When do you think about hiring a home inspector? I would say 95% of the public thinks to hire a home inspector when they are buying a home. 4% of homeowners may choose to hire a home inspector to perform a pre-sale inspection prior to listing their home for sale. That leaves 1%, yes I’m good at math, of homeowners that think to hire a home inspector for routine maintenance.
Maintenance inspections are useful to find issues with the home that may not be an active, but quickly could become an issue. For example, neoprene boots, which are used to seal plumbing stack penetrations through roof systems, tend to fail much sooner than the roof covering. Typically, this is a slow deterioration of the boot which can lead to a ”small” leak. Really, there is no such thing as a small leak. We use this term to differentiate a more obvious leak that becomes evident much more quickly. Any amount of continuous water can cause major damage to a home’s structure. This small leak can keep materials constantly wet without being noticeable from the livable space of the home.
Before I closed my residential construction company to switch to becoming a home inspector, the last project I completed was a home that had a “small” leak. This home had closed cell spray foam insulation which traps the moistures and prevents the water from leaking to a conspicuous location that could alert the homeowner of the issue. When I was called in, the water had finally become noticeable on the kitchen ceiling. The first thing I did was walk the roof and immediately could feel the roof decking was soft, which is a red flag of moisture damage to a roof system. After we completed the demo of the surrounding materials, multiple truss chords were completely rotted out, approximately 100 sq ft of roof decking had to be replaced. This cost the owner over $4,000 to repair. This didn’t include the new insulation, sheetrock repairs to the ceiling and repainting the ceiling. I have worked on home where a leaky toilet has lead to rotted floor systems, rotted band joists and allowed termites to destroy the homes framing.
Most people think, “That’s okay, I have homeowner’s insurance.” More often than not, your homeowner’s insurance will not cover routine maintenance damages. Homeowner’s insurance will cover catastrophic events. Hurricane damage, hail storm damage, a tree falling on your home. The insurance company will not cover prolonged issues that are considered routine maintenance. Repairing a leaky toilet, replacing a dry rotted neoprene boot, etc.
Pait Home Inspections of North Carolina, LLC. provides maintenance home inspections to protect your home, your family and your investment. We provide a full home inspection or we can cater to your needs and concerns. Only want the crawlspace inspected? We can do that. We are one of the few home inspection companies that will physically walk your roof.
A home is typically the largest investment someone will make in their lifetime. When you buy your home, you don’t stop investing in your home. You clean your home, you buy things for your home, you remodel your home, why not invest in a home inspector to make sure your home is safe and functioning the way it should?
-Stephen
Pait Home Inspections of North Carolina, LLC.
919-675-4095
