Where in the attic would you like the water to be diverted to?

It sounds like a simple question however in context, it really was us saying ‘we don’t get what you are asking!’ because asking ‘can you help me help you?’ was getting no traction. Let me explain.

We like home inspectors because they help us pay attention to minor nuances that need to be addressed in a home. In the same vein, we don’t like home inspectors because sometimes they are not necessarily sure of what they are looking at and write down things that should not be written down. Enter our story.

We sold a house that had a chimney that was kept but not operational by design. The roof was replaced and the chimney was flashed appropriately, no leaks, all was well.

The Buyers home inspector came along and said we needed more flashing on the chimney. The problem was the home inspection report was pointing at the chimney…on the inside!

For those of you familiar with construction, you already know flashing is designed to prevent water from getting into a structure. In this scenario, the water would already be inside the house before it got to the flashing requested. Hence the question to title this article since any flashing added on the inside of the house by the chimney would literally just be redirecting water to another part of the attic. This is what we call a head scratcher…

So naturally, we let the other party know this sounded like an oversight, verified the flashing on the outside was good and let it be. When the reinspect happened, the inspector, who apparently was different from the first one said the same thing. Hmmm. First thing is, we then learned the inspector was really a company of inspectors. Second, it appears they just took the notes from the first one as presented without questioning them at all. Hence the same answer.

We explain our case and they send a third inspector. Same result. At this point the word ‘really?’ is pretty loud in the brain.

We meet the fourth inspector onsite. Yes fourth! He looks at the situation and proceeds to apologize for the error on the previous three and acknowledges that everything is fine. Hooray! Item checked off the list.

So where was the Buyers agent in all this? They swore up and down this inspection company has been their tried and true go to for years. Fair enough and totally respectable. But that doesn’t mean they are perfect!

It was the strangest thing to see what seemed like ‘the blind leading the blind’ scenario playing out on autopilot without really assessing the situation.

So the moral of the story is, never be afraid to question, never be afraid to stick to your guns and be certain that in real estate, anything is possible, no matter how bizarre it may be.

P.S. Do not allow water into your attic no matter where it can be diverted too. Ever!