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New Home Inspection

Posted 4/30/06

This week's feature home inspection hot topic focuses on New Home Inspection. 

Purchasing a brand new home for you and your family can be one of the most exciting times of your life. As times goes by, the pride of home ownership should continue as you grow into your new residence. Unfortunately, in the home construction industry, many times a new house does not necessarily mean a sound house. Lets face the facts, there is no such thing as a one hundred percent perfectly constructed home. The same holds true for cars, furniture and just about everything else made or assembled by man. In home construction there are often minor, unnoticeable defects that may never turn into major issues.. On the other hand, there are sometimes major defects which are also unnoticeable to the average person. Defects that are a problem now and can cause major headaches in the future if not corrected.

More than ever, new home builders are cutting corners to save time and money so they can move on to the next house and next community. Having a new home inspection by a professional home inspector is a small investment to make in order to protect, perhaps, one of the biggest purchases of your life. 

• Tip #1 - When having a new home inspection done, avoid the home inspector referred from a the builder agent or real estate agent involved in your home purchase. Instead, hire your own home inspector that is working for you and your best interests.
  

• Tip #2 - Have your new home inspected before the drywall or interior walls and outside siding are put up. This will allow your inspector to check the housewrap installation, window flashing, door framing, missing straps, connectors, other structural problems and shoddy constuction. 
  

• Tip #3 - In addition to having your new home inspected before it is completed, it is recommended that you have the home inspected about four to six weeks before the home warranty expires. You will have both in writing and dated, your home inspection report. If the house is perfect you will have piece of mind for many years to come. If it is not, you should send a copy of your inspection report via registered mail to the builder and follow up daily to insure these problems are corrected. If the builder does not correct problems under warranty, your home inspection report will serve as a valuable item should you need to take additional action.

Here are a few great recent articles that serve as a notice that new construction does not always mean sound construction:

Consumer Reports Story - shoddy construction.

Building Homes - Building Problems - an excellent source of information from the Orlando Sentinel and WESH. Search problems by home builder, view inspection photos and more.

In summary, it is a good idea to have your new home inspected professionally by someone you hire who is working for your interests. 

And remember, do not forget to schedule your new home inspection before the walls are up, before potential headaches of the future are covered up buy a builder who is already selling their next community.