Home Inspection Checklist

Drainage Drainage problems can lead to cracked foundations and slabs. They can cause a house to shift, particularly if it’s located on a hillside, and in extreme cases can cause the actual collapse of the home. The correction of drainage problems is best left to experts. However, even a beginner can usually tell where drainage problems exist.

Drainage Checklist yes no  Is there dampness under the house? (The basement should be dry as dust.)  Are there footprints or ribbed patterns in the dirt under the house, indicating that when it rains, water creeps in?  Is there mold (black or green) on wood under the house, indicating heavy moisture? (There’s almost a hysteria these days about black mold check with your agent.)  Does the ground outside slope away from the house? (If it slopes into the house, you’ve got serious problems.)

Foundation The concrete foundation is what supports your house. Usually there is a peripheral foundation that goes around the entire edge of the home. Within this peripheral foundation there may be concrete blocks holding up piers that support the floor (in a wood floor

home) or a concrete slab (in a cement floor home). The peripheral foundation typically has “footings” that extend downward perhaps two feet or more. (In freezing climates the footings should be below the freeze line.) The further down the foundation extends and the wider it is, the better. In areas with expansive soil (the soil swells when wet) or other soil problems, the concrete foundation should be deep and wide enough to survive any expansion of the soil. In addition, there should be steel rods (“rebars” or reinforcement bars) in the concrete. The steel holds the concrete together. (Cement by itself, even with the new plasticizers and fibers, will tend to crack.) Cracks in the foundation can lead to uneven floors inside the house. It can also lead to slippage down a hillside as well as to broken windows and cracks appearing in walls and ceilings. Some breakage of foundations happens naturally over time. However, severe breakage indicates a problem that could get worse.

Foundation Checklist yes no  Do you see cracks in the foundation when you walk around the exterior of the house? (Hairline cracks always occur and usually can be disregarded.)  Are the cracks wider at the top than at the bottom? (This indicates actual breakage, a serious problem.)  Is there an actual separation in the foundation? (This indicates that not enough steel reinforcement was used when the foundation was built.)  In a slab house, does the floor feel uneven when you walk over it (indicating cracks hidden under carpets or tiles)?  Under a house, do any of the girders sag (a sign that the foundation has slipped)?

Roof The purpose of the roof, besides providing an aesthetic look, is to keep rain and snow out of the house. The cost of repairing a roof can be high, of replacing a roof enormous ($5000 to $25,000 or more depending on the materials used). You want to be sure that

the roof is in good shape. If it’s not, you may want to have the seller fix or replace it or make an adjustment to the price. Some general information on roofs is in order.

Wood Shake Roofs. Depending on the thickness of the shake, they can last 20 to 30 years. If the house you are buying has a wood shake roof and it’s 20 years old or older, check the roof very carefully.

Wood Shake Roof Checklist yes no  Are there pieces of the roof lying on the ground around the house? (This is an obvious bad sign.)  Using binoculars, can you see missing shingles anywhere on the roof?  Are the shingles intact? (Badly cracked shingles are an other bad sign.)  Are there any signs of leakage in the ceiling or walls inside the house? Go into the attic and look up. If it’s daytime and you see light pouring through many tiny or large holes, you’ve got trouble.

Composition Shingles. Made of tar, fiberglass, or some similar composition, they have a life span of 15 to 30 years, depending on the quality and materials.

Composition Roof Checklist yes no  Is the color of the shingles good? (Fading shingles are a sign of wear.)  Are the edges of the shingles curling up? (This is a sign of wear in hot climates.)  Are there any bare spots on the roof?  Are there any signs of leakage in the ceiling or walls inside the house.

Aluminum Shingles.

These have a life span of 50 years or so. Generally they don’t wear out unless they have been damaged.

Aluminum Shingle Checklist yes no  Are there signs of peeling or fading of their color? (The shingles may continue to keep the weather out, but will look terrible.)  Are there any dents or separations in the shingles, indicating someone has walked on them?  Are there any signs of leakage in the ceiling or walls inside the house?

Tile Shingles. Tile roofs last indefinitely (80 years or more). However, they can easily be broken, and once broken they quickly lose their ability to keep the weather out. Don’t walk on tile roofs you’ll break the tiles.

Tile Roof Checklist yes no  Are any of the tiles broken?  Have any fallen off?  Are there any signs of leakage in the ceiling or walls inside the house?

Paint

Interior. In a resale, don’t expect to get a house that doesn’t require repainting. As noted in an earlier article, as soon as the seller’s furniture gets moved out, you’re going to see whole areas that need repainting. The only question is: Will you do it or will the seller?

Interior Paint Checklist yes no  Are there marks on the walls?  Is the current paint flaking, indicating it will have to be sanded before new paint can be applied?

