Breaking Down a Home Inspection Report

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the Weekend warriors home improvement show. Built by Paul Umber. When it comes to big or small projects around the home, Tony and Corey have got the know how and the answers to make your life just a bit easier. Here they are, your weekend warriors, Tony and Corey. You know, Tony, when you're buying a home, get an inspection done and you get the report. It's like a 50 page report. And when you're looking through there, there's a lot of things that you look at and say, oh my goodness, that looks bad. Right? [00:00:40] Speaker B: Yeah. I had no idea. That's what you say to yourself. I had no idea. What is that gonna cost? That's the other thing you say to yourself. Yeah, I mean those situations are. Sometimes they're different. Sometimes they say we want a deduct on the sell price because we're gonna handle all of these issues. [00:01:01] Speaker A: Yep. [00:01:02] Speaker B: Other times they say, if you wanna sell this house to me, you need to get all this stuff taken care of first. [00:01:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:01:09] Speaker B: Either way, it's money out of your pocket. [00:01:11] Speaker A: Well, it really depends on the market too. If it's a seller's market or a buyer's market. If it's a buyer's market, yeah, you could probably ask for those things. You can say, I want it, I want 50,000 off the sell price, or I want you to fix everything on this list. But if it's a seller's market, they can just tell you to eat it. You know, find another house. Sure, there's 12 buyers behind you, which is where we've been, I feel like for the last 20 years. [00:01:40] Speaker B: But let's, let's be honest. People aren't just going to buy something that's a major problem. [00:01:47] Speaker A: I won't, but some people will. [00:01:50] Speaker B: Well, I wouldn't say that. I think you could count on waiting for a seller's market to sell your home that has necessary upgrades. [00:02:00] Speaker A: I agree with that. [00:02:01] Speaker B: Repairs or maintenance or whatever, I 100% agree with you. [00:02:04] Speaker A: But people are always willing to sell junk and people are always willing to buy it. [00:02:09] Speaker B: Well, here seems this show today is geared for people who may be out looking for a home. And this is, this is a list of things you would look for to make sure that you're not buying a home that's going to cost you a bunch of money after you sign the deal. [00:02:31] Speaker A: Yeah. We compiled the top things, in our opinion anyway, of the most expensive problems that you would see on an inspection report. [00:02:40] Speaker B: Now I'm going to turn this on its head just a little bit. Now. This list is Also for homeowners out there who have been neglecting the home. Don't wait until you're selling your home to fix all of these things. Yeah. You're better off to do your due diligence. Find a contractor that you trust, you know, get a couple of different prices, find the right materials and the right contractor, and do what you want to do for the price that you want to do it for and not wait until you're selling the house and then do whatever's dictated to you 100%. Yeah. [00:03:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Because if you wait till the last minute and you're trying to sell your house and it is a buyer's market, you're going to find yourself in a situation where you're either going to deduct or you're going to be paying out the nose to get something done quickly. [00:03:35] Speaker B: So you can close on the house. Yeah. There are up charges and premiums for short lead times for contractors and material alike. [00:03:44] Speaker A: And some of the things on this list probably start off as not very expensive, you know. [00:03:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:52] Speaker A: Like, for instance, the number one thing on here that we came up with was foundation and structural repairs. And what we mean by that is when you have major cracks in your walls, maybe your floors are uneven, or you have misaligned doors and windows over time as your foundation settles, or if you have drainage issues, like last week we talked about gutters, or two weeks ago we talked about gutters, cleaning your gutters out and the importance of that. It's so silly. It's like one of those things that nobody wants to do, but if you don't do it, you could potentially be causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage to your foundation. Because the water's spilling over. [00:04:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:37] Speaker A: It's coming in, it's under mounting your foundation, causing these issues. And when we're talking about foundation repairs, I mean, they can range, you know, you're talking to $5,000 to 30, 40, $50,000, depending on how bad the severity. [00:04:53] Speaker B: Depending on what they're going to have to do to repair it. Here's an example. If they cannot repair the foundation without moving the home, then they'll have to jack up the house. And there's companies that will come in and they put jacks underneath the house all around, and they jack the house up so that they can repour or add. In some cases, they're lifting up a house that didn't have a proper foundation and they're pouring a proper foundation underneath it, and then they lower the house back down onto the foundation. If you've got to pay to have that done. Oh, baby. It starts getting really expensive and in some cases they lower the house back down, but they leave the jacks in there. They just leave your house posted up on these jacks. It's down on the foundation, but the jacks stay there. That gives you an idea how much money you've spent. They're willing to include the cost of all of those jacks in the price of the repair. So, yeah, that can get very, very