Summary Page
| Sample Home Inspection | |
| Client(s): | Sample |
| Property address: | 123 Anywhere Street Anywhere, Missouri |
| Inspection date: | Thursday, August 23, 2007 |
Concerns are shown and sorted according to these types:
| Safety | Poses a risk of injury or death |
| Major defect | Correction likely involves a significant expense |
| Repair/Replace | Recommend repairing or replacing |
| Repair/Maintain | Recommend repair and/or maintenance |
| Maintain | Recommend ongoing maintenance |
| Evaluate | Recommend evaluation by a specialist |
| Serviceable | Item or component is in servicable condition |
| Comment | For your information |
- This property has one or more fuel burning appliances, and no carbon monoxide alarms are visible. This is a safety hazard. Recommend installing one or more carbon monoxide alarms as necessary and as per the manufacturer's instructions. For more information, visit http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml05/05017.html
- Structures built prior to 1979 may contain lead-based paint and/or asbestos in various building materials such as insulation, siding, and/or floor and ceiling tiles. Both lead and asbestos are known health hazards. Evaluating for the presence of lead and/or asbestos is not included in this inspection. The client(s) should consult with specialists as necessary, such as industrial hygenists, professional labs and/or abatement contractors for this type of evaluation. For information on lead, asbestos and other hazardous materials in homes, visit these websites:
- Many wall, floor and/or ceiling surfaces were obscured by large amounts of furniture and/or stored items. Many areas couldn't be evaluated.
- Siding is damaged and/or deteriorated in one or more areas. A qualified contractor should evaluate and make repairs and/or replace siding as necessary to prevent water and vermin intrusion. The dryer vent also has no covering or louvers over it. This allows weather and vermin to freely enter the garage. It should be covered with a louver or screen.
- One or more minor cracks (1/8 inch or less) were found in the foundation. These don't appear to be a structural concern, but recommend sealing them to prevent water infiltration and monitoring them in the future. Numerous products exist to seal such cracks including:
- Minor cracks were found in the driveway. However they don't appear to be a structural concern and no trip hazards were found. No immediate action is recommended, but the client(s) may wish to have repairs made or have cracked sections replaced for aesthetic reasons.
- Trees and/or shrubs are in contact with or are close to the roof edge(s) in one or more areas. Damage to the roof may result, especially during high winds. Vegetation can also act as a conduit for wood destroying insects. Vegetation should be pruned back and/or removed as necessary to prevent damage and infestation by wood destroying insects.
- The roof is fairly new, and in very good shape. There is some slight "sagging" over the garage area, but this was due to previous water intrusion. As you will see in the "attic" section of this report, the sheathing has been replaced when the new roof was added, and there are no leaks.
- The garage-house door isn't equipped with an automatic closing device such as sprung hinges. This door should close and latch automatically to prevent vehicle fumes from entering living spaces and/or to slow the spread of fire from the garage to living spaces. A qualified contractor should install automatic closing device(s) as necessary, and as per standard building practices, so this door closes and latches automatically.
- No infared "photo eye" devices are installed for the vehicle door's electric door opener. They've been required on all vehicle door openers since 1993 and improve safety by triggering the vehicle door's auto-reverse feature without need for the door to come in contact with the object, person or animal that's preventing it from closing. Recommend considering having a qualified contractor install these devices for improved safety. For more information on garage door safety issues, visit: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/523.html or http://www.ohdstl.com/safety.html
- The attic access hatch over the attached garage doesn't have a one-hour fire rating. Wall and ceiling surfaces in an attached garage should be fire rated for one hour to prevent or slow the spread of fire from the garage to interior living spaces. This hatch should be replaced with a material that has a one hour fire rating, such as 5/8 inch Type X sheetrock.
- There is a cosmetic settlement crack in the garage ceiling. This is probably due to past water intrusion, and was fixed with the new roof.
- The attic of this house is very well insulated and dry. The sheathing has been replaced in damaged areas, and a new roof applied. There were no defects found in the attic except the hatch is not fire rated.
- The service drop wires are in contact with trees or vegetation. Recommend having a qualified tree service company or arborist prune or remove trees as necessary to prevent straining or abrading the service drop wires.
- Even though this house has older, "screw in" type fuses instead of breakers, it is very well wired and the electric service panel had no defects.
- The water heater does not have seismic straps or struts installed. This is a potential safety hazard since movement can cause leaks in the gas supply lines or damage wiring. Leaks may also occur in water supply pipes. A qualified contractor should install seismic straps or struts as necessary and as per standard building practices.
- No drip leg is installed on the water heater gas supply line. Drip legs are intended to trap oil, scale, water condensation and/or debris from the gas supply lines before they reach and damage the water heater components. A qualified contractor should install a drip leg as per standard building practices.
- The last service date of this system appears to be more than one year ago, or the inspector was unable to determine the last service date. The client(s) should ask the property owner(s) when it was last serviced. If unable to determine the last service date, or if this system was serviced more than one year ago, a qualified heating and cooling contractor should inspect, clean, and service this system, and make repairs if necessary. For safety reasons, and because this system is fueled by gas or oil, this servicing should be performed annually in the future. For more information visit: http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml05/05017.html
- The estimated useful life for forced air furnaces is 15 to 20 years. This furnace appears to be at this age or older and may need replacing at any time. Recommend budgeting for a replacement in the near future.
- The estimated useful life for air conditioning compressors is 8 to 15 years. This unit appears to have exceeded this age and may need replacing at any time. Recommend budgeting for a replacement in the near future.
- No drip leg is installed on the furnace or boiler gas supply line. Drip legs are intended to trap oil, scale, water condensation and/or debris from the gas supply lines before they reach and damage the furnace or boiler components. A qualified contractor should install a drip leg as per standard building practices.
- The cooling fins on the air handler's evaporator coils are dirty. This may result in reduced efficiency and higher energy costs. Some sources claim that energy efficiency is degraded by about five percent each year as the coils get dirtier due to accumulated dust and grime. This situation is compounded by the fact that the dryer vent is routed to vent directly in front of the evaporator, and a large amount of lent has gathered on this side of the coils.
- Copper water supply pipes in homes built prior to 1986 may be joined with solder that contains lead. Lead is a known health hazard, especially for children. Laws were passed in 1985 prohibiting the use of lead in solder, but prior to that solder normally contained about 50 percent lead. The client(s) should be aware of this, especially if children will be living in this structure. Evaluating for the presence of lead in this structure is not included in this inspection. The client(s) should consider having a qualified lab test for lead, and if necessary take steps to reduce or remove lead from the water supply. Various solutions such as these may be advised:
- One or more bathrooms with a shower do not have an exhaust fan installed. Moisture accumulation will occur and may damage the structure. Even if the bathroom has a window that opens, it likely does not provide adequate ventilation, especially during cold weather when the window is closed. A qualified contractor should install exhaust fans as per standard building practices where missing in bathrooms with showers.
- This structure was built prior to 1979 and may contain lead paint. Laws were enacted in 1978 in the US preventing the use of lead paint in residential structures. Lead is a known safety hazard, especially to children but also to adults. The paint found in and around this structure appeared to be intact and may be encapsulated by more recent layers of paint that are not lead-based. Regardless, recommend following precautions as described in the following links to Consumer Products Safety Commission website articles regarding possible lead paint.