Lake-Lot Retaining Walls and Armor Stone — What an Inspector Will and Won't Tell You

Lake-lot buyers often expect a home inspector to certify the shoreline — the retaining walls, the armor stone, the dock and boathouse. We will tell you honestly: that is not within a home inspection's scope. What we will do is give you straight commentary on what we can see, and tell you where our certification ends.

What we can and cannot say

We can document visible bulging, tilting, drainage and weep performance, and obvious undermining at the waterline on an engineered retaining or armor-stone wall. We can flag conditions that warrant a structural or shoreline engineer.

We cannot certify the engineering of a shoreline structure, and we will not pretend to. DNR shoreline rules and the engineering behind armor stone are specialist territory — and a buyer on a multi-million-dollar lake home deserves that honesty, not false reassurance.

Why honest scope wins

The inspectors who quietly overstate what they cover are the ones who create liability and disappointed buyers. We would rather tell you the truth and refer the right specialist. See shoreline retaining wall failure and our luxury estate inspection.

Keep reading

Learning center · Defect library · Full home inspection