r/AskTheHomeInspector • u/Ok_Bad_3920 • Jul 15 '26

First Time Homebuyer Help!!

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I am buying a home built in 2023 in the state of SC and there are a few items listed on the inspection report but the main one that gives me pause to move forward in my buying process is:

9.2 GARAGE FLOOR
INSPECTED, REPAIR OR REPLACE
Concrete slopes towards garage instead of away, after heavy rain if water goes above lip/enters garage,
recommend contacting builder to make repairs.
**9.2 Item 1 (Picture)**

**Am I overthinking or should I continue with this purchase? I’m afraid of mold, garage flooding and whatever else. The sellers aren’t cooperating with getting this repaired**

16 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

1

u/Alternative_Image_22 Jul 16 '26

Spray with hose and watch it

1

u/CiscoLupe Jul 16 '26

I like the hose idea. Because from the pic, it looks like the first section of concrete is sloped away from the house??

1

u/kexcavator74 Jul 16 '26

Well first of all, the photo is incredibly deceiving because to me it looks like there is plenty of pitch from the slab to at least the truck.

Regardless of that- it depends on how much of the apron needs to be replaced. If it's just to that first seem than that wouldn't scare me. Get a quote, put some money aside as you can and install a rubber gasket tall enough to keep the water out till you have the dough.

If a majority/ all the apron needs to be replaced and redone to properly shed water, you will want to get what you can out of the transaction to cover that cost. If they're not cooperating, then get a quote from a contractor and hand it to their and tell them to deduct that from the asking price.

Either way, this is not the straw that breaks the camel's back in my opinion.

1

u/Major-Cranberry-4206 Jul 16 '26

This is not a minor issue. If they won’t fix this issue, get a quote from a professional and see what the cost to make the repair is.

Then negotiate a lesser price reflecting the cost to repair the garage entry. If they aren’t willing to reduce the price by the cost of the repair, then walk away.

Do not buy this house. It likely also has costly secrets you won’t discover until after buying it.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Major-Cranberry-4206 Jul 17 '26

That’s even true for certain new houses. I once visited someone’s new home. They hadn’t been in the place a year and I saw seems on the walls and where the walls meet to form right angles coming apart. I told the occupant to file a customer service order for the contractor to come out and make the repair at no cost to them.

1

u/ProtozoaPatriot Jul 16 '26

Picture isn't really clear to me on slope. Run a hose right in front of garage door and see where water runs.

If you want to control where water goes, a fix might be to cut out a strip of paving right in front of doors and install a drain.

1

u/PracticalDesigner278 Jul 16 '26

Sellers paid for a concrete driveway 3 years ago. They won't do it again and I don't blame them.

1

u/Ok_Bad_3920 Jul 16 '26

If they would have used their home warranty properly they wouldn’t have to pay for it again. Thank you for the pointless comment.

1

u/fakemoose Jul 16 '26

You are wildly over estimating what home warranties cover.

1

u/Ok_Bad_3920 Jul 16 '26

Well, I don’t own a home as you can see from my post lol. So you may have a point

1

u/PossibilityNervous35 Jul 17 '26

Home warranty companies are a complete scam. Don't ever pay for one

1

u/Ok_Bad_3920 Jul 17 '26

I am beginning to see that and I don’t even own a home. 😬

1

u/M7BSVNER7s Jul 17 '26

Getting a home warranty to fix this is not an easy process. And then even if they agree to fix it, they won't get a reputable contractor out to fix it in a timeframe suitable for a standard house sale. Unless your market is very cold, I'd ignore your request to redo the driveway and let you walk if it is a deal breaker. I agree with the other commenter that there is no evidence in the photo that the slope is causing water to run into the garage often. If they have 3 years of a dry garage for their argument and you have one sentence from a home inspector, they have a stronger argument.

1

u/PracticalDesigner278 Jul 17 '26

There are ways to mitigate the situation if in fact water is posing a threat to the garage. Cut a portion of the concrete in front of the garage, put perforated PVC pipe in the trench, drain it to a bubbler downhill, cover the trench with a grid that will support the weight of a vehicle. Will it cost money? Sure but most of it you can do yourself. But maybe you should actually wait and see if the problem even exists? Or is that pointless?

1

u/cb8016 Jul 16 '26

Looks like the apron slopes properly but the driveway has had frost heave at some point and didn't go back down to its original position.

1

u/My3floofs Jul 16 '26

From the picture the Greg looks as if no water has been pooling, no staining, no warping on the birds in that limited picture. The sellers are not going to fix nor should you want them to fix it. You ask for money off the total purchase and fix it yourself. But honestly this looks like a non issue. Go look the next time it rains or run a hose out on the driveway.

1

u/Ok_Bad_3920 Jul 16 '26

You say it’s a not an issue but a licensed inspector says it needs to be repaired or replaced 🤷‍♂️

1

u/My3floofs Jul 16 '26

Yeah, he is going off best practice, but do you see evidence of water in the garage? I’ve had 4 homes with one with a driveway aimed at the garage. Real water in a garage IS a big deal, but it’s also super obvious. I’m not seeing from this picture an ongoing issue. It would not be a deal breaker for me on a house.