expensive. Yeah, it's good quality work, but it can be expensive. [00:06:00] Speaker A: 100%. But that's like, that's what our list is about today. We're gonna talk about some of the most expensive problems that you'll see. But then the second half of the show is some things that will show up on an inspection report that aren't that big of a deal. [00:06:12] Speaker B: Yeah. Being able to determine what you can do yourself with a small impact to the checkbook and what you're going to have to find a contractor to do. It's good to be able to identify those things when you're looking at all of the work that needs to get done. So we're going to go through a list of those things and give you a little better insight. [00:06:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Like for instance, the next one on the list is a roof, a roof replacement. And funny enough, this is one of those things that I had to have replaced on my home when I bought it. And I kind of bought in a buyer's market. I really did. It was, there were multiple offers, but nobody was really that serious at the time. When I, when I bought my home, it was not too long after the Great Recession. So I feel pretty fortunate because when I got in and we made our offer, they accepted our offer and then we got the inspection report and the roof was terrible. They said, without a doubt, this roof will need to be replaced within months, not years, months. It was at the end of its life. [00:07:21] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:22] Speaker A: So we asked, we asked for concession because to get a new roof replaced, you're talking 15, 20, $30,000. I've heard reports from my brother who lives in Florida, they're paying upwards of 40, $50,000 on standard, you know, 2500 square foot home. They're paying unbelievable amounts of money to get roofs replaced. [00:07:48] Speaker B: Wow. Wow. [00:07:49] Speaker A: So depending on what sort of materials, there's a lot of tile there. We don't have a lot of tile here in the Pacific Northwest, but tile. [00:07:55] Speaker B: Is a spendy item. But it's nice, but it's a spendy item. [00:07:59] Speaker A: You've got metal cedar shake composition comprom. That's mostly what we see here. I see a little bit of tile. [00:08:07] Speaker B: Just. [00:08:07] Speaker A: It's not a ton, but it can, it can be a very expensive thing. So if you see that on a inspection report, it would be worth it to have a professional company come out and give you their opinion. [00:08:22] Speaker B: Most expensive roofing material you can think of. [00:08:25] Speaker A: Slate would be my guess. [00:08:27] Speaker B: There's one more expensive than that they've got now, solar panel. [00:08:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:33] Speaker B: Roof shingles. And they shingle the house with solar panels. Yeah. I can only imagine. [00:08:41] Speaker A: But those are making you money. [00:08:42] Speaker B: Well, when in the year 3030, I'll bet you. [00:08:50] Speaker A: I mean, I have solar panels and I think, I estimate that they will have paid for themselves. [00:08:56] Speaker B: When your son. [00:08:58] Speaker A: No, it's like 15 years. [00:09:01] Speaker B: Son retires from. [00:09:02] Speaker A: It's about 15 years career, he'll be long gone out of the house, that's for sure. But yeah, the roof replacement, that's one of those things. You see it on a inspection report. It's worth getting a third party. I mean, your inspector. Sure. But get some bids. And if it's worth it to you to do that, to actually have that conversation with the homeowner or the seller, you know, just know what you get yourself into. [00:09:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:33] Speaker A: It's really what it's about. [00:09:34] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:09:35] Speaker A: What's the next one, Tone? [00:09:37] Speaker B: H Vac system. I know this from listening to you talk about your H Vac system, your furnace, your central air, your air conditioning, all of that. I don't have that at my home. I have space heating and window units for air conditioning. So. So I don't have a really good experience with the liability that surrounds an H Vac system. But it is a lot of money. There's a lot of money wrapped up in that furnace and the condensers for your air conditioning and all of that. Why don't you talk about the liability? What can somebody be facing if they need to have, in a worst case scenario, replace their furnace? [00:10:24] Speaker A: Well, both. I've owned two houses in my life and in both houses I had to replace the furnace and all of the ductwork. In both houses, funny enough, I am. [00:10:35] Speaker B: It's not funny. [00:10:36] Speaker A: I know. [00:10:36] Speaker B: I'm here to tell you that it's not funny. [00:10:38] Speaker A: The only, the only saving grace for me is that one of my good friends. Our good friends owns an H Vac company. [00:10:45] Speaker B: Sure. Yeah. [00:10:46] Speaker A: And was able to work with me on the price. And I feel like I got a really good deal. But you know, a new furnace, central Air. Air conditioning unit. I can range anywhere between four and 20 grand to replace what you have. [00:11:02] Speaker B: Right. [00:11:03] Speaker A: And if you've got a furnace that is very old, it's just something that you need to consider, especially if it's not working properly, if it hasn't been maintained properly. We both know somebody, our friend that. We went to her house, she was having trouble with her furnace. [00:11:24] Speaker B: Sure, sure. [00:11:25] Speaker A: We went over there and I popped the lid on that thing, and it was unbelievable. Like, the amount of dust inside of. [00:11:32] Speaker B: That furnace definitely needed to be cleaned. Well, desperately. Had been. [00:11:36] Speaker A: I think the furnace was 40 years old. And she had no idea. She