DIY Home Inspection
Home inspection is often done before you buy a home. This is highly recommended by real estate agents to ensure that your are buying a house according to what you paid for it or to ensure that the house you are moving in would be safe for you and your family. Insurance companies also require home inspection so that they could properly determine the coverage the will provide to your home. Home inspection is also a good way of determining if there are any changes or improvements to do in your home. A regular home inspection is highly recommended to prevent more damage in your home.
If you opt to inspect your home by yourself, be sure to cover everything so that you should ensure the safety of your house. Remember that anything that you missed could be used against you when you file for claims in your insurance.
Wiring
Wiring should be thoroughly inspected since faulty wiring is often the cause of fire at homes. Check each wiring to determine if there’s anything wrong with the home wiring. To make things a lot easier, buy an outlet tester. This can easily check if there are any outlets that are faulty in the home. Do not forget to check the basement for additional wirings. Check the capacity of the panel in the home. Make sure that it has the capacity of at least 100 amps. Homes right now are very intensive in power so anything less than 100 amps could never handle the appliances of a modern home.
Plumbing
After you have checked the wiring, go directly to plumbing. The easiest way to determine if the plumbing works perfectly is to turn on two or more water faucets. When the water comes out with a little red hue, it’s an indication that the pipes are rusted. Also try to flush the toilet. This is also an indicator of good running water at home.
Air Conditioning and Heating
Air conditioning and heating could be inspected based on the manufacturing date. Air conditioning should work without any problem from 10 to 15 years. Heating facilities should be able to last up to 25 years. The manufacturing date could be easily found in the air conditioning systems and heaters. Anything more than 10 years old should be reconsidered. You might need to change to the air conditioning and heating in the home and it will cost you thousands of dollars.
Interior and Exterior
Check the walls, doors and windows for cracks and discoloration. Anything out of the ordinary is very dangerous for your home as this will cause your house to crumble without any warning.
This might seem a very difficult task especially if you’re buying a house. There is always the option of hiring a licensed home inspector. The fees range from $350-$500 and they should be able to certify you home so that you can use it not only for insurance claims but to have a better deal for homes. The fee and the effort are nothing compared to thousands of dollars that you will be saving in the future.