True Or False - You Don't Need A Home Inspection On New Construction?

True or false - you don't need a home inspection on new construction?

So, what do you think?

This is what you hear from the builder or builder's Realtor:

-->   We only employ the best subcontractors to work on your house.
-->   We have a supervisor on site, every day.  He is making hundreds of regular inspections, every day.
-->   The County or local jurisdiction makes multiple inspections of the house to insure code compliance.
-->   We allow you inspections of the property with our supervisor so you can stay on top of the work.
-->   You can contact us any time with questions, and we will answer you right away.

Walking through a new house with my clients I noticed something.  Remember, this is after the daily supervision and county approval for code compliance.

This is what I saw in every bedroom.  Do you see anything odd? 

No, you say, I don't see anything.

I didn't see anything either, and that was the problem.

Looking around each bedroom I noticed no HVAC registers, in the ceiling, walls or floors.

My clients had not noticed.

I waited until I saw every room.  The bathrooms had one, or two, in the walls.  But there was nothing in any bedroom or bedroom closet that would have needed a register.

At that point it was time for some fun.

So, in a bedroom I said, "Show me where the air blows from the heating and air conditioning system."

They looked around.  Nothing.

Shining my flashlight on the carpet above I said, "Feel here."

They did.  The AC was running.  "It's cold!"

"Yes, this is the new magical, invisible heating and air conditioning system."

They looked at each other and me, marveling.  Then the wife looked at me and said, "Wait.  How can that work?  Isn't the air blocked by the carpet?"

"Yes!"  Then I explained.  Despite all the builder supervision, county inspections, and careful work by professional subcontractors, somehow all the floor registers in the house have all been covered by carpeting and vinyl flooring!

And I ask this:  do you think this was the only problem I found in this house?

The Answer to My First Question?  FALSE!!

My recommendation:  gee, it's a good thing we did that inspection.  Sure, this one problem would have been figured out eventually.  It's coming to the end of the AC season, so it might not have been noticed until this winter when they experience that the house would not heat up.  But by then damage could have happened to the system when it is overworked trying to match the indoor temperature to the thermostat demand.  Yes, a private home inspection is a good thing.  A couple more EXPERIENCED eyes never hurt!

 

 

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC  

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia.

Office (703) 330-6388   Cell (703) 585-7560

www.jaymarinspect.com