Sometimes a floor has a noticeable slope. Other times, it feels springy or moves slightly underfoot. In certain areas, the flooring may feel soft or spongy.
These conditions can have very different explanations. Some are relatively common in older homes, while others may indicate deterioration, inadequate support, or structural movement that deserves closer attention.
The important question isn't simply whether a floor is perfectly level. It's understanding why the floor is behaving the way it is and whether … (10 comments)
nj home inspectors: How Old Is Too Old for a Home’s Major Systems?
- 09/06/26 04:38 AM
By John Martino, Master New Jersey Home Inspector LookSmart Home Inspections One of the questions I hear regularly during a home inspection is, “How much longer do you think this has?” It might be a roof, furnace, boiler, central air-conditioning system, or water heater. The equipment may be working perfectly well on the day of the inspection, but the buyer wants to know what really matters: Am I likely to be replacing this shortly after I buy the house? After more than 24 years inspecting homes throughout New Jersey, I’ve learned that age matters, but perhaps not in the way many home buyers think it … (9 comments)
nj home inspectors: What Does a Home Inspector Look for That a Buyer Might Miss?
- 08/31/26 08:02 AM
When buyers walk through a house, they naturally notice the things that are easiest to see. They look at the kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, room sizes, finishes and whether they like the overall layout. They may notice an old furnace, a crack in a wall or a stain on a ceiling, but they're usually looking at the house from the standpoint of someone considering living there.
When I'm inspecting a house, I'm looking at it differently.
I'm not only looking for individual problems. I'm looking at how the different conditions in the house may relate to one another. Sometimes one condition doesn't … (4 comments)
I understand the question. Your car can pass or fail an inspection, and many municipal inspections work the same way. A home inspection is different.
There really isn't a passing or failing grade.
My job as a home inspector isn't to decide whether a house is good enough for you to buy. My job is to help you understand the condition of the house so you can make that decision for yourself.
Every house has problems. Houses age, materials wear out, things … (8 comments)
nj home inspectors: I Got My Home Inspection Report. Now What?
- 08/29/26 01:52 PM
Buying a home is one of the largest financial decisions most people will ever make. By the time you receive your home inspection report, you’ve probably spent weeks looking at houses, speaking with Realtors, meeting with lenders, reviewing contracts, and wondering whether you’ve finally found the right home.
When the inspection is complete, many buyers feel a sense of relief because they believe the difficult part is over. In my experience, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The home inspection is not the finish line. In many ways, it’s the beginning of the most important stage of the buying process. … (0 comments)
nj home inspectors: What Problems Should Really Concern You During a NJ Home Inspection
- 08/15/26 06:07 AM
One of the questions buyers frequently ask me during a NJ home inspection is some version of, “How worried should I be about this?” It is a good question because almost every house is going to have problems. Some will cost very little to correct. Some are simply part of maintaining a home. Others deserve considerably more attention. The difficult part for a buyer is figuring out which is which.
When you are buying a home in New Jersey, particularly an older home, it is very easy to become overwhelmed by everything that may appear in a home inspection report. As … (4 comments)
nj home inspectors: A NJ Home Inspector Explains the Clues That Give Confidence in a Home
- 08/05/26 06:45 AM
One of the questions buyers occasionally ask me during a home inspection is, "John, what makes you feel good about a house?" It's one of my favorite questions because the answer usually isn't what people expect. Most people assume I'm going to talk about an updated kitchen, remodeled bathrooms, or beautiful hardwood floors. Those things certainly make a home more enjoyable to live in, but they don't necessarily tell me very much about the condition of the house itself.
One of the things I enjoy most about working as a New Jersey home inspector is helping buyers see beyond what first … (1 comments)
nj home inspectors: What Makes a House Expensive to Own? (It’s Not What Most Buyers Think)
- 07/25/26 12:22 PM
Buying a home is one of the largest financial decisions most people will ever make. Naturally, buyers spend a great deal of time comparing purchase prices, monthly mortgage payments, school districts, commute times, and whether they like the kitchen, bathrooms, or backyard. Those are all important considerations. What often doesn't receive the same amount of attention is another question that may have just as much impact on your finances over the years ahead. What is this home actually going to cost me to own? Those are two very different questions. The purchase price is paid once. The cost of owning a home continues for as … (5 comments)
I've had buyers look at a roof covered with black streaks and immediately assume it needs to be replaced. Most of the time, that's simply not true. In fact, I've inspected plenty of roofs that looked terrible from the street because of black streaks, yet they still had years of service life remaining. I've also inspected roofs that looked almost new but had active leaks around a … (10 comments)
nj home inspectors: Why Does My Home Inspector Spend So Much Time Outside?
- 06/28/26 11:51 AM
Why Do I Spend So Much Time Outside During a Home Inspection? The outside of the house usually tells me what I'm going to find inside. "John, why are we still outside?" Most buyers are looking at the front door. They're excited to see the kitchen, the finished basement, the primary bathroom, or the attic. They're picturing where the furniture will go or wondering if their family will enjoy living there. Meanwhile, I'm looking at something completely different. I'm looking at the grading around the home. I'm following the gutters and downspouts to see where the roof water is being discharged. I'm looking at the roof edges, the … (2 comments)
That may sound strange coming from a home inspector, but it's probably the most important thing houses have taught me.
