Virginia new construction inspection services:

“It’s a new house! I don’t need a home inspection.” This is what most buying a new home or having one built think, but I can personally assure you that I will usually find at least one defect or deficiency that pays for the entire inspection and more. The kinds of things I find can go un-noticed for years.

What can happen if I don’t get it inspected?

Recently, I inspected a three year old home for a home buyer. The sellers purchased the home new. To my utter disbelief, this 4000 square foot “high end” home had NO insulation in the attic… NONE! For three years these poor home owners had struggled to heat and cool a huge home with a mere 1/2″ of drywall between them and the attic. Needles to say, their heating and cooling bills were staggering. Worse yet, the builders one year warranty ran out two years ago. And even worse, now they had to pay to have their attic insulated out of pocket and the home buyers will enjoy a level a level of comfort in thier home that the sellers never experienced.

I can tell story after story that will drive home the fact that having a new home inspected almost always pays for itself! And, having a 3-phase inspection during construction is a PRICELESS opportunity that a buyer should not pass up.

Typical defects or deficiencies found in a New Construction Inspection

Please understand that the average home builder isn’t out to get you or deceive you. The construction of a home is labor intensive and monitoring all the work is not easy. The local building department inspection process is decent, but not perfect by any means – checking only the most basic systems like Structure, Electric, Plumbing, HVAC, etc.

The deficiencies found most often fall into two broad categories – carelessness and lack of communication. Insulation installation is a great example. I find a lot of voids in insulation, that are about to be covered up for the life of the structure. (This can only be prevented through the three phase inspection process.) I have seen central return ducts reduced in volume by fifty percent because they were in the way of a plumbing pipe. The plumber scrunched the duct and never told a soul. I have seen central return ducts completely disconnected and resting on the earth in the crawlspace. The list of typical defects and deficiencies in long.

The purchaser of a new home really only has two choices: 1. have it inspected and enjoy their home  2. Move in and spend their own money fixing all the things that the builder should have, when they sell the home and they are discovered by the purchaser’s home inspector. Take your pick.

Again, since the property is new many people would think that it was thoroughly inspected by the city inspector. This is not always the case. Since many city inspectors have heavy caseloads a lot of times they do not spend remotely enough time inspecting a property and the end result could be life threatening and/or very costly. Do not make the same mistake, always hire the services of a new construction inspector to insure that your property is safe and a good investment.

Your Home Builder and the New Construction Home Inspection Process

If you think about it, any good home builder should WELCOME a home inspection by an independent inspector. If he resists that process, you have good reason for concern. It is in both yours and the builders best interest to get as many defects and deficiencies corrected before closing, while he still actually has workers close by to make the corrections.

During a new construction inspection Mike checks everything from the foundation to the roof top. Your money is well spent and while Mike cannot possibly discover every flaw, his certified home inspections will most certainly improve both the functionality and safety of your home.