Bergen County has a good number of townhouse condominiums for sale. You find them in locations such as Mahwah, Ramsey, Fort Lee, Edgewater and Cliffside Park where there are large condo developments. They do exist all over Bergen County but the larger developments are in those locations. I was at an inspection of a Leonia town home today where problems were found in the crawlspace.
Many townhouses were constructed without a below ground basement. As a result, it can seem like the town home is resting right on the ground built on a concrete slab. This is not always the case because sometimes there’s a crawlspace underneath.
Mike Andreassen of CE Inspections was t
he home inspector today. Mike found access to the crawlspace and are we glad he did. He discovered that rain water was getting into it creating all sorts of trouble. He told us that it’s been going on for quite a while because the insulation is falling apart.
This picture depicts such a mess. You can easily see the insulation falling apart.
A crawlspace should actually look something like this:
No one wants a wet and moldy crawlspace under their townhouse. Mold is a health issue as we all know. Mold travels up inside walls given the opportunity. As a result you can experience more extensive problems.
Mike Andreassen did a great job. I give him a lot of credit for going into the crawlspace of that townhouse. The listing agent told us that it’s impossible to get into that area. Mike ignored her. He got in anyway. Because he did, the water problem was found.
Choose a good home inspector because you’ll be so sorry if you don’t. This is a great example of why you should. Bad inspectors don’t find all the problems. As a result you find them after you own the house. Because of this you have unhappy surprises. You sure don’t want that to happen.
Contact me if you need the name of some good inspectors.
