In the ideal world the buyer should really be able to inspect the home, before putting in an offer. However, in an imperfect world that we live in, it may be cost prohibitive to inspect every home that one would be interested in. Hence very reluctantly, I decided to create a list hoping that it would educate the buyer and hopefully they would be able to avoid a lemon and all hassles with would ensue post offer. Not to say lost time and home inspection fees.

Home # ______ Type ______________ Age ________

Address:_____________________________________

City / State____________________________________

Bedrooms ______ Bath Rooms ______ Garage ______

Roof water shedding management of a building is critical for the well being of total structure that must be keep in good functional order. Lack there of, builds excessive hydraulic loading against the foundations walls and the excessive water also leads, to the liquefaction of soils beneath footings.

The foundation walls of a typical building are designed to transport the vertical load of the structure safely to the soil on which it stands. These walls generally are not designed to handle excessive transverse impact of water’s shear energy to move laterally such as in water dams for used for electric power generation etc.

When the roof water is not shed far away, from the foundation perimeter, excessive pressure starts to build against the walls and thus cracking it, sooner or later.  In colder climates, the freeze thaw will accelerate this damage  even sooner.  If this water is further allowed to build even more, the severity can lead to drastic circumstances in liquefying the soil beneath the load and crack or shift the footings, because of the sink holes created by the liquefaction of the soil beneath the footings.

Grading around (at least 15’) the foundation plays a key part in offloading this water far away.  Properly sloped gutters and leaders and final point of disposition of the water is just as important for the good health of the foundation and the structure.

1. Microorganisms are ubiquitous. Microbes propagate rapidly wherever water / moisture is available. The dust and dirt normally present in most indoor spaces provide sufficient nutrients to support extensive microbial growth.
2. The amount of water on or in materials is the most important trigger of the growth of microorganisms, including fungi, actinomycetes and other bacteria.
3. Microbial growth may result in greater numbers of spores, cell fragments, allergens, mycotoxins, endotoxins, β-glucans and volatile organic compounds in indoor air.
4. Microbial interactions and moisture-related physical and chemical emissions from building materials may also play a role in dampness-related health effects.
5. Building standards and regulations with regard to comfort and health do not sufficiently emphasize requirements for preventing and controlling excess moisture and dampness.
6. Apart from its entry during occasional events (such as water leaks, heavy rain and flooding), most moisture enters a building in incoming air, including that infiltrating through the building envelope or that resulting from the occupants’ activities.
7. Allowing surfaces to become cooler than the surrounding air may result in unwanted condensation. Thermal bridges (such as metal window frames), inadequate insulation and unplanned air pathways, or cold water plumbing and cool parts of air-conditioning units can result in surface temperatures below the dew point of the air and in dampness.
8. Persistent dampness and microbial growth on interior surfaces and in building structures should be avoided or minimized, as they may lead to adverse health effects

The chances are very high that we can get the home certified. So you can see the report and offer on it.

Both the parties can move from the contract to the closing table. It is that fast!!!

And if there are any such inspectors out there, you should not be using them. We charge by the expertise and time we shall spend on a given project. By time we mean how long it takes to reach the job site, and if there is Radon involved then the trip is twice (a job site 40 mile away means 120 miles of travel cost and time), a 80 old home will certainly take thrice as much time as a newer studio condo with no basement, no garage, no individual heat etc. Then the time to write the report, which is three times as much as time spent on site. On average that is about 10 hours per single family 80 years old home of about 2000 SF about 40 miles away. If some one is quoting $ 295.00 including structure mechanical, WDI (Termites) and Radon that means the inspector is paying $ 100.00 out of his pocket for the pleasure to do the work and we know that it is not going to happen for very long. You can take a 5 or 10 year Yellow Pages Book (Phone directory) and you will see what I mean. How many Home inspection that were listed therein 10 years or 5 years ago still exist (We do not mean the companies who buy the old numbers from others). The cost of legitimate business drove about 200 licensed home inspectors out to hang up their licenses in 2008 and at least that many are expected to do so in 2009. The free economy is good, that is bedrock of any democracy and we like competition. We will compete with any home inspection shop with the same experience but one certainly can not expect us to charge the same as a newbie minted inspector just coming out of the inspection school. 50% of them will be out of business, if not because of the economics of the business that they could not pay their bills, but the very first lawsuit wiped them out. There are many such outfits that just jump from state to state and there is very little we can do about it. We are in the same boat as you the consumer.

As a consumer you should ask what is it, that you want out of the home inspection? Do you want to know the home in depth from the eyes of a professional or just a piece of paper that says that you had the home inspection done and now let’s go buy the home? If you in the later category, then please save yourself even that $ 295.00. Ask your uncle Louie the Sunday handy warrior to write you a page that you had the home inspection done for a slice of pizza and coke.

Our prices for a studio in a high rise building with a common heat, start at $ 195.00 for structure & mechanical and up for more time consuming inspections.

If you are serious about quality home inspections, then you should first make a list of what is it, that you need to get out of this home inspection, some thing like this: Are there any major defects that should preclude me from buying this home, are there any safety issues that I should be aware of, How much do I need to budget for replacements and when are these due, what sort of preventive planned maintenance should I be looking at, Do I need to add on upgrade any part of the home etc.

After the list is complete, you are now ready to interview the home inspector and what are the logical questions to start with? It would be help full to get a resume from the inspector or some knowledge of his credentials and experiences in engineering, construction, inspection and communication skills. The logical progression for a well defined Home inspector would be a start at Engineering (Fundamentals and design process of structures) then Construction (practical knowledge of how structures are built) then inspection (it is the combo of the two and more, how the structure have faired over a period of time and defect recognition), and finally communication skills; this is the most important part from legal and economics stand point for you. Do you really need a home inspector who has million disclaimers for every component to see a specialist in his report, or an alarmist who wants to looks good by pointing out to the silliest thing on earth, or a cut & paste artists who make up 200 pages and you do not know on which page to look for the major defect that he spoke about at the inspection.

Compare this to our report: We provide you with age of major components so you know how old is component in the home that you are buying, how long does it last typically and what is the component rating of the home you are purchasing.

We give you a brake down of major defects, items to be budgeted fro, maintenance issues, safety problems etc. For an extra fee, we can also calculate the cost of repairs too.

Next time you want to compare our prices, give us the quote from any inspector who has been in business for 10 years and has inspected over 2000 homes, and will provide all information that we do, we will beat that quote by $ 25.00. So far there are no takers because we are the least expensive for what we do; apples for apples.

Jay Chopra is a graduate Engineer, Licensed Marine Mechanical engineer, licensed home inspector, construction manger and a structure technology consultant. He started his engineering apprenticeship in 1963 and now lives with his wife in Piscataway, NJ. He answers all his phones himself because educating the home buyers about inspection and the fee charged is some thing that can not be relegated to an ordinary telephone operator. Only a person, who is as passionate about the structures as him, can explain it properly.

It is a win-win situation:When you a have a quality inspection report in your hand, you win.