| Here is a comprehensive instruction manual covering every aspect of exterior, interior and electromechanical home inspection—basic enough for a layperson and detailed enough to be a working tool for professional home inspectors.
Revealing techniques and methods used by experts, this heavily illustrated reference details how to evaluate the condition of a home or condominium apartment. Precise step-by-step procedures enable the reader to inspect a home with many years' experience.
New to the Third Edition:
- A new chapter on swimming pools and hot tubs.
- An added section on exterior walls discussing problems with exterior insulation finishes.
- New material added to the environmental concerns on molds and associated problems.
- Many more chapters and sections updated and expanded.
Introduction by Norman Becker, P.E.
When I started my home inspection company in 1971, there were very few inspectors in the United States. Most of them were individual consultants working in and around large metropolitan areas. There were no specific qualifications to be an inspector and no specific requirements covering the items to be inspected. In those days, probably no more than one or two percent of the homes sold in the United States had an inspection.
On a very cold night in January 1976 I met with eight other home inspectors in the Connecticut office of Ron Passaro. Ron is the president of Res-I-Rec
Home Inspection. We discussed the need to form a professional organization. Although home inspection is a consumer protection service, we recognized that
in order for inspectors to be accepted by the public as professionals, it would be necessary to establish an organization that has a set of standards
regarding those items to be inspected, a code of ethics and membership requirements. That night we formed the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI).
As of this writing there are thousands of home inspectors servicing large and small communities throughout the United States and Canada. A combined study
by ASHI and the National Association of Realtors estimated that in the year 2000, 77 percent of all homes sold in the United States had an inspection.
What does the above have to do with you? Well, over the years I've had many clients tell me that they know so little about a house that they don't even
know what questions to ask and exactly what is it that I do. If you plan on hiring a home inspector for your existing or future home this book will
explain what an inspection covers and what to expect from your inspector. Even if you plan on hiring an inspector, you might want to consider doing a
preliminary inspection yourself. This book is written in sufficient detail that you can do a fairly extensive preliminary inspection yourself. There are
also worksheets at the back of the book to help. An inspection is important in that it will help you determine the true condition of a house. This will
enable you to determine the actual cost of buying the house. As I mentioned in the first edition, "The true cost of buying a house is its purchase price
plus the cost for upgrading substandard, deteriorated, or malfunctioning components."
In the second edition I added a chapter on environmental concerns as they relate to home ownership. Since then another item has been added to the list
concerns - mold. A discussion about mold in a house is included in this third edition. The rotting problems caused by synthetic stucco (EIFS) as an
exterior wall siding has also become a concern since the last edition, EIFS, the acronym for exterior insulation and finish system, and its associated
problems are discussed in this edition. Since swimming pools are becoming fairly common in all sections of the country, a separate chapter on swimming
pools has been added. Most of the chapters have been expanded to include additional items that should be checked during an inspection. Some of these
topics are cracks in ceiling caused by truss uplift, sagging sections in plaster ceiling, garage door restraining cables, sewage effector systems,
lightning protection, chimney-top dampers, the swing of an exterior entry door over a landing platform, termite bait systems, heating or air conditioning
ducts in an attic, whirlpool bathtubs, dripping water heater relief valves, and ventilation requirements for heating equipment.
By following the procedures outlined in this book, you will be making an informed decision and not an emotional one, which can in the long run be quite
costly.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Chapter 1: Tools and Procedure; Part One: Exterior Inspection; Chapter 2: Roofs; Chapter 3: Roof-Mounted Structures and Projections; Chapter
4: Paved Areas around the Structure; Chapter 5: Walls, Windows and Doors; Chapter 6: Lot and Landscaping; Chapter 7: Garage; Chapter 8: Wood-Destroying
Insects and Rot; Part Two: Interior Inspection; Chapter 9: Attic; Chapter 10: Interior Rooms; Chapter 11: Basement and Crawl Space; Part Three:
Electromechanicals; Chapter 12: Electrical System; Chapter 13: Plumbing; Chapter 14: Heating Systems I; Chapter 15: Heating Systems II; Chapter 16:
Domestic Water Heaters; Chapter 17: Air-Conditioning; Chapter 18: Swimming Pools; Part Four: Other Issues; Chapter 19: Energy Considerations; Chapter 20:
Environmental Concerns; Chapter 21: Conclusion; Glossary; Inspection Worksheets; Index. |
