Chinese Drywall - In Vancouver?

I have been assured by the group Americans Watchdog that cases of Chinese drywall have been confirmed in the Greater Vancouver Area.

If you know or suspect that you have a problem with Chinese drywall and you live in the greater Vancouver area, I would like to hear from you. I would like to document at least one case of this material in use so that I can elevate the story in the media and with local advocate groups. Right now all of the building organizations are discounting that there is a problem and in my view ignoring what I think is a real liability for BC residents.

I am not looking to charge you a fee to inspect, I am only after confirmation that the problem exists in the Vancouver area.

Please contact me if you suspect a problem.

Thanks
Sean Wiens
President - Senwi Services

Home Inspection Tools

The two most important tools an inspector has in their arsenal is their brain and their eyes.

A mentor of mine once answered the question

What are you looking for during an inspection?

with

I do not know but will tell you when I see it.

Realtor referrals for inspectors

At SENWI, we insist that any inspector that provides services for us be independent from Realtors and usually maintain a membership in the Independent Home Inspectors of North America and must take the “No Conflict of Interest Pledge”.

It is critical that the inspector provides an unbiased evaluation free from any influence. Even a good/professional relationship between a Realtor and Home Inspector can influence the service that a client receives as the relationship between the Realtor and Inspector can become stronger than the relationship between the Inspector and Client. We believe this type of relationship is not in the best interests of the consumer.

Our inspectors do not solicit Realtors for referrals, do not direct any form of advertising to Realtors, and do not provide or receive any form of compensation to or from Realtors,

When you hire a SENWI inspector you are guaranteed an inspector free from all Realtor or other Third Party influences, an inspector who is working solely for you and in your best interests.

Does a house inspection kill the deal?

Is any home perfect?

It is important to realize that a seller is under no obligation to repair everything identified in the inspection report. No home is perfect, and it is important for the buyer to be reasonable in their demands for a vendor to address found issues. As long as the dwelling is not brand new, there will always be components in the house at various stages of their life cycle. It is not reasonable to expect everything to be brand new, and normal wear and tear on components throughout the dwelling is acceptable and expected. This is where you need to work closely with your Realtor who should be providing you a summary of similar properties for sale in the area. The properties listed should all have similar parameters and be broken down into a per sq. ft. cost so that you can compare apples to apples. For example, if the inspection report identifies that the roof is at the end of its service life and in need of replacement and you see that the sq. ft. cost is above the market average, it may then be appropriate to ask the vendor to compensate for the worn out roof. But if the pricing is below the market pricing, then the vendor most likely has already accounted for the expenditure of replacing the roof and it would not be appropriate to ask for a further discount (or at least to expect it).

What makes a good inspection report?

The most common style of report in the industry is called a checklist report. It usually contains a series of checkboxes per building component with captions like “Appears Serviceable”, “Functional”, or “Poor/Average/Good”. These are not descriptive terms and often mean different things to different people. Most of these reports have minimal space to expand in a narrative fashion on the problem identified and the client can often be left unsure of the meaning of a specific reported item. This style of report is popular because it is a one size fits all solution to house inspecting. They often come in carbon copies and can allow the inspector to rush through an inspection, ticking off items without really providing substantive information on the current condition of the dwelling.

At SENWI, we do not use a pre-printed checklist-style report. Instead, we create a custom narrative report supported with photos to explain the found defects. Our reports will only have information on the inspected dwelling and you will not have to wade through piles of boilerplate text to get to the relevant data. And because we custom write every report we are able to take as much room as is required to adequately explain the found defect.

We are proud that we exceed the industry average. We will not compromise our standards or the ability to provide you with a detailed and accurate report that you deserve and have paid for—a report that you need to make an informed purchase decision.

Senwi Inspection Philosophy

At Senwi House Inspections we believe in protecting the consumer. We want to provide you with as much information as possible before you make your home purchase. We're not judgemental but impartial. We neither love nor hate the property. Our goal is to help you make an informed decision.

The process of buying a home can be stressful. Many homes have latent defects that the vendor either did not know about or in rare cases tried to conceal. A home inspection is usually recommended to provide you peace of mind but can often have the opposite effect if the inspector does not adequately explain the reported defects.

At SENWI, our inspectors sit down with you and explain the defects in as much detail as required for you to understand the problem. We will provide you unbiased information to help you make a logical as opposed to an emotional decision. We will be able to provide recommendations on how to address the problem and, by removing the unknowns from the situation, will help you lower your stress. Many defects can be addressed with very little investment of money or time if caught early. For those defects that do represent a significant cost to address, you can work with your Realtor to see if the asking price for the home takes into account this defect. If it does not, ask the Realtor to work on reducing the vendor’s price to compensate. Remember inspectors and their reports do not “kill deals”. We just provide information. We do not create it. Our inspector will never “Fail” the dwelling. What kills a deal is the buyer’s unwillingness or inability to address the defects found by the inspector. In some cases, walking away may represent the best option for the buyer.

Home Inspection - How long should it take?

Our research, based on Realtor and client feedback, indicates that the average total inspection and report generation time for an apartment is 1 hour and the average time for a house or townhouse is 3 hours.

At SENWI, we feel that it is very difficult to perform an accurate and complete inspection within this time frame and demand our inspectors take the time required to do the job right.

We have a two part inspection that takes a minimum 8 hours and on average 15 hours.

See our website for more information on why we take more time to provide you with our quality reports.