Fewer Surprises Will Pop Up When You Get a Home Inspection

By Brenda Masse
Special Contributor

The whole point of having a home inspection is that you want to find out as much as you can about a house and property, whether you’re buying it, selling it, or you already own it. No house is perfect, but with a major investment, you want to be able to plan for major expenses. In other parts of life, surprises can be lovely, but as a homeowner, surprises are usually bad. (Unless it’s like, “Surprise, your house tripled in value in a year!”)

So today we’re looking at a few things that would be unpleasant surprises for a homeowner:

There’s Another Roof Under There 

The age and condition of the roof are important to know, so you can have an idea of the life expectancy and when you’re going to need a new one.

Here the inspector found that the newer roof has been installed on top of the old one. Not only is that a lot of extra weight to hold, but the old decking could be rotting and cause the roof to cave in.

Sorry, I Can’t Hear You Over The Hood Vent

You might rather let your kitchen fill with smoke than listen to this vent.

A range vent has an average life expectancy of about 15 years, so if you’re purchasing an older home with a kitchen that hasn’t been updated, that will probably be on your list of things to replace

Fire in The Garage

Here the inspector finds evidence of a previous fire in the garage. When there has been a fire, you want to ask the homeowner for the history of the incident — any receipts of repairs and the insurance claim. If you have questions, have your own experts in to see that whatever caused the fire has been addressed, and any damage has been repaired rather than covered up.

Remember, knowledge is power, and you can have a home inspection any time to find out what’s working, what’s not, and what may need replacing soon.