What you can expect from your Home Inspection
Upon agreement of a time and location for the inspection, we will promptly meet with you in the driveway of your prospective home (or current home as we also inspect before you sell to help prevent any surprises), or condominium. We will sign an agreement so both of us will know each other’s expectations. Then we will begin.
We will start on the outside and will take a look at the roof, siding, grading, decks, windows, electrical entrance and anything else pertaining to the outside of the home and property. Well and Septic, fences, sheds, hot tubs or pools are not included as it is beyond our expertise. We most likely will talk about the grading around your home, caulking, weather-stripping, and painting in the form of regular maintenance. Once all questions have been answered and observations noted, we move inside the home and begin in the basement or crawl space.
We start in the basement, as the home is built from the ground up. Furnaces, Hot water tanks, laundry facilities, electrical panels, entrances to the garage and anything else located within the lowest level are some areas we focus on. Any system that helps the home function, we observe. We will identify immediately any areas of concern or something that may help in the safety or comfort of your new home. Upon completion we move to the next level.
On the main and subsequent levels we continue to observe floors, walls, ceilings, water and drainage systems, doors, washrooms, windows and attic access. We will check a representative number of outlets both inside and outside your home to identify correct connection and functionality. Under sinks and toilets we will look for evidence of past leakage, correct plumbing traps and the types of materials used. We open and close all doors and windows as accessibility permits, inspect your wood-burning fireplace, wood or pellet stove, walk on decks if safe to do so and observe into the attic.
In the attic we will note the amount and type of insulation, be able to observe for adequate ventilation, we can confirm or deny observations or questions that may have not been answered thus far. We will also take a look around any penetrations in the roof such as plumbing vent pipes, kitchen or bathroom exhaust piping, and the chimney if built, looking for potential areas of concern or further investigation.
If needed, we will take another look at the roof if we see areas of concern. We usually do not walk on the roof as it tends to make our insurance company upset, and is an extra danger for us.
At this point during the inspection we look or re look at any areas not previously assessed, or continue to answer any questions. We have finished the inspection and about 2 hours later (or as your schedule permits), we sit with you for about an hour to hour and a half and present the report to you. You will not find any new information within the report about your home. It is organized and presented in a format that talks about the different systems within your home, and essentially gives you a checklist of areas of concern, maintenance, or you may wish to change, and why.
The report is yours to keep, as it also contains reference information tailored for your home, or areas of concern to help your home be made more comfortable, and energy efficient. These references are general information and are distributed with permission from the source.
All home inspectors have their own procedure inspecting your home. This is our way of systematically assessing one of your largest purchases of your life. We don’t want to leave anything out.
Thank you for your time, and I hope you have a better understanding about what will happen when we get together. I look forward to meeting you.
J.C. Peck, your home inspector
Debay-Peck Inspections
(902) 422-2545