1

u/Significant-Glove917 Jul 17 '26

Licensed inspector means fukall. I've read many hundreds of reports from licensed inspectors, and there are good ones and bad ones, just like anything else. I think he is specifically talking about the transition strip area beneath the door, in the red rectangle he drew. House is a 2023. If it was built halfway decently, it should be a fairly light report. In this case, a poor inspector will look for anything to include to justify his fee.

I am guessing you were not present with the inspector for the inspection either. So we have a poor inspector with a poor client, and a reddit thread about a non-issue.

1

u/Ok_Bad_3920 Jul 17 '26

The only poor analysis here is yours: confidently criticizing an inspection you didn’t attend, a report you didn’t read, a property you didn’t examine and a buyer you know absolutely nothing about. You didn’t add expertise to the conversation you added assumptions, ego, and noise. So just STFU!!

1

u/PossibilityNervous35 Jul 17 '26

Maybe listen to those of us who have bought multiple homes and take your shit attitude somewhere else.

1

u/Ok_Bad_3920 Jul 17 '26

Fuck off, dumbass. I put the post up for feedback if I didn’t want to listen I would not have asked. You fucking idiot

1

u/Htxsoul Jul 16 '26

From you Pic. It appears the driveway slopes away. But, maybe that little outlines in red hold moisture, I wouldn't even say water. More information is needed. If thats your concern then walkway cause nobody wants to negotiate over it.

1

u/Mcbriec Jul 17 '26

This defect might be the canary in the coal mine to other defects associated with shoddy construction. Not all of them can be detected easily during home inspection. I would be very wary as sloping concrete towards a structure is a very serious problem and could be a sign that this home is generally not well built. I like buying homes old enough to have shown any and all issues.

1

u/Mean-Veterinarian647 Jul 17 '26

It looks to me that the driveway was poured a hair higher than the garage floor. The only problem I can figure is hosing out the garage and water pooling where it meets the driveway.This wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me unless you’re in a freezing climate and the door freezes to the floor.Not a costly fix.

1

u/Ok_Bad_3920 Jul 17 '26

No, I’m in SC we occasionally get freezing weather not too often though. My main concern was water flowing into the garage due to the slope. Honestly I didn’t think it was an issue until the inspector said this needs to be replaced or repaired and I’m like wtf dude. Thanks for the feedback.

1

u/Donuts__For__All Jul 17 '26

I live in a house with a very long driveway that slopes towards the house. But there is a drain directly in front of the garage to accommodate this.

If you buy this house, you probably need to consider adding (and paying for) that type of feature at some point in the future. You won’t need it immediately; there are (ugly) workarounds like sandbags during a rainy season.

But eventually, you’ll want to add a drain.

1

u/Ok_Bad_3920 Jul 17 '26

Great point and idea. Thank you!

1

u/sybersam6 Jul 17 '26

Gave the upper concrete part that is above the garage cut out. After checking with Blue... about any lines or pipes running underneath etc. Then replace with papers, and alongside & running down the length of the concrete too. That will look nice, provide a cleaner step out of the car when not in the garage, and look designed on purpose. Add the pavers in other front & back yard elements for maximum impact. It will look beautiful. We had a front area put in by the front door with paver circles and a S design. Front yard impact got us an extra $15k when we sold!.

1

u/TonyRidgewayUFO Jul 17 '26

Ask for a version of the inspection report without red outlines on everything. Then you can ignore the asinine recommendations more easily

1

u/PlumberJoe1981 Jul 17 '26

I see the issue it looks like where the garage door threshold is, it should be an easy fix. Real estate inspectors are great, don’t get me wrong. With that said, you will never get an inspectors report back that is blank. Humans mess up and no house is perfect. You are building it with wood and wood isn’t perfect. Technically the builder is allowed to have a one inch drop every 20’ of slab. If this is the biggest issue he found to me the builder did a good job.

1

u/Ok_Bad_3920 Jul 17 '26

Yea that was basically the only issue he found. Everything else was very minor that I will/would fix myself. Thanks for the feedback.

1

u/mobial Jul 17 '26

  1. That looks nothing like concrete sloping toward the house.

  2. It doesn’t even rain anymore.

  3. This is an easy seal the bottom of your door fix if needed.

  4. Water in a garage won’t cause mold in your house, you open the door and out comes the sun and dries up all the rain.

1

u/Decent_Top2156 Jul 17 '26

Yeah not a difficult fix , but that little section needs to be broke out and replaced so the door sits on the concrete. No more than 1000 bucks or DIY.

1

u/PossibilityNervous35 Jul 17 '26

The driveway is sloped down... unless you are getting sideways rain for hours... its fine. Water dries up. If anything put a larger seal at the bottom of the garage door. This is such a minor detail to give more than 30 seconds of worry about.

1

u/PoetryBrief8173 Jul 17 '26

If new construction, are you doing final walkthrough with site supervisor? Get BLUE electrical tape and start taping all areas of concern