"You're wasting your money on a home inspection, and we're not going to fix anything."

That’s what a local builder told one of my customers.  The home buyer hired me to inspect her new single family home before she finalized the purchase, and the builder apparently didn’t want to end up dealing with any hassles.  The builder’s rep told the buyer that having a new construction home inspection was a waste of money, and that even if I came up with any issues, it wouldn’t matter; the house had already been inspected by city, so they wouldn’t fix anything.

The home buyer said she felt like cancelling the entire purchase after hearing that, and I can’t say I blame her.  Who would want to buy a home from someone with an attitude like that?

Maybe the rep felt like he was being personally insulted when the buyer mentioned a home inspection, so he was getting defensive.  If that was the case, I say grow up.  This is just business.  Having an attitude like that will only turn buyers off, and make the builder look silly when the home inspector comes up with a list of installation defects.

It’s not supposed to be the home inspector against the builder; we’re both working for the home buyer, trying to make sure that any construction defects are addressed right away, before they turn in to a expensive problem.

My advice to builders

When builders use the old excuse of “the city already approved it” they end up looking like weasels.  Everyone knows that municipal building inspectors can’t possibly catch every little defect; no one can.   When a municipal inspector approves a permit, it means they didn’t find any defects; it doesn’t mean they’re putting their blessing on something that was done wrong.  When a builder tries to talk a home buyer out of having a home inspection done, it’s a huge red flag for the home buyer and the home inspector.

Builders should welcome a home inspection.  If the home buyer is nervous about the quality of construction, this is a perfect opportunity for the buyer’s fears to be assuaged.  If the home is truly well built, a good home inspector will say so.  While there may be a handful of overly zealous, hyper-critical home inspectors, most of us aren’t.  Most home inspectors appreciate neat work and best practices, and we love pointing this stuff out to clients.

When I inspect particularly neat wiring, I make a point of telling the buyer that the electrician probably took a lot of pride in their work.  

When I inspect a new home with insulation applied to the exterior of the foundation, I explain how this is a more expensive way of insulating the basement, but it’s also a superior way of doing it.

When I see a drain pan installed below a washing machine on the second floor, I tell my clients about how this isn’t required, but it’s a nice safety measure that the builder added.

A home inspection is a PR opportunity for the builder.  If the home inspector comes up with a list of construction defects, the builder has a golden opportunity to fix the issues with a smile.  This creates trust and goodwill with the buyer, which can lead to referrals.

When a builder welcomes a home inspection, they’re telling the home buyer that they’re confident in their work.    This concept seems obvious to me, but only the best builders seem to understand this.

Back to my original story.  I didn’t find a ton of defects at the new construction house I mentioned at the beginning of this blog.  It was all stuff that could probably be corrected in one day – a kitchen cabinet drawer that wouldn’t open because it was in a terrible location, a back-pitched plumbing vent, improper flashing above windows… stuff like that.  The buyer asked to builder to repair everything on my report, and wouldn’t you know it?  The builder was happy to fix everything.  I’m sure everyone will live happily ever after.

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email- Minnesota Home Inspections

        

New Construction Inspections

One of the most common myths related to new home construction is that new homes don’t need to be inspected.  I personally know several people that have purchased new homes and didn’t have them inspected because they were ‘new’.   I’ve seen far too many problems on new construction homes to think that they’re not worth first inspecting, regardless of the builder.

One common myth that builders will sometimes tell buyers is that the home has already been inspected many times by the city as part of the permit process, so the buyer is wasting their money hiring a private inspector.  While there may have been many brief inspections performed by the city along the way, things still get missed every day.  Did you know that unless a ladder is provided at the site for the city inspector, they won’t even get up on the roof to inspect it?  It’s actually common practice for roofers to leave a few photos for the building inspector to look at to sign off on the roof.  The photos below show a hole in the roof of a new construction townhouse that I recently evaluated, and the builder was a reputable, well known builder that you’ve definitely heard of.  The builder had actually tried to talk the client out of getting a home inspection.

Another myth is that because a home is new, there won’t be problems.  While new homes don’t have the same types of problems as old homes (such as components reaching the end of their life expectancy), they can still have serious issues, typically related to improper building and installation methods.  These are the types of issues that an average homeowner will know much less about; it’s easy to look at cracks in a foundation or rust in a furnace and know there’s an issue, but it’s impossible to identify installation defects without knowledge of building, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical codes.  While a private inspection is certainly not a code compliance inspection, an excellent home inspector will be aware of code requirements , and will be looking for any problems.

Below are a few photos of problems I’ve found at new construction homes, or homes that were relatively new.  Remember, these were built by big, reputable builders.

This window was on a second story, and I suspect it had been dropped before being installed.

The two photos below show a whole house fan that was supposed to be exhausting to the exterior; the bottom photo shows the wall that the fan should be exhausting to.  Obviously, the person installing the siding went a little too fast.

 

These photos show where a roofer was going too fast - they forgot to install the damper for the bath fan exhaust, so there was just a hole in the roof.

 

This photo shows the heat duct and the exhaust opening for the HRV, located right next to each other in a basement bathroom (one supplies air, one sucks air out).

I can't tell you how many plumbing vents I've seen with knockout plugs still in place. These are supposed to be removed after the final plumbing inspection, but it's commonly forgotten about.  This means that the plumbing fixtures are not vented.

Many, many, many air conditioners get installed with the wrong size circuit breakers.  Note the text on the label for the AC that reads in all caps "MAX FUSE OR MAX CKT. BKR. - 20"  The 30 amp breaker is what fed the AC unit.

I could go on and on with these photos, but hopefully I've made my point; new homes need home inspections too!

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections