For most people, a home is one of the largest purchases they will ever make in their lifetime. When choosing a place to live and invest in, prospective homebuyers must get the place inspected before putting in an offer. An otherwise “perfect” dream home could be hiding something potentially dangerous that is expensive to fix.
Home inspection reports typically cover the home’s major systems, such as the heating and cooling system, electrical system, and condition of the roof and foundation. What’s covered in the report will vary from one state to the next. For hopeful home buyers, it’s important to know what’s not included in the report, too. That way, your biggest purchase ever won’t come with a nasty and expensive repair surprise after closing.
For a lot of homeowners, the home inspection ritual is one of the most stressful parts of the home buying process, and it’s often misunderstood. A home inspection report won’t tell you EVERYTHING that’s wrong (or right) with the house. In general, a home inspection report will give you an overall idea of the home’s relative condition for certain systems. A lot of buyers think that the home inspection is operated under a pass or fail grading system, but that’s not true. A home inspector won’t tell you whether or not to buy the home, either.
Every house and every buyer are unique, and everyone has different resources and repair capabilities for a home. A leaking roof could be a deal-breaker for one buyer, while the next may have the resources to fix the roof as soon as they take possession of the property. A home inspection report goes over the general condition of the house, from the roof to the foundation, at a very specific point in time. A report can give a rough estimate on the rest of a system or appliances lifespan. But it’s not able to tell a homebuyer if a plumbing issue will occur. Or if a family of squirrels will make your new attic their home shortly after you move in.
Below are the areas that aren’t typically covered in your standard home inspection report. For prospective buyers, it’s a good idea to get a certified specialist into the home if they are concerned that the structure may have these issues:
Your standard home inspection report goes over visible things. Things like asbestos, lead paint, and radon gas aren’t something that an inspector can see. Also in some older homes, attics have been sealed shut. It’s not possible for a home inspector to access those areas, either.
Buying a house is one of the most significant lifetime purchases someone can make. A home inspection can help protect that investment and keep new homeowners from purchasing a property that has far too many problems than they are capable of handling. But as with any purchase in life, caveat emptor.
How to Test Your AFCI and GFCI Panels
The electricity receptacles in your home are not created equal. This is especially true if your home was built sometime in the 1980s when a change in receptacles started taking off. Chances are you’ve seen the difference among receptacles but maybe aren’t familiar with how they are different.
Electrical outlets are typically looked over during an inspection to ensure they adequately installed and correctly placed. Standard receptacles are usually found in living spaces, bedrooms, hallways, and the like. GFCI receptacles are placed in environments that share electricity and water, such as kitchens and bathrooms.
GFCI outlets (also called GFI) usually look different and have little buttons on them that say “reset” and “test.” This receptacle is designed to keep people from electrical shocks by monitoring the current at the receptacle site. On one side of this outlet, the GFI controls the “hot” wiring against the other side of the outlet considered the “neutral” side. When there is any change in hot vs. neutral current, the outlet will shut off the receptacle.
In today’s building codes, outlets that are located near areas that are prone to moisture (kitchens and baths) should be outfitted with a GFI outlet. Here are other places that these receptacles should be installed or may be required by code. Garages, crawl spaces, unfinished basements, laundry rooms, utility closets, bars, kitchenettes, and all exterior sites.
Anyone unfamiliar with how electrical work is done should hire a professional electrician to install the outlets. For consumers who have a decent amount of knowledge or experience with electrical work, they may feel comfortable enough to install these on their own. There are plenty of tutorials online; again, these should only be used if you are comfortable with working around electricity. This can be a dangerous project.
The easiest way to check your outlets to see if they are working is to plug something simple into one, like a lamp. Turn the lamp on, and press the “test” button. If the light stayed on, your GFI outlet isn’t working, and you should have it looked at by an electrician. Try also hitting the reset button. If the light comes back on, you may just have needed to reset it, and it’s likely working fine.
Faulty electrical distribution systems are the third leading cause of house fires. Your home’s arc AFCIs and GFCIs protect it from electrical fires and electrical shocks. When you hire a home inspector, these issues may be referred to as arc faults and ground faults.
Mostly, you’ll find GFCIs placed in outlets, with AFCIs in the service panel. No matter where they are installed though, it’s critical that homeowners and realtors regularly test their AFCI and GFCI panels once a month. This can prevent dangerous electrical fires, and also prevent the panels from breaking under a home inspection or testing situation. Often, a lack of regular testing can increase the chances of breakage during a home inspection.
AFCI protection is required in laundry rooms and kitchens, and almost every circuit in the house. It’s no wonder since it’s prudent to try and protect the entire electrical system from arc faults. For homeowners, it’s a good idea to install dual AFCI and GFCI protection on every circuit. Homeowners can place dual protection directly in the circuit panel, which protects the structure from arc and ground faults. During testing, if the breakers do not trip, then homeowners need to contact an experienced electrician for replacement.
