Inspected the same house twice and didn’t realize it at first

Inspected the same house twice and didn’t realize it at first

This has never happened to me before! I was invited to inspect a house before purchase, a standard request. But when I arrived at the property, I realized: I had already inspected this house before.But let me tell the story from the beginning.

I first visited this house at the request of a married couple. The house was built by them in 2007 and at first glance everything looked fine. But there was a strange smell in one of the rooms and a suspicion of mold. As a moisture control engineer, I carried out a full inspection and quickly realized the issue was much deeper than it seemed.

According to my internal classification system for buildings (ranging from A to E), I rated the house as Category C, a serious warning, especially if the owner is not planning a major renovation. I prepared a detailed plan for eliminating all the problems.

At the time, the owners were upset, but they decided to act. I supported them during the implementation stage and answered any questions that came up.And now, two years later, I found myself in the same house again, but this time, I had the opportunity to see what had changed.

The new buyers had invited me for a pre-purchase inspection. The house had definitely changed, not so much visually, but the measurements were dramatically different. The main problems had been resolved. That’s the tricky part: internal moisture risks are not visible to the eye, they either reveal themselves over time or through proper measurement tools.

The house’s category improved from C to A-, which is rare here. There are very few properties with this level of moisture control. These are exactly the kind of homes I can confidently recommend for purchase.

It turned out the previous owners were moving abroad and had put the house up for sale. And I had the unique opportunity to see firsthand how a professional inspection and precise recommendations can transform a house and increase its market value.

If you're thinking of buying or selling property, the best place to start is with an engineering inspection. Sometimes one right step changes everything.