What would the inspector find at your house?

I spent most of Friday night (‘til 10 PM) at a home inspection. This was on a fairly new and house – built in 1998 – that, while not really what you might call an upscale house, it is priced over $300,000; so, one would expect it to be nice and in good condition. In general it was, although the inspector found at lease 5-6 things that need immediate attention and a list of 10-15 maintenance items that the new owner should get to sometime soon. As I was whiling away the hours; I asked my buyer, who was there observing and learning about the house, “What would the inspector find at your house?”

That’s an interesting question that all homeowners should ask themselves from time-to-time, even if they aren’t contemplating selling anytime soon. Answering that question honestly would likely result in a good long To-Do list for yourself. Good inspectors, like we had that night will take 3-4 hours to do an inspection, starting on the roof and working their way down to the basement. Finding a roof with absolutely no issues would be rare, with missing or badly installed flashing or drip molding being the most common, followed by poorly installed valleys or just plain worn out or missing shingles. Poor water management, such as gutters without proper length downspout runoffs are a common exterior issue, as is rotted wood and improper or missing caulking around doors and windows. These days, it’s not uncommon to see pieces of the vinyl siding that are loose or separated – that’s easy to fix.

Inside, the inspectors always look for any evidence of water intrusion, usually spotted due to discolored paint. They look for proper polarity and grounding of electrical outlets, leaks in any plumbing, missing or moldy grout around tubs and showers, proper left-right installation of the hot and cold water in sinks and tubs. Many inspectors check all appliances for proper operation, but some refuse to do that. Inoperable garbage disposals and sump pumps are common finds in even newer houses. They will check the water softener and water heater and cycle the heating and cooling units (unless it’s winter, when they can’t run the AC). It’s not unusual to find inoperative humidifiers or at least humidifiers with solidly caked pads that need to be changed. Furnace filters are examined, too and the furnace and hot water heaters both checked for gas leaks. Furnaces are checked for any evidence of cracks in the heat exchangers, which can let deadly carbon monoxide get into the heating system.

The inspector will likely open and close all windows and doors to check for proper operation and note any that have broken seals (foggy glass). A good inspector will crawl around in your attic to see if there are any issues there – water intrusion, mold, evidence of pests making a home there – and to see that it is properly ventilated. It is not uncommon to find that the well-meaning homeowner has blown in lots of extra insulation and covered over the access for air from the eaves vents. Then there are the handy home owners who finished their own basements. That normally provides a host of issues that need to be resolved, since most homeowners don’t understand or follow all of the local building codes. All electrical plugs in the bath and kitchen and in the garage are supposed to be ground fault interrupt (GFI) types and the inspector will check that (you can buy a little polarity and GFI tester at the hardware store for under $10)

The inspector that I use most often is very thorough and the buyers usually end up really appreciating the detailed understanding that they get out of the process. He told us that night that, in over 3,000 inspections that he has done, he has never found a perfect home. He said that only 3-4 homes that he can recall came close to having zero defects, even though many were new-builds. So, as an exercise in keeping your home up to snuff and ready to sell someday, walk around your house with a pad an pen and take note of the things that an inspector might find in your homes that need work. Then, get to work!