An Inspection of the cabin would have been a good idea

Rick Jones is the classic know-it-all who fancies himself and expert on everything. When Rick and his wife, Marian, made an offer to purchase an older seasonal cabin, their real estate agent suggested they include and inspection contingency in the purchase agreement. “What for?” asked Rick. “It’s just a cabin. This isn’t rocket science. I’m not going to pay someone to inspect what I can inspect myself.”

The first major rainstorm of the summer brought steady drips from the ceiling in two rooms of the cabin. Two weeks later, the bottom fell out of the water heater; it had rusted all the way through.

In July, the septic system backed up. Evidently, the septic tank was last pumped when Bill Clinton was still governor of Arkansas. The coup de grace came when the southwest corner of the cabin began to sag. The footings (a term used loosely in this instance) were only one foot deep, not the four feet required to reach below the frost line.

The cost of an inspection would have been $200.The cost of installing a new roof, new water heater, pumping the septic tank and cleaning up the overflow damage, and jacking up the cabin to dig new footings: $7,500. When asked about the debacle five months later; all Rick could say was, “I told Marian, we should have had an inspection.”

This has been reproduced with the permission of Cabin Line, Cabin Living, Inc. February 2003 Volume 3 #1. To subscribe to Cabin Life please visit their website at: www.cabinlife.com or call 1-888-227-3129.

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