New Construction and One Year Warranty Inspections

Home Inspection isn't just for buyers of old homes.  Buyers of newly built homes should get an inspection too! 

People often ask why get a home inspection on a new house? 

People assume that the builder and contractors are looking out for your best interest and that county officials check the house out and will find any problems.  And this is true to a degree, but few, if any county or city inspectors spend anywhere near enough time in the home to fully check it out.  Also, there could be problems with the home that are not code related so the county inspectors will not catch it and yet it will have serious consequences for the new home owner. 

Ask any home inspector about the deficiencies and safety issues that they discover in newly built homes. 

What could be so bad that it wasn't caught in a new home?  

Here is a sample of items we have found;

• Wiring issues with the new arc fault breaker requirements in bedrooms

• Cut floor joists compromising structural integrity of the floor - in one instance the floor joists were not properly resting on the main support beam- and they were moving in the next day- would have been a big problem when they put the couch down!

• Cut roof rafters compromising the structural integrity of the roof

• Missing drain lines in the crawl space- so the tub or toilet drains into the crawl space- or worse yet, onto the first floor ceiling- we have seen it!

• Missing ductwork

• Shingles missing on the roof or 2x4's nailed to the top side of the shingles (so workers can work on the roof- they forget to take them off when done)

• Missing flashing

• Windows not opening/closing/locking properly

• And the list goes on and on..........

Yes, there are good builders and there are bad builders. 

Some do a great job and others you wonder how they stay in business. 

You did the research, got the references, and checked out his work so you should be safe. Right?

Besides the county/city inspectors check it out anyway. 

Our response to that is simple:

A good builder can have a bad day, or hire a bad subcontractor and a bad builder can have a great day, or hire an excellent subcontractor. 

You have no way of knowing. 

Did you get him on a good day or bad? 

That is why you hire a Home Inspector to look over your new home. 

Someone that is unbiased and looking out for YOUR best interests. 

Someone accountable to you, not the county, city or developers. 

Someone who is being paid to take the time and evaluate YOUR home rather than rushing through it because they have 40 other inspections to do that day! 

There are basically three ways to have an independent unbiased person inspect your home.

He can inspect it in phases as it is being built.  He watches as each phase goes in. 

Another way is to inspect it the day or two before you do your final walk through.  This will allow you to have a punch list from the inspector that you can give the builder prior to closing so they can fix it before you move in.

And the third way is to do it about 11 months after closing.  Many builders offer a 1 year warranty on the home.  So at the one year warranty you will have a punch list of items that the builder needs to take care of.

JA Mersereau offers the inspection prior to closing or the 1 year warranty inspection.

Why use JA Mersereau & Associates to inspect your new home??

• Detailed book/binder report of the condition of the home
• Summary of all things we have found that need to be addressed by the builder
• Our Undivided attention to YOUR home for 2 to 4 hours, longer for bigger houses
• FREE 90 day home warranty provided by Brinks                                                                                                                         (if you allow them to give you a quote on a security system- no obligation on your part!)
• Licensed Engineer does the home inspection
• Virginia State Certified Home Inspector
• WE are building code certified in mechanical, electrical, structural and plumbing, just like the county building code enforcement people are!
• We have been doing this for many years and have many, many inspections under our belt

CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE ONLINE

or call

 804-364-3303

Give us 5% of YOUR Confidence, We will EARN the other 95%!

Send mail to jamersereau@hotmail.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2008 JA Mersereau & Associates, Inc.
Last modified: 04/02/08