Date Posted: 2012-06-29 10:36:47
Site Posted: Myproperty.ph
.jpg)
When you are checking out a house for sale, you can’t know for sure that it’s in top condition until you check every nook and cranny. A home inspection is the key to finding what the average person might miss.
On the other hand, home inspectors are only human, which means that no matter how good they are at their job, they might still miss a thing or two. Here are some of the things that an inspector often overlooks when inspecting a house.
1. Roof damage – Home inspectors aren’t normally required to climb up the roof and check every inch for holes and cracks. What they do is assess the condition of the roof from the ground, so they can’t possibly know what kind of damage there is up there. Unless they inspect during a thunderstorm and the ceiling springs a leak, the only way you can really determine the roof’s actual form is to hire a roofing contractor to check it out.
2. Rain gutter clogging – Again, there’s no way of knowing if a downpour will result in a geyser on your roof unless the inspection is done while it’s raining. One thing that you can do is to take a hose up to the gutter, turn on the water and see if there are any places that are blocked.
3. Appliances that don’t work – If the home sale includes some appliances, you have to remind the inspector to check if they’re in working order. Keep in mind, though, that these tests will only see if they’re functioning, but not if there are any internal problems that will cause them to break later on.
4. What’s under the carpet – An inspector will look for signs of wear and tear that are in plain view, so if the house has wall-to-wall carpeting, he may not see immediately if the floor underneath has problems. In this case, you have to ask the seller for permission to remove the carpet so you can find issues like warped wooden flooring or mold.
5. Broken electric outlets – If the home inspector is busy checking out other parts of the house, he might neglect to check every outlet in the house to see if they’re working. If you want to test every single outlet in the house, you can do this with something like a plug-in nightlight or a lamp. On the other hand, these will only indicate if the outlet has power but not if it’s grounded, so you’d be better off using an outlet tester.
If it will make you feel better, you can be present during the home inspection so that you’re updated on whatever he finds. If something serious crops up, make sure that you inform the seller so they can get a professional to handle it.
Jillian Cariola, Writer
(cover image by jdurham)
Recently Posted Properties from Around the Web:
