Sewer Gas, Fake Receipts, And The Case For Rechecks

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Ever walked into your “fixed” new home and caught a whiff of something you can’t ignore? We dig into a real case where promised repairs didn’t hold up, a bathroom vent dumped sewer gas into an attic, and grading still shoved water toward the foundation. Along the way, we unpack why reinspections are the unsung hero of a smart purchase and how small misses in plumbing ventilation, moisture control, and documentation snowball into health risks and costly remediation.

We break down the mechanics in simple terms: how plumbing vents should route above the roofline, why exhaust fans should never tie into drain vents, and what attic condensation stains are trying to tell you. From mold concerns to backdrafting odors, we connect symptoms to sources so you can act fast and fix the right problem first. You’ll also hear what a thorough moisture assessment includes, when it makes sense to forgo testing and go straight to remediation, and how to validate a clean, dry attic or basement after the work is done.

Trust is not a plan. We share practical steps to verify seller repairs: confirm contractor licenses and insurance, request in-progress photos and itemized invoices, and reserve a focused reinspection before releasing contingencies. We even cover common red flags like handwritten “receipts,” clever but unsafe DIY vent extensions, and partial fixes that create new issues. If you’re under contract now—or you’ve moved in and something feels off—this guide will help you protect your health, your budget, and your peace of mind.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:01):
Alright, let's say you're a lucky dog.
You have a house in contract.
You did a home inspection likeyou should.
And then you or issues werefound, as always.
There's always some issues.
Typically, they're nothingmajor.
Or they're easily fixed beforethey become major.
So S so Got in contract, did thehome inspection, you had a

(00:24):
request to remedy because youragent was a good agent and made
certain you had a request toremedy to help fix things.
However, you did not have thehouse reinspected to make
certain those things are donecorrectly.
So we recently went back to ahouse.
They had a home inspection, theyhad a request to remedy.

(00:48):
I don't know what company theyuse.
They ever send us that reportfrom the previous home
inspection company.

SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
I was actually thinking of Carl too.
We can get home to him later.

SPEAKER_02 (00:57):
Yes.
Oh, yeah, we got Carl Carl has astory.
So we should maybe do a podcastwith Carl.
So it was six months ago.
They had an inspection, had arequest for remedy.
They move in.
Well, they contacted like a weekago.
Hey, can you guys come do amoisture inspection on the
house?
Because there's some issues thatthey're wanting.

(01:18):
So we thought about doing awhole house inspection for them.
They are they had one six monthsago.
So they should not need that.
But she is concerned about mold.
So we did the uh based upmoisture inspection, really, is
what it is.
And Laura, what did we find?

SPEAKER_00 (01:34):
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for a home inspection in Ohio.
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For a great home inspection, youreally can't go wrong.

(01:55):
Visit home inspections inOhio.com.

SPEAKER_01 (02:01):
Well, we found that part of their request to remedy
was to fix the plumbing issuesin the attic.
So like the this plumbing ventswere supposed to go out.

SPEAKER_02 (02:14):
So well, okay.
I've only seen it a coupletimes.
I've seen enough times to put itin the report system permanent.
So the shower vents are routedto go into the plumbing vents.

SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
Now.
Probably not during theinspection, but they are now.

SPEAKER_02 (02:32):
They are now, yes.
So and then the bathroomplumbing vent for the for the
half for the half bathroom, itjust vents right into the attic
space.
So you open up, I open up thatattic hatch, I can smell sewer
gas.
And what was weird though, andand she the homeowner now is
getting sick, right?

(02:53):
She has some sensitivities tomolds and things like that.
Well, when you have your showervent connected to the plumbing
vent, when it's windy outside,you're you could be getting some
sewer gases coming back insideyour bathrooms.

SPEAKER_01 (03:11):
Which is how I found it in the half bath downstairs.

SPEAKER_02 (03:15):
Yeah, it smelled like sewer gas.
And then the one plumbing ventup in the attic space, I don't
know why, it had a like a like aY connector.
Like you're gonna connectanother pipe to go into this
drain.
While when you have the the hallbathroom upstairs, a hall
bathroom fan on, that's blowingsewer gas straight into the

(03:38):
attic space.
And and of course, a lot ofpeople may not know this, but
your your plumbing vents,they're constantly venting high
humidity along the sewer gasesto the outside.
So in this attic, there was lotsof condensation stains going on.
A lot.

(03:59):
So there's a couple other thingsthat they that was not done
correctly on the repair.
We did find mold.

SPEAKER_01 (04:09):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (04:09):
Right, and that test came back, right?
Was that positive?

SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
No, we never did the test.

SPEAKER_02 (04:13):
We never did a test.
They didn't run it.
That's correct.
They decided not to do a test.
Instead, we hooked them up witha mold remediation company to
come help them out.
A good company, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
That's what we did.

