Dream Home Inspector
DREAM HOME INSPECTOR – January 29, 2025 – Gilbert, Arizona, USA
Gavin Sweeten had the new subdivision’s curvy roads memorized. Only two years earlier, the land was covered in grapefruit trees. Gavin watched every step of the way as his employer, Desert Rose Builders, transformed the area into dense family housing. Many of the homes were about to reach their one-year anniversary, which was always a busy time for a home inspector like Gavin.
New homeowners had one year to file claims against the builder for poor workmanship. After that, any structural or material problems became the buyer’s responsibility. Gavin spent most days tracking down reported problems and deciding if a house was built incorrectly or if it was damaged by occupants.
Sometimes Gavin felt like a police detective. After gathering physical evidence, he often had to interrogate witnesses. Very few homeowners were willing to admit they had anything to do with broken ceiling fans or cracked windows. Gavin constantly heard, “It’s always been this way,” as justification for why flaws should be fixed, free of charge. He left many homes feeling frustrated and saddened over shameless dishonesty.
When he arrived at his next inspection on a street named Tangerine Circle, Gavin did not see anything obviously wrong with the home’s exterior. It looked very similar to the closely spaced adjoining properties: two stories, gray exterior, cement driveway and porch. Neat desert-style landscaping covered the small yard between the sidewalk and front door. Two short palm trees were off to a good start.
Gavin rang the doorbell and a young woman in her late twenties answered. Two children followed her to the door.
“Hello, I’m Gavin. I’m here for the inspection.”
“You can come in. I’m Ashlyn. I was just finishing lunch with my kids.”
“Ah, they’re very cute. How old are they?”
“LeeAnn is almost four. Benjamin just turned two.”
Wide-eyed LeeAnn brushed hair away from her face and held up four fingers to show she looked forward to her upcoming birthday.
“I’m sure they keep you busy. Now I understand you have a problem with one of your walls.”
“Yeah, it’s right here. Take a look for yourself.”
Ashlyn waved for Gavin to follow her inside. She walked a few steps into the room closest to the door. It connected to the kitchen and served as a general gathering area filled with couches and an entertainment center. Ashlyn pointed to a wall which faced the front of the house. About three feet from the floor, a bulge the size of a half-inflated party ballon pushed the light-blue paint away from the underlying drywall.
“It’s filled with water,” Ashlyn explained.
Gavin shuffled over to the bulge, poked it with his finger, and felt the liquid resistance push back. “Yep, feels like water in there.”
“There must be a leak coming from the wall because we haven’t done anything out of the ordinary.”
Gavin stepped back for a wider look. Traces of the bulge stretched all the way to the ceiling. An exterior window began about six feet to the right, but other than that, the wall was bare except for the bulge.
“The water must be coming from somewhere. Does it stay the same size?” Gavin asked Ashlyn.
“It grows and shrinks a little, but it’s always there.”
“And it’s been this way ever since you moved in?”
“Only since Christmas. But I swear we haven’t done anything different. It’s got to be something with the house.”
Ashlyn’s sincere expression convinced Gavin she was telling the truth, or at least what she believed was the truth. He pulled out an electronic tablet and opened a file showing the house’s architectural drawings and plumbing plan.
“According to this, there aren’t any pipes anywhere near this wall. Nothing to leak.”
Gavin handed the tablet to Ashlyn. After staring at the screen she asked, “Could a pipe have been added by mistake?”
“I guess anything could happen, but I doubt it. Could it have something to do with rain? Does the bulge get bigger after a rainstorm?”
“No. And we haven’t had much rain. I don’t think it’s a natural phenomenon.”
“How about water coming from your sprinkler system? Could something be spraying against the wall?”
“I’ve never noticed it happen. I really think there’s something wrong inside the wall.”
“Hmm. I’ll need to investigate. Is it okay if I look around?”
“Of course. Look around all you want.”
Gavin returned to his truck and retrieved a retractable ladder capable of reaching the second-floor roof. He filled up a jug of water and carried it up the ladder positioned above the leaking wall. He poured water onto the roof shingles and watched it drain into the gutters and down to the ground. Everything appeared to work as designed.
“I can’t see anything wrong with the roof!” Gavin shouted to Ashlyn, who was standing with her kids near the base of the ladder.
“That’s what I thought!” she shouted back.
Gavin moved on to check the overhang protecting the porch. Again, water drained like it was supposed to and Ashlyn mentioned she never suspected the porch covering.
