home inspection

[Bird]

Good points, Ken.

 

[rosietheriviter]

Hi Mechanic,

Your question is extremely valid.

I personally disagree that each and every sub-system needs to be inspected by a speciality contractor.

The primary reason I disagree is that the costs to hire an electrician, plumber, engineer, hvac specialist, roofing specialist, and so on and on is NOT a reasonable price to pay for an insurance policy, if you will.

MOST reliable LICENSED inspectors have the training and experience to perform a "more than generic" inspection. Major problems such as improperly designed or installed subsystems would be addressable well into the future and can be protected against by "home owners repair insurance" as well as the contractor's license board in most states.

I do not intend this message as a flame, kenmac is right in as much as his trade is concerned but again, how many inspections can you purchase until the price of the home is totally out or reach - especially when you believe the contractor is reputable?

Rose is Rose

 

[kenmac]

.

I do not intend this message as a flame, kenmac is right in as much as his trade is concerned but again, how many inspections can you purchase until the price of the home is totally out or reach - especially when you believe the contractor is reputable?



Good point. Talk to others that this contractor has built houses for .If they had problems & were those problems addressed If he/ she is a reputable builder , He shouldn't mind giving out names of folkes he has built houses for.


I don't mean to sound so against these home inspectors ( we may have some that are members ) I just wish ( the ones that I've encountered) would learn about codes & how stuff should be installed b-4 they sign off that all is ok. So many people that purchase a home put alot of faith into what a home inspector tells them only to find out later that they have some serious problems

 

[VABlue]

GET AN INSPECTION!!!

I closed on my brand new house and wished to he!! I had an inspection done. One bedroom breaker trips, the garage outlets often only supply half the power needed for my 3gal air compressor, the ductwork sweats like a pig (uninsulated)... Things I didn't think would need to be checked.

One thing you will notice immediately after closing is that the builder will stop responding to you. I still have items from the initial walk-through that haven't been completed. DO NOT sign unless the big ticket, expensive items are done (driveway, etc), or they'll never get finished. DO NOT trust the builder to do the work. If the house and drive are not completed (finished), then he is not ready to turn over the house and you should not accept it.

Would you accept the house if the master bedroom floor wasn't installed?

 

[Bird]

ductwork sweats like a pig

That's just what you want it to do; pigs don't sweat. That's the reason they wallow in mud or try to stay wet when it's hot.

Sorry, just couldn't resist since we know now that you've not been a hog farmer. But otherwise, I agree with what you said.

 

[Sigarms]

Hi Mechanic,

Your question is extremely valid.

I personally disagree that each and every sub-system needs to be inspected by a speciality contractor.

The primary reason I disagree is that the costs to hire an electrician, plumber, engineer, hvac specialist, roofing specialist, and so on and on is NOT a reasonable price to pay for an insurance policy, if you will.

MOST reliable LICENSED inspectors have the training and experience to perform a "more than generic" inspection. Major problems such as improperly designed or installed subsystems would be addressable well into the future and can be protected against by "home owners repair insurance" as well as the contractor's license board in most states.

I do not intend this message as a flame, kenmac is right in as much as his trade is concerned but again, how many inspections can you purchase until the price of the home is totally out or reach - especially when you believe the contractor is reputable?

Rose is Rose

I agree with you to a point, but let me give you an example of what did happen to me.

When I bought my first and only house, I did have a home inspector that came out that was highly qualified. HVAC is my business, and I didn't say anything about what I did for work to the inspector. House was unlived in for 6 years prior to us buying it. He did miss a couple of details on two of the HVAC systems (first two floors), however, he did miss the fact that the furnace in the attic had actually been recalled by the manufacturer (stuck out like a sore thumb to me once I saw the model). I called the company who installed that furnace to see if they ran a combustion check on the heat exchanger, and they did not. This could of been a serious issue. The inspector had no clue.

I will admit, it seems that HVAC was his "weakest point". Very detailed in the electrical and plumbing (at least he pointed out a lot more potential issues with those areas that I didn't have a clue about, but again, he missed numerous items that I had noticed on the HVAC).

As mentioned, I wouldn't trust the builder unless you have an ironclad warranty. Even then, I would still at least want it inspected by an "outside source". Then again, I know some HVAC guys that went into home inspections. There was a reason why they got out of their trade.

 

[riptides]

Get a highly qualified inspector, don't sign off on acceptance until YOU are satisfied. Also, don't part with any more cash until the deal is done.

Don't forget to have a hard look at the finished products in various lighting conditions. Low lighting/indirect lighting can reveal horrible imperfections!

Good luck.
-Mike Z.

 

[Chuck52]

The "highly qualified" part of the description of the inspector is important. I've dealt with four different inspectors over the years and none were "highly qualified" enough to find things I chanced upon myself later. There is only one inspector in my area who seems to meet the "highly qualified" criterion, and he's busy all the time. Personally, I'd trust my son in law, who's in HVAC, to do a better job inspecting a house than any of the inspectors I've paid for the job. He has to know more than a bit about both electrical work and plumbing to do his work in HVAC, and he's seen lots of the wrong way to do things over the years. But he would admit he doesn't know the engineering details of foundation and construction work.

Chuck

 

[ToadHill]

The job gets done before any $$ change hands or require an escro account with 10% of the home value in it. The builder gets his money back when the drive is done and after the builder warranty time has elapsed.

 

[AlanB]

So many times we get customers who said "the builder said he was going to fix that, but never came back"

If it were mine, I would probably have an independent inspector if I did not feel comfortable myself. (did not use one on my current house and wonder at times if I should have to help me id the problems)

I had a long list of items on the house I bought before, that the builder was "going to fix" and so on and so forth, when we all sat down at closing, banker, lawyer etc. etc. I walked in and said I did not understand why we were all here, this list that my builder said he would fix is still not done.....................

Lots of folks started stammering and were pissed, the lawyer wrote some lawyerese on the bottom of my list and had the builder sign that it would be complete by the next day to my satisfaction, and I think everyone was a little nervous that I would not give that paper back and the deal would be off the next day.

(He did fix everything that afternoon) which he should have done the month before, but he could get by without doing it and he did, and if I had closed, I am sure it would have just been money and time in his pocket.

I would absolutely not depend on the "warranty" to get things corrected.

And as others have said, if he is afraid of the inspection, it would throw red flags too me.