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Ways To Perform Your Own Home Inspections

By Beryl Dalton


Taking time to carry out a house assessment is one of the most important things that you can do when buying a house. Defects that were not foreseen can end up costing you hundreds of dollars in repairs once you have moved in to the house. If you are the person who will be performing the home inspections, you have to focus on areas that are most likely to be in need of repairs.

Divide the assessment into two; exterior and interior. Start with the exterior and finish with the interior. This will require you to begin by taking a look at the gutters and the roof.

Begin the exterior assessment by inspecting the chimney, the roof and the gutters. The chimney needs to be straight with no bricks or mortars missing. As for the gutters, what you need to do is make sure they are still firmly attached to the sides.

You will need to also take a look at the house siding. When dealing with the siding, your main focus should be on any sections that appear discolored. In addition, check to ensure that nothing is missing.

A house foundation has to be examined at all times. The foundation is an important part of the residence and you will need to make sure that it has not started shifting. Shifting is often caused by soil movements and this will lead to cracks appearing along the length of the wall.

As you head into the house, be sure to spend some time carefully inspecting all doors. Where wooden doors are present, there should be no rotting taking place. Ensure you also check the bottom of each door for weather-stripping.

The best way to begin inspecting the interior side is by trying out all available windows. Move them from side to side to ensure that they can open and close. In addition, test the available locks to find out whether they lock into their latches as they are supposed to.

Flooring must also be inspected. With flooring, you will mainly be paying attention to the current condition of items such as the tiles and the carpet. For the carpet, you need to make sure that it has not become worn out. Tiles are easy to inspect as the main thing to check for is whether they have any visible cracks.

Ensure you also check the ceiling for any repair signs. Repair signs often come in the form of bulging in some sections. In addition to repair signs, check whether the roof is leaking by determining whether there are any visible water marks on this ceiling.

A kitchen inspection should help complete this process. In the kitchen, you will be checking whether the cabinets can open and close with ease. Also, be sure to check the current condition of the counter tops that have been installed. Appliances should also not be forgotten.




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