Linda, thats how I found it in the first place. I’m glad you brought that up.
Obviously you’ve never seen a 45-degree receptacle before.:mrgreen:
So one didn’t need to move the refrigerator after all, so one would not have caused damage to the floor by moving it. Simple.
All the agents that refer me know I dont move furniture. Last year 6 hours after my inspection of a home the ice maker water line sprung a leak and flooded the floor and ceiling below the kitchen. The seller was hot and demanded I pay for the damage since I must have moved the refrigerator. The referring agent backed me up and the seller back down. I use a mirror or if I suspect something and the seller is there I have him move it.
Somebody give Mark a greeny! :mrgreen:
I never ask the Seller to do such things because then, after they have caused damage, or are in the hospital with a slipped disk, they can say, “Well, Russel told me to move it.” I don’t know the background of the Sellers, so telling them to do things that might not be appropriate is not appropriate. I will tell my Clients and their Realtors about things I suspect, etc. Quite often they will ask me if I want them to move something, and I’ll explain to them that I’m not a mover so I don’t have appropriate insurance to pay for moving someone else’s personal property in someone else’s home that I damaged while moving it. I doubt that my Clients and Realtors have such insurance either.
It’s amazing that when one brings insurance into the conversation, everyone seems to understand.
I’m just glad it didn’t cost me any green. But to follow a recent tread. “need help with inspector” my first response was I’ll be out in the morning to take a look and see if I could have caused the issue.
Right on Mark.:mrgreen:
Sometimes you just have to have common sense when it comes to this job. I spent almost 17 years remodeling homes and I never scratched a hard wood or tile floor by moving a refrigerator. One, the stinking thing was empty, two I use a piece of 1/4" under-lament down in front of the refrigerator. You all need to start thinking outside of the box instead of what does my little insurance company cover… If I had scratched the floor I would have someone fix it for a lot less than the insurance deductible.:roll:
But if you don’t move it, you won’t scratch anything, so you won’t have to fix anything! :shock:
Except when the clients either find it or when there house burns down. Because the chances are greater to me that you would be sued, and you will lose through a settlement, or take the chance and move the refrigerator. The only reason this got moved in the first place was because I could without, in my opinion, causing damage. You make a valid point to a degree. We walk a fine line in this business, and sometimes we have to make decisions that others won’t.
I’m glad I live here in Illinois, you must have it bad. Always looking over your sholder… Way too paranoid for my liking.
You have to manage the expectations of your Clients. If you fail to do that, then, yes, you will probably be sued. I, my attorneys, and my insurance providers do a great job of managing the expectations of my Clients. I can’t be everything to all people, and I know that, so I manage their expectations so that they know that, too.
Mark, what would you do here? The fridge won’t go sideways, so it’s got to come forward for access to the panel. I could have pulled it out carefully and I really wanted to see inside this piece-a-crap panel, but decided on “unable to remove cover” and moved on. There’s going to be work for an electrician here anyway.
John Kogel
www.allsafehome.ca
John you were the inspector, only you can decide what to do or not to do.
I had a home yesterday with a crawlspace access hatch being blocked by washing machine. I didn’t move it, I had the agent call the seller who showed up 20 minutes later and moved it himself. The whole point of the original post was to open up some eyes into the realization that we really have some tough decisions to make sometimes. I only moved the refrigerator because I could without causing damage. I don’t go into every home moving things, way toooo much work. Just went that extra mile for the clients.