Baltimore County, Maryland. A new home inspected about two months after its owners moved in: egress-well ladders that were not secured, a sump discharge line pitched upward, garage door slides that had not been disabled and no fence or stairs outside the rear slider. Seventy-five items, written down while the builder’s warranty still applies.
Counted from the delivered report
75
Findings documented
Across 17 areas of the house
5
Egress-well items
Ladders, covers, a drain line and well height
31
Exterior items
Concrete, drainage, siding and the rear slider
1
Safety item
No fence or stairs outside the rear slider
Two months of living in a house shows things a final walkthrough cannot. These six are the items we put at the top of the warranty list.
There was no temporary safety fence and no stairs outside the rear slider. Excess caulk and paint around the same slider were marked with blue tape in several places. A door with nothing outside it is a fall risk for anyone who steps through.
The ladder in the right egress window well was not screwed into place and needed setting straight, and the ladder in the left well was not secured. The plastic covers on the wells were missing, the top of the drain line could not be seen in the right well, and the left rear well needed to sit 4 inches above grade. An egress well is the way out of the basement in an emergency.
The sump pump discharge line was pitched upward. Inside, the grommet that seals the sump pump lid at the discharge line was missing, which the report notes can let moisture and radon into the basement. The left rear downspout and its underground extension were misaligned and not plumb, with a strap left unattached.
The slides on both garage doors had not been disabled. The threshold plate on the fire door was pitched forward, leaving an inconsistent gap at the door casing, there were gaps above the garage door framing at the ceiling in six places, and insulation was sticking out beneath the bottom course of drywall under the right window.
The crown moldings and shaft above the range hood were not tightly fitted to the wall on either side of the hood vent, and several screws were missing from the hood vent installation. The refrigerator doors were misaligned, a wall cabinet edge was chipped and a drawer beside the range did not open and close smoothly.
In the basement bathroom the hot and cold were reversed at the sink, the tub was slow to drain and damage from an earlier repair was still visible on it. Faucets there and in the master bathroom were not properly mounted or caulk sealed, and the toilet seats throughout the house did not match the quality of the toilets.
Photographs from the inspection, personal details removed
Every deficiency as it was captioned in the delivered report, verbatim. Orientation photographs — shutoff locations and equipment labels — are left out, as are the attic notes that recorded no defect and three captions that only labelled the photo beside them. Name, street address and report number removed.
Exterior
Exterior
Deck
Garage
Attic
Foyer
Kitchen
Lower Stairs
All Bathrooms
Master Bathroom
Master Bedroom
Hall Bathroom
First Floor Master
First Floor Full Bath
Basement Bathroom
Laundry
Utility
Unfinished Basement
Every Century report is confidential and prepared exclusively for the client who ordered it. This page is published with written permission, with anything identifying removed before it went up.
Two months in, this house had 75 items for the builder, from loose egress-well ladders to a sump line pitched upward. A warranty inspection puts every one of them in writing before the builder’s warranty runs out.
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