"Know The Home You Buy!"

 

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New home inspections - are they necessary?

If you are about to buy a new house make sure the contingencies include a thorough building inspection. While home inspections are common on resale housing new construction inspections have not been that widely accepted. Comments about why new houses should not be inspected range from "It was built to code" (not always) , "The builder guarantees it" (if he is still around after a year), "It was inspected by the Town" or "What could be wrong?  It's brand new".  

There are many reasons to inspect new housing.  Although new construction is the subject of inspections by local building code officials, the things they look for are different than what a professional home inspector looks for.  The most important thing to remember about new construction and building codes is that the building code is a minimum standard and is not a reflection of good quality construction or installation.  The municipal inspectors inspect to make sure that the builder is following the local codes in the various disciplines involved during construction.

The inspection of new construction by building officials is also a ·team · type approach with different people inspecting different parts of the house at different times for different things.  The professional home inspector will be looking at the culmination of the assembly of all the parts.

We find many problems in new homes.  Usually, these are simply oversights by subcontractors and installers, but nonetheless, they can be problematic if you move in without knowing about them.  It is not uncommon to have a shower, for example, that has not been properly connected inside the wall.  This will lead to a major leak when you turn on the shower water and nothing happens, even though you can hear the water running.  A new house inspected recently had no hot water.  The plumber forgot to hook up the coil on the boiler.

Have you ever flushed a toilet and noticed hot water vapor rising out of the bowl?  Yes, even the best plumber switches the hot and cold connections every now and then.  The concept of hot on the left and cold on the right is second nature.  But you could get burned if the hot and cold are switched.

Remember the light that was supposed to be over the vanity in the powder room?  Well, the electrical wire is there, it just can·t be seen because it was sheet rocked over.

I once inspected a multi-million dollar residence with an outstanding kitchen.  The countertops were made of a rare stone and were magnificent. Recessed into the stone were twin high quality refrigerators that were rendered useless by the counter installation.  The fit of the countertop was so tight to the refrigerators that the doors could not be opened wide enough to get food in and out.  Because the parts were put in by different people, the problem was not noticed until I did the inspection for a potential buyer. 

Unfortunately, in a hot housing market where there are multiple bidders on a house some builders take short cuts to try to increase profits.  We also encounter some construction issues on houses where a builder has run into financial difficulties before finishing the house. We try to identify poor quality issues that, although they conform to the building code, are not up to the quality one should expect.  We also find structural defects that sometimes are not noted until the house is almost done.  This is especially true of decks and balconies. So remember to hire a professional inspector. You'll be glad you did.