» Other Things A Home Inspection May Not Cover

Other Things A Home Inspection May Not Cover

Ardell had a great post on rain city guide about what’s not included in a standard building inspection and her post got me to thinking about the subject. I’ve been on a number of building inspections over the years in which a specialist had to be hired to examine a system or something on the property that wasn’t covered in the standard building inspection.

A typical home inspection will cover the improvements, the structure and its exterior and interior. Some inspectors cover outbuildings and fences as Ardell mentioned, others do not. When you hire a building inspector, it’s important to determine what the inspector investigates, so if you need another person to inspect something in the home or on the property, you have the time to contact the right people. Make sure you identify all the systems you want covered by an inspection, so things aren’t overlooked.

In addition to what Ardell mentioned in her post, here’s a few more things that aren’t covered in most building inspections:

pools
hot tubs
soils stability
hazardous materials
well inspections
septic inspections
air conditioners

The good news is there are specialists who can and do inspect the above, so make arrangements to contact all the necessary people to do a thorough inspection of the structure, the systems, and the property.

Here’s a few others to think about:

Vacuum systems-it’s probably best to check to make sure the parts to the system area available during the inspection so you know the parts are there. It’s even better to mention in the original offer that the parts to the vacuum system should be left in the home. Take a moment to try the system in several rooms throughout the house to make sure it’s working and able to suck up the dirt.

Sprinkler systems-ask the seller to demonstrate that the system is working properly by turning it on. Unfortunately, here in the Northwest, many sprinkler systems are turned off and winterized so they’re not accessible during the winter months. This is a good thing to have done to the system, but makes it impossible to check the system during the winter months. Ask if the seller has any receipts for work performed on the system or if there is a receipt for winterizing the system. Many people have irrigation companies who handle the winterizing process which is good, since these companies specialize in irrigation systems and should know what they’re doing.

What else may not be covered in a standard home inspection?

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http://www.helphive.com Cameron

The best way to make sure the home inspection you are getting is complete and does not overlook certain things is to find a company you can trust. This can be hard to do, but at http://www.helphive.com you can find ratings and reviews for local inspection service companies that will make your decision easier and help insure that your home inspection will be complete and accurate.
http://www.debrasinick.com Debra Sinick

Hi Cameron,

Thanks for the tip. I’ll check the site out. Do you have certain criteria an inspector must meet?