Five Targets of Special Home Inspections
There could be times when your mortgage lender, homebuyer or agent requires from you a special type of home inspection. Your area could have been plagued by a disaster in the past or your area is prone to a certain condition, highlighting the need to ensure that your home is free from certain home defects.
Among the areas most commonly addressed by special home inspections are the following:
- Roof
- Structure
- Termites and Other House Pests
- Plumbing
- Electrical Wiring
The life of roofs varies from about 25 to 50 years, depending on the type of environment it has been subjected to and on the type of material used, such as concrete tile, clay roof tile, shingle, slate, wood shake, metal, composite or tar and gravel.
The inspector should evaluate the surface, sides and lines of the roof. He should note conditions that lead to leakage problems and possible violations of roofing regulations.
The home inspector determines whether the structure of the home could withstand earthquakes. The inspector ensures that load bearing walls, shear walls, frames, foundations and roofs have been properly built and installed. He looks for cracks and misalignments that could indicate signs of weakness in structure.
Infestation signs that the inspector should look for are mud tubes on the walls and wooden parts of the house, winged insects coming out of wooden parts and the presence of dark blisters in wooden floors. Some construction mistakes that attract termites are incorrect drainage, contact between the ground and wooden parts of the house, wooden debris in concrete parts and form boards left in the flooring.
Galvanized steel piping commonly corrodes within ten years. The inspector should check for leakage in the piping system and in the valves.
Home inspectors should look for wiring installations that do not conform to electrical wiring regulations.
All the items above should be included in your home inspection checklist when buying or selling a home.
