Guest Blog by Nick Welty, InspectorNick.com
For the past 16 years, I’ve been in this industry and worked with home buyers, home sellers and homeowners in the Kansas City area to ensure houses are safe enough to call home. In our experience, we have found 5 critical things for all home buyers to consider before making any house a home.
- The Roof
Before you invest in any property, you need a first-hand roof inspection. Not all home inspectors agree with us, but we think every roof should be walked and inspected first-hand, not eyeballed from the ground. When we walk roofs we find wear, holes and installation defects that should be addressed before a sale goes through, avoiding costly investments down the road. Our advice – make sure your home inspector will literally get on the roof.
- The Wood
Termites are common in our area – as are other issues pertaining to wood rot. The seasons in Kansas City do not do our homes any favors. Experienced home inspectors who understand the inspection process and the home building process know where to look for wood rot problems and termites. Plus, working with an experienced home inspector means that if wood rot or termites are found, referrals to professionals who can fix it are readily available – helping you get problems fixed quickly and avoiding a delay in closing.
- Majors and Minors
No house is perfect – every single home will have issues including new construction! We have never completed an inspection on a perfect home – and we do not live in perfect homes ourselves! It is important to remember that each house has room for improvement. Make sure your home inspector can be honest and help you understand the difference between major and minor issues. Take a look at one of our Sample Inspection reports to see what we mean.
- Chimneys, Pools and Mold…. Oh My
If you go to the doctor for a check-up, you expect your doctor to check every part of your body. If something’s wrong, you expect them to help make it healthy again. Home inspections should work the same way. Your home inspector should be able to provide you an inspection and resources for EVERY part of your home, and if there’s an issue, help you find someone who can fix it. The house’s chimney, pool, detached garage and other additional spaces should be inspected along with the house itself. Do not rule out the value of mold testing or a sewer line inspection or any of our other “One Call Does It All” ancillary services – many areas can be expensive surprises should issues be discovered after closing. We recommend finding a full-service home inspection team who can review everything in one full swoop.
Before you make any house a home, office, spa, workshop, gym or whatever else you plan to use it for – make sure it doesn’t have a radon gas problem. It is very common for Midwest homes to have high radon levels and the need to be mitigated to bring radon readings back to an acceptable level. Your home inspector can set up a radon test, which will run continuously for 48 hours. At InspectorNick.com, we will schedule your radon evaluation in tandem with your home inspection and drop off the radon test prior to the inspection so you have a full report of radon level by the time we are done inspecting the house. For all who want to ensure the house is safe to become a home, don’t skip the radon evaluation.
If you’re in the Kansas City area and need a home inspector, please visit InspectorNick.com to schedule online, or call (816) 347-8955.