Are the colors light or dark? (Covering dark colors may require two or more new coats.)  Is there lead in the paint? (You may want to have it tested. Homes painted prior to 1978 often have lead paint in them. Your agent should be able to suggest a lead testing company nearby or check with www.epa.gov .)

Exterior. Weathering is the problem here. Even the best paints usually don’t last more than five to seven years. Repainting the exterior can be more expensive than painting the interior, since it often requires removing chipped and peeling paint.

Exterior Paint Checklist yes no  Is the paint chipped or peeling?  Are the colors faded? (Faded colors indicate paint that is aging.)  Is the caulking around windows starting to fall out?  Is the paint on the gutters or siding peeling?

Plumbing In general, you need an expert to tell you if there are serious plumbing problems. There are, however, some telltale signs you can check for.

Plumbing Checklist yes no  Is the plumbing galvanized steel? (Galvanized steel lasts about 30 years, sometimes less. Copper lasts virtually forever.)  Are there leaks at the joints of galvanized pipes? (Usually visible under the house or in the garage, leaks indicate that electrolytic action may be corroding the pipes and they could need to be replaced $5000 or more for the whole house.)  Are there leaks under the sinks in any of the bathrooms or kitchen? (Possibly a minor problem, but why should you have to fix it?)

Is the water heater old? (The date is sometimes stamped on the label a water heater rarely lasts more than 7 to 10 years in areas with silt in the water or high electrolytic action.)  Does the water heater have a temperature/pressure safety valve? (This is vitally important. If you’re not sure what a safety valve is, have a professional check it out.) In addition, the gas supply line needs to be checked. A professional should do this.

Wiring This is the venue of the professional. Don’t attempt to make a judgment on the wiring unless you’re an electrician. Some danger signals to watch for include switches or sockets that spark when used and inoperative lights or switches. Never attempt to check any electrical item unless the power is completely off!

Heating Even more so than in the case of wiring, a professional needs to check out the heating. If you’re using gas, you need to be sure that there are no leaks. Some telltale signs to look for include smelling burned gas fumes coming from heating vents and yellow flames in the furnace that rise above the burners (These are bad signs indicating a leak in the heat exchanger, a dangerous condition usually requiring replacement of the furnace $2500 or more.) Also, if you smell gas around the furnace it’s a very dangerous sign call the gas company immediately.)

Fireplace Most people figure that there’s little to go wrong with a fireplace. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The bricks in a fireplace can crack and the fireplace itself can pull away from the house (something that happens in earthquake country). Even more serious, the interior casing can break, allowing dangerous gases to enter the house. Abad fireplace is a dangerous situation that can lead to house fires, poisoning, or asphyxiation. Have a professional check it out.

Fireplace Checklist yes no  From the outside, is there a separation between the fireplace and the house? (A separation is a big danger sign.)  Are there any visible cracks in the external bricks of the fireplace?  Are there any cracks in the firebricks inside the fireplace?  Does the flue work?

Tile Tile problems are usually easily spotted because they consist mostly of cracks in the tiles or staining of the grout.

Tile Checklist yes no  Are there any cracks in the tile of the kitchen or bathrooms? (Cracks can simply be caused by dropping something heavy on the tile, or they can be symptomatic of broken cabinets, house movements, or even a cracked foundation.)  Are floor tiles cracked? (Replacing cracked floor tiles when there is a problem with the floor simply means that the new tiles will soon crack. Fixing the underlying floor problem could be very expensive.)

What Do I Do with the

Termite Report? When you get a new loan, the lender almost always requires a termite clearance. This is a report from a registered termite company that states that the house is free of infestation. It’s important to understand that the report is of limited value. In areas where termites are endemic, there will almost always be some infestation. (The report usually states the house to be clear of termites for 60 to 180 days the inspectors know that after that the termites likely will be back.) In order to get a clearance, repair work must often be done. In some cases this is minor, involving the replacement of some wood

and occasionally spraying. In other cases it is major, requiring the tenting of the house. Modern techniques may involve freezing the termites out of localized areas. In most cases the termites chomp away at the wood structure of the home and are of little consequence. The real problem is that over 30 or 40 years, they can eat enough of the wood to make the house collapse. Usually the seller will pay for any corrective work. You, however, will likely be responsible for any preventative work, but that is at your option. (You usually aren’t required to do it.)

What About Environmental

Hazards? Thus far we’ve been dealing with typical problems that you can look for in any home. There are, however, additional problems that may be of a hazardous nature. You should be aware of these and have a professional check for them. Also, certain parts of the country are now requiring buyer and seller to sign off on some of these problems as well as other potential hazards. Be sure to check with your real estate agent about any conditions on the sale that the city, county, or state may impose. Additionally, there may be federal requirements, as is the case with lead.

