PM me and if the time and place works out i'll do it for free.

Dont need to hire an inspector. Just check everything in details. Does the sink/shower works? How's the water pressure/Oven/dish washer/stove, microwave make sure they all work. Blinds do they run smooth? Check for areas on the wall to see if there are paints that's not painted, check all outlet and see if they line up. If it is hard wood floor see if there are any major gaps. If you have a balcony make sure is all paints as well. Check the doors and closet door to make sure they close well and it is smooth.

Just keep in mind some stuff won't be fix (coz they are so small in the developers eye) some needs to be fix ASAP.

Also once you move in if there are stuff still not fix or you find new stuff that needs fixing the developers still have to come out and fix it.

I had to do that like 4 times so far since some stuff isn't fix and I find new things that needed some fixing. Recently when I use the dishwasher after a party I notice it started leaking the water into the cabinet under the sink and onto the hardwood floor. Had to call the developers up. Somehow who ever hook the dishwasher didn't tighten the pipe so it was leaking. That was fixed but now the cabinet under the sink needs replacing.Is been two weeks still no word yet but I have been emailing and phoning them every 4 days or so for an update. The thing is most likely the whole set of cabinets needs to be replace not just one so they might be trying to avoid it. You have to keep pressing and pressing. This week if I don't get a clear update I am going to demand to speak to their managers since it doesn't take 2 weeks to get someone out to replace the cabinets.

An inspector is valuable in envelope issues that could arise. Average person doesn’t know anything about flashings or window systems

But for a brand new building/Townhome do you really need an inspector?

Yes.

Potentially

Ok so the question then is how much would an inspector cost and who knows a good one. I'm not against paying per say but I'd like to know what ball park we're talking about. I'll leave every option on the table for now.

When we bought our house a few years back, we hired a guy for $500

Didn't use one for my condo that was brand new

I know a good inspector, works for buyers choice and is full insured and certified. Msg me for info.

Just want to say that's a pretty stand up thing to offer (not sure if you guys know each other)

Apparently Canadian housing is "highly vulnerable", naturally Vancouver is top of this list
Canada's housing market 'highly vulnerable,' CMHC warns - Business - CBC News

I get Vancouver, Toronto, Victoria, and Hamilton ... but Saskatoon? Really? How can Saskatoon be overvalued and overbuilt?

Saskatoon has seen massive increases over the last 9 years. I think it started to slow as oil dropped. But previous to that it was probably the highest rate of change in the country. No there aren't 5 million dollars properties on every corner, but percentage wise there were big changes.

If buying a place over 30 years old. Can inspector check for asbestos and copper wiring etc?

I realize that but:
- terrible Saskatchewan climate
- lots of available space to expand relative to other metropolitan areas
- according to CMHC, over-building
- according to CMHC, over-valuation
- above average rental vacancy rates for 3 consecutive years

I’ve heard this for too many years to pay attention anymore. Maybe I’ll get caught off guard one day.

Aww shux I thought 4444 had come back.:nyan:

some of the trade guys here might have better insight, but afaik, they should be able to tell you what potentially has asbestos based on material used at the time of the age of the home (ceiling tile, duct tape, loose attic insulation, etc). but if you want certainty then samples need to be taken to a lab and tested to be confirmed.

there are diff time periods of electrical wiring, again based on age of the home: knob 'n tube, rope insulated wire, aluminum wiring, lumex, or BX/AC.

afaik knob 'n tube are like 100 year old homes. aluminum is in the late 60's to mid 70's. different ways to check for copper...all visual...You can visually inspect the type of wiring at the device or device itself...might be able to see by removing a cover plate...

or remove the cover of the electrical panel to see the wiring pulled to the breakers...unless the panel is in an unfinished area, not recessed behind drywall so the wiring is exposed. don't be taking off the panel cover yourself if you're not an electrician though. i doubt the owner would be cool taking panel cover off in the house though...

wiring with "Al" imprinted on it is aluminum...while Cu is copper. the concern of aluminum is encountering cold creep, not to be confused with RS creeps Kappa. properly installed aluminum wiring is fine. still used today but only in larger feeder cable installations, not branch wiring.

i think the avg rate on a decent inspector is $500 to $550. if you need a referral PM me. the one i used on my current home was quite good. he does condos as well.

