I posted recently about a patio fireplace chimney being a fire hazard in relation to the deck installation.
There was another interesting aspect of this patio/fireplace installation.
Here again is a picture of the fireplace installation.
What is not so obvious in the picture is that the entire patio surface slopes toward that dark area under the deck in front of the fireplace structure. There is no positive way for water to get out of this area and there were obvious signs of past standing water and debris in the corner that had been recently cleaned up—perhaps in relation to putting the house on the market.
Inspectors will often note in the inspection report where past evidence of ponding is suspected as much as they will report on obvious current ponding at locations around the property. Such evidence can be a forewarning of what can be expected or anticipated.
For example evidence of flooding around driveway drains is a good indication that the drains may not be functioning properly. Areas of ponding can become ice-skating rinks and represent fall hazards.
Someone spent a lot of time and money constructing this patio/deck/fireplace structure and now someone is going to spend even more money making it right. At the very least it needs an outlet through the wall for the water to escape.
By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle
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