pre occupancy home inspection
 

I am doing one very soon on a new home (was showhome) and I want to know is there any special questions or things I should look at or for. other than example making sure doors,windows work, kitchen cupboards etc all there I know this sounds goofy but I have not had to do this before.

any suggestion please and thanks

Can hire outfits that do home inspections, few hundred bucks.

+1 on hiring an inspector. They cover things you may never have thought of and provide you with a written report. The one I used when I last moved provided a nice binder with all kinds of goodies in addition to the actual inspection data. I think the trade is regulated in most provinces by now, but check to make sure you get a reputable inspector. Real Estate agents will often provide good advice in that regard, they use them all the time. You may even recoup the cost of the inspector if he/she finds something needing improvement. That will help you negotiate with regard to the price of the home.

if you hire a home inspector, make sure you get a good one. also don't assume they are going to look for cosmetic things as they may or maynot.

you should do your own as well, looking at base boards, window and door casings for gaps or dammage, also look at kitchen cabnets, counter tops, light fixtures, paint on the walls ect... this is your time to be able to say I want this fixed or that touched up. I know it is hard as I did this a month ago, but be pickey with the cosmetic stuff as realy it is only going to cost them some ones hourly wage to fix it up. as for bigger stuff... hopefuly you got a good home inspector.

I was told by the one the buyers of my house hired that one of the things to look for in one is that they use a web/computer generated report. you get pictures and it also means they have spent the money to give you a comprehensive report instead of just a tick in the box list.

Steve

HIRE TRADESMEN TO INSPECT YOUR HOME! It'll probably cost you more but you'll have a much better understanding of what to expect when you move in. Hire the right guy for your plumbing and heating system (plumber and a sheet metal worker. Also some plumbers work on heating systems as well) Hire an electrician to check the electrical, and a carpenter for structural and roofing etc... I just can't stress enough that many home inspectors training involve a course that 'certifies' them, but very few can be held responsible or liable if they miss something, so it'll cost you! Being a service plumber/gas fitter myself I've seen A LOT of people have problems with these inspections, and nothing makes me feel worse than seeing a proud new home owner have to spend hundreds, if not thousands due to someones lack of experience, knowledge, or plain old incompetence. This was Not intended to offend anyone but I am very passionate about the trade I'm in and I know there are many other tradesmen who feel the same, and have seen the consequences of someone missing a problem with a home.

P.S (if you do go with tradesmen, ask them if they are certified Journeymen, and don't be afraid to ask them how long they've been in the trade and what experience they have. I guarantee if they're genuine they'll have no problem with answering your questions)

thanks so far
I already bought the home and so this inspection is to ensure the builder fixes the cosmetic stuff paint of walls chips in counter trim in rooms etc. I was just sitting here thinking was there any stuff I missed or should be aware of.

I really like the comment about getting a trademan in unfort I not able to right now.

thanks I hope this also can help others

if you have any other comments pls post

You mention it is/was a showhome so I assume it's new and has a warranty, so that's definitely in your favour and a professional inspection/tradesman inspection may still be in your interest. Shouldn't be anything major wrong since the builder needs to comply with current building codes and there would have been inspections all along during construction. Hope you enjoy your new home, it's a huge step but in the long run if you can afford it, always good to be in the market.

congrats on the new house

Chinese Drywall
 

Chinese Drywall :(

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Toxi...255/story.html

"All houses affected have shown a common symptom — blackened, scorched wiring behind switch plates and wall plugs — and, coupled with homeowner health symptoms, that's allowed research to proceed, Martin said."

One tip I discovered the hard way is to turn on all the taps and let them run then check for leaks, especially the main stack. It's pretty easy to hit it with a nail or screw.

Something doesn't sound right here, how does a toxic gas in the drywall blacken and scorch electrical wiring? Don't get me wrong here, with the reported health symptoms it could be a serious deal, but I'd want to see more evidence before jumping on the alarmist bandwagon. The US is known for rampant lawsuits and protectionist senators looking after their interests. With today's economic situation it's easy to burden the Chinese with another problem and raise additional barriers to the import of Asian products. Great stimulus for the economy to bulldoze a bunch of newer homes and rebuild with home grown drywall products.

Good to know though, if it turns out to have merit.

Sulpher Dioxide

http://homeownersconsumercenter.com/PressRelease.html

The builder should have a pretty comprehensive checklist. We use National Home Warranty as our warranty provider where I work and we have to fill out a huge checklist during the final walkthrough. This has to be submitted to the warranty company within 15 days of the homeowner taking occupancy. I also bring a package of sticky notes and place them anywhere there is a deficiency noted by myself, our foreman, the customer, or their realtor. This ensures the deficiency is noticed by the trade who comes in to remedy the issue. HTH

National Home Warranty, hahahahahahahahahah!

