Fire!
Recently, I showed a house that had a very odd pattern of damage. There were water marks that were not coming from the roof, or the bathrooms, or the kitchens. We found the source of the water in the attic. There were signs of a fire there; the water was from the fire hoses. A Google search yielded the date of the fire (a couple of years back) and the number of the fire report at the town fire department. The fire department had more information.
My client lost interest at that point. The house has some fire repair, but there was still tons of work to do. The project was over his head.
Had he been interested, the next step would have been to purchase a CLUE report. This Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange report covers the last five years of insurance claims on a property. This is a handy tool, but it doesn’t go back long enough to help with most of the fire and flood damage that I have seen in my career.
Older fire records are not so easy to find. Many towns file their fire reports by date. So if you do not know the date of the fire, you are out of luck.
During one home inspection, the inspector found an area of basement ceiling that was charred right above the boiler. We could date the replacement of the boiler, which was about 25 years old based on the serial number. But we couldn’t find the fire when we went through a year of fire records around that date.
At another inspection, the fire was in the attic and repaired the way a homeowner would repair it (need I say more?) The town in question kept records by property, but there was no record of the fire or permits for the repair.
In case of fire, I defer to the home inspector for advice. An inspector is the best person to tell you whether the damage is structural. Most of time fire damage, without fully permitted repairs, is a good reason to walk away.
Have you ever gotten a CLUE? Did it shed light on problems you found in the house? Are town permit records as good a source of information?
Homeowners, do you keep good records of damage and repairs on your home? You should!
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"Most of time fire damage, without fully permitted repairs, is a good reason to walk away. "
Rona - Tough stance. You are eliminating millions of homes with this sweeping statement. Most antique homes have had a fire at one time or another ,and in some cities such as Salem , MA entire neighborhoods were involved in fires.
This is not a valid reason to walk away from a home.
Also, a home inspector is generally not qualified to determine if the damage is structural.The vast majority of home inspectors do not have any structural training or qualifications, and the Laws governing home inspection prohibit home inspectors from performing structural evaluations..
Rona did not say buyers should walk away from any home with fire damage; she said to walk away from fire damage repaired without permits. Any kind of home repair or renovation done without permits is a risk, and when then repair/renovation is done to fix damage to the structure of a property, that risk is even greater. It is good advice. Permits, permits, permits.
jlen - Try finding permits for the repairs in 1820 , 1910, or even 1946.
Permits mean little or nothing .The purpose of permits is to notify the assessors of improvements, and to create revenue for the municipality.
I have done thousands of projects, and at many of them the inspector never came to the building. And some inspectors had no idea what they were doing.
I had a client interested in a house that had extensive electrical and plumbing work done in its kitchen. The kitchen had been gutted and a new section added to make it larger.
When I spoke with the town’s building inspector he said the owner’s had applied for permits but didn’t follow through by getting them signed off. He said he wouldn’t be able to sign off on the work since procedure wasn’t followed.
I asked him what the worst thing that could happen. He said if new buyers had a fire in that kitchen their owners insurance may not cover it, if they could get insurance for it to begin with.
I agree with REmaven about permits. They are far more a tax measure than insurance for homeowners - you can do a miserable job and still have all your permits in order.
Bottom line - not something to rely on, one way or the other.
Home inspectors aren't all that useful either in truth. If you have real issues, get a good contractor to take a look.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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