Basic Home Inspection

Fireplaces traditionally make a house a home for many people. In the past they were essential to heat our homes and cook our meals, today they are more decorative than essential. There have been innovations to make fireplaces more efficient and wood or pellet burning stoves can be a very efficient way to heat a home.

In your home inspection we are concerned about safety and we will inspect:

• Fireplaces and solid fuel burning appliances;
• Chimneys and combustion vents.

Insulation helps make homes comfortable and fuel efficient places to live. Older homes have less insulation than newer homes today and have different strategies to deal with moisture movement and ventilation.

Our home inspection will look at the following:

• Insulation in unfinished spaces;
• Ventilation of attics and crawlspaces;
• Mechanical ventilation systems;

The interior of a home is where people spend most of the time and without a doubt the most important aspect of any home decision. When inspecting we’re looking for clues to any underlying structural issues. The interior finishes themselves reflect the overall building quality, and their condition often indicates the level of home maintenance.

Each room should have an adequate heat supply and sufficient electrical outlets. Doors and windows should operate properly. Steps, railings and passageways should be safe. We focus on function rather than appearance, and emphasis is placed on whether the room will work as it was intended.

The interior inspection focuses on:

• Walls, ceilings, and floors;
• Steps, stairways, and railings;
• Installed kitchen wall cabinets to determine if secure;
• Interior passage doors and windows;
• Permanently installed kitchen appliances.

There are many types of air conditioning systems, but they all work on the same principle. They take heat from the house air and transfer it to the exterior. The most common type of air conditioning found in New Jersey is Central Air; this system works with a furnace. The ductwork that is used for heat in the winter is used for cool air in the summer. A less common type is the Independent system that doesn’t use a furnaces ductwork – they can be ductless or have their own ductwork. No matter what type of system the house has, we inspect them. We inspect all permanently installed hard-wired cooling systems.

The heating systems job is to generate and distribute heat throughout the home. The heat is usually generated centrally, then distributed by air through ducts or by water in pipes. When the heat is distributed through ducts the system is called a furnace; if the heat is distributed in pipes the system is called a boiler. The most common fuels used to heat the air or water are gas, oil, or electricity. Heat can also be generated in each room like a fireplace, wood stove or electric baseboard heat.

We inspect:

• Installed heating equipment and energy sources;
• Combustion vent systems and chimneys;
• Fuel storage tanks;
• Visible and accessible portions of the heat exchanger.

Electricity is an important element of every home. It provides lighting, heating and power for electric motors and electronics such as televisions and computers. Electricity is critical to our lives, if you have ever experienced a blackout you know how important it is for our comfort and safety. But with all the benefits it provides we must also respect it, electricity is dangerous. It has to be installed and used properly to be safe.

In the inspection we will check the following:

• Service entrance system;
• Main disconnects, main panel and sub panels, including interior components of main panel and sub panels;
• Service grounding;
• Wiring;
• Over-current protection devices (circuit breakers or fuses) and the compatibility of their ampacity with that of the connected wiring;
• Lighting fixtures, switches, and receptacles;
• Ground fault circuit interrupters.

The house plumbing system provides two critical purposes: supply freshwater and remove used water. On the supply side, the purpose is to get water for drinking, washing and cooking to the appropriate areas of the house. The waste side of the plumbing system gets rid of used liquid and solid waste. The majority of the piping in a home, both supply and waste, is concealed in walls, ceilings and underground.

Here are the key items we will be inspecting:

• Interior water supply and distribution systems including functional water flow and functional drainage;
• All interior fixtures and faucets;
• Drain, waste and vent systems;
• Domestic water heating systems;
• Combustion vent systems;
• Fuel distribution systems;
• Drainage sumps, sump pumps and related piping;

The basic purpose of a roof is to protect the building from rain, snow, sun and wind. Roofs also impact the appearance of a building. There are two main categories of roofing types: sloped and flat roofs. There are several types of materials used to cover roofs, from the very common asphalt shingle found in New Jersey to the less common Spanish style clay tiles. We inspect them all.

Here are the key categories of items we inspect:

Roofing Surface

Exterior of Chimneys

Skylights

Roof Drainage Systems

• Roofing surface;
  
• Roof drainage systems;
  
• Flashing;
  
• Skylights;
  
• Exterior of chimneys.

The exterior elements of a building work together to provide a watertight skin, if all the parts are doing their job. Water is the key element that will damage a home. Good exteriors are attractive, durable and require little maintenance. Exterior components are often the most neglected parts of a home.

Here are the key elements we will be inspecting:

• Exterior surfaces;
• Exterior doors;
• Windows;
• Attached or adjacent decks, balconies, stoops, steps, porches, and their railings;
• Vegetation, grading, drainage, and retaining walls as they effect the house;
• Attached or adjacent walkways, patios, and driveways;
• Garage doors including automatic door openers and entrapment protection
  mechanisms.