the sliding door, could he have missed more important things? What can or should I do? Re: Should these have been missed by the building inspector? 2Jan 10, 2014 11:19 am randomwalk 2. A toilet's water was turned off to hide that it is leaking. Will be an easy fix as there are only a couple of things that it can be but it does indicate a neglect of maintenance issues. randomwalk 6. Toilets seem backed up. Paper disappears when flushed but reappears. This indicates that a small capacity cistern has been fitted to an older style pan. A toilet operates by a syphonic flush system that syphons the pan but it must also leave clean water in the pan when the syphon breaks. If there is not enough water flushed, then the syphon will not operate with the required efficiency. If this is the case, the cistern will need replacing by one with a larger capacity...or the pan replaced. Again, this also indicates the neglect of a basic maintenance issue. Basic things like this are something that the home buyer should check regardless of whether they use the services of a building inspector or not. There are many vital areas that are often missed during building inspections. One thing that must be checked is the height that the gutter's back wall has been installed below the top of the fascia. There are hundreds of thousands of houses fitted with non compliant roof drainage and if the gutters can overflow into a wall cavity, you could be buying serious trouble. I see it all the time. http://www.smh.com.au/news/domain/news/ ... ntentSwap2 http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hidden-report ... 1hx55.html 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Should these have been missed by the building inspector? 3Jan 10, 2014 3:24 pm I wouldn't be happy if I'd paid a person to check the house for me. Re: Should these have been missed by the building inspector? 4Jan 10, 2014 8:51 pm SaveH2O Basic things like this are something that the home buyer should check regardless of whether they use the services of a building inspector or not. While I don't disagree, a lot of people wouldn't know what to check and hence use the services of an inspector. I believe an inspector should have picked up those issues. I'd be speaking to the inspector and asking him to assist with the cost of rectifying the repairs. Re: Should these have been missed by the building inspector? 5Jan 11, 2014 3:14 pm We do a lot of pre purchase inspections to AS 4349.1(building inspection) and 4349.3(timber pest inspection) and use format provided to us by our professional indemnity insurer Rapid Solutions Once inspection enquiry is booked we refer our customer to our web site http://www.buildingepert.net.au to read inspection agreements. found on bottom of page once you click make a booking. The agreements are there to inform and educate the client about scope of the inspection and what is included and what is not. Many people mistakenly believe that pre purchase inspection is a guarantee against all defects regardless of circumstances, it's not! It's a best attempt on the day to determine and report significant issues and advise the client. This means it is a risk reduction, not a guarantee. As experienced property inspector I can tell you that there is rarely such thing as "perfect inspection" There are always circumstances and impediments to full inspection. Our duty to inspect is limited by our duty under OH&S to provide safe working practice for the inspectors. Inspecting homes is inherently dangerous occupation. If I was employing your son as my inspector what would you tell me if I sent him into sub floor space knowing it was treated with carcinogenic (cancer causing ) chemicals or into roof space buried with insulation and hiding termite damage until he falls through. However on balance experienced inspector should find and report significant issues. We do! Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Should these have been missed by the building inspector? 6Jan 14, 2014 9:21 am Its also a bit like a car report by NRMA or RACQ - doesn't mean it won't break down tomorrow - it just means it should be OK. The report is often couched in terms and conditions that protect the "expert" in case they haven't seen something. Often they can't see things. Re: Should these have been missed by the building inspector? 7Jan 15, 2014 9:08 am The inspector should have picked up on the water damage to the door but you can't expect them to move furniture to check for holes. Have you settled on the property? If so the problems are now yours. If not you may be able to negotiate but I don't like your chances. Just chalk it up to lessons learnt. I've seen some building inspections that have missed MAJOR structural issues. Unfortunately most people only buy 1-2 houses in their lifetime so don't know the pitfalls to buying and selling houses. Hopefully they are small issues which can be rectified at not too much cost. I would send it to the certifier who is technically your representative and working on your behalf not the builder's 1 2278 You have mandatory building inspections and privately engaged building inspections. The difference between the two comes down to inspecting the building so it's safe and… 3 18082 Hi All, I just wanted to close this topic out with an update. So we ended up agreeing to a number with the insurance company, and after an extensive amount of hand… 8 23405 |