Inspecting a 7200 Square Foot Home in Maple Ridge

Today’s featured inspection is a 7200 square-foot home in Maple Ridge.

An inspection like this takes a long time, but sometimes quality isn’t quick – I don’t cut any corners, especially in these larger homes.

The home featured three heating systems total – one radiant floor boiler system in the detached workshop, and two furnace / heat-pump systems for the main home. One furnace served the main floor, and the other served the second and third floors.

When calculating heat pump size, we use “tonnes” of cooling as a measurement. Generally, one tonne of cooling is good for about 1000 square feet. The combined total of these two pumps was about 7 tonnes – perfect for a home this size.

There were some minor issues with one of the hot water tanks – in the photo below you can see a missing TPR (temperature-pressure relief valve) extension tube, missing seismic strap (earthquake strap) and improper wiring – the exposed wire should be enclosed in BX metal sheathing for safety.

In the main electrical panel, I found a failed sump pump circuit that was shorting to ground. Resetting the breaker caused it to repeatedly trip. This circuit feeds a rain-water sump outside in the yard, which is designed to eject ground/rainwater into the ditch at the front of the property. Normally we see sump pumps installed when the drain lines are lower than the city sewer mains, however in this case the lot was quite large and the challenge was getting the water to travel the distance from the home to the ditch.

The sump pit was opened and revealed an usually high water level. We had experienced a large rain storm the day before, so it was easy to determine the issue. If you look closely, you can also see that some of the float switches are sunken, indicating a possible leak. This may have been the cause of the electrical short.

The buyers called in a drainage contractor to review the sump, and some other, smaller items. Overall the home was in excellent condition, particularly considering its size.

A home inspection is a small percentage of the price of a home, and usually one of the cheapest services in comparison with other closing costs (notary, appraisal, realtor commission, mortgage fees). It’s cheap insurance, and you should always hire the best Home Inspector you can afford!

Call us today to inspect your Maple Ridge Home! – 604 395-2795