Spa tubs in a home or condo can be a real treat to enjoy and relax. These type of tubs are great to have when they work properly. There are multiple things that can go wrong with these tubs that can cost the home owner quite a bit of money though. This was definitely the issue on my recent Chicago home inspection.
My Chicago home inspection was a apartment building that was recently converted to condos in 2008. There are quite a few buildings like this in the Lincoln Square neighborhood in Chicago. The Lincoln Square home inspection neighborhood is known for its first original settlers which were Germans. You can still see some of the remnants of this nationality by there stores in the Lincoln Square on Western and Lincoln.
The condo that I was inspecting had never been lived in. In fact out of the 6 units only 2 were occupied. This condo building was definitely feeling the effects of the poor housing market conditions. Concerns for further condo associations were definitely a issue with the lack of condo owners this left the costs to the 3 tenants.
Minimal issues did come up but are easily remedied at the home inspection in Chicago. There was 1 issue that could have caused serious damage to the condo unit below if my client would have opted out of the home inspection process. While filling the spa tub I noticed that there wasn’t an access panel to service the motor, heater, piping or electric under the tub. This is very dangerous which is proven by this inspection. The tub was filled past the aerators or blowers so that water could be circulated. I engaged the air switch which allows electric to the blower motors. The spa tub seemed to be running normal until I heard running water and the level of water falling in the tub. Luckily the builder of the home inspection in Chicago was on premises while the inspection was being done. We went into the unit below and found that water was coming out of the bathroom light fixture. We got towels from my bag and started to clean the water up.
My advise to my client of the Chicago home inspection was to have the builder supply an access panel to inspect the spa tubs inner working. The tub would definitely need to be pulled so that corrections could be made. If an access panel would have been installed repairs could have been made immediately. The builder was especially thankful that the inspection found these issues before the building was totally occupied.
If you have any questions about jacuzzi tubs or other home inspection issues please contact us at ~ http://www.pinnaclepropertyinspection.com/about-jim-kolke.html.
Thanks for stopping by. Jim Kolke
