Why Is It Important to Talk to Building and Pest Inspectors?

Buying a new home is a giant step forward in life and a huge investment at the same time. That is why you need to check and double check everything before signing the final draft of the contract. If you’re getting a bank loan, then you are highly likely to get entangled in all the legal financial shenanigans that you forget the essentials.

The initial inspection of the house is carried out the new owners but is superficial and incomplete. You have no way of knowing whether the woodwork is not home to rodents and others pests or if water pipes are not leaking. In fact, these and many more are tasks performed by building and pest inspectors whom you should seriously consider calling unless you want to spend more on subsequent maintenance than on the property itself.

Going under

The basement is not the most attractive room in the house so prospective homeowners merely take a peek into it or decide to trust the realtor that it’s in good shape. However, this room is a potential source of problems. This is where gas and water pipes are usually exposed and thus more vulnerable to mechanical damage.

The sewage pipes running under the house need to be checked as well, as they will not only cause an unpleasant smell to be felt around the house but they have the potential to undermine the foundations of the entire structure. Finally, vermin simply adore basements because they have the peace and quiet not found in other places in the house. A dark, damp, and out of sight environment is the perfect breathing ground for rats and other pests like termites.

Danger from above

“Extremities” of your home, like the walls, the basements, and the rood are the most problematic areas. If we are speaking of water damage, then a burst pipe in the kitchen could be a nuisance but a leaky roof is a disaster! Unless the roof is 100% watertight, the water damage can ruin your walls and the furniture inside the house making it unsuitable for human habitation. A visual check of the shingles, gutters, tiles, and flashings will hardly do the trick. Professional building inspectors are the only one experienced enough to accurately assess the present state of the roof. They can also tell you of the rafter and beams up in the attic are structurally safe enough.

The importance of the woodwork

The material that is most prone to deterioration inside your house is timber. This where is building and pest inspection converge because pests like to inhabit troubled woodwork. Everything inside and outside the house, from hardwood floors to the garden shed should be inspected. The list of possible issues presented by the inspectors will be the longest for this issue. Water damage, deterioration over time, and pest infestation are common problems regarding residential woodwork. If you know exactly where the problem areas are, it will be easier for you to calculate the cost of future repairs. In fact, you can present the inspectors’ finding to the sellers in an attempt to legitimately bring the price down.

Preventing the shock

One of the most common causes of house fires are faulty electrical wires. This problem is related to old structures in particular, sometime over a century old. An integral part of any building inspection places electrical wiring amount the most important issues to cover. Furthermore, if there are any appliances and fixtures inside the house that remain in the house after the purchase, they should be checked as well.

A simple shower malfunction can cost you a lot of money but that’s not the worst thing that can happen. If a rodent gets to exposed electrical wiring, they can nibble on it, causing a short-circuit to occur. Not only will the poor critter be electrocuted but you will lose power and there will a high risk of a house fire. However, if you get the house inspected before purchasing it, you will know it’s safe enough to let your children run safely around it.

“Brand new” is still far from impeccable

We mostly spoke about old homes but new ones are far from perfect. One of the biggest snares of purchasing your home is disregarding building and pest inspection altogether because you falsely believe that there could be nothing wrong with a new structure. Quite the contrary, since the house hasn’t had any tenants yet, there is no way of telling that everything will function properly. Perhaps the flashings were poorly caulked so the roof has a minuscule leak or the electricity meter is faulty. These are just some of the reasons why brand new homes need to be inspected as well.

The importance of purchasing a new home and the sum you are about to spend oblige you to involve building and pest inspectors. Their expertise is the only safe way of knowing that you are getting good real estate value for the money invested.