saw it on the inspection report and didn't think it was that big of a deal, but she ended up having to pay well over ten grand to have all that replaced. [00:11:48] Speaker B: Yikes. Yeah. [00:11:49] Speaker A: So it's just something to keep in mind. [00:11:51] Speaker B: Yeah. That's a big one. H vac is big. [00:11:55] Speaker A: Next one on the list is electrical. And funny enough, I know I had to do this as well. [00:12:01] Speaker B: Another one of the projects that you had to do in your home. [00:12:04] Speaker A: I had. We had a fire in. Or not a fire. We had a flood in our kitchen, and we ended up having to replace and gut our kitchen. But one of the problems that we ran into was that the electrical system that was in there was extremely out of code and inadequate. [00:12:23] Speaker B: Yes. [00:12:24] Speaker A: And that was a huge hit. An absolute, huge hit for me. I had to have a new panel installed. I had almost all new wiring done for. At least for the entire kitchen and almost the whole house. It was insane. And that cost me over ten grand. [00:12:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:43] Speaker A: Just to have that. [00:12:44] Speaker B: That's the number I remember. 10 grand. [00:12:46] Speaker A: And I remember speaking to the inspector because there was nothing on our report about any of the electrical work. They didn't pull the fridge out of its hole. Behind the fridge, there was an electrical box. I don't know if you remember this. That was mudded into place with drywall mud. Do you remember that? [00:13:08] Speaker B: Yep. [00:13:09] Speaker A: The previous homeowner had done most of his own electrical work. The electrical contractor came in and said, you need a dedicated circuit for that. You need a dedicated circuit for that. You need a dedicated circuit for that. My entire kitchen was on one circuit. The disposal, the washer, the microwave, like, literally everything. The refrigerator was all on one circuit. And I think it even had. They put in a larger breaker to handle it, which was totally illegal. [00:13:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:42] Speaker A: So things like that. I mean, when you're hiring a inspector, a home inspector. I actually follow several on. On social media, and it's funny because a lot of them get a bad rap, but I would really make sure that you are hiring a good one. I wouldn't just go to the first one that the real estate agent suggests. Maybe. Maybe get some references. Call. Because the guy that we hired didn't even look in my crawl space. Didn't even look. Sorry. Opened the lid and said nope and closed it. [00:14:22] Speaker B: Right, right. He didn't. He didn't get down in there. [00:14:25] Speaker A: No. And I ended up having to replace my furnace. And all of my ductwork. All of the ductwork in my crawl space was falling apart. And when they turned on the furnace, they didn't do any duct blaster testing or anything at any of the vents to see if proper airflow was coming through. I mean, this is a nightmare story for me, but I've learned a lot. In the next house that I buy, I will have that furnace fully inspected. [00:14:50] Speaker B: Yeah. For sure. [00:14:51] Speaker A: You know? [00:14:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:53] Speaker A: So. But same thing goes for the electrical knob and tube. Oh, man, I can't. [00:14:57] Speaker B: Oh, I know. Yeah. Yeah. We've. We've. We've been in some houses, we've worked in some houses that had some old knob and tube wiring. [00:15:06] Speaker A: It's a lack of grand grounded outlets, undersized electrical panels. I remember the inspector, the only thing he noted on my inspection for my home was that it wasn't a specific panel. There was this specific panel that was manufactured during the 60s, 50s. 60s that was known to cause house fires. And I don't remember it. This was a long time ago. And they said, not that panel. That was it. That was all they listed. [00:15:35] Speaker B: Oh, it wasn't. [00:15:36] Speaker A: It was that panel. [00:15:37] Speaker B: It wasn't the dangerous panel. [00:15:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Then I imagine there was something that you could ask for to be replaced. But, yeah, nothing. That was it. So. [00:15:47] Speaker B: Yikes. Electrical. Yeah. Can be expected. You know, electrical, just like electrical, plumbing, same thing. It's something we don't know a lot about. But if something is awry and has to be replaced, something, if it's a big thing, like if it's got galvanized water supply lines and those need to be replaced because they've rusted out and your water is brown or whatever, that's a huge project. [00:16:14] Speaker A: Yes. [00:16:15] Speaker B: I'll tell you what. My mom and dad own and live in a manufactured home in a mobile court, and they had galvanized pipe that water was running through for their home. And it was really rusty water all the time. My brothers and I went and bought a bunch of pecks and shark bite fittings and we Did a quick, you know, replacement of all of the galvanized water supply lines with pecs and shark bite fittings. And that was, you know, that was a. That was a bush fix. I mean, if I'm being honest, I'm no plumber, but we went straight to the. To the water supply and came off of that with pex, and we ran it to every place. Of course, it's a very small home, so it was easy to do, but even that was thousands of dollars. [00:17:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:15] Speaker B: And. And that was. And that was the least expensive thing that could have been done, so. Yeah, I mean, plumbing can get very expensive. It can cost up to $15,000 if you're replacing all of your water supply lines or if they're having to dig into the walls. You know, it can be bad if they're just replacing the water heater. That alone can be up to five grand. [00:17:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Whole house, plumbing replacement, just water lines can be 8 to 15,000. [00:17:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:47] Speaker A: You know, like you said, the water heater. One thing funny enough about my house that I just ran into this year was we had a dinner party in my plumbing. Drain pipe from my kitchen sink was plugged beyond the. Like, beyond repair. I had somebody come out. They jetted it. They scoped it. They jetted it. They scoped it. They jetted it. They scoped it. And the thing was so clogged because it's kind of. It's kind of a unique. My kitchen's in the back of the house, and so they had the drain from the water or from the kitchen sink go down, and then it traveled like 25ft down the back of the house and then takes a left turn and then goes about another 25ft to the front of the house where it meets up with the plumbing from the rest of the house. So it's the only drain pipe. It's like a 2 inch or. What is that? What's the average? [00:18:41] Speaker B: Or. Yeah, I think it's two and a. [00:18:42] Speaker A: Half or two or two and a half inch drain pipe from the kitchen all the way out to the street. So about 50ft, 60ft, something like that, with nothing else behind it. The kitchen, the sink. Is it in the dishwasher? And he said in normal houses, you might have like a toilet down line or something that. [00:19:03] Speaker B: Right. [00:19:03] Speaker A: Meet up with that drain line. [00:19:05] Speaker B: Sure. [00:19:05] Speaker A: Kind of flush it out. [00:19:06] Speaker B: Sure. [00:19:07] Speaker A: So my house was built in the 60s, and from the 1960s, I think somebody was just pouring bacon grease down the train. [00:19:15] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:19:16] Speaker A: And that cost me an arm and a leg. And he Was showing me the video, he said, this is the most plugged drain I've ever seen. Because when you get grease like that down into your drain, it's almost like peanut butter. You can snake it. You run a snake through it and it'll drain the water out. But as soon as you pull it back through. Yeah. [00:19:39] Speaker B: Closes it right back. [00:19:40] Speaker A: Right back up. [00:19:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:42] Speaker A: So all of that water just sits there and then it fills right back up to your sink again. And then you're plunging it and then you snake it and then the water goes through and then you pull it back through. And the peanut butter. [00:19:51] Speaker B: Yep. That's terrible. [00:19:52] Speaker A: Seals right back up. So I had to have that thing. I mean, he jetted it for over an hour. It's crazy. Back and forth that whole entire 50 foot line. But that's one of those things. We didn't have a scope done. If we would have done a scope of the water pipes, I'd have known about it. [00:20:10] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:20:12] Speaker A: Anyway, something to keep in mind. [00:20:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:15] Speaker A: Next one on the list, Tony, of expensive fixes is mold and water damage. You know, when you see things like visible mold, musty smells, water stains, warped floors, warped ceilings. You know, when people are selling a home, they're going to do a very good job about spraying or lighting candles or things like that. I always, I'm always weary when I walk into a home or into, into a bedroom and they have one of those Febreze things or whatever. Plug ins. [00:20:50] Speaker B: Oh, sure. [00:20:51] Speaker A: The wall. I'm like, why do you have that in here? Yeah, you know, because I like the smell. [00:20:56] Speaker B: Yeah, of course you not because it's covering up something. Some smell that I don't like. [00:21:00] Speaker A: Some musty, mildewy smell. Because mold remediation is very expensive. [00:21:07] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it's, I mean it's directly related to your health and your health is the most important thing. [00:21:15] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:21:15] Speaker B: So they, so they, they just make sure they get it right. [00:21:18] Speaker A: Yep. So things to keep an eye on, eye out for visible mold, for one. And we're talking in the roof, in your ceiling, in and around cabinets, behind cabinets, like you want to really, when you have an inspection done, pay attention, close attention to that stuff. Make sure they're using a moisture meter. [00:21:37] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:21:38] Speaker A: So they can look and see if there's moisture in a wall and they use a moisture meter and it's there. Boom. [00:21:46] Speaker B: They'll know it. [00:21:47] Speaker A: They'll know it. That's a good one. [00:21:50] Speaker B: Yeah, that is good. Sewer line repair and or replacement. Ooh, that's a dirty job. Nobody Wants to do that, you have to pay extra because nobody wants to do that job. Yeah, but it's underground, folks. If you have to dig up a sewer line to repair the sewer line because it's broken somewhere between the house and the city connection, that's expensive. Not to mention, you know, you're. You're. You're mussing up the landscape, and then, you know, that's. That work's got to be done again. [00:22:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Things to look out for slow drains, backups, or foul smells. And this is really. This is one of those things. The older the house, the more you should be concerned with it. Back in the olden days, they used to use clay tiles. I grew up in a house that had clay tiles from the house all the way out to the street. And there were portions of it that had roots from trees that grew in and broke the tiles, and so it caused backups. And I remember my dad having guys come out with, you know, digging machines and digging portions of it up and