SPEAKER_02 (04:23):
But on the request of remedy, they also had, hey,
the grading needed fixed.
That was not done.
No, there were still like atleast three areas where the
ground soaked toward the houseto direct water into it.
So just because a home sellertells you they fixed it does not

(04:43):
mean they did it correctly.
Because the attic it's not done.
That needs mold remediation nowbecause the mold company found
mold up there.
Yep.
We found some in the basement,underneath the stairs, also.
There's an indication therecould be some mold grown
underneath as well.

SPEAKER_01 (05:01):
You you need to get it rechecked or at least get uh
like receipts, legitimatereceipts from the receipts
before on things, and when I'vegone and looked up the
contractor license, it wasn'tvalid.
Neither was the company name.

SPEAKER_02 (05:18):
That was an electrician, right?
Supposedly.
It was an electrician or aplumber, because they had a
license number, so it was one ofthe things we have gotten seen
uh bullshit receipts going here.
We we have the work done.
And no, you did not.
Well, it's very unprofessional.
It was it was just on a piece oflike notebook paper.
Like, here's here's yourreceipt.
And then Laura looked up thelicense number and was like, no,

(05:41):
no such no such thing.

SPEAKER_01 (05:42):
No such number exists.

SPEAKER_02 (05:43):
Or company name.

SPEAKER_01 (05:46):
So be careful.
Just protect yourself always.
If in doubt, check it out.

SPEAKER_02 (05:52):
In doubt, check it out.
So here's another another tipthough.
If you're buying a house and thehome seller says they'll fix it,
they didn't fix it right in thefirst place for themselves.
Why do you think they're gonnafix it right for you now?
They're less motivated to fix itcorrectly now.

SPEAKER_01 (06:10):
Especially if it's a financial cost to that at all.
They're not gonna want to put itin.

SPEAKER_02 (06:15):
Well, I remember the one house I I looked at, they
had the plumbing vents.
We'll keep on that topic.
The plumbing vents are supposedto go at least six inches above
the roof surface.

SPEAKER_01 (06:25):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (06:25):
That way they don't they can't get blocked by snow.

SPEAKER_01 (06:28):
That makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 (06:32):
Well, to extend that, like I recommended, the
seller just put a gutterdownspout over top of that.
Not not crimped on to hold it onin place.
That was I would have I wasstill rotten up like my this is
not it works, it's veryhillbilly, but that's all he did

(06:56):
took a downspout layer top of itand called it good.
I mean, first decent wind wouldhave blown that off easily.
And then, well, we'll have Carl.
We'll have Carl on.

SPEAKER_01 (07:07):
We'll have to have Carl on.
We'll give him a call and seewhen we can set one up.

SPEAKER_02 (07:11):
Sometimes the repairs are worse.
They're worse than the fine theoriginal findings.

SPEAKER_01 (07:16):
Which we just had yesterday.
So yeah, let's let's let's wrapthis one up and we can talk with
Carl and do one on some of hismost memorable inspection funds.
Yep.

SPEAKER_02 (07:28):
And I will say, typically we home inspectors
typically do not like going backto the house to do a
reinspection to make certainthings are done correctly or to
get into a space they didn'thave access to in the beginning.
We'd rather just go there once,get it all done, and and that's
it.
It's more time efficient.
We don't want to take up anothertime, whole time slot that can

(07:51):
be full of whole new homeinspection and all the other
services with it to go back anddouble check something.
We'd rather not, but we can goback and do um a recheck to make
sure things are repaired.
Do not, if you do this, do notexpect everything to be repaired
because they often miss things.

(08:12):
I did have one the other daythough, like two weeks ago,
everything was done.
And it was done well.
I was I was amazed.
I was like, holy crap,everything's fixed.
I'm getting text going, this isall good.
This is good.
Yeah, well, it was a log cabin.
I mean, I like the it was a verypretty log cabin.
It was a very pretty log cabin.
A builder I did a nice job withit, really did.

(08:33):
So, but anyway, always get itinspected, always get it
re-inspected if you have requestfor remedy, and do not take the
seller's word that this is alldone.
Nope, nope, everything fixed,it's not an issue.
And then I can I got anotherstory.

SPEAKER_01 (08:51):
And most most companies also do charge to go
back out and reinspect.
Oh, yes, because it takes upanother time slot, it it's time,
they have to go back out, soit's usually like up to an hour,
and then the rates vary.

SPEAKER_02 (09:04):
We we are kind of unique.
If we got one area that wecouldn't get to for the
inspection, we will not chargeto go back out, but it we're not
taking up a whole time slot.

SPEAKER_01 (09:13):
Well, and that's not a reinspection either.
That that's finishing theinitial inspection.
So we are one of the fewcompanies that that's we will go
back out for that that firsttime.

SPEAKER_02 (09:23):
Yes.
But so please, please, pleasemake sure everything's all ready
for us so that we cannot it.
We lose money making all theseextra trips back here.
So, all right, that's it.
Thank you, everybody.
Bye, bye bye.