In 2017, Lou Rubino inspected one home in Crotona Park — one job, one written report, and the photographs below come from it. The report describes a town home, about 86 years old.
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The report, as Lou wrote it up.
2017, a town home, about 86 years old, a two-family house: 9 items flagged: 5 exterior; 2 roof, chimney and attic; 2 structure. As recorded: flat roof, rubber membrane, seen from: walked lower roof; attic: no storage; cement stucco, wood shakes and clapboard vinyl, shingles and stucco siding, chimney: brick; poured concrete and rock foundation, 3"x 9" and 3"x 7" crawl space floor framing, supporting walls, crawlspace: crawled; hydronic heat on gas, 50 gallon (2-3 people) gas (quick recovery) water heater (basement and utility room); (2) 100-amp service panel circuit breakers (General Electric and Eaton), BX wiring, copper supply pipes, public water; double-hung and thermal/insulated windows, hardwood t&g and tile floors, wood cabinets, granite and corian counters. Flagged, in Lou’s words: “Lower front roof section has holes and nails in roof, leaking onto ceiling in room below”; “Rear roof lower section has open joints and edging needs to be cut even”; “Unable to climb upper roof, weather conditions heavy rain and wind”; “Leader pipe right rear missing lower section”; “Rear lower roof has no leader and gutters”; “Water dripping off side and rear edges”; “Bulge in left side vinyl siding”; “Hole in siding right side rear”; “Only one exterior door into house”; “Check local codes for exterior entrances”; “Front stoop lower granite tread is different color”; “Right side walkway has steel plate over sidewalk”; “Soffit hanging down on light fixture over front entrance”; “Hole in wall to exterior right side”; “No insulation between joists in crawl space”; “No insulation between joists in basement”. Also noted: “Right side inner gate, upper hinge broken”; “Clothes Dryer Vent Material”; “Outlet to right of sink is not GFCI protected and cover missing”; “Outlet to left of sink is cover missing”; “Right rear burner missing flame defuser plate”; “No hood or microwave installed over stove”; “Outlet over sink not installed and box too close to faucet”; “Outlet to right of sink Not GFCI protected and cover missing”; “Third floor front bedroom closet light not installed”; “Front room 1st floor recessed light trim rings not installed”; “Front room first floor has water damage from leaking roof”; “No escutcheon on wall over water pipe for toilet”; “Caution electric shock.Jacuzzi is not GFCI protected”; “Float valve and stopper are not working in toilet”; “Toilet water pipe is too long from wall and no escutcheon installed over pipe”; “Sub in first floor kitchen”. On the day: 43°F, wind and heavy rain, staurated ground, rain in the three days before; the house faces SE. Not inspected that day: insulation in attic; main fuel shut off; roof structure and attic; roof ventilation; skylights, chimneys and roof penetrations; ventilation fans and thermostatic controls; visible electric wiring in attic; whole house trap. Not present in this house: basement windows; cooling and air handler equipment; gas/lp firelogs and fireplaces; normal operating controls; outlets & fixtures; plumbing water faucets; presence of installed cooling source in each room; solid fuel heating devices; sump pump; vapor retarders; windows.
“Flagged” is HomeGauge’s Repair or Replace mark, not a verdict on the house. See a complete report.
Related: All towns · What an inspection costs · Schedule an inspection.
The photograph is from Lou's own Crotona Park inspection report, chosen because it shows a building component and nothing that identifies a property or an owner.
Median year built in zip 10460: 1963 (Bronx: 1954). Of 24,085 units, 38% predates 1940; 21% is from 2000 on. Next come the 2010s at 12% and the 1970s at 11%. 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: 86 years old. (ACS)
54% utility gas, 23% fuel oil or kerosene; fuel oil 23% against 24% county-wide. NYSDEC logs Bronx home oil spills under the borough, not Crotona Park. Ask about a tank, and for closure papers. A tank can be buried in the yard or sit in the basement, and a removed one should come with paperwork. Buried tanks are outside the standards New York sets for a home inspection, so the seller’s answer matters. (ACS, NYSDEC)
32% buildings of 50 or more units, 30% buildings of 20 to 49 units, 11% buildings of 3 or 4 units; 11% owner-occupied (Bronx: 20%). With 62% 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. Lou’s jobs here included a two-family house. (ACS)
Bronx (reported by borough): 101 basement tests, average 1.73 pCi/L, 8 at 4 or above (8%). First-floor tests there: 43, average 1.13. The highest basement reading was 20.9 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)
1 flood-insurance claim from zip 10460 since 2018: 188th 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: Crotona Park (zip 10460) 1963, 23%, 11%; Castle Hill (zip 10462): built 1944, oil 29%, 23% owner-occupied; Bathgate (zip 10457): built 1959, oil 27%, 6% owner-occupied; Morris Heights (zip 10453): built 1954, oil 20%, 5% 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 Bronx, 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: Castle Hill · Bathgate · East Tremont · Morris Heights · Harding Park · Clason Point · all 250 towns.
His Crotona Park file goes back to 2017. Yours would not be the first.
Not sure yet? Read what New York requires of your inspector or see a real report.