replacing portions, and then it was crazy. And when you talk about that, that stuff is expensive, you know, three to $10,000. That's if they're digging trenches. Trenchless methods are a little more. Less invasive, but still, it's not cheap. [00:23:20] Speaker B: No, it's not. [00:23:22] Speaker A: It's always a good idea to have your pipes scoped. I think they actually recommend if your home was built before a certain date. And I don't know what that is, but I'm going to say somewhere in the 70s. [00:23:35] Speaker B: It's funny how relatable that is to human life. I mean, you reach a certain age, 50 or something, and you gotta get your pipes scoped. You know what I'm saying? [00:23:46] Speaker A: I mean, it's 45 now. [00:23:48] Speaker B: 45. So, yeah, I mean, it. It is relatable to. To all things. Your house and your body. [00:23:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Next one on the list, Tony, is, you know, this one's kind of related to the foundation. We talked about structural damage of the foundation, but water proofing, water in the. If you have water in your standing water in your basement, standing water in your crawl space, water leaking in pooling water around your house, do not ignore that. That is a very expensive venture. I recently had to pay several thousand dollars. This was a couple years ago, because I had like 6 or 8 inches of standing water in my crawl space. It got to a point where I could hear it splashing against my heat registers on the floor of my crawl space in my home. It's insane. And I had to have all that ductwork replaced again. I told you about that. [00:24:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I do. I remember. I remember. [00:24:46] Speaker A: Oh, man. So having that work done was not cheap. And if you have a crawl space where there's standing water, you're going to have mold, can have mildew. So I had to have that whole thing replaced. [00:25:00] Speaker B: All the. [00:25:00] Speaker A: I had to have the water pumped out. They had to put in several sump pumps down there, gravel drain, rock. That was expensive. Yeah, I feel like everything on the list has happened to me. [00:25:12] Speaker B: Well, you have not had extensive pest damage. You did, you get, you did have a little bit of, you know, a little bit of mouse. A little mouse. You had a little Mickey Mouse running around underneath the house there for a while. But you had the, you had the experts come out and deal with that and they continue to monitor that situation, make sure that you're not in trouble. But there are pests out there that actually, obviously, termites. Right. Termites will badly damage the structure of your home. So if you're seeing damage to the home that's caused by pests, termites, rodents, those kinds of things, droppings, or you're seeing visible nests or accumulations of organic matter that a rodent has pulled together, those are warning signs. And you want to make sure that there is a full in depth look at what has happened there so you can understand the extent of the damage. That's pest control. Also, expensive structural repairs caused by termites can reach, you know, up to $10,000. I mean, you're talking about a lot of money you'll be spending to repair the damage that was caused by termites. [00:26:37] Speaker A: Things to look out for, wood damage, sawdust, pet droppings, you know what I mean? Visible nests. [00:26:44] Speaker B: Also skeletons, those mud tunnels on the outside of your foundation. See those little mud tunnels? And you know there's been termites in there. Yeah, it's a lot yucky. [00:26:55] Speaker A: Next one, the list, Tony. It's our last one in the expensive line. I'm sure there's a lot more. [00:27:00] Speaker B: Oh, sure. This one, very common. [00:27:03] Speaker A: Yeah, very common window replacement. And I mean, if you see things like warped window frames, warped trim around your window, moldy trim, those things are probably. The windows are probably leaking, cracked, leaking glass. You see the panes between them, single pane, old windows like that. Don't take that stuff lying down, right. I mean, you kind of know when you're buying an old house, you got to just know what you're getting into. And you might not be able to say, like, look, I'm going to have to replace every window in this house and I want 30 grand. [00:27:40] Speaker B: Right. [00:27:40] Speaker A: That's, you know, you can have that argument, but you might not win. But just knowing what you're getting into when you need to replace windows, if you got a really small house, you could pay as little as 8 to $10,000 to replace every window in that house. But depending on what type of window, I mean, you could pay 30, 40, $100,000 for an entire house pack of windows. So something to keep in mind, because windows are not something you want to leave. [00:28:14] Speaker B: Windows are the last line of defense from the outside. We want to be able to see outside, so we created windows. But windows do not insulate like a wall insulates. And so if the window is not doing its job, if it's not performing properly, then you're paying too much money to heat or cool the house than you should be. And it, it zaps your comfort level. And, you know, and if it's got a seal failure in the glass and you can't see through the window or you can't properly clean it, all of those things are things you shouldn't have to, to live with. So knowing what your liability is, being able to, you know, maybe make a deal that saves you some money, is just understand that that's where you're at. [00:29:03] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, that's it. Let's jump into our list of things that are a little bit less expensive. They might show up on the inspection report. [00:29:11] Speaker B: They might be annoying, but they're not terrible. But they're not probably expensive. And they