Chantilly Home Inspections

A Chantilly home inspection that I just completed presented an interesting situation.

I arrived in Chantilly, VA to complete the home inspection at 9am. Three hours later, I had completed the inspection and I met with my client to review the report. The home itself had VERY little to report. Some caulking needed to be touched up, the countertop had a small area that was delaminating, and several doors didn’t latch completely. This particular home inspection in Chantilly, VA yielded only minor concerns, or so it seemed.

I took my client outside the home to review the findings on the exterior. Much the same, this exterior home inspection yielded only minor concerns – trim back a small tree from the roof, touch up some exterior caulking, and extend a gutter away from the home. I also noted that the grade in the right corner of the back yard needed to be adjusted. The area immediately around this Chantilly, VA home graded away from the structure, but the entire back and side yard sloped towards the home. It was my estimation that, during a hard rain, there was not enough distance of slope away from the home – in some places, it was just three feet – to prevent the momentum of the rain water draining across the yard from flowing up to and against the structure.

This rainwater would not remain in that area after the rain stopped, but the structure would certainly be exposed to significant water pressure.

Amplifying this concern was the fact that the home had a welled exit walkup basement with a drain in the well. The edge of the welled exit on this home came very close to the area where the grade no longer sloped away from the home. This condition would serve to essentially funnel the water into the welled exit and, potentially, into the home.

This neighborhood in Chantilly, VA is governed by an HOA, as most of the neighborhoods in the area are. Of course, any changes to grade and drainage would not only have to be approved by the HOA, but Chantilly, VA is also governed by Fairfax County.

The cost of the repair would not be huge, but the process of gaining approval to make grade changes in Chantilly, VA could be somewhat daunting. The primary obstacle to overcome was the fact that the area that sloped toward the home was not part of the property of this Chantilly, VA townhome. The land behind was adjacent to a road and was likely owned by Chantilly, VA or Fairfax County.

Investigating this situation further, my client began talking to neighbors. Three of the five residents of that row of townhomes have issues with their basements flooding during hard rains! Another row of homes with a similar condition just a quarter mile down the road also had several residents who had basement flooding issues. None of these residents had thought to do anything about the problem.

My client decided that she wanted to move forward with the home and deal with the drainage later. I was recently asked if I could complete a home inspection in Chantilly, VA on one of the neighboring units on behalf of the HOA. Without thinking too much of it, I completed that Chantilly, VA home inspection with similar findings. It was likely that the momentum of the rain from the hill behind the home was causing the problem. A few days later, I received another call to complete a home inspection in Chantilly, VA. I did not recognize that is was the same community because the street name was different. When I did realize that I was headed to the same Chantilly, VA neighborhood, I decided to ask what was going on. The last two home inspections in Chantilly, VA were for clients who were not selling or buying. It turns out that Chantilly, VA or Fairfax County was responsible for installing drainage controls when the road was built. Somehow, those controls had been overlooked and the result was free flowing water that had nothing to slow it down.

This Chantilly, VA home inspection helped fix a problem for eight residents of that community. Chantilly, VA came back and installed the controls that were required, fixing the issue.