If you receive a bad inspection report on a home you’re buying or selling, don’t panic. There’s no such thing as a perfect house, so you aren’t going to receive a perfect report. Even new builds come up with negative things in their inspection reports. Here are four issues that tend to cause alarms to go off during a home inspection, but on further inspection may not be as big of a problem as perceived.
You’ve probably heard of the saying – If you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait five minutes and it will change. We have hot summers which causes drought and we have lots of rain in the spring and fall which causes flooding – just look at the rainfall records North Texas broke this past month. A lot of homes in Texas are built on expansive clay soil which absorbs water and then expands and puts pressure on the home’s foundation. Weather and soil conditions have a major impact on a home’s foundation but are out of your control. Remember all houses are going to have some amount of settling. There are some cracks that aren’t a big deal and there are some that are. So just because you see a couple of cracks, it doesn’t automatically mean the house is going to come falling down.
Home inspections do not test for asbestos, but your home inspection could reveal based on the age of the home that asbestos could be present. Most homes built before 1980 have building materials with asbestos in them. Do not panic just because the home contains asbestos. The presence of asbestos is only a problem when its fibers are breathed in and get into the lung. This only happens if the building materials containing asbestos are damaged or disturbed. If the asbestos has not been disturbed, it shouldn’t cause a problem. If it is encapsulated, the risk of a problem is very low and the best thing you can do is avoid the area. If you do want to have it removed or are doing remodeling, call a professional to do any removal or identification. Never try to do any sampling or removal yourself.
Mold has gotten a bad rap and people are fearful when they hear the word. There are several varieties of mold, but the really bad and not that bad tend to all be lumped into the same category. In a lot of cases, mold shouldn’t make you turn away from a house – like mildew in the bathtub that can easily be taken care of with a little elbow grease or solved by installing extra ventilation. Mold and moisture go hand in hand and can be very common in bathrooms. The concern is when there is mold, like toxic black mold, that is a health hazard. A home inspector won’t look for mold, but will point out water damage signs which may mean there is the possibility of mold. In this case, you should get it checked out and removed if necessary, especially if you have allergies or asthma.
The thought of roaches or mice in a house is very unpleasant, but it’s not the end of the world. Rodents sometimes do damage so you’ll want to check for that, but in most cases bugs and rodents can easily be taken care of by hiring an exterminator or rodent removal specialist, sealing up entrances and eliminating the food source. Termites, on the other hand, are a pest to be concerned about as they can potentially cause a lot of damage to the house. Termites feed on the wood of a home and do so in a way that it can be years before an issue is revealed. Fortunately, The Home inspectors offers a free termite inspection with every home inspection we do.
If you do receive a not so stellar home inspection report, remember not every home is perfect and it’s not necessarily a deal breaker. The Home Inspectors provide home inspections for buyers, sellers, new builds, builder warranties and home maintenance. We make it easy with 24/7 online scheduling and a simple pricing structure. Contact The Home Inspectors today for your home inspection!