| Our home inspectors do inspections in the following areas: Baie D'Urfe, Beaconsfield, Chateauguay, Cote St-Luc, Dollard des Ormeaux, Dorion, Dorval, Eastern Ontario, Hampstead, Hudson, Ile Bizard, Kirkland, Lasalle, Laval, Montreal West, Montréal, Notre Dame de Grâce, Notre Dame de l'Ile Perrot, Outremont, Pierrefonds, Pointe Claire, Quebec, Roxboro, Senneville, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, St-Lazare, Vallyfield, Vaudreuil, Verdun, Ville St Laurent, Westmount.
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 This is a 30amp electrical service for a 3 bedroom apartment. Definitely inadequate for today’s lifestyle. |
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 Knob and tube wiring from the early 1900's, much of it is still in use today. Possibly the cause of some building fires. Must be removed if renovating, otherwise it can continue to be used. |
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The brick veneer has been damaged by moisture due to leakage around the window sills and balconies. Also there are no weep holes in the brick veneer to allow the moisture to dry. Weep holes can easily added but the stains can be difficult to remove even by pressure washing.
For a building constructed in 1986 this is poor workmanship. |
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| An old fuse panel, many still in use. Only the blue fuses in this panel are the correct size. The rest of the fuses are all too large. Larger fuses are often used to replace blown fuse because they don’t blow as often. The problem is that there are insufficient circuits in this house for today’s lifestyle.. Oversized fuses can cause fires due to overloading of the wiring. |
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| A retaining wall that is on the move, soon to become unstable and fall. Too much moisture and poor drainage will cause the wall move a small amount when it freezes each winter. A well built wall with good drainage can last a long time. |
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| New construction. The holes for the wiring are drilled too close to the bottom edge of the joist compromising its strength. The holes should be at least 5cm away from the edge. A common mistake. |
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| 1900 building. The brick veneer at the top of the building is bulging away from the structure because the attachments have rusted and failed. This must be repaired soon otherwise it may fall. Not uncommon in pre-1940 buildings as the attachments are not galvanized and consequently rust. |
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| 1930 Duplex. The electrical service cable must be at least one meter above any structure. The cable is resting on a metal flashing, SHOCK HAZARD. The electrical utility that installed this cable should have known better! |
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| 1950’s bungalow. Underside of the roof, as seen from the attic. The bathroom fan discharging into the attic space is causing condensation to form and the roof boards to rot. Warm moist air from the house must not be allowed to enter the attic. Over a few years the roof can be seriously damaged. |
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| A snow shovel on the roof! Heating cables! This roof probably leaks. |
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| 1960 bungalow. The basement was renovated and a bathroom built around the electrical panel. NOT a good idea. Electrical panels are allowed in washrooms but must be at least one meter from water. Electrical panels are not allowed in bathrooms (containing a bath or shower). Either the bathroom or the electrical panel has to be moved. Both options are expensive! |
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| 1920’s duplex. This is the main supporting beam for the building. It is clearly rotten. Additional jack posts have been added and are compressing the rotten wood. Rotten structure is common in this age of building that will often have a damp crawl space. This beam must be replaced.
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| The support for this large deck leaves something to be desired. As I said to the buyer, “When you have your house warming party do not all stand on the deck at once.” Three out of four decks we inspect are not properly built. |
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| This was a very clean garage, until the floor drain cover was lifted and engine oil found. If the oil is leaking into the ground under the slab then it can be very expensive to clean up. Tests must be done to determine if there is contamination of the surrounding soil. |
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| The occupants of this house were growing something in this attic. The lights were very bright. |
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| This boiler is about 70 years old and still working, not very efficiently, but working. |
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| 1987 Six unit apartment building. The siding is a composite wood material popular in the 80’s. This is a defective product, there have been a number of class action suits involving this and other similar products. The painted finish is coming off and the siding is absorbing moisture causing it to expand and buckle. This siding must be replaced soon as it can no longer protect the structure of the building from the weather. Beware of all siding made from wood by-products. |
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| A recent and otherwise well renovated older duplex. All of the new wiring has been run on the surface. Wires that are not in conduit or not armoured should not be run where they can be damaged by day-to-day activities. Wires should not be run along baseboards, around doorframes in closets etc. |
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| This forest of jack posts in the 1900 building tells me the main beam is failing and must be replaced. The building was eventually condemned by the municipal inspector. |
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