won't likely take you a lot of time to fix. [00:29:19] Speaker A: Right. Like, for instance, the very first one on the list, like a leafy leaky faucet or a leaky shower head. That's, you know, I feel like all faucets leak when they get old. And a lot of times you can just replace the cartridge in them. You can go to a plumbing store that sells that particular brand, Delta Moen, whatever it is, and if you take the old cartridge out, take it in with you. A lot of times you just get a brand new one and replace it for under 50 bucks. All those leaks are gone. Or if you got to replace it, the whole thing. You could replace a whole faucet for 50 to 100 bucks. [00:29:57] Speaker B: Yep. [00:29:57] Speaker A: Kitchen one, maybe 200, 300 if it's. [00:29:59] Speaker B: Really, it's really high end. Yeah. Not a big project. It is a good idea if you're replacing the faucet in a sink to replace the water supply lines. Always a good idea if you're doing some plumbing work. On a sink or your washing machine, replace the water supply lines. Those, those seemingly never age. You look at them and they look exactly the same. They don't get, you know, they don't get handled. So they don't get moved around a lot. They can still have a tag on them and look brand new, but they could be moments away from failure. [00:30:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep. [00:30:34] Speaker B: So if you're, if you're messing around in there, just remember it's not expensive to buy a couple of new water supply lines. [00:30:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:42] Speaker B: And it's a good idea to replace them. [00:30:44] Speaker A: And the shutoffs, honestly. [00:30:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:46] Speaker A: The shutoff valves that are under there, if they look old or if they're like every plumber I've ever talked to, they like the quarter turn. [00:30:54] Speaker B: Yeah, the quarter turn is nice. [00:30:56] Speaker A: Quarter turn, it's off. Quarter turn, it's on. [00:30:58] Speaker B: Yep. [00:30:59] Speaker A: The old ones that you were like the oval handle and you have to turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, turn it off. Those things fail big time. And when you need to turn the water off, what's. What do you want to turn and turn and turn and turn and turn and then. [00:31:12] Speaker B: No, you want it to go fast or just boom. Yeah. [00:31:15] Speaker A: So quarter turn, that's what everybody, all the plumbers I talk to, that's it. What they say they want. Next one on the list, Tony is loose and missing. Caulk. Caulking is one of those things. It's not hard to do. It's a little time consuming and it takes a little practice to make it look good. [00:31:31] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a little, I mean, there's a little bit of art to it there. [00:31:33] Speaker A: Yeah, there is. There's some little cool tools. [00:31:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:37] Speaker A: On the market that help you caulk like a pro. These little squeegee looking tools with the little diamond shaped head on them. Those things work great. [00:31:49] Speaker B: Yeah. A tube of sealant is, you know, for the exterior of your home, ranges from five to ten bucks a tube and you know, depending on how much you have to do, it's a fairly inexpensive process. It really just comes down to some sealant and a caulking gun and maybe a little, maybe a little finishing tool for your, for your bead to give it a really finished look. But this is something, this is a project that a, that a homeowner or, or a DIYer or a weekend warrior can handle, can take on and get it done. And remember this one thing. If you have loose caulking and you're going to replace it, you need to get all the old caulking off. You don't want to try to just caulk right over the old caulking. That's not going to benefit you. Because when that. When that old caulking continues to come off of the house, it'll bring the new caulking with it. Yeah, you got to clean that old stuff off, get yourself a clean spot and put the new bead in there. [00:32:51] Speaker A: Well, and this is especially true on the interior, like in a bathroom where you're using silicone based caulkings. Those sealants particularly aren't paintable. Usually you're buying something with 100% silicone in it. Well, nothing sticks to that, not even new silicone. You put new silicone on old silicone, it's just going to peel right off. Great. For a short period of time, but then it's going to look really crappy. [00:33:21] Speaker B: Right. [00:33:21] Speaker A: And not that long. So it's just like Tony said. Get the old stuff out, squeeze the new stuff in, take your time. I've seen too, where people use painters tape. Put a layer of painters tape on both sides, fill that caulk down the middle, and then clean it up, make it look nice, wait for it to dry a little bit, peel that tape off, and it leaves a nice straight line. It's not a bad tip. [00:33:46] Speaker B: I've done it. I've done it. It works good. [00:33:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:48] Speaker B: Don't wait until the caulking dries all the way. You just want it to set up a little bit before you pull that tape. [00:33:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep. Next one on the list, Tony. Loose or wobbly handrails. [00:34:02] Speaker B: Ooh, I have a loose handrail right now. [00:34:08] Speaker A: Oh, do you? [00:34:09] Speaker B: Yes. And I've. I have diagnosed that the bracket is tight to the wall, but it's loose on the bottom of the handrail. So I need to grab a Phillips screwdriver and go up in there. And I might even need to have a couple of additional screws. Maybe one has rattled its way out. [00:34:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:28] Speaker B: And just tighten that handrail bracket back down to