All Homes Need a Home Inspection

To keep things in perspective, all homes require maintenance, occasional repairs, and occasional system improvements.  The perfect home, like the perfect person, does not exist.  Every inspection reveals items that require attention.  The average Around the Home Inspection in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and the Piedmont Triad North Carolina on existing homes has 39 issues identified, with the range of identified issues being from 18 to 93.  The average Around the Home Inspection on new construction has 26 issues identified, with the range of identified issues being from 12 to 47.

Home Inspections

Homes are complex assemblies of components, structure, cosmetics and systems.  A home inspection is a process; looking at all visible components of the home, using all mechanical devices and systems, and evaluating the function and usability of the home components.  In the space of a few hours, Keith will turn knobs, open and close components, and operate systems that a homeowner might not use after months of living in the home!  The inspection and the report will meet and in most cases exceed the Standards of Practice required by the North Carolina Home Inspector Licensing Board.

An Around the Homes Inspection and report will thoroughly cover the foundation, structure, exterior, roof, plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling, interior, and appliances of the home.  The typical report summarizes the inspection effort reporting on over 300 data points on your home, in a clearly written, easily understood narrative that includes photos illustrating issues.

Home inspectors are generalists and an inspection is not technically exhaustive. We work hard to provide you with honest opinions based on our 35 years’ experience in homes, renovation, and building.  Latent and concealed defects and deficiencies cannot be determined with a visual inspection and we cannot warrant the future performance of the home, its systems, or its components.

The Around the Home Inspection Process:

• Around the home. We are going to look around the home, inspecting and operating in a logical sequence, every part of the home we can reasonably access.
• Water flows downhill. We inspect from the top down and from the exterior to the interior to better understand the effects of potential leaks and moisture issues.  Water is the greatest long term, concealed threat to your home.
• We spend time where you don’t (and don’t want to!). Roofs, attics, crawl spaces, and other nooks and crannies are important to enter and inspect to understand how the home works and has been maintained.
• Visual inspection, tools required. The NC Standards of Practice only require a flashlight and a screwdriver, but you need more!  In addition to multiple flashlights and screwdrivers, the most commonly used tools include; a digital camera, 16’ extension ladder, carbon monoxide monitor, moisture meter, infrared thermometer, probe thermometer, electrical receptacle circuit analyzer, non-contact electrical voltage detector, water pressure gauge, and an extendable mirror plus a bag of other tricks!  Each tool gets a workout in every inspection.

The typical, everyday home inspection in Winston-Salem and the Piedmont Triad reveals a number of issues, improvements, and maintenance recommendations.  Occasionally these issues might spoil your day, but most identified issues are not dramatic.  However, even the hum drum items can affect your enjoyment of the home you intend to purchase.   Get the best possible information about your home before buying it.  That’s what “due diligence” is all about!