TOPIC: Today's Inspection

Are you kidding me? Where was this house that it even needed a sump pump?

OK Will - why is there an air return in a sump pump pit?  Where is this, in a basement?  The question begs...

The property is located in Monarch Beach Terrace in Dana Point, California.  3000'sf homes on slab with supply and return air ducting in the slab.  Poor drainage conditions and natural spring water have caused water to enter the ducting system in many of these homes.  I first discovered this problem while in the development about 15 years ago.  It had been raining for several days prior to inspection.  When I activated the central air system, we noticed a popping sound coming from the floor mounted supply registers.  When we removed a register cover, guess what? About 3" of standing water.  I've ran into it in this development dozens of times since then.  Did you guys notice the high water line in that return air and adjacent lateral?  Rather than abandon the existing ducting system they decided to add a sump pump.  What do you want for $2M?

Dry...

Too funny!

Obviously way past the point to go after the builders. At least you know when you're in this development area that you can pick out a problem before even going in. Kind of like inspecting one of the 20,000 homes in Fontana with 5 different models...

They could say it's to keep the place humid Though the fact they live in Dana Point puts enough moisture into the air!