Home Inspections

You have probably heard of home inspections and how buyers and sellers can benefit from their expertise. You may have even heard of how it is advisable to have your own home inspected by a professional every so often to prevent damage that may be seen in advance through expert eyes and the help of early warnings. But what exactly does a home inspector do when he gets to your home?

Home inspection is a visual assessment of a house in order to look for material defects present in the property during the time of inspection. While a home inspector cannot guarantee to find each and every defect in the residence that ever happened, is happening, or could happen, these undertakings often prove to be useful in assessing the value of properties to be bought or sold (although these inspections should also not be mistaken for appraisals or tests that will "pass" or "fail" a house), or what improvements should be undertaken.

Part of the standard operating procedures for home inspectors is to assess the following areas: the roof, exterior, basement, foundation, crawl space, heating, cooling, plumbing, electric systems, fireplace, attic, ventilation, insulation, doors, window, and exterior. While an inspector's task inside the home also has limitations, such as the identification of concealed material defects, and while an inspector will not forecast the life expectancy of any given property or opine about the suitability of a property for any given purpose, still, home inspection is a task that cannot be left to the untrained.

An individual, for instance, does not have the training to determine whether a crack on the wall is a sign of the building's aging or if it is already an indication that water has seeped into the basement and has already corrupted the integrity of the house's foundation. Inspecting the plumbing, heating and cooling systems, and the electrical circuits that make the house tick, on the other hand, cannot be done unless you have a comprehensive knowledge of how these delicate and intricate systems work. An amateur walk around the house, of course, does not constitute what a home inspector does. Aside from the training, a good home inspector also has years of experience to back him up, and can tell from sight alone what can material defects are present in your home. In fact, generally it takes a board examination to be a licensed home inspector, except in certain states in America.

For many things in life, the benefits blossom only later on. A home inspection may seem unnecessary to a newly painted house that you may want to buy. But you never know what a thin layer of paint conceals, or what may be lurking in your crawl spaces, under the floorboards, or up in the attic. The maximization of benefits that you can derive from your home also largely depends on your knowledge of it. Some people do not know just how much better their insulation or ventilation systems could be if only they had an inspectors' report. So go ahead, call one now.