Q: We had an inspection before we bought our home several months ago during the nice weather.

The inspector said everything under the house looked OK. I looked under the house the other day to be sure we have insulation on the pipes and found about 8” of water under there. Should we call the inspector and find out what he thinks, or call the company and say that he did a bad job?

A: First, read the fine print in your inspection contract. Many of the companies have disclaimers that state that they are not responsible for issues that come up later if they were not visible during the inspection.

For example, if you have carpenter ants you might not know it in the winter when they are in hibernation. Unless there’s evidence of past damage or pest activity, the inspector can’t be held liable when the ants show up in the spring.

Look at his comments about the crawl space. Did he mention water staining on the foundation? If it is a basement, did he see watermarks up the walls? If it’s a post and pier system, was there rot on the posts that would indicate sitting water?

If this problem has been present in the past, I’d expect to see evidence of it under the house. If there is nothing in the report, you might go under there yourself and see if there is any indication of staining from sitting water. If so, the inspector failed to note it. Some inspection companies have a warranty on their inspection and they may be liable.

You may have a totally new problem that’s a result of something that has changed on your property or a neighboring property. Have you worked on the driveway, dug a pond, or rearranged the soil near the house? Have you or a neighbor done anything that could change the slope of the property?

Most inspection companies I work with are happy to come out and take another look if they think they made a mistake. Call them to check it out.