Fixing small home inspection items in older Alhambra homes
The short answer
Sort the report into three piles: safety items, small repairs, and specialist items. Missing GFCIs, loose outlets, open caulk joints, running toilets and doors that will not latch are usually handyman work. Roof, foundation, panel, gas, sewer and termite items go to the right trade.
An inspection report on a house built in the 1920s or 1930s can run to dozens of pages. That is normal. Inspectors note everything they see, from a missing outlet cover to a cracked foundation, and the report does not always make it clear which items matter and which are minor.
Buying, selling or fresh off a pre-listing inspection, the first job is the same: sort the list. Here is how we suggest going about it, and which items we can take care of.
Sort the report into three piles
Go through the summary page with a highlighter and put every item in one of three groups.
- Safety items. Anything the inspector marks as a shock, fire, trip or gas concern. These go first, whoever ends up fixing them.
- Small repairs. Worn parts, loose fittings, open caulk lines, sticking doors, dripping faucets. Most of these are quick fixes.
- Specialist items. Roof, foundation, the electrical panel, gas lines, the sewer line and anything in the termite report. These need the right trade to evaluate them.
Text us a photo of the summary page or the list itself, and the quote covers the items we take care of.
Electrical items we see most
Older Alhambra houses tend to produce the same handful of electrical notes. Most are device-level fixes on wiring that is already there.
- No GFCI protection at kitchen counters, bathrooms, the laundry area, the garage or outdoors. We install GFCI outlets in those spots.
- Open ground on a three-prong outlet. Someone swapped a two-prong outlet for a three-prong one without a ground wire. Code allows a GFCI in its place, labeled "No equipment ground." Our guide to two-prong outlets in older Alhambra homes explains the options.
- Reversed polarity, loose outlets, worn switches and missing cover plates. Quick device swaps.
- A GFCI that will not trip or reset. We replace it and test the outlets it protects.
Plumbing and bathroom items
On the plumbing side, the usual small items are a toilet that runs or rocks on its base, a slow sink drain, a dripping faucet, a supply line that is old or corroded, and a shutoff valve under a sink that will not turn. Caulk that has opened up at the tub, shower or sink shows up on almost every report for a house this age. Those are all repairs we handle, and resealing tile joints is covered on our caulk and grout repair page.
Items like a leaking water heater, low pressure through the whole house, galvanized supply lines, or anything on the sewer camera report go to a plumber, and we can handle the faucet, toilet and under-sink items.
Doors, windows and screens
Original wood doors in older homes stick, sag and stop latching, and inspectors note it. Torn screens, a door that will not close by itself between the garage and the house, missing door stops and worn weatherstripping also come up. Most of that is adjustment and hardware work. We cover the door side on our door repair page and drafty exterior doors on our weatherstripping and door sweeps page.
Items that need a specialist
We want to be plain about this, because the wrong person on the wrong item wastes your contingency period. These belong with other trades:
- Roof leaks, flashing and gutters on a steep or tile roof
- Foundation cracks, sloping floors and anything structural
- The electrical panel, new circuits and rewiring
- Gas leaks, gas lines and furnace or water heater venting
- Sewer line problems from a camera inspection
- Termite and dry rot findings in the termite report
Send the full list, and the quote shows which items we take care of.
Timing it in escrow
Inspection items usually get handled one of three ways: the seller fixes them before closing, the buyer asks for a credit instead, or the buyer takes care of them after moving in. On the standard California purchase form, the buyer's investigation period is often 17 days unless the contract says otherwise, so the list gets sorted quickly. Your agent will know the deadlines on your contract.
If you are the seller, it helps to know that small items can often go on one quote. If you are the buyer and plan to fix things after closing, a short list with photos makes it easy for us to quote everything at once. Our guide to building a one-visit repair list shows how to put that list together.
Sending us the inspection list
For the fastest quote, send:
- The pages of the report with the items you want handled, or a short list in your own words
- A photo of each item, with something for scale where size matters
- Your timeline, especially any escrow dates
We will reply with a price for the items we can do and a note on any that need someone else.
If you would rather hand this off, our general home repairs page covers the work and the photos that help us quote it. For the bigger picture on local houses, see repairs in older Alhambra homes.
New to Alhambra? Main Street, with Lunasia and its neighbors, is a good place to start finding your regular lunch spots.
Rather have us do it?
Text a photo of the job to (626) 684-3505 (Mon–Sat 8:30 AM–7 PM) and you get a price before any work starts.
Call or text (626) 684-3505