Expert: John McKenna, CMI - 8/3/2011

Question
My husband and I recently purchased a home in Central Oregon.  We had and inspection preformed.  First issue discovered was no insulation in middle apex of home.  Insulation on both sides were adequate.  Sellers were very difficult and apparently had to bring monies to the table to sell.  We chose to fix this issue and pay for the insulation.  Also some sheetrocking re done in lower area of home.  Our home is a reverse living home.  No basement or crawl space.  Having recent issues with how warm the upper area of home becomes in the afternoon, we had the company that preformed the inspection of the heating/cooling come back to figure out what might be happening.  They were able to determine that there were no visible vents in the living room area upstairs.  It was discovered that carpet was laid over two  vents.  They suggested these areas were vents by the sound.  And the area of the carpet was cut on one side of each vents.  My husband then pulled up the carpet on one of the vents and it was determined that the vent was covered by wood and the carpet was glued to the extra wood, which was not a part of the sub-flooring.  My husband had the inspector come back, as he indicated that there were visible vents in the living room, which there were not.  He's offered to have a friend in the heating/cooling come and look at the situation to determine how much it would cost to fix.  What's baffling is the fact that the carpet was glued over additional wood over the vents and there was no duct work up to the vent.  This home was at one time a repossession which our sellers purchased and they forwent an inspection.  How could something like this pass a city inspection.  If the insulation was missed, now this, what else?  Who should be responsible for rectifying this situation.  Do we have any recourse to go back to the city inspector?  What role does our inspector play in this, as his report stated vents were there but really, they weren't.  Now that we know about it, we have no choice but to disclose when we want to sell.  Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for your time.

Answer
It sounds like some of the defect should have been discovered by your inspector.  See a lawyers to advise you on what to do about it in your state.  Regarding the city inspector, good luck with that.  Most city inspectors cannot be sued.

Hope this helps,

John McKenna