Inspection

The main problem with buying an older house is that everything in it is also old. Not only are we dealing with the original interior design, we're also dealing with old wiring, old plumbing, and old flooring. Some of these things are already giant pains in the rear -- more on that in a future post -- but they all have to eventually be fixed and brought up to date (and in many cases, also up to code).

I'm limiting this post to problems arising out of our structural inspection. Believe me, I have a whole 'nother list of things I personally would like to change...

Evan and I, along with our real estate agent Georgia, met Jim the Inspector about a week ago to go over the house with a fairly fine tooth comb.

First impression of Jim: he's the long lost twin of a friend of ours from law school (Dan C.). Looks like him, talks like him, laughs like him. Only difference is that Jim is quite a bit taller. Neither of us mentioned it at the time, but several days later, we had the following IM conversation:

12:24 PM Evan: hey - I'm (actually) working, but this just came back to me - didn't you think it was funny having Dan [C] inspect our house?

12:25 PM me: lol, that's what I was thinking the entire inspection

Jim was very helpful. He spotted a lot of things we didn't notice on our second walk-through of the house.

Things to Fix, per Jim the Inspector

1. Vent the attic. The attic currently only has two vents. Most attics have four.
2. Replace the entrance door to the garage. Okay, we knew about this one. When we were on our second walk-through, we went to look at the garage. The door wouldn't open. Georgia used a laminated grocery card to jimmy the lock, and it opened right up. Also, it's looking a little threadbare.
3. Replace the garage roof. Wha...? Alright, it has to be done, but later rather than sooner. I mean, if it caves in, it only means that Evan is down one car. Maybe I should persuade him to keep the Jetta in there? Hmm...
4. Paint the garage. Yeah, it's looking a little barn-like. We'll coordinate it with the house. Again, later rather than sooner.
5. Put smoke detectors in all rooms. Umm, yeah, not interested in burning down.
6. Kitchen faucet is leaking. Whatever, we're putting in a whole new kitchen. Fodder for a future post.
7. Replace soft flooring around base of toilet. Jim said it's probably just the linoleum flooring that's soft. There's no evidence of water damage in the crawl space. Apparently, the wax seal is about 50 years old, and is no longer effective against plumbing leaks. It should be a straightforward fix. We want to get rid of the ugly faux-marble linoleum anyway.
8. Shower head is not properly sealed. No problemo. We'll replace with a low-flow shower head anyway.
9. Bathroom sink valve may be clogged. Bleh. Do we need a plumber for that?
10. Tub drains slowly. Hmm. I'm seeing a pattern here with the plumbing.
11. No ventilation in bathroom. We'll need ourselves a fan.
12. No vapor barrier in crawl space. This apparently involves putting a plastic lining under the house. You will not see me doing this. I hope Evan's up to the task.
13. Repair small crack in foundation. Thankfully, nothing serious. The house shows no evidence of settling. We'll have to caulk up a few cracks, and voila!
14. Plumbing is made of galvanized steel, and may need replacement. So, apparently, galvanized steel builds up rust deposits after 50 years or so. Lucky us, to be buying a 60 year old house! We'll have to replace the plumbing with newer pipes. Maybe that'll solve the sink/tub issues?

And then, there were the two doozies.

First: the electrical panel is the original electrical panel. It's still set up to handle the electrical needs of a 1950s home. It's not even strong enough to handle a dryer, let alone the demands of a contemporary home. Jim said the panel is completely unsafe and nowhere near up to code. Not to mention, there's a sink right next to it. Yes. I don't know who thought it'd be a great idea to put a water source right next to an electricity source. Smart move! Lucky for us, we did notice the old panel during our walk-through, so we weren't surprised by the upgrade requirement.

Second: The current water heater, a 40-gallon tank that sits under the counter in the corner of the kitchen, has been leaking for months. Months. All over our kitchen floor. The linoleum is soaked and bubbled, the subfloor is soaked and bubbled, the joists that support the entire kitchen and bathroom area -- soaked. Mold growing on the foundation and under the house soaked. It's HORRIBLE! And, this is not something we knew about before the inspection, so we were a little floored. No pun intended. :)

We had already devised a plan to fix the electrical panel. We asked the sellers to give us back part of the purchase price in order to fix it, a plan to which they agreed. As part of the upgrade, we would get a new panel, new wiring, and grounded plugs. We'd also have wiring installed for a dryer, and for a new water heater. There's the possibility of putting electricity in the garage, as well, while we're at it. It has to be done. So, we're fielding estimates from electricians.

As for the kitchen? Well. We hadn't planned to upgrade the kitchen at this time. We were going to just deal with the old cabinets and flooring until we had the time and money to put in a nice kitchen. So much for that plan!

We worked out a deal with the sellers that Evan and I would buy a new water heater and new flooring, up to a cost of $2000. For anything over $2000, the sellers would cover the cost, including the new subflooring and the labor involved with installing everything.

We definitely have our work cut out for us...