This weekend I was installing soffit baffles and an extra 8 inches of insultion when I discovered that my bathroom fans were venting straight into the attic. Not only were they venting into the attic but they were also covered by the existing 8 inches of blown insultion. I bought 3" flex and attached it to the vents and ran the duct upto the roof vent. They are about 2-3" away from the vent and the roof sheeting. My question is that I have seen several post saying not to do this, Why? My understanding is that you don't want that warm moist air in the attic. Also, how would something like this be missed by the home inspection when we bought the house. Thanks
How much do you use the fans? I put a separate switch in for my fan and never use it or the other one. Years later I realized I have the same setup you have just installed.
The inspector has insurance for a reason, it would be an easy small claims case. The fans never did anything the fiberglass blocked the airflow. They need to vent outside now that air will move or mold will happen.
I think you need to sue for some type of damages in small claims. A section of vent pipe is not worth suing over. The OP alleges no damage caused by condensation. Why go to court?
He can pay if he wants to, but I doubt he will. Every home inspection contract I've ever seen has plenty of verbage in there protecting the inspector and limiting claims against him. And it's far from clear he's even at fault. For example, if the fans and vent lines were covered by insulation, is the inspector supposed to pull insulation out of the way to inspect where every single vent line goes? Granted, if it were obvious, he should have caught it. But having a contract that allows for recovery, proving he should have found it, and proving damages are a different story.
IF THE INSPECTOR REFUSES TO PAY and was refered by the real esate agency like heres a list of inspectors just tell the idiot inspector your calling the president of the real estate company and complaing...
Hidden defects is one thing but heres a fan wheres the exhaust is pretty simple.
Wonder what else he missed?
I woulds love for 60 minutes to do a investigative report on home inspectors.
just have some employees selling set up sham deals have 5 inspectors check out same home and compare findings.... then have expert sort it all out
The damage claim could be that had the inspector found it, then the buyer would have made the seller fix it or give a credit prior to closing. However, as I said in previous post, every inspection contract I've seen has pretty good protection for the inspector and limits damage. You'd likely have to prove gross negligence to win and that ain;t easy.
And back to the issue of damages, even proving the above is not a slam dunk. For example, if the buyer bought the house without having some other items fixed that the inspector did find, or receiving a credit for same, then the inspector could argue that it was likely the same thing would have happened with the vent issue. In other words, as you pointed out, there may have been no actual damages.
provided no colatteral damage like rotted framing, home inspector will probably be glad to pay for his oversite out of pocket, so his insurance rate doesnt go up.
under 50 bucks should fix this its not worth getting all in a huff over
The REALITY is... A home inspection doesn't catch everything, nor is it supposed to. A home inspection is a second set of eyes that have seen a lot more houses than you have. Home inspectors only go places that are readily accessable to that inspector. So don't hire a 300 lb inspector and expect him to be able to get into every space. Some inspectors are better than others, just like doctors, carpenters, accountants, mechanics, etc. Heck, just thing of all the mistakes doctors make, and they hold people's lives in their hands!
My inspector is a former builder. He was a nice guy and kept getting shafted on jobs. He decided to still be a nice guy, so went into home inspection. So for your next inspection, consider also hiring a retired builder?
Others have suggested taking action against the inspector. This will probably get you nowhere, especiallly because you don't seem to have suffered any damages. If you bought the house within the last 12 months, you can always take pictures to document this and try to get a refund of what you paid the inspector if he's part of a larger company.
IMO, the big lesson here for others who will read this in the future is to get into all the parts of your house from time to time, at least several times a year. Have a crawlspace that you don't ever use? Well, get in there and take a look every so often. Same for your attic, etc. Get up to your roof if you can. If you can't, get a better ladder, or a better ladder and a younger person to take a look. I'm having an addition put on, and just got up to the high part of my roof a few weeks ago... and its amazing what some people will try to get away with in a place that they don't think you'll look. And my contractor KNOWS that I get up onto my roof!
I would like the thank every one for their input into this topic. To follow up, I have no interest in going after the inspector. I just can't see how he would miss this. I mean he was up in the attic, inspected the roof sheeting, the fireplace chimney and some wiring. So how did he miss this? Any way, Back to the real issue. It sounds as if I need to fully vent the duct work to insure that I don't get moisture and I am thinking of just running it fully out of the top roof vent or out to the soffits. Also, the fans are on seperate switches and they are only used for about 30 mins. each night during showers. Soffit or top roof vent, which would do better?
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.