🪓A Missing Post and a $10,000 Lesson

The Inspection Insider

The Inside Scoop for Buyers, Sellers, and Realtors

This Week's Newsletter: A missing support post, a sagging beam, and a $10,000 mistake — discover how one DIY decision nearly brought down a house.

One Post, One Big Problem: How a Simple Mistake Cost Thousands!

Ever walked into a house and felt like something was off—but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it? That’s exactly what happened on this inspection. The house looked fine at first glance, but the kitchen floor told a different story. Cracked tiles, a bouncy feel underfoot… and an explanation from the seller that didn’t quite add up.

Little did he know, he had literally pulled the support out from under his own home.

It was a routine inspection—or so I thought. The seller was a retired guy who took great pride in his woodworking shop in the basement. He was the kind of guy who had everything labeled, sorted, and spotless. He greeted me at the door with a smile and offered a firm handshake.

The buyers were a young couple, excited but nervous—first-time homebuyers looking to start a family. They had spent weeks house hunting, and this place seemed like "the one." It was only 10 years old, clean, and in a quiet neighborhood. Everything seemed to be going great... until I stepped into the kitchen.

The kitchen floor looked like a jigsaw puzzle gone wrong. Every single tile was cracked. Not just a few—all of them.

I asked the seller about it. "They just started cracking about a year ago. No idea why," he shrugged, unconcerned.

I took a step back and shifted my weight side to side. The floor felt like a trampoline. Not normal. Something wasn’t right. Floors aren’t supposed to have that kind of bounce.

It seemed really odd so I went to the basement to investigate.

Down in the basement, everything seemed fine at first. The workshop was neat and organized, with power tools mounted on the wall and neatly stacked wood piled up in the corner. But as I walked through, something caught my eye.

An outline of a metal tele post on the concrete floor right where there should have been a support post.

I turned to the seller. "Did you remove this?"

"Oh yeah," he said proudly. "Needed more space for my workshop."

I asked him when he removed it.

His answer? "About a year ago."

Same time the kitchen tiles started cracking. Coincidence? Not a chance.

I explained that this post wasn’t just for decoration—it was holding up the house. Without it, the main beam had sagged, causing the floor above to flex, which in turn cracked all the tiles.

That’s when it hit him. You could almost see the light bulb flicker on.

"Oh, shit," he muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Fixing this wasn’t going to be cheap. A contractor had to come in, jack the beam back up, install a new support post, and then redo the entire kitchen floor. The cost? Thousands of dollars.

But that wasn’t the worst part. The first-time buyers backed out—they didn’t want to take on a house with major structural repairs. The seller ended up losing the sale and had to drop his asking price to attract new buyers.

All because of one poorly planned DIY project.

If the seller had just called the city or an engineer first, he could have avoided this entirely. Instead, his shortcut ended up losing a sale and costing him big time.

💡 Pro Tip for Homeowners

Before you remove anything that might be structural, follow these steps:

1. Consult a professional. Call a structural engineer or your city’s permitting office before making changes to walls, beams, or posts.

2. Check for signs of stress. Cracked tiles, bouncy floors, and doors that won’t close properly can all indicate structural issues.

3. Don't ignore the clues. If something feels "off" in your home, investigate it before it becomes a bigger (and more expensive) problem..

Pro Tip of the Week

How to Tell If a Wall Is Load-Bearing: 9 Signs (Link to The Spruce)

What’s Coming Next Week?

Next week: The mystery of the missing breaker — and how it left new homeowners high and dry.

Ron Henderson, CMI
Certified Master Inspector

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