pre occupancy home inspection

[Snaz]

Chinese Drywall

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Toxi...255/story.html

"All houses affected have shown a common symptom — blackened, scorched wiring behind switch plates and wall plugs — and, coupled with homeowner health symptoms, that's allowed research to proceed, Martin said."

[Pescador]

One tip I discovered the hard way is to turn on all the taps and let them run then check for leaks, especially the main stack. It's pretty easy to hit it with a nail or screw.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Snaz

Chinese Drywall

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Toxi...255/story.html

"All houses affected have shown a common symptom — blackened, scorched wiring behind switch plates and wall plugs — and, coupled with homeowner health symptoms, that's allowed research to proceed, Martin said."

Something doesn't sound right here, how does a toxic gas in the drywall blacken and scorch electrical wiring? Don't get me wrong here, with the reported health symptoms it could be a serious deal, but I'd want to see more evidence before jumping on the alarmist bandwagon. The US is known for rampant lawsuits and protectionist senators looking after their interests. With today's economic situation it's easy to burden the Chinese with another problem and raise additional barriers to the import of Asian products. Great stimulus for the economy to bulldoze a bunch of newer homes and rebuild with home grown drywall products.

Good to know though, if it turns out to have merit.

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by mike31154

Something doesn't sound right here, how does a toxic gas in the drywall blacken and scorch electrical wiring? Don't get me wrong here, with the reported health symptoms it could be a serious deal, but I'd want to see more evidence before jumping on the alarmist bandwagon. The US is known for rampant lawsuits and protectionist senators looking after their interests. With today's economic situation it's easy to burden the Chinese with another problem and raise additional barriers to the import of Asian products. Great stimulus for the economy to bulldoze a bunch of newer homes and rebuild with home grown drywall products.

Good to know though, if it turns out to have merit.

Sulpher Dioxide

http://homeownersconsumercenter.com/PressRelease.html

[RobynR]

The builder should have a pretty comprehensive checklist. We use National Home Warranty as our warranty provider where I work and we have to fill out a huge checklist during the final walkthrough. This has to be submitted to the warranty company within 15 days of the homeowner taking occupancy. I also bring a package of sticky notes and place them anywhere there is a deficiency noted by myself, our foreman, the customer, or their realtor. This ensures the deficiency is noticed by the trade who comes in to remedy the issue. HTH

[mark]

National Home Warranty, hahahahahahahahahah!

[Skimmin]

I gotta side with Mark on that one! lol

[new but handy]

I agree with the finding a tradesman to inspect. SMART. Most home inspectors are a waste of money IMO. There is no provincial standard for inspectors. Anyone can be one with a SHORT course. As for city inspections on new houses, you would be amazed at what gets missed. How long is the course to be a city inspector? About 6 weeks. City inspectors should have to be a trade person for min. 10 years. Buy a house that was designed and built with an architect and an engineer, most are not. Engineers go to school for quite a few years to learn what they are talking about. I've been building for 16 years and some of the stupidest things I have ever heard have come out of city inpectors mouths. City inspectors inspect the rules written in a book. They have no room for flexibility. There are much better ways to do things besides the BCBC (British Columbia Building Code). A city inspector can only inspect the BCBC, they can't see better ways, An Architect or Engineer can.
Sorry if anyone is a city inpector, but on a project with architects and engineers, all they do is collect paper work and cause problems.
Anyways that is the most I have ever typed in my life and it took me a long time. If anyone wants to yell at me. pm me and you can have my #