By Barry Stone
We're buying a new home and are on a very tight budget, so we've decided to do our own home inspection. We've already gotten some pointers from friends and would like some professional advice as well. Please let us know what important things we should look for when inspecting our new home. -Kari
Dear Kari,
Asking a home inspector to advise you in the conduct of your own inspection is as ill-conceived as asking your family doctor to instruct you in the performance of your own physical examination. In either case, the number of maladies to be considered exceeds all levels of anticipation, and the knowledge required to discover and evaluate this wellspring of possible defects requires years of full-time exposure.
Consider but a few examples: Acting as your own home inspector, you must open the electric service panel and determine whether there are any wiring violations. You must walk the roof surfaces to determine the condition of the roofing material, the flashing and drains, noting defective conditions and faulty methods of installation. You must evaluate the plumbing fixtures, water lines, drain lines and gas piping to determine their operational condition and their compliance with accepted building standards. You must review the heating system to determine its functional condition and identify any of a long list of potential safety problems. You must crawl under the building and through the attic, searching for and recognizing a vast number of potential construction defects. A complete list of likely problems could easily fill a book.
The home you are buying contains an unknown number of hidden defects. If you want to discover them prior to purchasing the property, you should hire a qualified professional home inspector. It's the only way to know what you are buying before you buy it.
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