Examples:
1) The first example was not a inspection at all! A young newlywed couple was buying a 35 year old single family house in Streamwood in 1998. The wife booked the inspection, and then abruptly cancelled it? I telephoned to ask why? She said she wanted to do an inspection, but her husband and their agent said it was a waste of time and money! Since I knew people that knew this couple, they informed me later of what happened? As soon as they moved in they experienced major problems! First there were water penetrations in the crawlspace which led the complete deterioration of the waste lines. When flushing the toilets, the waste was settling in the crawlspace. Yuck!! The excessive moisture and crap also rotted the galvanized water supply lines and horizontal forced air furnace and ductwork. Mold was discovered in the crawlspace which traveled upward into the living spaces. The crawlspace ventilation screens were broken and animals were entering into the premises. The total costs to to make the house functional was $35,000. They had to borrow the monies from their parents just to cover the costs. All they had to have was a qualified home inspection and these problems would have been discovered. I wonder if they are still friends with that agent? Is she sending them yearly refrigerator calendars?
2) This inspection was for a beautiful, older brick two story Italian style home in Oak Park. The clay tile roof, side entrance wroth iron gates leading up steps to elevated roman pillars, cobblestone driveways/ sidewalks and landscaping made this house unique. The couple who was purchasing were both professionals in medical supplies. When walking up to the house, I noticed a larger than normal horizontal crack on the upper brick? So I began the inspection inside, figuring if there is bad news, it will come later! The wife had an interior decorator measuring out the windows for costume drapes. With painting and other things, the women decorator was ringing a tab in the thousands! The husband also had a inside contractor there during the inspection. He was planning on gutting the kitchen and the upper master bathroom. His estimates were also going through the roof. So when I finished the inside, I proceeded outside to stop the cash registers ringing! On all four sides of the house there was considerable structural movement cracks. The concrete foundation walls were moving in different directions. The custom built brick garage in the backyard also had movements. There I stood outside with the clients, agents, and of course "the decorator" and "the contractor". All seemed to have their mouths wide open in "Ah". I recommended "Dave Pate and Associates," an on-site structural repair company who have been around since 1936. He gave my clients the biggest estimate of them all!! $67,000 for foundation and brick stability repairs. Wow!! That doesn't cover brick tuck pointing, interior plaster cracks repairs, and landscaping, following digging. My clients are grateful and happy living in a older modest English Tudor home in Edison Park.
3) In November of 1995, I did an inspection on a brick split level in Norridge. The house was clean and the inspection went well. In February 1996 we had a considerable amount of rain over snow and ice that creating flooding in the Chicago land area. The buyer telephoned me and said he was getting water penetration in the basement, via a hole in the paneling. So I checked out the report and it didn't show any evidence of penetrations. Hence, many homes were also flooding which was on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. He wasn't trying to blame me, but suggested that the previous owner had a hole that they concealed during the inspection that he termed " a water letter outer". Later I called him to see how things were going? He said he fixed the problem by stuffing a polish sausage in the hole! So I decided to stop by and see for myself! Sure enough, problem fixed, an approximately 6" sausage did the trick!