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I'm not sure why the inspectors ran the washing machine. They hardly ever go with the house, and if they have clothes in it, I'm sure as heck not going to be responsible for maybe messing something up. I will unplug the washer to check the outlet for grounding. I also will turn on the dryer, but it's NOT to check the dryer itself, I'm really just checking the vent for air flow.
As far as asking someone to shut down their computers - that's just plain stupid in my opinion. We are not required to check every single outlet, just a sample. I'm not going to move a china cabinet, water bed, desk, etc, NOR am I going to unplug a computer, aquarium, or iron lung to check an outlet.
If a light doesn't go on, I note that there were some lights that did not work. I'm not going to go ask the home owner to change light bulbs, nor am I going to bring a box or two and change them. I figure the homeowner ought to be responsible enough to have all the lights working. If not, they can show the buyers everything works during the final walk through.
Don't get me wrong, I have met many very nice sellers. There have been many times that it's just me and the seller because the buyer was out of town and couldn't attend.
However, I have also met my share of difficult people that felt their main purpose was to make my job harder to do, or try to distract me. I once overheard a listing agent tell the seller to follow me around and distract me (They didn't know I was in the next room). The problem was this was this guy's first experience with a home inspector, and I have done thousands of inspections, and probably hundreds where someone tried this trick. IN other words, it wasn't my first rodeo. After a short time he gave up and left me alone.
IN my opinion, the seller of the house has very little to bring to the table to assist me. I've done this long enough, I can find my way around a house pretty well on my own.
To give you an idea, I inspect between 400 - 500 houses a year (maybe not this year), I average over 1,000,000 square feet a year. That is a LOT of outlets, toilets, sinks, door, windows, electric panels, attics and crawlspaces. I test and re-set several thousand GFCI outlets a year, I ought to be able to find where they are.
About the only question that comes up that seller's can answer, is "where is the key to the electric panel and the crawlspace". But I also carry bolt cutters in case they can't remember where it is.
Before anyone gets all uppity about my cutting the locks, here is what I do....
I first look in all the normal places for the kety.
Then I call the listing agent and ask them - then they call the seller.
iF they can't get a hold of them (seller), I ask permission to cut the lock. (It has always been granted).
I cut the lock, leave a note for the seller telling them why I had to cut it, and the key for the new padlock I installed. I have yet to get a call from a seller giving me hell for doing that.
I had home inspectors test all the outlets and IMO that is part of their job...I was the seller not the buyer, but I would like to know as a buyer if an outlet doesn't work and what the issue is....
I have seen home inspectors on Dateline investigate, walking in a home and leaving 30 sec. later....guess how many inspections they do a year...That was all new construction...but what is the home inspections worth that way....0%!!!!
I had one home inspector who couldn't find only 1 cosmetic little thing after checking for 3 hours and explaining many things to the buyer for when she moved in...we both learned a lot from this very experienced man and it was wonderful to see how thoroughly he tested everything.....it was worth all the time we had to be there! Both our realtors weren't there at the time and never offered to be there, but we didn't mind.
bentlebee said, "I had home inspectors test all the outlets and IMO that is part of their job".
Well, how would you propose that we test the outlet that is behind a china cabinet that is full of dishes, or behind the huge desk that you can't get your hand behind to unplug cord, let alone get your tester in there. Do you suggest that we turn off people's computers to check that outlet?
How about the ones in a garage where the owners have built in shelving and blocked access to the outlet.
Every one of the National Home Inspector organizations, as well as all of the States that have licensing, only require an inspector to test a representative number of outlets and switches. The American Society of Home Inspectors (the oldest professional home inspector organization, founded in 1976) defines "Representative Number as: One component per room for multiple similar interior components such as windows and electric outlets....".
Obviously if the outlets are accessible, most inspectors will (should) test every one they can. However, there are many times that we just can't get to them. Take a look at your own house, there might be one or two that are not accessible.
Some people will jump in here and say, "Well just move some furniture, THAT'S YOUR JOB". Think of the liability we would have if we started moving furniture, especially if something broke. Every try to move a full china cabinet that's on carpet? How about that grand piano?
Don't even get me started on testing windows and the owners have 8,000 little trinkets sitting on them. I got a call from a seller once YELLING at me because I did not put her stuff back in the same order.
