Pipe leaking in crawl space

This week, I did a home inspection on a home in Windsor that has a crawl space.  Although it's not my favourite place to be, I always go into the crawl space...from one end to the other. I'd do it for a home I'm inspecting for my daughter or son, so naturally I do it for all my clients. Why do I stress this? Because not all home inspectors go into the crawl space and if they do, they don't inspect the ENTIRE area. I guess that can be said about plumbers too...read on and you'll find out why.

During this home inspection, I found a leak in a pipe and it wasn't just an occasional drip.  I reported it to my client (the home buyer) and the Realtor who were in attendance.  Later that day, I got a call from the Realtor stating that the home owner had a plumber check all the pipes in the crawl space and he couldn't find the leak.

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Dumbfounded that a licensed plumber could not find the leak, I asked whether he went to the complete opposite end of the crawl space (in this case it was the south wall).  Apparently the plumber had not ventured into that area of the crawl space and therefore did not see the leak!

Is it important for a building inspector to check the whole crawl space during a home inspection?  You bet it is! In addition to the leak, I found a cracked floor joist amongst other things as well. My client was quite happy with my findings during this home inspection and at the end of the day, so was the home owner because now their water bill will go down and their crawl space will start to dry up.

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