I gotta side with Mark on that one! lol

I agree with the finding a tradesman to inspect. SMART. Most home inspectors are a waste of money IMO. There is no provincial standard for inspectors. Anyone can be one with a SHORT course. As for city inspections on new houses, you would be amazed at what gets missed. How long is the course to be a city inspector? About 6 weeks. City inspectors should have to be a trade person for min. 10 years. Buy a house that was designed and built with an architect and an engineer, most are not. Engineers go to school for quite a few years to learn what they are talking about. I've been building for 16 years and some of the stupidest things I have ever heard have come out of city inpectors mouths. City inspectors inspect the rules written in a book. They have no room for flexibility. There are much better ways to do things besides the BCBC (British Columbia Building Code). A city inspector can only inspect the BCBC, they can't see better ways, An Architect or Engineer can.
Sorry if anyone is a city inpector, but on a project with architects and engineers, all they do is collect paper work and cause problems.
Anyways that is the most I have ever typed in my life and it took me a long time. If anyone wants to yell at me. pm me and you can have my #

Lol

ah, but like anything else it is up to you to do you homework when hiring a inspector. I have seen bad ones and I have seen a few good ones.

what trade should he be? if he is plumbing and heating great... to bad he would be able to tell you about the electrical or structure.. its a tough call for this one... I think General contractor is the only thing that should be a pre requisit..

you can traly regulate it any harder althought I would like to but realy what is the home inspector... he is only some one who is giving you a non bias opinion on what you could do your self.

I interviewed 7 befor I decided on one.. was he perfect.. nope but I knew the areas he didn't.. and he was a contractor for over 20 years then a city inpsector for 10.. Hiring a tradesman isn't any better either. it is a crap game that ways also as there are so many tradesmen that realy shouldn't be in the trade as they don't care or don't know.. when it comes down to it bad tradesmen are the reason we need home inspectors..

Steve

Main thing to remember is to be thorough. Look carefully at everything focusing on the expensive stuff like fixtures and flooring. Move the appliances out and look behind them, check for nicks and scratches on the tubs, counters and flooring. Painted stuff is easy to fix later if you miss a spot, a gouge in the floor or countertop - not so easy. Having an independent inspector check over the heating, plumbing and electrical and general construction is good advice if you are not certain what your looking for.

Very well said and with respect to my own experience, I do not regret using a home inspector either. Every situation is unique and there are good, better and best individuals & companies in all aspects of our daily lives. If you're buying a newer home still under warranty, I don't really see the point of getting tradesmen, architects or even engineers involved in looking at your prospective dwelling, a little overkill IMO, besides, who has that kind of money to spend?

I bought an older home (1959-60 ish) and used the Home Inspection company recommended by my real estate agent. I didn't have a lot of time to pick and choose since I was on a tight timeline on a house hunting trip from back east. I had a week to view homes, make a decision, get an inspection, make an offer, etc etc etc. This was 2004 in the middle of the building boom here in the North Okanagan and finding tradesmen for each aspect would have been a nightmare & taken forever. Again, I was very satisfied with the job the home inspector did, he provided more than enough information for me to be comfortable in making an offer and ultimately purchasing the home. Did he miss things, sure he did but the only way to find every possible problem would be to literally tear the home apart which makes no sense. You can only do so much in one day. Being somewhat knowledgeable with regard to electrical stuff, I was able to pretty much case that part on my own, and believe me, there were some scary things the previous homeowners had going on. The inspector checked all the outlets and pointed out a number of them that were not grounded. I know, you can buy the little plug in testers and do this yourself, but the point is, he was sufficiently knowledgeable and had the tools to check out the critical systems in the home.

This is my second time around purchasing real estate, the first time in Ottawa, I was fortunate to have rented the condo for a year before buying it. That's probably one of the best home inspections you can have. After living in a place for a year you know what's good and bad without needing any external assistance.

Whew... anyhow, best of luck to anyone buying a home, your situation will differ, as Steve said, do your homework & research, to do this, plan ahead for extra time, which I did not have the luxury of.

sounds like you did the same company move I did. although I did go up a few weekends befor my HHT as I am only a days drive away.. still looked at over 27 houses in 2.5 days then had to get a offer in so I could get everything else done in my 7 day trip.

on a side not although my home inspector didn't inspect the furnace and hot water heater, he did look at them, discern the age and modle ect.. and did recomend I get some one into look at them as they are at the normal life span age.. so although they can't inspect everything a good one will give you a good idea on the stuff he didn't fully inspect.. like it has been said there is only so much they can do in a 2-3 hour inspection, then after that the also spend anywhere from 1 to 3 hours with the buyer to explain everything. mine started at 8am and we got out of there at almost 2pm. as I had never had gas heating or hot water he did specnd a lot of time going over the workings and problems to watch for. ( I didn't have the hear to tell him I work on boilers the size of a two story house for a living as he was generly trying to be helpfull and make sure I was informed.) another thing to watch out for is a home inspector who will offer to fix things he finds, this is non partial and against the home inspectors board of BC rules.

Steve