Spent $350 on a home inspection that missed the old oil tank in the basement

Bought a place in Manchester last fall, inspector said everything was clean. Three months later I find a buried 275 gallon tank in the basement floor when I pulled up some linoleum. Removal and soil testing ran me $1,200. Anyone else have inspectors miss obvious things?

3 comments

3 Comments

harper_wright1mo ago

$350 is actually pretty standard for a basic inspection and nobody's going to rip up your floors to check for hidden tanks. An old buried oil tank isn't something that would show up on a normal walkthrough unless there was obvious staining or a vent pipe sticking out. You got a deal on the removal too since I've seen quotes double that for urban cleanup.

the_elliot1mo ago

Used to think a $350 inspection was a pretty solid deal and covered pretty much everything. But after reading your story and some others online, I changed my mind. It's wild how much they can miss when they don't open up walls or lift floors. Harper makes a fair point about it being a walkthrough, but it still feels like a big thing to overlook. What tipped you off to check under the linoleum in the first place?

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hall.nora28d ago

Honestly, I kind of wonder if people are making too big a deal out of this. Most inspectors aren't going to start tearing up floors, and a leak from an old tank is pretty rare unless the ground is stained or something. Did you actually smell anything weird or see a problem, or were you just paranoid from reading stories online?