Home inspectors get calls from irate sellers accusing us of breaking something. Most of us try to not touch people's belongings while we are doing inspections for that reason.
I got a call once from a woman that claimed I had damaged her dining room table with my tools. I knew this was impossible because I NEVER put tools or anything on furniture. I ONLY put my computer and a few tools on the kitchen counter. I use an oversize mouse pad under my computer, and the two tools I bring in are in soft cases. I wear booties over my shoes so I don't get calls about how I damaged their carpet. Many home inspectors got to extraordinary lengths to protect themselves from irate phone calls and liability.
I think if you use Dateline as your benchmark for judging professions, you will end up with a bed opinion of all of them. After all, they are in the business of a making EVERTHING they report on alarmist.
By the way, the average time for a home inspection is about 3 hours for a normal size house. I'm usually a little longer than that.
On the subject of outlets. I have found that very few just don't work. The most common defect is reverse polarity and open ground. If a house is older with a two wire system, the outlets were usually two prong and ungrounded. If someone replaces the outlet with a new 3-prong one, there will not be a ground. Signs of this show up just testing a representative number.
Once or twice a year I might find an outlet where the neutral wire has come loose. About the same for a hot wire coming loose.
If I tested a house and found 4 or 5 ungrounded outlets, and I couldn't get to all of them, I can assume there "might" be more. Since they need repair anyway, when the electrician comes to do the repair, the others can be checked then. That would give the seller time to move THEIR belongings/furniture.
bentlebee said, "I had home inspectors test all the outlets and IMO that is part of their job".
Well, how would you propose that we test the outlet that is behind a china cabinet that is full of dishes, or behind the huge desk that you can't get your hand behind to unplug cord, let alone get your tester in there. Do you suggest that we turn off people's computers to check that outlet?
How about the ones in a garage where the owners have built in shelving and blocked access to the outlet.
Every one of the National Home Inspector organizations, as well as all of the States that have licensing, only require an inspector to test a representative number of outlets and switches. The American Society of Home Inspectors (the oldest professional home inspector organization, founded in 1976) defines "Representative Number as: One component per room for multiple similar interior components such as windows and electric outlets....".
Obviously if the outlets are accessible, most inspectors will (should) test every one they can. However, there are many times that we just can't get to them. Take a look at your own house, there might be one or two that are not accessible.
Some people will jump in here and say, "Well just move some furniture, THAT'S YOUR JOB". Think of the liability we would have if we started moving furniture, especially if something broke. Every try to move a full china cabinet that's on carpet? How about that grand piano?
Don't even get me started on testing windows and the owners have 8,000 little trinkets sitting on them. I got a call from a seller once YELLING at me because I did not put her stuff back in the same order.
Home inspectors get calls from irate sellers accusing us of breaking something. Most of us try to not touch people's belongings while we are doing inspections for that reason.
I got a call once from a woman that claimed I had damaged her dining room table with my tools. I knew this was impossible because I NEVER put tools or anything on furniture. I ONLY put my computer and a few tools on the kitchen counter. I use an oversize mouse pad under my computer, and the two tools I bring in are in soft cases. I wear booties over my shoes so I don't get calls about how I damaged their carpet. Many home inspectors got to extraordinary lengths to protect themselves from irate phone calls and liability.
I think if you use Dateline as your benchmark for judging professions, you will end up with a bed opinion of all of them. After all, they are in the business of a making EVERTHING they report on alarmist.
By the way, the average time for a home inspection is about 3 hours for a normal size house. I'm usually a little longer than that.
On the subject of outlets. I have found that very few just don't work. The most common defect is reverse polarity and open ground. If a house is older with a two wire system, the outlets were usually two prong and ungrounded. If someone replaces the outlet with a new 3-prong one, there will not be a ground. Signs of this show up just testing a representative number.
Once or twice a year I might find an outlet where the neutral wire has come loose. About the same for a hot wire coming loose.
If I tested a house and found 4 or 5 ungrounded outlets, and I couldn't get to all of them, I can assume there "might" be more. Since they need repair anyway, when the electrician comes to do the repair, the others can be checked then. That would give the seller time to move THEIR belongings/furniture.
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Too soon for rep!
