The Importance Of A Proper Home Inspection Before Purchasing

Hello,
I have been posting about financial needs and Financial information. However, I have stated that I am a CA Real Estate broker and a general contractor. This post will be based on a home I was asked to look at for a friend of a friend. To say shingling this roofing system would be difficult would have been an understatement. I visited the house, met with the homeowners, and examined the problems. During this visual inspection period, I noticed evidence of a leaking roof. To which I was assured that the top did leak.
I told them I would need time to get with the architect I used to allow him time to do the drawing and the calculations. My project has been one surprise after the other. So, I have taken photos of this first part of the project to show you some of the issues we face as general contractors following the DIY repairs or unlicensed contractors. This work passed inspections, but I need to determine how it did. However, it is hard to get into the area to inspect the framing, and at first glance, the surface could pass as normal.

This image shows the problem which occurs when the plywood isn’t properly spaced. The warping is cause by the swelling that happens when the moisture in the air increases. The plywood swells and it causes it to buckle. The nails loosen and this warping cuts the backs of the underlayment and shingles.

This is a valley that was created but they did not know how to ocut in a valley so this one dips and they worked ontop of old roofing materials. Again you can spot the warping of the plywood and the lack of valley metal in these transistions.

The above phot is of a simple solution which is rather inexpensive and also makes a stronger finished project. While I was in the trades, we called the H clips. They come in different widths to accommodate the sizes of plywood. You simply slide the wider portion onto the existing laid sheet of plywood between each rafter. If you look closely this H Clip had little bumps that insure the proper spacing but the tabs on the top also make the two sheet to respond as one. This eliminates the buckling as it helps to prevent the cutting of the underside of the shingles.

This phot show that the rafters were cut short so to be able to use them the person doing that project cut a 2X$ and nailed it to the top of the rafter they cut wrong. When looking at the photo you can see that the thinnest part of the new 2 x4 rater extension is used to support all the weight. I don’t know how these didn’t split. Besides this all the plywood is 3/8 and not the ½” required

 I am in the process off removing all the plywood and will be cutting completely new rafter of the proper size and cleaning the roof of old roofing materials to assure sound connections.

These photos show the importance of having the proper people do your home improvements. These repairs were not corrected by the seller. The seller may not be aware of the poor quality of workmanship. Your average real estate agent probable would not have notice there were problems with this roof. As a contractor who do roofs, I told them something was terribly wrong and that was why many would walk away and not contact them again. I have the calculations and drawing of how this is supposed to look when I’m though. To get there I have to demo this portion of the roofing structure. It will be a costly project and innocent people are paying for this.  It is important to have a qualified home inspector inspect your desire property to alert you of such as these conditions.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source. No image or group of photos are intended to represent the people I serve. I don’t care about Race (that is a politically correct term that I do not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. I prefer the term ethnicity), color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status. I am a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.