AFCI panels will protect your electrical system from dangerous arc faults. An arc fault can happen when electrical wiring or electrical devices are damaged, stressed, or overheated. If you don’t test the AFCI panels, they could be broken without your knowledge. An arc fault can then go undetected within the electrical system and start a fire. Here’s what you can do to test AFCI breakers:
GFCIs prevent electrical current leaks. If someone comes across a leak, they can be electrocuted. These interrupters will shut off the power if there is a suspected current leak. While GFCIs mainly protect against electrocution, they can also prevent fires. Here’s how to test them:
If pressing the “test” button does not turn the light off, then the GFCI needs fixed or otherwise replaced by a certified electrician. Always be sure to test your AFCI and GFCI panels once a month to prevent electrical fires and breakage.
You might also want to get familiar with your circuit breaker box as these breakers can also have GFIs installed on them for added extra protection. GFIs at this location will protect from overloading as well as the fixture or appliance it serves. You can always have an electrician walk you through your breaker box, so you know how it functions if you’re ever faced with a problem.
A home inspection isn’t something many potential buyers skip. Here are some tips to make the process smoother.
So, You’re Selling Your Home…
You’ve got an interested buyer, but they’d like to have a home inspector take a look at your property. What should you do to sure that the process goes smoothly? In this guide, we’ll discuss eight of our top tips for sellers before home inspections.
Let’s get started!
Making that first impression is huge when a buyer arrives. But a different kind of curb appeal can make your home’s inspection a breeze.
Florida receives its fair share of rain and wind, so making sure that your roof and gutters are in good working order is a huge priority for buyers. Make sure to:
Now that the exterior is taken care of, do a quick run through of the inside and make any necessary repairs or replacements to get it ready for inspection. This includes:
If the home inspector says they’ll be there at 9:00 am, they’ll be there at 9:00 am – so make sure you’re dressed, prepared, showered, and ready to greet them in the morning. They’re professionals, and they will be there on time – you don’t want to delay them because you weren’t prepared for their arrival.
Home inspectors will typically examine all buildings on your property, including garages and other such outbuildings, such as “granny flats” or other detached units, so you’ll need to provide them with keys, garage door openers, or door codes for these units.
In addition, if you have a sprinkler system or other systems that have electrical panel boxes or other utility boxes, leave keys and instructions for unlocking them, to ensure that the inspector has access, and can inspect them.
It’s a good idea to make paperwork regarding remodeling projects available to inspectors, in addition to documentation about major repairs and upgrades such as a new furnace, HVAC system, roof, plumbing, and so forth.
This documentation will aid the inspector when they create their report, and help give the buyer more peace of mind, as they will have a more clear idea of when each major component of the home was last inspected, repaired, or replaced.
The buyer will usually accompany the home inspector during the examination, and will ask them questions during the process. That means they may be uncomfortable if you’re hanging around your house, so plan to have something to do while the inspection is completed. Head to the gym and get some errands done, go see a movie, schedule a coffee date with a friend – whatever sounds good! Take any pets with you or ensure that they are secured. Stay out for at least three hours. Then, head back once the inspection is complete.
If you follow these tips, the home inspection process is sure to go off without a hitch. If you have other questions – or you’d like to schedule your own home inspection before buyers look at your home, feel free to contact Inside & Out Property Inspectors or schedule an appointment today!
Have you heard a professional home inspector talk about “thermal imaging” but are still somewhat unsure about what that really means? Then you have come to the right place. At Inside and Out Property Inspectors we get asked this question often, so let’s talk about what this means and how it can be beneficial to a whole home inspection.
The naked eye sees visible light in the electromagnetic field, a thermal imaging camera can see other “energy” that is either warmer or colder in nature, not visible to the human eye or standard cameras.
You might be more familiar with thermal cameras from movies or the news, where surveillance images are shown in contrast or negative visuals to show you people’s movement in low light, or smoke-filled spaces.
Since these cameras are used to detect temperature and not just “visual” elements, they can capture both significant and insignificant temperature variants. This can reveal things like escaping heat or unwanted cold air getting into a home. This is incredibly helpful for inspectors because these cameras can give homebuyers a look beyond what we can see as inspectors.
If there are water leaks, missing insulation, moisture, overloaded circuit boxes, hot electrical connections or even mechanical equipment that seems to be running too hot; we can detect it with these images. Another feature to these cameras, they can detect pests and insects that could be doing damage to the home typically taking place behind walls or spaces that are visually hard to see into.
It might already be more clear as to why you may want to consider one of these inspections, but let’s take it a step further. Thermal images give you a look into a home that inspections have never been able to reveal in the past. This means you can see previous damage that may not have been attended to and ask the owner to remedy those before you complete the purchase. Thermal images can also give you some insight into the future of the home. While they certainly can’t predict problems, they can reveal issues that wouldn’t have been able to be detected in a standard home inspection.
For example, If there is faulty electrical work reading “hot” in hard to see areas or behind drywall, an inspector would not be able to alert you to this as they don’t cut holes in the walls during inspections. This kind of knowledge gives homebuyers more purchasing power confidence, more so than they have ever had in the past.
Your future home is an investment, Inside and Out Property Inspectors would like to help you get the best investment for your money. If we can help you with a home inspection, please give us a call today. You can also schedule an inspection online, and we can get to work right away.
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Contact Inside & Out Property Inspectors Inc. today to schedule your home inspection with an InterNACHI Certified Professional Inspector in Northeast Florida.
