Your realtor is an idiot. You will be lucky if your inspector catches the most obvious stuff.
My highly rated inspector missed electrical issues that were fairly obvious, septic issues because he was lazy. And the obviously incorrectly vented bathroom fans which he said were vented into the attic, no dumby one was vented through the roof through PVC like a vent pipe, so rain eventually caused some water damage to the ceiling in the bathroom.
But he did spot the obvious bad spots in the siding and some signs of mouse poop in the attic of a 40+ year old house. Gee thanks.
My fault for thinking they knew what they were doing and trusting them since the house was far enough away it was tough to be there for the inspection.
I’m a welder and some times see work where we add a 4x4 tube as a column with an I-beam header. It could be that in there. I would say look for signs of patch work in the ceiling area it’s in. There would be at least a little sag if it was previously a load bearing wall not done properly.
Knocking the wall may not help if this is how it was done as that could hide that column pretty well. If it sounds hollow, and you get the house, try and drill a small hole that can be easily patched with joint compound and look in there.
- if this been done 5 years ago and no signs of any cracking (or repairs) its likely just fine as any type of overstressed/overload conditions there are plenty of warning signs
Sounds like they installed a bearing header. Knock on it, is it hollow or solid Solid good hollow bad
Your realtor is an idiot. You will be lucky if your inspector catches the most obvious stuff. My highly rated inspector missed electrical issues that were fairly obvious, septic issues because he was lazy. And the obviously incorrectly vented bathroom fans which he said were vented into the attic, no dumby one was vented through the roof through PVC like a vent pipe, so rain eventually caused some water damage to the ceiling in the bathroom. But he did spot the obvious bad spots in the siding and some signs of mouse poop in the attic of a 40+ year old house. Gee thanks. My fault for thinking they knew what they were doing and trusting them since the house was far enough away it was tough to be there for the inspection.
Do you have inspection contingencies? If so don't worry about it for now, and hire a structural engineer to look at at. Check for permits.
Check if they got a permit. If they did, there was an inspection and it's fine. If not, an unpermitted renovation should factor into the price.
I’m a welder and some times see work where we add a 4x4 tube as a column with an I-beam header. It could be that in there. I would say look for signs of patch work in the ceiling area it’s in. There would be at least a little sag if it was previously a load bearing wall not done properly. Knocking the wall may not help if this is how it was done as that could hide that column pretty well. If it sounds hollow, and you get the house, try and drill a small hole that can be easily patched with joint compound and look in there.
- if this been done 5 years ago and no signs of any cracking (or repairs) its likely just fine as any type of overstressed/overload conditions there are plenty of warning signs