In 2021, Lou Rubino inspected two homes in Melrose — two jobs, each with a written report, and the photographs below come from them. The reports describe two town homes, from 30 to 122 years old.
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Lou’s two summaries flagged 26 items Repair or Replace, most for the roof, chimney and attic (11), exterior (9) and rooms (5). Each report, newest first, as Lou wrote it up.
2021, a town home, about 30 years old, a three-family house: 9 items flagged: 6 roof, chimney and attic; 3 exterior. As recorded: flat roof, asphalt/fiberglass, seen from: walked roof; attic: no storage, turbines and passive ventilation; cement stucco eifs siding, chimney: metal flue pipe; poured concrete foundation, 2 x 8 steel channel floor framing, supporting walls, crawlspace: crawled; non-insulated ducts, (2) 40 gallon gas (quick recovery) water heater (apartment utility closets); (2) 100-amp service panel circuit breakers (General Electric), BX wiring, copper supply pipes, public water, window AC; double-hung and thermal/insulated windows, carpet, hardwood t&g and linoleum floors, wood cabinets, laminate counters. Flagged, in Lou’s words: “Seams opening up, through out roof”; “Steel anchor rusting left front”; “Flashing is cracking at front parapet wall”; “Old rusted TV antenna on roof”; “Pull down stairs in left rear bedroom, 3rd floor”; “Roof hatch is cemented shut with roof cement and covering”; “Safety Item: Parapet wall tie back is not secured to roof joists”; “Steel tieback is digging into roofing material”; “Draft from front entrance door”; “Front concrete stoop, foundation cracked”; “Rear steel raised deck is rusting on bottom at support beams”; “Front concrete driveway is cracked and pitched toward house”; “Pitch in driveway may be contributing to water in crawl space”. Also noted: “Rubber washer hoses can burst and crimped connections are rusted”; “Shower diverter valve in faucet leaking”; “Exhaust fan does not work”; “Main breaker panel left front of 1st and 2nd floors”; “Sub panel 1st floor behind refrigerator”; “Sub panel 2nd floor kitchen”; “No filters installed in return registers”; “Filter laying on 3rd floor fan motor”. On the day: 50°F, clear, damp ground; the house faces NE. Not inspected that day: ceilings; cooling and air handler equipment; insulation in attic; normal operating controls; plumbing water faucets; roof structure and attic; visible electric wiring in attic. Not present in this house: basement windows; gas/lp firelogs and fireplaces; outlets & light fixtures; presence of installed cooling source in each room; solid fuel heating devices; sump pump; ventilation fans and thermostatic controls.
2021, a town home, about 122 years old, a three-family house: 17 items flagged: 6 exterior; 5 roof, chimney and attic; 5 rooms. As recorded: flat roof, asphalt/fiberglass, seen from: walked roof; attic: no attic access and no storage, passive ventilation; rock and mortar, brick and cement stucco full brick, stone and masonry panel siding, chimney: brick; brick foundation, 3 x 8 floor framing, supporting walls, crawlspace: no access; non-insulated ducts, hot water off the boiler; 40-amp 1st floor, 40-amp 2nd floor and 40-amp 3rd floor circuit breakers (Cutler Hammer), BX wiring, copper supply pipes, public water, window AC; double-hung and thermal/insulated windows, hardwood t&g and tile floors, wood cabinets, laminate counters. Flagged, in Lou’s words: “Roof is silver painted, over 25 years old with multiple layers”; “Left side wall flashing flap is loose”; “Left side middle of parapet wall water puddling on flashing”; “Chimney rain cap is not installed”; “Roof hatch is cement closed”; “Rear gutter has two holes in middle and water is leaking down rear wall damaging ceiling on 2nd floor and rear plaster wall on 1st floor”; “Rear gutter has hole right right of chimney, leaking dow rear wall”; “Water laying in gutter around chimney”; “Rear gutter should be connected to 5" commercial leader pipe”; “Front parapet wall, metal copping covers are rusted”; “Front facade stucco is peeling”; “Right side bituminous water proof coating is peeling”; “Right side front corner needs pointing”; “Wall cracked over left rear window 2nd floor”; “Wall cracked over left rear window 3rd floor”; “Stucco cracked over left rear window, 3rd floor”; “Rear wall discolored from water leaking from rear gutter”; “Wall cracked under 3rd floor window on fire-escape”; “Absolutely no salt on front stoop during winter. Sand is a good alternative”; “Salt is very corrosive and destroys masonry and steel”. Also noted: “Many open ground and two prong outlets throughout house”; “Main panels in 1st floor apartment entrance closet”; “Oil burner does have a fuel shut off solenoid”; “Common hallway baseboard radiator cover is off”; “Old metal duct work on ceiling in 1st floor apartment”. On the day: 79°F, clear, damp ground, rain in the three days before; the house faces SE. Not inspected that day: ceilings; insulation in attic; insulation under floor system; roof structure and attic; service entrance conductors; visible electric wiring in attic. Not present in this house: cooling and air handler equipment; gas/lp firelogs and fireplaces; outlets & light fixtures; presence of installed cooling source in each room; solid fuel heating devices; vapor retarders; ventilation fans and thermostatic controls.
“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 Melrose inspection report, chosen because it shows a building component and nothing that identifies a property or an owner.
Median year built in zip 10455: 1964 (Bronx: 1954). Of 16,608 units, 23% predates 1940; 14% is from 2000 on. Next come the 1960s at 14% and the 1950s 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: 30 to 122 years old. (ACS)
52% utility gas, 22% electricity; fuel oil 13% against 24% county-wide. NYSDEC logs Bronx home oil spills under the borough, not Melrose. 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)
37% buildings of 50 or more units, 29% buildings of 20 to 49 units, 10% buildings of 10 to 19 units; 10% owner-occupied (Bronx: 20%). With 66% 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 three-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)
9 flood-insurance claims from zip 10455 since 1978, most in 2021 (4): 174th 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.
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: Highbridge · Bathgate · East Tremont · Harlem · Manhattanville · Washington Heights · all 250 towns.
His Melrose file goes back to 2021. Yours would not be the first.
Not sure yet? Read what New York requires of your inspector or see a real report.