Your New Home:
Kick the Bricks!
As
a professional house and building inspection company, one of our primary
jobs is answering questions. One of the most common questions we get
is "Should I have my brand new house inspected?" It's a fair
and honest question. The short answer is YES. But you expected us to
say that, right? Let me tell you why it's a fair and honest answer.
Risk Reduction
Let's take the emotion out of it. Let's not call it your
home; let's say it's a house. A building with a roof, a structure, mechanical
systems, and interior finishes. It requires a substantial investment
for you to purchase this building. You are putting your money at risk.
It makes sense for you to learn about the qualities of this investment
before putting your money on the line.
"But what could be wrong? It's a new house?" Yes, the risk
of problems is probably lower than if you bought an old building. It
actually depends on the individual properties one is comparing. It boils
down to illuminating the risk, rather than assuming there is none.
House vs. Home
But it is artificial to take emotion out of it, precisely
because the building will be your home. So you have a financial and
an emotional investment. Why is this important? Because even a small
problem, like for example a leak at the kitchen sink, will elicit in
you an emotional response. What happens when you notice the leak? You
get an adrenaline rush, you turn off the tap or the dishwasher, you
wipe up the water, you remove the soaking box of dishwasher detergent,
you wonder what you should do next, you call someone you trust, you
call the builder or a plumber, you wait to make dinner until the service-person
arrives. A non-trivial emotional investment, for a minor problem.
For some people, that minor incident will bring on a not-so-minor bout
of buyer's remorse, wherein they wonder, "What else will go wrong?"
It is better for both you and your builder for the inspector to find
the leak so it can be fixed immediately.
Helps the Builder
Your builder has worked hard to put your home together.
It takes a phenomenal amount of coordination to turn an empty patch
of ground into a dream house. With so many steps and so many hands,
it is inevitable that some things will get missed. Sometimes we find
electrical outlets that don't work. Sometimes we find un-insulated attics.
These were not done on purpose, they just happen. If you hire an inspector
to find the things that need attention, you can put the items on the
PDI punch-list (the list of deficiencies generated at the pre-delivery
inspection that the builder is contracted to fix), or you will have
documentation of the issues and can bring them up later. This helps
both you and the builder keep track of the final wrinkles to be ironed
out. If there only a few wrinkles, you will gain an appreciation of
how well the house has been built.
11-month Inspection
Many of our clients choose to hire us after they move
in, but before the standard one-year builder's warranty coverage expires.
This has proven to be a uniquely successful strategy. The waiting period
allows the newly built house to "settle-in", making a performance-based
inspection more valuable.
No matter how you look at it, getting a professional building inspector
to kick the bricks of your new home is a sound idea.
As
seen in HOMES Magazine June/July/August 2003. Gerard Gransaull, P. Eng.,
Engineering Manager, Carson Dunlop and Associates Ltd., Consulting Engineers
- Building Inspections, www.carsondunlop.com
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