Punch List & Inspection Repairs, San Juan Island

This is transaction work, and it has a different shape from every other job on this site. There is a specific written document — an inspection report, a buyer’s repair request, or a lender or appraiser condition — and it has numbered items. There is a deadline, usually a closing date that has already been agreed. And there are two parties watching, both of whom want evidence rather than assurance. The job is not “fix up the house.” The job is to close out a list.

So I work the way the list is written. You send me the report as a PDF. I go through it and sort every item into three buckets, in writing, before touching anything. Bucket one: things I can fix, with an hours estimate against each. Bucket two: things that require a licensed trade — electrical, plumbing, gas, HVAC, septic, roofing replacement, structural — which I will coordinate but not perform. Bucket three: things I think are inspector boilerplate rather than defects, which is a real category and worth naming, because a report that says a crawlspace lacks a full vapor barrier and a report that flags dry rot at a deck ledger are not the same order of problem. You get that triage back before any work starts, and it is usually the most useful thing I hand over, because it tells you what your remaining exposure actually is.

Then each item gets done and photographed against its own number. Item 4.2, before. Item 4.2, after. When the set is complete you have a document you can hand your agent, the buyer’s agent, or the escrow file that shows each line closed. On an island transaction where the seller is in California and the buyer is in Seattle, that photo set is often what allows the deal to proceed without another trip and another inspection.

The items that come up here are predictable because island inspectors flag island conditions. Dry rot and soft boards at deck framing, ledgers, and stair stringers. Deck railings under the required height or with baluster spacing that fails. Loose handrails and missing graspable handrail returns. Crawlspace notes: missing or torn vapor barrier, insulation fallen out of the floor bays, rodent evidence, an access hatch that does not seal, screening chewed through. Gutters full and downspouts discharging against the foundation. Moss and organic debris on the roof. Failed exterior caulking and sealant at trim, penetrations, and window head flashing. Grade and vegetation in contact with siding. Doors that do not latch, and exterior doors with damaged weatherstripping. Missing window screens. Smoke and CO alarms missing, expired, or in the wrong locations. Deteriorated trim, fascia, and siding at the wet corners of the building. Loose or missing crawlspace and attic access covers. Most of a typical island inspection report is exactly this kind of item, which is why a handyman with a documented process closes more of a list than people expect.

The trade boundary is important in a transaction and I state it in writing rather than in conversation. I hold a Washington general contractor registration. I do not hold an electrical or plumbing license, and I do not advertise or perform electrical or plumbing work of any kind. So an ungrounded receptacle, an open junction box, a double-tapped breaker, a missing GFCI, a leaking supply line, a failed shut-off, a water heater note, a toilet that rocks — all of those go to a licensed contractor in the right trade. Same for gas, HVAC, septic, well pumps, roofing replacement, and any structural or load-bearing alteration. What I do is get the right licensed person booked, meet them at the house so nobody has to fly in, and fold their invoice and their sign-off into the same document set. On an island where the pool of available trades is small and everyone is booked, that coordination is frequently the thing that saves the closing date.

About the date: island logistics are the real risk in a punch list, not the repairs. A part that a mainland supply house has on a shelf may be a two-day ferry problem here, and a specialty item can be a week. Browne’s in Friday Harbor covers a great deal, and what it does not cover I bring over. So tell me the closing date on the first call and I will tell you honestly whether the list fits inside it, and which items will not. I would rather turn down two items than miss a closing on all of them.

For sellers and buyers who are not here, this is also the moment when an ongoing arrangement starts to make sense. A buyer taking possession of a second home usually has a residual list the inspection did not cover, and the house will sit empty most of the year. That is what property care is for, and picking it up at closing means the next inspection report on that house is a short one.