Originally Posted By: jmyers
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Steve and/or Lisa,
I am sorry to hear you have had such a bad experience with your home inspection.
There are several things you can do about the problems you are having with your new home, unfortunately none of them have much to do with the inspector or the company which they work for.
From what you have described, $5,900 to fix those problems sounds high to say the least.
If you have not contacted several reputable contractors to get estimates on having those issues fixed, now would be a good time to do so.
Typically speaking, in our area, those problems with the leaking pipes would be fixed for a couple of hundred dollars. Another alternative that could be entertained is to fix it yourself or friends or family members which could also fix it at a reduced cost to yourselves although I would only do so if you or they are familiar with such issues.
Fixing water leaking into the basement can be more severe or a problem but not necessarily one that has to end up with a costly solution.
At this time, having so little information about the actual problems you are experiencing it would be a good idea to contact another inspector which could come out and locate the source and offer suggestions on fixing the issues that exist. You can use the NACHI locator on the NACHI home page and search for an inspector based on your zip code.
Lastly, there is not much anyone can really do about a bad inspector. Bad inspectors have a tendency to disappear once the word of mouth gets around about their inspections.
Most people have a home inspection performed under the false pretense that a home inspector could, or would find every possible thing wrong with the property in the short amount of time they are actually there to preform the inspection.
It is unrealistic to expect an inspector to find everything that is wrong with a home. Home inspections are more to give you a written opinion of the condition of the homes major components and sub components. Most inspection companies spend the most time with the major components because they will cost you the most to replace.
While from what you have described there are signs there that the inspector should have caught, there just is no way for us to know if those items access to those spaces was possible during the inspection. Given that information, I would have to assume that you have been duped to some degree by the seller, since at least they had to have known the basement leaked.
It would probably be a good idea to talk to another inspector which could offer suggestions on a course of action that would best benefit you and resort to legal proceedings only after you have exhausted other avenues. If you would like further explanation, you can feel free to contact me, the number can be found on our web site simply by clicking my profile under this post.
Best wishes!
Joe Myers