Things to Do Before a Home Inspection

Home inspections are an important part of home maintenance and keeping our houses safe. Scheduling a home inspection at least a year or two apart is ideal so that you can have experts to look for parts that need to be repaired, replaced or remove.

Certified home inspectors are the best ones to call for advice in terms of home safety because they are qualified in inspecting different parts of the house like your roof, basement and foundation. They also have the knowledge and the tools to check out different utility systems in and around your house such as your water and drainage systems, heater and air conditioning units, gas pipes and electrical wirings.

Most certified home experts are also trained in advising home owners about certain threats such as pests, molds, toxic chemicals, and structural defects and how to deal, eliminate and correct those treats.

For a more complete and accurate home inspections, the home inspectors need your help. You might want to give the home inspector a complete history of your house including when it was built, its improvements and remodeling, problems in the past like flooding, termites, water leaks and others.

Here are some tips hat can help your home inspector come up with the most accurate home inspection results for you and your home.

1. Turn on all your electrical, gas, water and other systems. A turned off systems such as your air-conditioning units can lead the inspector to believe that it is broke.

2. Take out your pets out of the house. Dogs and cats might hinder or disturb the inspector. It is best to place them outside for a while, but don’t forget informing the inspector about owning a dog or a cat.

3. Check out all your light bulbs and replace burnt out ones with new bulbs. A burnt out light bulb might lead the home inspector to record an electrical problem.

4. Clear away things such as furniture, clothes, appliances and others from blocking the HVAC equipments, crawl space, water heaters so that the home inspector has more room to move and more area to see and inspect.

6. It is best to take away debris like soil and dirt, wood piles and others from your house’s foundations. Having them around can lead your inspector to give you a report that saying that the area is conducive for termites and other pests.

7. Keep all the doors unlocked. Locked doors will prevent the home inspector in inspecting what is inside the room. Don’t forget to unlock doors going to your basement, attic and garage.

8. If possible, replace broken parts such as handles, doorknobs and panels so that they would not be cited in the inspection report.

9. It is also best to come with the home inspector as he goes about his rounds. This way, he can tell you what the problem is first hand as well as leading him to some problematic areas inside the house that he might miss out.

10. Only contact trusted certified home inspectors, the best ones are those duly recognized by The American Society of Home Inspectors or ASHI.

For your home inspection needs in the South Bay and Los Angeles area, you can easily contact South Bay Home Inspections.

South Bay Home Inspections also conducts:

• Air and Mold Sampling
• Pool and Spa Inspections

South Bay Home Inspectors is a proud member of:

• The American Society of Home Inspectors or ASHI,
• The American Council for Accredited Certification or ACAC and
• The International Code Council or ICC