“I’d like to turn on the sprinklers, just to see for myself if they’re a problem,” Gavin said.
Ashlyn showed him the sprinkler controls and he activated those in the front yard. They dribbled onto the palm trees and shrubs but none of the water reached above a few inches.
“That can’t be it,” Gavin said to himself while scratching his confused head. Ashlyn nodded in agreement.
“Doesn’t seem to be anything outside. How about we take a look at the room above the wall?”
Ashlyn and her kids were happy to lead Gavin upstairs to a room meant to be a bedroom but being used as a play area. LeeAnn’s toys, including a large collection of Barbie dolls and accessories, were stacked against one wall. Benjamin’s more juvenile blocks and stuffed animals lined the opposite wall. The room was painted lemon yellow.
“They play in here a lot while I’m working on my computer, but nothing unusual,” Ashlyn explained.
“Looks like a fun room, but you’re right, nothing up here seems strange.” Gavin looked up and saw a covered opening to the crawl space above the ceiling. “Let me see if something’s going on up there.”
While LeeAnn and Benjamin found toys that needed their attention, Gavin returned to his truck for a folding ladder. After poking his head into the top crawl space and shining a flashlight in all directions, all he saw was standard insulation and wooden beams. No water anywhere. He came down wearing a disappointed look and sat on one of the bottom steps of the ladder.
“I’m stumped. I really don’t want to cut into the wall to look for the problem because that kind of wall surgery is a lot of trouble and expensive to fix. But I don’t know what else to do.”
LeeAnn noticed the pained look on Gavin’s face. She put down the Barbie doll in her hand, walked to her mother, and sweetly asked, “Why is he so sad?”
“Because he can’t figure out why there’s extra water in our house.”
LeeAnn thought for a few moments before saying, “Sometimes I have extra water in my house too.”
“What do you mean? What house?” Ashlyn asked.
“My Barbie Dreamhouse I got for Christmas. When I fill up the swimming pool it gets too much water in it and I have to start over.”
Gavin had been intently listening. He peered over at the Barbie house, with attached swimming pool, sitting against the wall in a position directly above the downstairs water bulge. A gear in his head clicked into place.
“LeeAnn, can you show me how your house’s pool works?” Gavin asked.
“If you want me to,” LeeAnn replied with a shy smile.
“Yes, I really want you to.”
“I need to get some water first.”
She disappeared from the room and Gavin heard the sound of a faucet running somewhere nearby. LeeAnn returned with a plastic cup filled to overflowing with water. She unsteadily walked it to the Barbie pool.
“I like to get the water just right,” LeeAnn said as she kneeled down and poured. The water level in the dish-sized plastic pool quickly rose until it spilled over the top. “That’s too much,” LeeAnn said matter-of-factly. “I need to start over.” She tipped the pool so that water poured onto the wall and underlying carpet. She picked up her cup and ran out of the room for a refill.
Ashlyn remained open-mouthed and speechless while her face turned pink. Gavin hid a grin but did not say a word.
LeeAnn returned with a filled cup and attempted another pool fill. She overshot again and dumped the water onto the floor. As she was about to return to the faucet for more, Gavin motioned for her to stop.
“You know, LeeAnn, I’m kind of thinking we have the same water problem. How many times do you have to fill up your pool every day?”
“A lot,” LeeAnn replied in honest frustration.
Gavin finally smiled. He turned to Ashlyn and said, “Yeah, I think we’ve got the same water problem.”
Ashlyn’s face was now undeniably red. “I had no idea. I’m so embarrassed. It’s not the house’s fault after all.”
“What a relief,” Gavin replied. “And maybe I can help with both problems. Do you have a dropper from a medicine bottle?”
Ashlyn looked surprised but said, “I think so.” In a few minutes she returned with a small, rubber-topped dropper and handed it to Gavin.
“How about I teach you a better way to fill up that pool?” he said to LeeAnn.
Gavin sat next to the Barbie Dreamhouse and patiently taught LeeAnn how to suck up a few drops of water to get the level just right. She liked using the dropper so much, she agreed to empty the entire pool back into the cup instead of pouring it on the floor when she was done playing.
Gavin also used a pin to puncture and drain the downstairs water bulge. He said confidently to Ashlyn, “After it dries out, you should be able to sand and repaint with no damage done.”
A still embarrassed Ashlyn thanked him profusely for his help and understanding. Gavin drove away whistling happily. It was a good day to be a home inspector.
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