TIL the hard way that a home inspection isn't always enough in Toronto

My buddy Mike bought a semi in the Junction last year and his inspector missed a cracked sewer line that cost him $8,000 to fix. He told me to get a separate sewer scope done before closing, and I thought he was being paranoid. Now I'm looking at a house near High Park and I'm definitely booking a scope separate from the general inspection. Has anyone else had a big surprise from a sewer line issue?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota_singh391mo ago

My cousin's inspector missed a knob and tube splice hidden behind drywall in her Annex place. Cost her $4k to get it sorted before insurance would even touch the place. The thing is, most inspectors aren't gonna crawl every inch or rip open walls, so they miss stuff like old wiring or hidden mold. Sewer scopes are cheap compared to the fix, I'd also ask if they can check for knob and tube while they're at it. That High Park area is full of old houses with sketchy electrical.

kevin_schmidt971mo ago

Disagree a bit @dakota_singh39. A good inspector should spot signs of old electrical even if they can't see it directly. They look for things like outlets that don't match, weird panel setups, or areas that feel warmer than they should. Not every miss is on the home owner, some inspectors just do a lazy job and call it good enough.