Determining Your Home's Condition - Home Inspection

Home inspection involves checking or examining the condition of a house that is usually for sale. It is vary different from home appraisals because home inspections are done to determine which parts of the house should have minor or major repair. These conditions do not dictate the value of the house. The people responsible for doing home inspection are called home inspector. They are usually not licensed but somewhat certified to perform their tasks. If you are not sure who to contact to do home inspections for you, you can always ask for referrals or look for them under “home inspection services” in directories or online.

Home inspections should be done by professionals who are very much knowledgeable on whether the condition of a certain part of your house is defective or needs repair. Home inspections should be able to determine the health and safety issues of your house, check whether your roofs have short life expectancy, furnace malfunction, deficiencies of the house’s foundation, and moisture and drainage problems. This service of determining the condition of your house may not include the disclosure of how much the repair will cost you.

Many home inspectors in the United States are not licensed but certified in some way. This can mean that anyone can be a home inspector but needs to follow a standard for home inspections enacted and regulated by professional inspection associations. Home inspectors should be able to check the conditions of the following:

• Structural elements (walls, ceilings, floors, roofs, and foundation)
• Exterior evaluation (finishing such as wall covering, trim, doors, windows, etc.)
• Roof & attic, plumbing (kitchen and bathroom drains, vent pipes, toilets, showers, sinks, faucets, etc.)
• Systems & components (heaters, air conditioners, sprinklers, etc.)
• Electrical (wiring, exhaust fans, light fixtures, main panel, circuit breakers)
• Appliances (built-in such as dishwashers, microwaves, garbage disposal, etc.)
• Garage

There are plenty of home inspectors nationwide since the demand for their services are vital for many real estate transactions. This is the reason why there are also several home inspection services in most states and online. These services will provide you with home inspectors if you are not sure where to find them. Home inspection services usually provide additional services other than the general home inspections mentioned. These include gas testing, water testing, mold testing, wood-destroying insect inspections, septic testing, carbon monoxide testing, pool and spa inspections, and commercial building inspections, among several others.