This offer stands for anyone in this thread who is buying a new place and wants some help with deficiencies, buy me a case of beer and if i'm available i'll come for your walk through.

I've done deficiency lists for approx 300+ townhomes and done about 25 home owner orientations with brand new home owners so ive got a decent handle on what to look for.

Asbestos is a tough one because as GLOW said, without samples you're kinda SOL, the cut-off for asbestos was 1994 but some containing materials were still used after that due to inventory etc.

I'm trained in both moderate and high risk asbestos abatement and ran a crew for my former company where we abated two 4500 sq ft houses where the drywall mud was containing as well as some floor tiles.

The problem with containing drywall is that if you dont have a proper vapour barrier behind the drywall, the insulation is also considered "containing"

If your job requires an abatement a good contractor would tell you this, however, a shady one may pop it on you after the fact and increase the cost.

To be perfectly honest doing the abatement of the two homes we did is probably the biggest regret of my working career because even though we did everything by the book and had proper equipment and procedures in place, I think quite a bit about the long term potential effects of any fibres i may have inhaled during that time, it could be a lot, it could be none. hard to tell. However, i think in terms of minor renovations and work within a home, its not as big of a deal as it's made out to be.

if you notice the commercial with the contractor from love it or list it who is talking about asbestos on behalf of WorkSafe, the fucking guy never once mentions the actual safety and well-being of the home owners. He just goes on about how its the responsibility of the home owners to ensure that asbestos is dealt with properly and the "workers are protected"

Fuck that.. you mean the workers who are going to be there for a week? how about the home owners who are going to have fibers kicking around their house for years..

Basically Worksafe doesnt want to be paying out any other settlements to workers.

In a minor reno however, its pretty easy to take down drywall, clean the space, and get work done without paying $5000 for an abatement of a 300sq ft room.

In terms of the Wiring, GLOW has a lot of good points as well, i think one of the main things with older wiring is whether it's grounded or not. You want to make sure you have an inspector that knows what they are looking at, because in my house for example, we kind of had a jumble of knob & tube and varying types of splices etc.

in some of the switches and outlets though, the mickey mouse electrician who brought the house up to the point where former owners could get insurance just grounded his plugs and outlets to the boxes, so on the surface it looks like they were grounded, but you have to know what youre looking at to know the difference.

I know a few people who've purchased farm land in Saskatchewan. Also know a couple developers who are planning to build town homes in Saskatoon.

my previous house, was also an example of the history of electrical wiring in the past 60 years...

IMO you described the norm, it's just easier to do. the likelyhood of an old home being fully rewired with ground wire would be if the home was gutted in a reno with walls/ceilings exposed and the owner springing to have the electrical redone. even then some people are too cheap or don't care might cop out, especially if they're reno'ing to flip/sell. seen it before.

i guess it's good to know the difference so you can use it as a negotiating tool or if the realtor is advertising the electrical was upgraded when in fact it was not (or as they implied)

you have absolutely no idea how busy the industry is right now and how small of an issue your sink cabinet is to the developer and anyone else involved but you.

you realize to swap out a whole sink cabinet atleast 4 trades need to be called in to do the work "properly"

I'd like to see just how major this water damage is, I'm sure they'll just have the cabinet guy cover it up eventually to make you go away

Well I wasn't the one who cause the issue. The person who install dish washer didn't do his job right.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1A...k2dWRyRUU/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1A...BaYmRvUnM/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1A...dQbVpEeDg/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1A...ZuX3JtWHM/view

There are actually more damages I just didn't bother to take more pictures coz I find out the flood around 2am.

Honestly, being nice and nagging goes a long with with deficiencies. No nagging, they seem to just be ignored unfortunately.

You've got a lot of damage there Mr. Slip.

B.C. announces legislation to close fixed-term rental loophole - British Columbia - CBC News

So it looks like the NDP is doing something on the housing file. But the way this legislation is written, it appears that it may have unintended consequences. I don't know if the government can alter all existing rental contracts...