Home Inspection Articles | House Inspection News

House inspection is not only undertaken before buying a house or before selling a house. Informal or professional house inspection should be done at least twice a year, preferably in the spring and fall.

During your house inspection, you will see things that you need to repair before they deteriorate to a point that requires costly repair or replacement. In the same way that preventive medicine is better than treatment, preventive home maintenance is also better than repairs and replacement.

If you are confident enough about house inspection, you can do the inspection yourself. You can always hire a professional home inspector later if you discover a major defect. You can download house inspection checklists from reputable home maintenance websites to make your house inspection more thorough and complete.

Among the most important parts that you need to check are your heating and hot water systems. If your systems are fueled by gas, install carbon monoxide detectors. Statistics show that fatal carbon monoxide accidents occur in every state each year.

See to it that you have smoke detectors on all floors of your house. They should be wired properly and checked every so often. If they are battery-powered, schedule battery testing.

Check your electrical outlets every month, including your circuit breaker. Check outlets in the kitchen, bathroom, garage, exterior structures, basement and other rooms.

Inspect crawlspaces at least once per year and check leaks, moisture and ductwork failures. When you open the way to the crawlspaces, the air coming from within should not feel damp and should not give out smells of mildew or mold.

From time to time, clean the gutters. Leaves and other litter left on the gutters for a long time hasten rot and block the smooth flow of rainwater.

Check the furnace for defects that could cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Incorrect installation of the furnace blower causes a build-up in carbon monoxide.

If after your house inspection, you found defects that put you and your house at risk, hire a house inspector that specializes in the parts that have defects or damages. It is also recommended that you hire a general contractor to make the house inspection. Oftentimes, general contractors inspect the house for free if they are contracted to make the necessary repairs.

Lastly, take comfort in the fact that you discovered defects earlier. This has reduced the cost of your repairs and has prevented any accidents arising from the defects. Indeed, house inspection reduces repair costs and saves lives.

Home Inspection

If you are selling your home, some of the things that you need to prepare for are visits by house inspectors. Either the house inspectors are sent by the buyers or they are hired by you to fulfill local government home inspection requirements. Your main goal would be to get a favorable home inspection report and home inspection certification to enable you to sell your home easily.

Here are the things you need to do before the house inspectors arrive and do their home inspection:

1. Clean your house and your surroundings

Cleanliness enhances the overall look of a house. House inspectors will put good marks on many parts of the house if they look well maintained. Cleaning will also show you parts of the house that need minor repair.

2. Provide inspection space around your air conditioner, water heater and furnace

Remove furniture, boxes or other things that block the house inspector from examining the water heater, air conditioner and furnace.

3. Make sure utilities are connected

The house inspector needs to check major equipment on his home inspection checklist so he needs to be able to turn these on. These include the furnace, air conditioner, stove, dishwasher, receptacles, faucets and grounding.

4. Make the attic, basement and garage accessible

Remove boxes and other clutter that block access to the garage, basement and attic. See that house inspectors can check the walls easily.

5. Have the pilot lights on

If the pilot lights are on, house inspectors can check the gas stove, furnace or water heater as thoroughly as they desire.

6. Make available keys for electrical boxes and outbuildings

House inspectors need to access parts of the property that are not attached to your main house.

7. Make exterior inspection easier

Clean the surroundings. House inspectors need to walk around easily so they can see what they want to focus on. Buyers might have specific instructions or plans about the exteriors.

8. Show upgrade or repair documents

Buyers’ questions about repairs can be answered easily by house inspectors if they have documents to check for facts and data. Buyers would be pleased about upgrades.

9. Be ready early on home inspection day

Your house should be ready for house inspectors at least 30 minutes before the scheduled inspection time. If you have pets, they should have been fed and kept in their houses by this time.

10. Plan an activity for the day if you have young children

If the house inspectors or buyers prefer that you do not inspect the house with them, you need to plan an activity for your children in another place. Prepare for at least three hours of home inspection.

Home Inspection

If you are buying a new regular single-family home or a regular existing home, most licensed inspectors can satisfactorily accomplish the quality of home inspection you need. You can even do the home inspection yourself using a home inspection checklist and applying home building inspection tips you have read on the Internet.

But if you are buying a home built before the Great Depression, a home with a swimming pool, a home with large trees, or a home possibly finished with lead-based paint or with nearly full septic tank, you need to hire a home inspection specialist experienced in the type of home construction problem you might possibly face.

For older homes built before the 1930s, hire an inspector specializing in older homes. This type of home inspection professional knows how to check coal packs under the concrete, gas leaks from abandoned pipes and drain problems due to older drainage designs.

Septic system problems may also arise from homes built before 1980. A complete septic tank replacement will cost you up to $40,000 if your home inspection professional missed the septic problem. Michael Kuhn of home inspection franchise HouseMaster recommends spending about $400 for digging up, examining and pumping out the system to ensure your septic system is functional.

To evaluate swimming pools, Frank Goldstein of Chesapeake Aquatic Consultants recommends the hiring of a swimming pool inspector. This specialist will check key parts of the swimming pool such as expansion joints, ladders, pump, vacuum, filter, heater and diving equipment. Goldstein said pool inspection increases home inspection cost by about $100, a small sum compared to about $8,000 spent on pool refurbishment.

The case of Joanne Sammer of New Jersey illustrates the need for an arborist to inspect trees on a property. Just two months after Sammer bought a home in Brielle, a maple tree fell onto her roof, costing her $2,100 and putting her life into danger.

According to Indianapolis arborist Richard Glover, trees such as pines, evergreens, junipers and spruces add value to a property, but they need to be checked for borers, bag worms, scale bugs and other tree killers and then treated. Tree inspection fees by arborists cost between $150 and $350.

There are other potential problems that you must consider before actual home inspection. Check if you need to hire home inspection services that specialize in pests, molds, lead-based paint or radon. Each of these home inspection services will cost you between $100 to $200, but they will save you from stress and costly repairs in the future.

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