My Husband and I purchased a home in Merrimack, New Hampshire on 6/25 and had a home inspection performed by Steve Cauthen of The Home Team Inspection Service"
First I would like to say that I am horrified that Home Inspectors do not need to be licensed in NH and that any hack with a business card can hang out their shingle with very little to protect the consumer
Since moving into our home we have encountered several major defects with the property that were either completely omitted from Mr Cauthen's report or misrepresented. We purchased the services of a home inspector to evaluate if the property was worth the asking price prior the purchase. The defects that we have encountered have a severe negative impact upon the value of our property and if they had been brought to our attention in during the home inspection process we would have either nullified our Purchase and Sales agreement or we would have renegotiated our bid. Mr Cauthen's contract to us states,
Paragraph 1. Scope of Inspection... The purpose of the inspection is to identify major, visually-observable defects that are present at the time of the inspection and that, in the HOMETEAMS opinion, might affect the typical home buyer's purchase decision or the use of the property for it's intended purposes. A major, visually-observable defect is on that is capable of detection by reasonable visual examination only, and that requires an immediate expenditure in excess of $1,000 to prevent further deterioration of the property
Since moving into our property we have noticed some very serious issues with the foundation and we have had it independently inspected by a structural engineer who states in his report that it is in need of immediate repair, I have enclosed his report for your reference.
Mr. Cauthen's inspection report states,
The foundation was constructed of poured concrete. A single inspection cannot determine whether movement of a foundation has ceased. Any cracks should be monitored regularly. There were no major visual defects observed on the visible portions of the foundation.
There were several minor, hairline cracks observed on the foundation. The cracks were 1/16th or less in width. These cracks did not appear to have any structural significance at the time of inspection.
The foundation is in fact a block foundation and not poured concrete, which at the time of the report, we dismissed as a simple typo. There are several other things deficient with Mr. Cauthen's report. First being the obvious, the foundation is not poured concrete. Second, there are several cracks, some of which have been patched and some not. Two of the cracks are clearly greater that 1/16th of an inch wide and two run through the block and not simply across the mortar.
The chimney is also pulling away from the house. There are also cracks in the drywall at the stress points where the finished basement and the main floor meet and they clearly visible. The concrete slab is also cracked and also heaved in some places. The problem that is most concerning to us regarding the foundation is that one of the walls is bowing inward and is part of the finished basement of our home.
This bowing is visible from the interior and the exterior of the home. The block wall that is bowing is partially exposed in the garage area of the home and has a greater than 3 defection. My Husband and I took photos during the home inspection and despite the furniture placement in the room; the bowing of the wall was visible at that time and was clearly omitted from Mr Cauthen's report.
We are still fielding estimates, but it is the general conclusion so far that the foundation wall will have to be excavated and replaced. Estimates so far are ranging from $24,000 to simply brace the front foundation and stop further inward deviation and underpin the rest of the foundation with steel pilings to $60,000 to replace the all of the damaged portions of the foundation completely with poured concrete. Neither of the estimates includes demolition nor finish work.
We extended several invitations for Mr Cauthen to re-inspect the property to which he sent no response.
Complicating this problem further is the fact that the home is an open concept design and there is no way to close off the area that will need to be repaired from our two small children, so we will not be able to occupy the home during the repair period of at least one week.
Today I recieved a letter from a claims adjuster, after not having any correspondence in return from Mr Cauthen of ANY kind since August, stating that Mr Cauthen was not found liable after reviewing the infomation that she had been provided. I immediately called the adjuster to find out what on earth they were thinking and make an immediate appeal and apparently a claim had actually been submitted by Mr Cauthen, but he failed to supply any of the photos that we had taken and sent to him she also did not seem to have the entire complaint in detail. So, it seems that Mr Cauthen was trying to "stack the deck" in his favor and have the claim closed in his favor.
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