It is really hard to write these posts, concerning 2 months ago, when so much is happening right now. Rooms painted! Basement gutted! Stairs gone! But we'll get to that. For now, let's get on with the inspection.

The inspection/attorney approval period (herein referred to as "the period") was ill timed - my sister's wedding was at the end of that week. Therefore the lawyers agreed to extend it to 7 days instead of 5.

My realtor recommended the inspector, who was fabulous. This is another person that I would be happy to recommend. He went everywhere in the house (including the attic, only accessible by a tiny square hole in a closet). He took pictures of everything. My report ended up being thirty pages.* Thirty pages of old house rickety money-pit wonder. To be fair, it was not unexpected. Old house = issues. I went in hoping for no major structural issues. And there were none.

*I met my neighbor on Tuesday night. She is fantastically nice and has the coolest garage - a brick wonder with a beautiful deck on top. It sounds like my street has a lot of of very friendly, busy body types. This will ultimately be great and annoying. Anyway, I digressed from my original digression. She mentioned that the whole neighborhood was impressed with my inspector/inspection report. They all saw it and feared the magnificence that was my inspector. The seller was amazed by all the things wrong/the thoroughness.

In the end, we (realtor + me + loml) narrowed it down to 22 items that were of concern. Yeah, 22 items was narrowed down from a billion. For your viewing pleasure, I've transcribed my realtors notes below. These are in order that they appeared in the report. This list was sent, on or around day 8 of the period, to the seller's lawyer...

1. Aluminum capping or wood replacement
2. Chimney liner
3. Tuckpoint Chimney
4. Seal at base of north wall along gangway
5. Seal all open areas around exterior
6. Ivy has deteriorated frame walls (rotted) on garage
7. Trees trimmed
8. GFCI's throughout
9. Address all electrical issues
10. Replace cracked vent stack
11. Replace copper to galvanized connections with proper fittings
12. Shower in basement has no waste lines
13. Gas leaks
14. Water pressure
15. Leaking main bathroom cleanout
16. Improper plumbing under kitchen sink & at dishwasher
17. Toilet problems
18. Where are missing storms & screens?
19. Rodent control - mice
20. Smoke & carbon monoxide detectors
21. Asbestos floor tiles
22. Porch construction poor

Here are two lovely, kitschy examples of number 21: