Originally posted by @Robert T.:All

I had to do it one other time and she came through, but you give 'em an inch... 

Just measure to the nearest inch even nearest 6 inches is fine (this is a budgeting exercise).

To give a general idea of some of the mess they left - left it with 2/3rd of the lightbulbs burnt out, holes in 4 doors, very poorly patched holes in the walls in more than 5 locations, missing showerhead, missing ceiling lights, excessive mold, large hole knocked into paneling, enough garbage to overflow a roofing trash trailer, 2 tvs (1 stood 4' tall), cobwebs and filthy walls, excessively filthy carpet including over 15 dog male (squiggly!)

We then become their "lender" for a few years while they continue to improve their credit and financial picture.That said, here is what I find when I take back the home ( read: evict and/or they move out before the lease is up): new 50-60 inch flat screen TV boxes in the garage, DirecTV set tops in all bedrooms ( that they do not live up to the original agreement with DirecTV and return the rented boxes), all of our original lightbulbs replaced with odd, irregular, different color bulbs in most of the lamp sockets ( a 5 socket light fixture that we installed with the correct bulbs will have 3 bulbs at most- none matching - why?!!)

we are trying to find information on raising the ceilings on our 2000sf house. the ceilings currently are not even 8ft tall and we plan on renovating since we will be staying here a long time.

I have not measured the stairway but I had a quick look at CA code and or says the width should be 30 inch.

They are only a few inches (3 -6) above the ground on post and pier.

Take a couple of witnesses with you, get in there and take pictures of every square inch.  

We get about 11 inches of rain in about 24 hours.