general contractor fixing water leaks? (Cary: house, inspectors, flooring)

[recurdos]

Hello there, a house inspection found some water damage to the subfloor/joist in crawlspace, beneath a bay window (the window is pretty big, almost reach to the ground). There's no faucet or water line nearby so it can come from roof (skylight?) or siding or window. Inspector recommends to get a general contractor to inspect. My impression of general contractors is that they would only be interested in big projects, not this small repair. Anyone can recommend someone (or where to find) who can identify the leak and repair? (Cary/RTP area)

[BoBromhal]

I've yet to see an inspector that didn't say "have a licensed general contractor further evaluate and repair".

In your case, you definitely want a QUALIFIED contractor, given the scope of the problem. Somebody's going to have to remove some siding and possibly some flooring to determine the extent of the problem. That's not what inspectors do - they have visually observed the issue and noted it to you.

Your Realtor should be able to help you with qualified contractors to further analyze the problem. The issue you have is figuring it out without damaging siding/flooring, because if you don't go through with the purchase, you have to pay to fix the damage anyway.

In other words, a qualified contractor can visually estimate "it will be between $1,000 [caulking a leak and fixing the joist] and $8,000 [remove and replace window, damaged sheathing, subfloor, joist]".

[recurdos]

thanks for the quick response BoBromhal, just noticed you are an agent. Well my agent was not able to give me a general contractor contact...

[BoBromhal]

you might ask the inspector then. An inspector cannot recommend work, and then do it themselves. But he might very well know somebody qualified.