Should you get a Home Inspection?
Are you in the process of buying a home and you need NH Home Inspection? You have made a great choice to have a home inspection done before you make such a large investment. If you want to schedule now we are waiting to give you a professional inspection! Here are some answers to your possible questions.
Are you asking yourself should I really even get a Home Inspection?
Well, I can answer that question real easy…YES! For the small amount, you will pay compared to the whole process of buying a home it is a no-brainer to get one. The issues that I have found over there years have saved customers thousands of dollars and huge amounts of heartache! Here are a few examples that I see all the time…
- Mold
- Mold is found all the time in the attic but buyers don’t typically see this area when they are looking at homes. Mold can cause damage to people and the building. Getting rid of mold is the easy part but can be costly but then you need to find out the reason you were getting mold in the first place and fix the problem. Typically it is a venting issue.
- Foundation Issues
- I see this all the time and a lot of time the basement has too much stuff in them to see the cracks. I look on the outside and the inside to find the damage. Sometimes you need to get in a crawlspace to see the issues. block foundations are usually a problem and I see cracking all the time.
- Bad Roofs
- Roofs can be a big cost if you need to do a new one. The cost will fluctuate if there are multiple layers and they need to be stripped off before the new is added. Roofs can be bad in many ways like installation, curling, missing flashed wrong.
- Structural Concerns
- This can tie into foundation issues but I do see all the time decks that were built un-safe and also whole structures that were built without a permit and built structurally wrong. These homes typically have some major defects!
- Unsafe Electrical
- In the State of NH, it is legal to do your own wiring and electrical if you own the home. Not sure if this is a good idea! I find so many issues with electrical wiring and some simple ones that can be real safety concerns like ungrounded electrical, ungrounded electrical systems, undersized wiring.
- Bad Plumbing
- A lot of times these can be smaller problems like leaking faucets and fixtures but what about major issues like plumbing that was installed with half abs pipe and PVC pipe. I had a brand new construction home that never installed the vent pipe for the sewer through the roof it just terminated in the attic and this was after the town said the home was safe to move into!
- Furnace Venting Problems
What happens during a Home Inspection?
Typically your home inspector will show up at the property a little early and start to inspect the exterior of the property. He will usually look at the grounds of the property and identify things like the leach-field area the well location and then go on to the structure. He will look at the condition of the roof, siding, foundation windows, and doors and check any structures added to the home like decks and porches.
In the next step, the home inspector will enter the home and start to inspect the interior. The home inspector will inspect just about everything that can be inspected visually. Just a few examples would be the electrical, plumbing, heating, appliances, attic, and basement. To get a better idea of what’s inspected check out what we inspect To have a full idea of what a home inspector does you can read my blog post about what does a home inspector do?
What a home Inspector won’t do?
- A home inspector should not turn on and off water supply shut-offs. The reason for this is these valves can break and then you will have a flood on your hands.
- An inspector will not turn on a gas supply that was not on, most likely it was shut-off for a reason, and turning it on could create a serious safety concern.
- Your home inspector will not light pilot lights
- Your inspector should not give pricing for things that need to be fixed.
What should be done before the Inspector arrives?
All systems should be turned on so the inspector only needs to flip switches and turn thermostats to check to see if things are working properly. Make sure all pilots are on and lit if there are gas appliances in the home. Any areas that need to be inspected like attics and crawl spaces make sure there is access and not things in the way. Most inspectors will not move a bunch of things in the chance of breaking something.
What tests will be done?
During your NH Home Inspection you can have a Radon air test done and if you have a well most people will have a water test done.
Water testing
This is so important and you must remember that water in wells changes! A lot of people don’t think of this and after they move into their home they never test the water again. There are so many reasons that they change.
Types of Well’s
Dug well
These wells are very simple as a hole is dug and this will collect groundwater. This water is then pumped into the home. These wells can fluctuate with the amount of water easier than an artesian well.
Drilled well known as an artesian well
These wells are drilled into the ground first they have a casing and a metal pipe and then when the rock is hit the ledge is the casing for the water. Aquifer water fills this void and fills it with water.
We offer different levels of testing for water…
Standard Water Test $110Includes Total Coliform & E.coli Bacteria, Nitrate, Iron, Manganese, Hardness, pH, Sodium, Chloride
Comprehensive Water Test $150Includes Total Coliform & E.coli Bacteria, Nitrate, Iron, Manganese, Hardness, pH, Sodium, Chloride, Arsenic, Flouride, Copper, Lead, Conductivity, Alkalinity)Comprehensive Water with Radon Test = $175
FHA/VA/RD Water Test $120Includes Total Coliform & E.coli Bacteria, Nitrate, Nitrite, Lead, Iron, Manganese, Sodium, Chloride, pH, HardnessMtBE $150
Radon Testing
EPA Recommends it! Radon is a cancer-causing, radioactive gas. You can’t see radon. And you can’t smell it or taste it. But it may be a problem in your home. Radon Air is estimated to cause many thousands of deaths each year. That’s because when you breathe air containing radon, you can get lung cancer. In fact, the Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths. If you smoke and your home has high radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially high. You should Fix your home if your radon level is 4 picocuries per liter, or pCi/L, or higher. Radon levels less than 4 pCi/L still pose a risk, and in many cases may be reduced.
BOOK IT!
Now it’s time to take the simple step and book your NH Home Inspection with Footprint Property Inspections LLC. I am a certified NH Inspector and I am professional…Bob
Inspection Request
Call us or fill out the form. After you fill out the form we will be in touch almost immediately to give you an accurate quote and go over scheduling and availability.