Asbestos? Prior to about 1980, blown-in ceilings sometimes contained asbestos fibers. If you’re worried abut them, these ceilings may have to be scraped and removed or encapsulated with a sealant and a nonasbestos mixture. The cost for this can be high. In some parts of the country, heating pipes under the house or in the basement were wrapped in asbestos insulation. If disturbed, this may need to be removed by experts and the pipes rewrapped. Asbestos can also occur in other areas such as tile floors. A good inspection will thoroughly check for it.

Smoke Alarms? These should be installed on all floors and near kitchens and fireplaces as well as in every bedroom.

Insulation? This isn’t really a hazard. However, if you’re in cold country without adequate insulation, you can be mighty uncomfortable. Adding new insulation to an older home can be a problem. While roof insulation usually can easily be blown in, for walls, it’s much more difficult. In some areas, holes were cut and a formaldehyde-based insulation shot into the walls. However, formaldehyde itself is a health hazard, and where this has been done, sometimes the walls must be cut open and the insulation removed. Check with a good insulation company in your area regarding your options.

Earthquake Retrofitting? In some parts of the country, particularly the West Coast, new laws are being proposed and are coming on line that may eventually require sellers to retrofit older homes and bring them up to earthquake safety standards. This may be something as simple as tying the framing down to the foundation or as complex as putting steel reinforcements from the foundation up to the roof. Be sure to check out what’s necessary in your area and have the seller do the expensive work.

Flood Plain? Some homes are built on a flood plain. It may not flood more than once every 50 or 100 years. But if you’re the owner during that year, you lose. Often insurance is hard to get and expensive. Check it out.

Radon Gas Hazard? Radon is a naturally occurring gas in many soils. In some areas it can leak out of the ground and accumulate in the basement, and sometimes in other areas, of a house. It is a health hazard. This is something that should be checked, particularly if you are in an area where radon gas leakage is common. Simple testing kits are available for under $50. If radon gas is a problem, an environmental engineer should be contacted to determine how it can be eliminated from the home. Often, increasing the ventilation in a basement will do the trick.

Other times expensive electronic venting systems are needed. In a very few cases, it may be impossible to eliminate the hazard, in which case you may want to look elsewhere.

Lead Paint Hazard? If the house you are considering was built before the late 1970s (when lead paint was banned), chances are lead paint was used both inside and out. Lead is a serious health threat. It can produce sickness, retardation, and in extreme cases, even death. The most common means of getting lead poisoning is when children chew on molding or other painted areas of a house and ingest the lead paint. Sometimes old exterior paint containing lead will flake or dust off and contaminate the ground around the outside of the house where children play, and they may ingest some of the soil. By federal mandate, the seller must present you with a disclosure statement regarding this hazard. (However, this statement often simply says that the seller is unaware of the lead hazard in the property, throwing it back in your court.) Safely removing lead paint is difficult and requires a qualified specialist. It can easily cost $10,000 or more to remove it properly from a home. On the other hand, people sometimes simply paint over the lead paint with a nontoxic modern paint and hope for the best. Unfortunately, encapsulation is not an approved method of dealing with lead paint. Few sellers are willing to pop for the cost of removing lead paint. Thus the choice becomes yours are you willing to live in a house with this hazard? Many buyers of older homes who are made aware of the lead paint problem through the disclosure statement do move forward with the deal, especially if they don’t have young children. If this problem worries you, opt for a newer home.

Leaded Copper Pipe Joints? Prior to about 1986, the solder used to connect copper pipes in houses was made of a mixture of tin and lead. It was discovered that the lead would sometimes leach into water that sat in the pipes. (Modern solders use a nonlead mixture.) There is little that can be

done about this, short of resoldering all the copper joints. However, after about five years the leaching process tends to become minimal. It’s mostly a problem in leading joint piping houses that are less than five years old. (You can run the water a while before using it to reduce the risk of lead poisoning.)

Black Mold This is the hazard de jour in many areas. Black mold has been around since time immemorial. However, some have suggested that a new more toxic variety is now attacking houses. Thus CDC (Center for Disease Control) and many state environmental agencies are conducting studies to see if black mold poses a serious health hazard, but the results were not available as of this writing. Certainly some people are allergic to molds in general. The problem is that a kind of hysteria has surrounded homes that contain black mold. This is a serious problem because most homes in wet climates tend to have it. Therefore, you should have the house checked for black mold. While you yourself may not find it objectionable, it could mean trouble when you try to resell to the next buyer. Finding serious black mold should weigh into your purchase decision.

Other Environmental Hazards These can be anything from formaldehyde odors to copper in the drinking water. Ask your inspector about these and any other environmental hazards that may be present. Having your home professionally inspected is an important part of the purchase process. Don’t skimp on it.