Why Get A Home Inspection ?

 When inspecting pre-owned homes, I consider some conditions as cosmetic or part of the house’s character, such as, small cracks, nicks, and gouges in trim, and doors that rub slightly.  However, when I am inspecting a brand-new home, I will hold them to a higher standard, and these conditions become a sign of the level of workmanship and oversight.  A new home is a very complicated structure with many systems that have to work together.  The general contractor builds a new home from scratch on-site with many different sub-contractors coming and going. With schedules and budgets to maintain, they inevitably are forced to make compromise choices. When a functional issue is found, or a cosmetic issue is obvious, the builder should and usually does agree to fix it.  The homebuyer needs to know that “new” does not mean “perfect”.Often the builder has suggested that a home inspection is not necessary for a new home, but here is a list of issues that I have found and should be looked for in new home construction. List of issues found during recent new home inspections:

Structural Issues:

• Improper or missing nails in joist hangers
• Missing the hanger entirely
• Incorrect joist hanger for the type of joist
• Broken roof trusses and rafters
• Gusset or nailing plate for the roof truss is damaged or not installed correctly
• The top chord of an engineered floor joist cut
• End joints in top plates at wall framing are not offset at least 24 inches as required.
• Entire engineered floor joist cut through
• Anchor bolts missing at the bottom plate or the nut and washer not installed
• Foundation cracks
• Large cracks in the garage floor

Exterior Issues:

• Miss matched brickwork
• Patio sloped toward the house
• Pooling in the yard for more than 24 hours after rain
• Grading around the house is neutral or negatively sloped toward the foundation
• Siding installed incorrectly
• Housewrap installation issues
• Decks not bolted to the house
• Deck joist hangers missing proper nails
• Decks with no ledger board or joist hangers
• Deck steps and stairways are not attached properly
• Decking boards not nailed in place
• No guardrails for a porch that is over 30” high
• Splintered wood stair rails
• Downspouts discharge at the foundation
• Over-driven fasteners into the siding
• Housewrap is not installed around windows and doors correctly
• The insufficient gap between flashing and siding over windows, doors, and other penetrations
• Siding and trim not painted at cut ends
• Non-continuous J-channel
• Stone veneer below grade
• Stone veneer without weep screed or screen holes plugged up with cement
• Stone veneer in contact with siding directly
• Wall Penetrations not sealed
• Missing weep holes
• Brick window ledge installed flat or sloped toward the house – and not sealed
• Garage door auto-reverse sensors too high

Interior Issues:

• Carpet seams visible
• Walls/trim  are not plumb/straight or are significantly bowed
• Windows and Interior doors that were not installed square: will not open and close properly
• Cabinet doors and drawers are not aligned properly
• The dishwasher is not attached to the countertop
• The dishwasher drain line was not installed properly
• No anti-tip bracket for the range
• Broken windows
• Cracked stair treads

Plumbing Issues:

• The shower floor has a low spot, not near the drain
• The plumbing vent did not exit the attic (Forgot to extend it through the roof)
• Plumbing leaks in crawl space
• Plumbing vents are still capped off
• Drain lines sloped in the wrong direction
• Water temperature adjusted too high or too low
• Frost-free faucets are not sloped down to drain the water
• Damaged bathtubs
• Unsupported bathroom sinks
• Gas water heater not protected from vehicle impact

Insulation and Ventilation Issues:

• Unventilated or inadequately ventilated attic
• Missing or inadequate insulation in large sections of the attic
• Missing insulation in walls in some areas
• Soffit vents with no opening behind the vent
• Bathroom exhaust vent dampers do not open or close properly
• The bathroom fan exhausts into the attic

HVAC Issues:

• Uneven-conditioned air distribution throughout the house
• HVAC units installed too close together
• Venting for High-Efficiency furnaces incorrectly sloped/terminated
• The exterior heat pump unit is not level
• Unsupported supply and return ducts
• Direct vent/sealed gas furnace with holes in the cabinet not sealed
• Gas pipe leaks
• Heat Pump large suction lines not insulated

Environmental Issues: 

• Mold in the crawl space
• Disconnected drier ducts in crawl space – not taped together
• High Radon Levels
• The Radon pipe was not installed correctly

Electrical Issues: 

• Non-functional or wired incorrectly electrical outlets
• Missing GFCI outlets
• Double-tapped neutral wires in the main panel
• Ground wire not attached to a grounding rod
• Unused knock-out holes on side of the panel
• The main electrical panel is not flush with the drywall
• Exterior outlet weatherproof box installed upside down
• Electrical shield plates missing on a wall stud
• Missing required exterior outlet (1 required at front and back exteriors of the house)

Roofing Issues: 

• Roof shingle damage due to construction traffic (usually lower roof and roof valleys)
• Roof leaks
• No Kickout flashing or splash guards
• Gutters sloped the wrong way
• Incorrectly sized gutter for the amount of water during a heavy downpour
• No gap between the siding and the roof shingles
• Shingles not lying flat – nail pops and/or improper installation
• Nail heads not sealed
• Roof shingle caps not installed
• Roof design channels water toward an exterior wall

My best advice is to make sure that you hire a professional company that has the experience to identify these defects.