Interesting Home Inspection Story

I was helping a home buyer evaluate a home this week and I noticed that there was a basement wall that had been built with steel studs.

This is not unusual and certainly many if not most commercial buildings are built with steel studs. What was notable was that the wiring in the wall was just done with Romex and the studs I could see did not have the protective grommets that are required for code. (The steel stud can cut into the plastic sheathing on the romex if it is not protected by grommets.)

It may actually be a building code requirement to use armored cable with steel studs in Washtenaw County were the home is located. (I'll leave the details to a competent home inspector.)

So this type of mistake is not unusual for a homeowner finished basement. But it does present a significant safety problem and one that should be addressed, even if it means opening up the walls to inspect and correct.

The surprising thing is that this home was sold last year as part of the Pfizer relocation effort and it was reportedly inspected for the relocation company by US Inspect.

I asked the listing agent if he noticed the problem when the current owners bought the home last year and he said the buyers last year didn't have their own inspection. They just used the report from US Inspect.

So four important points here:

1. Be careful who you choose to inspect a home to buy.

2. Be especially suspect of any work done by the homeowner.

3. NEVER just use the seller's inspection report.

4. Use a real buyer's agent not a designated buyer's agent when you buy so you leverage the experience of the whole organization. Nobody in our office would have let the buyer use the same inspection. As a buyer's agent our whole office represents our buyers and we discuss each transaction as a group to make sure mistakes like this aren't made.

(Note: Unfortunately many of our local REALTOR members are confused by designated agency and get it confused with buyer agency. They are clearly not the same. The home seller who got stuck with this mistake is one example.)

I'll also bet the homeowner never received informed consent about the differences in level of service provided.