One of the questions I hear most as a NJ home inspector is whether a house is "good" or "bad." People often expect NJ home inspections to provide a simple yes-or-no answer, but things are rarely that simple. Over the years, I've come to realize that houses are not nearly as fragile as people think, … (3 comments)
In today's Northeast real estate market, buyers are often willing to accept conditions that insurance companies may not.
The buyer may be comfortable with an older roof.
The buyer may be comfortable with an older electrical panel.
The buyer may be comfortable with signs of past basement moisture.
The buyer may be comfortable with oil heat or an underground oil tank.
The insurance company may have a different opinion.
That does … (2 comments)
nj home inspectors: NJ Home Inspector: The 15 Problems I Find During Almost Every Home Inspection
- 06/05/26 01:18 PM
People often ask me what I usually find during a home inspection. After performing more than 8,000 NJ home inspections since 2002, I have learned that houses are surprisingly predictable. As a NJ home inspector, I often find many of the same defects regardless of the age, size, style, or price of the home. That does not mean the house is bad. In fact, most of the homes I inspect are perfectly reasonable homes to purchase. The purpose of a home inspection is not to find a perfect house. The purpose is to understand the condition of the home and identify the issues that deserve attention. None … (2 comments)
The roof may be older. The basement may show signs of moisture. The deck may need repairs. The electrical panel may need updating. The report is long, detailed, and full of comments.
Then many buyers ask the same question.
Should I walk away from this house after the inspection?
As a New Jersey home inspector, I can tell you this. Most homes have issues. The real question is not whether problems exist. The real question is … (4 comments)
nj home inspectors: Everything That Can Go Wrong in a Basement in New Jersey
- 04/25/26 11:26 AM
If there is one area of a home that consistently gives people trouble in New Jersey, it is the basement. After more than 25 years performing NJ home inspections, I can tell you this is where I find a lot of the real issues. Some are obvious. Some are hidden. Some take years to show up.
A basement can look clean, dry, and completely finished, and still have underlying problems. That is what buyers need to understand. You are dealing with soil conditions, water, pressure, drainage, and air quality all in one space. When things are not right, problems develop.
This … (0 comments)
nj home inspectors: Why Some Floors Feel Sloped and What It Really Means
- 03/28/26 08:37 AM
One of the first things buyers say to me during a home inspection is that the floor feels off. Sometimes it is subtle. Other times you walk across the room and feel like you are leaning toward one side. It gets your attention right away. The question is always the same. Is this a structural problem or is this normal. The answer depends on the house and what else is going on. Not all sloped floors are a problem. That is the first thing I explain during a NJ home inspection. Floors do not have to be perfectly level to be acceptable. Especially in older … (8 comments)
nj home inspectors: Do NJ Home Inspectors Find Everything Wrong With a House
- 01/26/26 08:08 AM
Do home inspectors find everything wrong with a house.Will the inspection catch every problem.What if something breaks after closing. As an NJ home inspector, I understand why buyers ask this. Buying a house is expensive and stressful, and most buyers want reassurance that nothing major is being missed. The honest answer is no. A home inspection does not find everything wrong with a house. But that does not mean it is not valuable. It means it has limits, and those limits matter. Understanding what a NJ home inspection is designed to do, and what it is not designed to do, helps buyers use the … (1 comments)
nj home inspectors: Questions NJ Home Inspectors Can not Answer
- 01/25/26 09:02 AM
As an NJ home inspector, I get asked a lot of questions during inspections. Most of them are good questions. Buyers are trying to understand the house, the risks, and what ownership might look like after closing. A home inspection is often the most detailed look someone will ever get at a house before they buy it. At the same time, there are certain questions that home inspectors cannot answer definitively. That is not because we are avoiding responsibility or being difficult. It is because those questions fall outside the scope of a standard NJ home inspection, rely on future events, or … (12 comments)
nj home inspectors: What a NJ Home Inspector Checks When Inspecting a Furnace and AC Coil
- 01/18/26 01:52 PM
Many homes use a forced air heating and cooling system where the furnace and the air conditioning share the same ductwork. In these systems, the furnace provides heat, and the indoor air conditioning coil, often referred to as the evaporator coil, is installed above or sometimes beside the furnace. From a buyer’s standpoint, this often gets viewed as one system. From a home inspection standpoint, it is really two separate components that happen to work together. When I perform a NJ home inspection, I spend time explaining this setup because it is commonly misunderstood. A furnace can appear newer while the air … (1 comments)
nj home inspectors: How Trees Affect a Home : What I Look for During a NJ Home Inspection
- 12/21/25 05:02 AM
Trees add a lot of beauty and shade to a property here in New Jersey. Most people like having trees around their home and I do too. But during a NJ home inspection I also look carefully at how the trees interact with the house, the roof, the drainage, and even the underground systems. Trees can be a benefit, but they can also create real problems if they are too close or not maintained correctly. Many buyers do not think about this until they move in, and by then the damage may already be underway. This is why I always take … (4 comments)
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