Old homes

There are 4 factors that our online fee calculator takes into consideration. One of them is age.

www.nachi.org/fee-calculator

Now before you use the calculator, you have to set the dark box up specifically for your company and decide how much you are going to charge as a base price and how much extra you are going to charge for distance, age, and size. Play around with it, testing it on hypothetical jobs, until you get the dark box (Standard Rates) multipliers set up the way you like them. After that, you can hire a secretary at 9 AM and have her bidding jobs exactly as you would by 9:03 AM.

It took me about 20 minutes of messing around with the Standard Rates box before I got it to work the way I wanted it.

At least he has someone to call now.
I’m done

All this time I thought the minimum riser was 4". I just realized that’s only an IBC requirement but I have been calling it out. If the risers were over 7 3/4" and under 4" than obviously they’d be out of the 3/8 tolerance. Thanks for making me realize that there is no minimum though.

I still don’t understand how risers taller than 7 3/4 isn’t a defect in your book.

The way I have been doing it is

I observed a defect and its a hazard. Although this may been allowed when the home is built I recommend an (applicable contractor) to repair/correct as needed.

I am just curious how others do it. Do you guys even mention that it may have been allowed when the home was built?

We don’t determine “acceptability” so the question is moot. We report what we find and think is worth noting. If you see something at an older home that you think you should alert your client to… do that. Report exactly what you found and your reasoning for pointing it out (if your reason for pointing it out isn’t already self-evident). I know this may sound like odd advice… but when you get confused…don’t think. Become a brainless robot (in your mind) that is programmed to gather noteworthy information and deliver it to your client. That’s what I pretend to be whenever I catch myself thinking too hard on an inspection.

I’ve done quite a few over 100. I have one scheduled for this Saturday built in 1880. Some of them are in better shape than ones built in 1980 too.

Just write up what you see. I don’t call out most items that were OK then but not now, except a few items, I do call out K&T wiring, as its a potential issue. Often the beam and joist size and spacing were not as standard back then, but I don’t call out that stuff. Foundations can be a bit tricky, as stone ones are tougher to inspect than poured concrete, too. Many times they have shifted and been repaired and there’s the determination on if they will likely shift more or they are settled in and stable now.

Mike advises:

Correct.

Inspecting a 100 year old home is my preferred inspection, I am a Heritage Carpenter by trade. My house I live in was built in 1877. See picture at bottom.

When inspecting a home that was built 100 years ago, you have to take in account the type of individual that built that home. Would I measure each step to see if they are uniform, NO absolutely not. That would be a waste a time, walk up them and if you trip there is an issue. The only time they are going to have differences in the risers is if there is settling occurring under them. The stairs them selfs were built better than the stairs of today. They were built the house to last by people who knew what they were doing.

One in every third house on average I inspect has a stone foundation. More often than not I am finding issues with the block foundation of the '70s than the stone foundation of the 1870’s.

There is issues to find in century homes like any other home. Those issues are usually related to poor maintenance, not how the house was built. So if you are inspecting that older home don’t look for the code flaws or the way a carpenter framed the rafters. They have already proven themselves, look for issues with from poor maintenance (deteriorating siding, roof covering, electrical).

I agree.

Many of the defects that I have found in the older homes that I had inspected had little to do with their construction and almost everything to do with the manner in which they were maintained and “improved”.

Considering that many 100 year old plus homes were built without the intended use of central heating and cooling systems, indoor plumbing, electrical wiring and so on … some of the “creative” ways in which upgrades were added to the home over the years can accumulate into a variety of safety hazards and sustainability issues.

The existence of knob and tube wiring should be reported but is, by itself, not a defect when it is intact and unmodified; however, blowing insulation directly over it, modifying it and/or tapping into it with Romex renders it extremely dangerous.

Plumbing that has been routed through uninsulated exterior walls by “necessity”, improper sizing and placement of conditioned air distribution systems, creative but dangerous or ineffective plumbing venting systems, improper locations of gas fueled appliances … and many more issues … made these inspections particularly challenging.

As has been pointed out in previous posts … it is best to ignore the “dates” as to what might have been the standard and when … and to simply observe and report all of the conditions that exist at the time of the inspection.

Nick,

Do you still perform inspections? I could not imagine you have the time.
Just curious.

I agree with much of what Timothy said. I love them and live in one. The first thing I tell the client: “an existing home is not required to conform to today’s standards.”

Most basment stairs will not conform as to risers, treads, handrails and headroom. The stairs were the first thing I replaced when I purchased my 100+ year old home.

Presently, I am preparing a page on my web site dedicated to the century homes. I intend to consult with the graphics department of NACHI (superb work by the way) to enquire about pictures of particular interest concerning the century home such as bell traps, knob & tube wireing diagrams, rubble basements, horse excavations with blades etc, etc.

Most inspectors and nearly all clients are unfamiliar with older building techniques. The inspection of a century home is a unique field.

As far as recommending corrections to existing construction, if the home has been “Dedicated”, no remedial action can be undertaken without considerable bureaucracy.

I tell my client: " you are not just purchaseing a home, you are making a commitment to preserve a piece of heritage."

On returning from living in Florida, my first experience with home inspection came when I joined the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors. (OAHI)

I submitted my first two inspections for approval to obtain my status and authorization to use the OAHI advertising logo.

One of the homes was a Heritage Dedicated home in London, Ontario. I submitted photos and wrote up a non conforming item and included in the narrative:

“This item has been doing its intended function for over 100 years. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!”

I was informed by the examing officer of OAHI that my report was unproffesional.

Shortlly thereafter I left OAHI and joined NACHI!

To show my local members that Move In Certified is a money maker, I had to go out, market it, sell it, and do a few. Now it’s off and running in Denver.

You are a wild man and always hustling.
Much respect :slight_smile: