A home inspection is an important part of your due diligence when you purchase a home. Once you have reached a full agreement with the seller on price and all the terms, you have mutual acceptance. That’s when you can schedule your home inspection with an expert who will spend two to three hours giving your new home a thorough inspection from top to bottom. In different parts of the United States you’ll find that there are some similar home inspection issues, but there are also some issues that are more common in some regions. Since so many of my buyer clients are from other areas of the country, it might be helpful to know what common issues are recurring in the Sequim and Port Angeles area.
Common Home Inspection Issues
What are some of the most common home inspection issues, in other words, the biggest problems that keep showing up? Here they are:
- First generation LP siding that was defective from the manufacturer and moisture gets under the siding.
- First generation Trex decking that was defective and the surface peels off randomly.
- Composition roofing that has nearly exhausted it’s useful life.
- Skylight windows that leak.
- Windows in the house with failed seals so moisture gets between the panes.
- Outlets in the kitchen or bathroom that do not have breakers
- Insulation in the basement that is falling down in some sections.
- Vents from the bathroom or kitchen that are not connected in the attic.
- Non-compliance with the electrical code in the electric panel.
- A hot water heater without an earthquake band holding it in place.
Solving Home Inspection Issues
These are the most common home inspection issues in the Sequim area, but there are periodically more serious issues that turn up, and those are the ones we are looking for. Issues like water in the crawl space, a furnace or heat pump that is not working or worn out, a major structural problem, and appliances that don’t work, can be expensive to repair and often end up in a termination by the buyer, if the seller is unwilling to negotiate a reduction in the price or make the repairs himself.
A home inspection is cheap insurance. I recommend every buyer get a home inspection done.
Last Updated on September 23, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