the handrail. But this is not a difficult job. Handrail brackets are fairly inexpensive and available everywhere. [00:34:40] Speaker A: It does sound scary, though, when somebody says, oh, you have a loose handrail. It sounds scary and it sounds expensive, like you got it. Somebody come out. But a lot of times it's just literally tightening screws. [00:34:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Adding a little glue can be very. Can be a very simple process. [00:34:54] Speaker A: Yep. [00:34:54] Speaker B: Not something to run away from, in my opinion. [00:34:56] Speaker A: Absolutely. Here's one on the list, Tony, that kind of corresponds with the expensive list, except when you have stuck or misaligned windows or doors. You might automatically think, oh no, my foundation is crumbling. But it might just be. You might maybe. But it might just be that your house is settling. [00:35:18] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. [00:35:19] Speaker A: And to adjust a door a lot of times is just sometimes the screws are loose in the hinges. We had a. We installed some brand new doors in the last couple of years and all of them, I've had to go back in and readjust them all. And the house has been there since the 80s. So the house isn't falling down, but everything is just settling. And the new doors, the hinges, they're heavy, solid core doors. So all the hinges, I had to go back and tighten all those screws. I even had to add some long ones. [00:35:54] Speaker B: Yes. [00:35:54] Speaker A: Pulled out the old three quarter inch jobs. [00:35:57] Speaker B: Right. [00:35:57] Speaker A: And put in some two and a half or three inch screws into the wall framing and it really pulled that door back up. [00:36:03] Speaker B: Very good idea. Yeah, it's a good practice. [00:36:05] Speaker A: Yeah. It's not that big of a deal. So when you're looking at misaligned windows or misaligned doors, windows can be adjusted. They call a lock and slide. You know, different companies, you can call them out and do some adjustments on your windows to make sure that everything's adjusted properly. [00:36:25] Speaker B: Yep, absolutely. That's very, very true. Light fixtures or outlets not working. Now, as a weekend warrior, if I've got an outlet that's not working, I'm going to replace that outlet. I'm going to find that outlet on the, on the electrical panel. I'm going to find the switch that runs it, I'm going to turn it off and then I'm going to test it with a voltage tester that tells me that there's no current in that outlet. And then I'm going to pull it out and replace it. That is very inexpensive. It's literally cost me five bucks. The cost of the outlet. That's it. And some of my time, the same thing with light fixtures. I've replaced so many light fixtures in my time, it does require a ladder. It does require that you find the power and turn it off and then you have to work over your head a little bit. But once you've got it done, once you start the project, it's not a very difficult project. And this also is not a big cost. Really comes down to the cost of the light fixture that you've purchased to replace the one and the light bulb that's going to go in it. [00:37:39] Speaker A: I recently, you know, when outlets aren't working, sometimes that's Concerning. It sounds scary. Like, oh, man, an outlet's not working. That means something could be seriously wrong down the line. I actually had the same conversation with somebody in my office. They bought a home that they Airbnb. It's like a rental house that they own, and they had some people staying there. And all of a sudden, a bunch of outlets went out in one of the bedrooms. And he was freaking out. He's like, oh, my goodness, it cost me an arm and a leg. And I'm like, hold on. Look for a GFCI plug that's tripped. Because a lot of times, sometimes not a lot of times, sometimes electricians, maybe they're not wired properly, or maybe that they've added on outlets down the line from that gfci, maybe incorrectly, or maybe it is correct. Maybe. Maybe they're. The code was that those had to be on there. I don't really know. But sometimes it's as easy as checking that GFCI and pushing that button and they'll come back on. Yeah, I've seen that several times. [00:38:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, it's also notable that outlets fail all the time. [00:39:04] Speaker A: Absolutely. They fail. [00:39:05] Speaker B: Outlets fail all the time. I've probably replaced. My house is 20 years old. 20 years old, but I've probably replaced eight outlets in my house that were they just. Usually it was one part of the outlet, the top or the bottom, has stopped working, and then the other one was working, which made it really easy for me to diagnose. This outlet has failed. The power is here. And it's good because the bottom one is working, but the top has failed. Outlets fail. They are not expensive, they're easy to replace. You just need to follow proper safety protocols. [00:39:43] Speaker A: Right. Next one on the list, Tony, is a loose toilet. [00:39:48] Speaker B: A loose toilet. [00:39:50] Speaker A: Yeah. When you get a loose toilet. Yeah. You know, it does sound intimidating, but a lot of times, all you gotta do is tighten up the closet bolts. [00:40:02] Speaker B: Tighten the bolts. [00:40:03] Speaker A: Or if the floor is uneven or something, they make kits that will extend. You know, you have a ring, that wax ring. And that goes on to a flange flange, this toilet flange pedestal thing for flange. And if you don't use stainless steel screws to install that thing, when it was installed, whatever, 1977, they will be gone. [00:40:30] Speaker B: They'll disintegrate. [00:40:31] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So it causes things to just get loose over time. [00:40:35] Speaker B: Yep. [00:40:36] Speaker A: So you can either