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[av_heading heading=\’1 year Warranty Inspection on New Homes\’ tag=\’h2\’ style=\’blockquote modern-quote\’ subheading_active=\’subheading_below\’ show_icon=\’\’ icon=\’ue800\’ font=\’entypo-fontello\’ size=\’40\’ av-medium-font-size-title=\’\’ av-small-font-size-title=\’\’ av-mini-font-size-title=\’\’ subheading_size=\’16\’ av-medium-font-size=\’\’ av-small-font-size=\’\’ av-mini-font-size=\’\’ icon_size=\’\’ av-medium-font-size-1=\’\’ av-small-font-size-1=\’\’ av-mini-font-size-1=\’\’ color=\’\’ custom_font=\’\’ icon_color=\’\’ margin=\’\’ margin_sync=\’true\’ padding=\’0\’ icon_padding=\’10\’ link=\’\’ link_target=\’\’ id=\’\’ custom_class=\’\’ template_class=\’\’ av_uid=\’av-ku7cvskm\’ sc_version=\’1.0\’ admin_preview_bg=\’\’]
By Farren West
Key Inspection Services, LLC
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The growth of people moving to Seattle and the surrounding areas of Sammamish, Bothell, Issaquah, Covington, and Black Diamond have been Amazing these last couple of years. Many people are buying new homes here and waiving the inspections, but do not realize they may have overlooked hazards that were not caught during the new construction code inspection process. Good thing there is one last opportunity to protect their family and the investment, that’s called a Home Warranty Inspection.
In new construction homes, many things can occur to a home in the first year after being built. The most common are settling soils, dry w
all cracks, nail pops, grout cracks, caulking failure, paint cracking, and doors-windows out of adjustment. If the house was not initially inspected there may be leaking plumbing, disconnected heat ducts, construction debris in heat ducts, water in the crawlspace, and a lot of unknowns.
These larger and smaller concern items are generally covered in your one-year warranty, but this needs to be clearly documented and submitted for repairs to your builder. If you are not regularly going into your attic, crawlspace, or going on your roof, you could easily miss these concerns. These construction concerns can cost a lot in repairs, and potentially significant repairs to your new home.
Many people ask, can I do this inspection myself, and to certain degree yes you can! Definitely ask the builder as they may not accept a homeowners inspection report. The key to making this happen is if you
are extremely good with documentation of concerns, taking photos, noting location and concern, are comfortable walking on roofs, traversing attics, and crawling through crawlspaces with protective gear, as sometimes there is construction debris which can pierce skin and clothing rather easily. Definitely can be an option but think about this long and hard prior to a self-inspection when there is a dedicated trade for home inspections, with decades of experience and knowledge.
You should call a professional inspection company, like Key Inspection Services, LLC which has done over 14,000 inspections. Remembering the goal is about protecting your family’s health and safety, while also ensuring your investment stays in good operating condition for the foreseeable future.
The typical home warranty inspection costs between $400-650 depending on the size of your home. In most cases on the warranty inspection the inspector will review the exterior, roof, attic, electrical, crawlspace, structural system, plumbing, fireplaces, heating ventilation systems, look for moisture intrusion, leaking plumbing, improper installations just to name a few areas. The inspection takes between 90 minutes to 3 hours, again based on the size and complexity of one’s home.
After doing 1000’s of inspections, I can honestly say no house is perfect. Unfortunately, with the growth in the PacNW the houses are being built at an extremely fast rate and not being very well inspected by local code inspectors. Significant items have been missed during the city code inspections and can pose a significant financial and safety hazard for occupants.
Investing in a home warranty inspection is a wise investment, if for only peace of mind, but generally pays for it many times over with a list of repairs the builder has to complete.
The fact is everyone home has issues and when caught during the home warranty inspection the builder generally makes these repairs. Often a small leak in the crawlspace won’t show up as a major concern for many years often long past your home warranty safety period.
Also having a home inspection can help with future documentation should the builder not want to make said repairs, you now have documentation stating this was a concern noted in the first 12 months of home ownership. Kind of puts a foot in the butt of the builder to get moving on repairs or take on the liability if this small roof patch should turn into a large roof leak. 3rd party home inspection services, with good photos and documentations can make your life a lot easier should you have to make a claim in the future to the builder.
I hope you found this information helpful. Please feel free to reach out and ask any questions. Farren@KeyInspectionServices.com Also ask your inspector about our new home maintenance inspection services. Whereby we come on annual or bi-annual basis to look at potential problems prior to them becoming concerns. A new service we are just rolling out End of Year 2021.
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