In 2018, Lou Rubino inspected one home in Bay Ridge — one job, one written report, and the photographs below come from it. The report describes a colonial, about 119 years old.
Rated 4.9 on Google as of November 2026 · U.S. Army veteran owned · NY licence #16000039568 · 516-330-3870
The report, as Lou wrote it up.
2018, a colonial, about 119 years old: 9 items flagged: 2 roof, chimney and attic; 2 exterior; 2 garage. As recorded: gable roof, 3-tab fiberglass and asphalt/fiberglass, seen from: ladder and walked; attic: light in attic, no storage and walk up stairs, soffit vents and windows ventilation; clapboard and cement shingle vinyl and cement- asbestos fiber (left side) siding, chimney: brick; brick foundation, steel lally columns; hydronic heat on gas, 50 gallon (2-3 people) gas (quick recovery) water heater (basement and utility room); 100-amp circuit breakers (General Electric and Eaton), romex and BX wiring, copper supply pipes, public water, window AC; double-hung, thermal/insulated and sliders windows, hardwood t&g and tile floors, laminate cabinets, composite quartz counters. Flagged, in Lou’s words: “Right side chimney is not in use”; “This will stop up draft from old gas fireplace”; “Yankee gutters on both sides have numerous holes”; “Front covered raised concrete patio is cracked”; “Second floor deck right and rear handrails loose”; “Steel Garage, not straight pushed in on left side and rear”; “Safety Item: Basement stairs need railing with balusters 4" apart, on outside”; “Door not installed to second floor hallway”; “Door may be to large for hallway, may have to open out”; “Wall roughed up behind toilet, ceramic tile incomplete”; “Lally column footing is trip hazard”; “In basement, water valve handle in ceiling left side is hard to turn”; “Hole in sheetrock too small to get your hand around”. Also noted: “Roof is one layer, about 12 years old”; “One loose shingle left side, rear, about three feet down from rear chimney”; “Shingle are uneven and fell from line below right side chimney”; “Front lower roof need to be stripped and renewed”; “Lower rear outlet does not have current”; “Open junction box on boiler room ceiling”; “Draft going up old fireplaces in kitchen and living room”. On the day: 50°F, cloudy, light rain, wet ground, rain in the three days before; the house faces SE. Not inspected that day: ceilings; floors; insulation in attic; insulation under floor system; roof structure and attic; vapor retarders; ventilation of foundation area; visible electric wiring in attic. Not present in this house: clothes dryer; clothes dryer vent piping; clothes washer; electrical; food waste disposer; gas/lp firelogs and fireplaces; instant hot water; occupant door from garage to inside home; presence of installed cooling source in each room; range hood; solid fuel heating devices; sump pump; trash compactor; ventilation fans and thermostatic controls.
“Flagged” is HomeGauge’s Repair or Replace mark, not a verdict on the house. See a complete report.
Related: The Brooklyn page · What an inspection costs · Schedule an inspection.
Both photographs are from Lou's own Bay Ridge inspection reports, chosen because they show a building component and nothing that identifies a property or an owner.
Median year built in zip 11209: 1938 (Brooklyn: 1943). Of 33,286 units, 60% predates 1940; 3% is from 2000 on. Next come the 1950s at 12% and the 1940s at 9%. An older house is not a worse house, but its wiring, plumbing and roof were installed under different rules and replaced piecemeal, which is what the inspection looks for. Lou’s reports here: 119 years old. (ACS)
69% utility gas, 14% fuel oil or kerosene; fuel oil 14% against 7% county-wide. NYSDEC logs 3 petroleum spills at private homes in Bay Ridge since 1995, 0 since 2015. A gas conversion can leave a tank behind. An abandoned tank is most likely in a house that was converted from oil. Buried tanks are outside the standards New York sets for a home inspection, so the seller’s answer matters. (ACS, NYSDEC)
29% buildings of 50 or more units, 19% buildings of 20 to 49 units, 17% two-unit buildings; 36% owner-occupied (Brooklyn: 30%). With 48% of units in buildings of 20 or more, many purchases here are apartments: the inspection covers the unit, and the roof, plant and risers belong to the board. (ACS)
Brooklyn (reported by borough): 528 basement tests, average 2.07 pCi/L, 54 at 4 or above (10%). First-floor tests there: 116, average 0.88. The highest basement reading was 41.2 pCi/L. EPA’s action level is 4 pCi/L, and it advises testing every home whatever the area’s results. Radon testing is optional. (NYSDOH)
81 flood-insurance claims from zip 11209 since 1978, most in 1979 (23): 80th of the 189 zips on these pages. A claim count describes the zip, not the house. Flood zones follow the address. Check the address on FEMA’s map. (OpenFEMA)
The NYC Department of Buildings. Look the address up on BIS or DOB NOW. Your attorney usually runs the search. The inspection reports the condition of what is there and flags work that typically needs a permit, such as a finished basement, a dormer or a moved panel, so you know what to ask about.
By median year built, fuel-oil share and owner-occupancy: Bay Ridge (zip 11209) 1938, 14%, 36%; Sunset Park (zip 11232): built 1938, oil 10%, 24% owner-occupied; Concord (zip 10305): built 1974, oil 4%, 65% owner-occupied; Kensington (zip 11218): built 1942, oil 13%, 38% owner-occupied. (ACS)
The New York City Construction Codes, the NYC Department of Buildings records and NYC water and sewer: county-wide, written once. They are the same for every town in Brooklyn, so they are set out there with their sources instead of on each page.
Lou quotes the actual property, not a flat rate — what drives the price is size, age and what is included. The written report arrives the same day as a rule; a large or complex house can run to the next morning. Call or text 516-330-3870.
Lou covers Long Island, the five boroughs and Westchester from his base in Wantagh, and the archive behind these pages shows where that work has actually concentrated.
Nearby towns Lou has inspected: Sunset Park · Concord · Shore Acres · Kensington · Prospect Park South · Parkville · all 250 towns.
His Bay Ridge file goes back to 2018. Yours would not be the first.
Not sure yet? Read what New York requires of your inspector or see a real report.