The Raleigh Home Inspector On Filthy Homes
As a professional Raleigh Home Inspector, I necessarily have to go into other peoples homes…it comes with the territory; it’s a foundational aspect of the job. You likely wouldn’t believe, though, the condition in which some of these houses are maintained. You likely couldn’t possibly fathom the degree of filth and squalor that presents itself inside some of these houses. In fact, to say that some of these homes…and I use the word homes loosely in those fairly rare subject instances…are actually maintained at all might be somewhat of a stretch of one’s realistic imagination.
Gary Gentry of Quality Residential Inspections, EzineArticles Expert Author
Now, let me set the record straight forthrightly…I’m surely not referring to the vast majority of homes. On the contrary, most homes that I have the occasion to enter are well-maintained; it’s obvious that it is someone’s home. It’s obvious that someone actually lives in the house and takes pride in their abode. Let me also state that I don’t consider myself a prude and that I, myself, am a responsible pet owner who loves most all creatures. So, no cries of prejudice or to a lack of sensitivity, please; such cries will fall on deaf ears.
When I have the occasion to visit a house, it’s usually because someone has expressed a distinct interest in purchasing that house and has signed an Offer to Purchase Contract to do just that. But sometimes, when I walk through the front door, I can only wonder why there is any interest from anyone at all. A case of the heebie-jeebies sets in; an eerie gloom casts its shadow upon the scene. An unnatural pallor arrives upon the faces of all those present. I silently ask myself why, in this beautiful world, would anyone want to purchase the sty-like place into which I have just immersed myself? And, where I’m contractually obligated to stay immersed for the next 2 – 4 hours, I might add.
As a Home Inspector, it’s most definitely not my job to point fingers or to cast blame for any of the myriad of reportable conditions that I might discover. Likewise, for the most part anyway, I have no reserved place, in the Home Inspection report, for the reporting of dirty conditions. But, let’s be honest here; some things just can’t be over-looked or readily ignored. There are a few things that nobody should have to experience and some things that we just simply shouldn’t see…or smell…or have to avoid if we enter your domicile:
- Clean Or Replace The Carpeting – It shouldn’t be readily obvious that your dog…or cat…or Iggy The Iguana is the primary occupant; there’s nothing worse than being initiated into the home with a big whiff of pet urine.
- Do Your Dishes – It’s not pleasant to observe 2 weeks worth of crusty dishes in the scum pond commonly and usually recognizable as the kitchen sink. Using the dishwasher would be a good starting point.
- Pick Up Your Undies – There’s probably no really good reason to leave 2 weeks worth of unwashed undies on the bathroom floor or hung over the rim of the bathtub…really!
- Clean Up After Your Dog – Nobody wants to have to skirt the land mines in the back yard just to walk around a little; and we know what happens when we step on, or into, one of those cone-shaped, pooch-generated mines, right? Poof! Instant vaporization of the human form! If the land mines are on the living room floor then…Oh, never mind!
- Exterminate The Pests – Infestations of roaches are bad enough, agreed? But, if fleas are jumping onto your clothing while you are walking across the living room carpet…well…that’s just Yech, with a capital Y…and I don’t care who you are!
So, with my tongue partially, I say, partially planted in my cheek, don’t invite people into a dirty, filthy home. Please…for the love of all things sane and reasonable…do some house-cleaning. If you exert a little time and effort to clean it up, it’ll show better, it might fetch a few extra dollars in the sales price, and you’ll spare your visitors the embarrassment of contracting a case of the dreaded heebie-jeebies……Poof!
