Limiting the Scope of A Home Inspection

Comments From Last Month’s Newsletter

Dear Editor:

 I have a client that only needed the framing in the basement inspected.  They home tested positive for termites and there appears to be termite damage on this particular beam.  The home is going to be treated for termites soon, but I don’t know if I can sign off on this as being OKAY or not. The damage is very minimal, and the beam is still very much in tact and not falling apart.  Is this something that I should recommend to have a structural review for? .
Reply:
  First, it is you duty to make sure the client signs a contract expressly limiting the scope of a home inspection.  It’s also smart business. So, if they “only needed the framing in the basement inspected,” your contract should clearly identify that as the limited scope of the inspection.  I trust it does.    Second, treating the home for termites will not change the beam in your photos.

Third, if you are being asked to approve or supervise or second-guess a termite treatment, that falls under a Ky Dept of Ag license — for pest control — and not a home inspection license.  If you’re being asked to go back post-treatment and re-inspect the beam, I don’t make a return visit for less than $175, which tends to weed out people looking for favors, or someone to blame.

Fourth, a close-up picture of a beam does not tell us what matters — what load is it transferring and supporting?  (And, without probing — this photo shows no probe marks — it also does not tell us much about termite damage either.) So I have trouble answering very substantively.  But if the beam was not deflected, probing found no further damage sub-surface, everything else is square, and you have no other reason to doubt structural integrity, then it sounds like there is no visible “significant deficiency.”

If you already inspected the home with this beam (and that’s the source of the photos), I don’t see what you could add to your report — with or without termite treatment — if you reported “damage is minimal and the beam is intact.”  (Those words might not be my favorites, since it is sufficient to say “the beam appears acceptable” — and one client’s “minimal” is the next neat freak’s “massive.”)

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   Thanks for the feedback.  Keep it coming!
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