replace that flange, which isn't that difficult. [00:40:40] Speaker B: Nope. [00:40:41] Speaker A: Or re. Screw it down and then install a new flange or a toilet flange, wax ring, wax Ring, reinstall your toilet with new closet bolts, stainless steel closet bolts. And it's. It's not a terrible fix. [00:40:55] Speaker B: No. [00:40:55] Speaker A: Even if you hired something to come out, it's not going to cost you an arm and leg, usually. [00:41:00] Speaker B: Here's a tip. If you remove the toilet from the spot where it's at, you've already drained the water out of the tank and out of the bowl. If you move the toilet from that spot, just do it like this. Lift it and put it in a 32 gallon garbage bag. [00:41:16] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that's a good tip. [00:41:17] Speaker B: And then just close up the bag at the top and then have someone help you. Of course the toilets are heavy, so move the toilet, but just leave it in the bag. And then when the time comes to put it back, you take it out of the bag and then whatever stays in the bag. Whatever's in the bag stays in the bag. You know what I mean? [00:41:32] Speaker A: Just don't let the toilet out of the bag. [00:41:33] Speaker B: Yeah, just leave the toilet stuff in the bag and then move it over. It doesn't have to be a messy project. It doesn't. And it's not. It's not big. Apart from the fact that the toilet is heavy and it takes two people really, to lift it. Replacing parts on the toilet or tightening up a loose toilet or replacing the wax ring are all. Those are all tasks that can be accomplished by a DIYer or a weekend warrior. [00:42:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep. Last couple here, Tony. Insufficient insulation around your attic hatch. [00:42:09] Speaker B: Hatch. Yeah, around your attic hatch. [00:42:11] Speaker A: The attic access. [00:42:13] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, whatever. I don't know. The hatch. The word hatch. [00:42:16] Speaker A: A lot of times it'll show up on an inspection report in your access hatch to your attic. You climb up there and in the olden days, they would just insulate everything except for the hatch. The actual door. Right, that. [00:42:33] Speaker B: The panel. [00:42:34] Speaker A: The panel. [00:42:35] Speaker B: It's not really a door. [00:42:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:37] Speaker B: Or a hatch. [00:42:38] Speaker A: And that, honestly, is not that hard of a job. [00:42:42] Speaker B: Well, it's not that fun of a job. I mean, it's work. If you're climbing up into the attic and you're packing insulation up there, whether you're blowing it in or. Or raking it in or laying it down, unrolling bat insulation or whatever it is, you know, and depending on what time of year it is, what's the temperature up there, I mean, it's work, folks. It's work. It's not. It's not diff. Well, I don't know. It's difficult. It's not. [00:43:13] Speaker A: It can be difficult, you know, it's. [00:43:14] Speaker B: Not mentally taxing, but I'll be honest. [00:43:17] Speaker A: I'll tell you one thing. I've had insulation done on two different projects of mine. I priced out myself buying the insulation, doing it myself, versus hiring a professional company, an insulation company, to come out and do it for me. [00:43:34] Speaker B: No comparison. [00:43:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I hired him. I mean, the amount of money I would have saved doing it myself was not even remotely worth it. So I'm just telling you right now. [00:43:45] Speaker B: Yeah. That working with insulation is no joke. [00:43:50] Speaker A: There are certain trades, in my opinion, that are. [00:43:55] Speaker B: That earn their money. [00:43:56] Speaker A: That earn their money, and insulation is one of them. [00:44:00] Speaker B: Yeah. No question. [00:44:01] Speaker A: She Rock is the same Sheetrock. You could do your own Sheetrock, but the people that do it will do it fast, efficiently. [00:44:10] Speaker B: It's going to look better. [00:44:11] Speaker A: It's going to look way better. You're going to spend more time and money in aggravation doing it yourself. Unless you're, you know, you want to. But insulation is another one of those, you know, just pay somebody. [00:44:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:22] Speaker A: They do a good job. And that is way overpriced. [00:44:26] Speaker B: Yeah, it is really good advice. Insulation is. Installation is a hard thing to work with. [00:44:30] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's all I got, Tony. [00:44:33] Speaker B: All right, well, this was a pretty good show, I think, you know, a lot of these things are things that we run into every day. Obviously, you have a lot of experience with some of these things and. And I did as well. And so as a homeowner, these are things that you'll run into as a home buyer, these are things you need to be wary of. [00:44:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:53] Speaker B: So keep these on the front of your. On the front of your mind when you're shopping for a home. And be vigilant and look for these things. Ask questions. [00:45:04] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:45:05] Speaker B: And make sure that the inspector is doing for you what they should be doing for you. That's important. [00:45:12] Speaker A: I'll throw this out there. If you've got any inspection nightmares where you bought a house, you got it inspected and you didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal, but it ended up costing you a ton of money. I'd love to hear about it. Just want to hear your story. Yeah, you can email us weekendwarriorsar.com that's P A R R dot com. Weekendwarriorsar.com Shoot us an email. Thanks so much for listening. We'll catch you next time. [00:45:38] Speaker B: Have a great week.