Friday, October 17, 2014

Details On Conducting A Home Inspection

By Patty Goff


Having decided that you like a house, it will be a good idea to have it inspected. The home inspection can either be performed by you or by a professional. All you will need is a list of items on what to look for and where to look for it. This should then make the entire exercise quite simple.

A residential assessment is very easy to conduct. You do not have to go looking for dark corners and all. You will be assessing what is exactly in front of you.

This will include checking whether the flooring is smelly and also looking at the condition of this carpet. Where the carpet has been placed to cover from wall to wall, be sure to lift it in one corner in order to take a look at the floor beneath it. Examine the floor for the presence of holes and cracks.

Take your time to check the ceiling before moving from one room to another. The ceiling is clearly the easiest place to assess. Where a water mark is noted on it, it will mean that something is wrong with the roof.

For this, head outside and walk some few meters away from the residence. Locate a good standing point from where you can easily check the condition of this roof. You will also want to check for signs that some shingles could have come out or been removed and not been replaced which is how the water could be gaining entry to the residence.

A professional inspection will often include a thorough check of the crawl space if there is one. This is because some houses are built on a slab foundation meaning that there is no available crawl space. If it does happen to be present, look at the boards and check for mold.

It will also be essential to check the condition of the wiring system. For this, all you have to do is turn the lights on and off. In case there are some problems, make sure you call in a professional to avoid being electrocuted.

From here, you will need to check your electrical wiring system. Go from room to room as you turn all lights on and off. Note the results.

Do not forget to also examine the air ducts that are present. Air ducts tend to be quite sensitive and can be used to get mold in to the house from the basement. A clean white towel can be placed in to the ducts to check whether there is mold present before coming up with a solution on what should be done.

It is only after you have completed the assessment that you can now sit down and go through the notes that you had made. From these notes, you can be able to decide on whether to proceed with the purchase or start looking elsewhere. It all depends on how much damage has taken place.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment