You are about to have your home inspected for the prospective Buyer. What are some things you need to do to allow for a thorough inspection? Start by imagining how you would want a house to be for your inspection. You want to be able to give the home inspector clear access and allow the inspector to focus by doing the things listed below:

1) Remove all pets from the premises or kennel them. We cannot be responsible for pets that get loose. Also, most inspectors will not enter a home with a loose dog. It isn't because of a fear of dogs but, the fear of what happens to a dog that bites. We would hate to see the worst.

2) Make all attic accesses clearly accessible. We would hate to have a family heirloom broken because we have to move things to get into the attic. Most inspectors will move things only to a certain point. Please clear those spots.

3) Make all mechanicals accessible. We need to look in the furnace, at the water heater and open the electrical panel. We understand you may be packing for moving but, keep those things clear. 

4) Have your house clean. Again, there may be a mess due to the move but have your house as clean as possible. It makes for a more comfortable inspection and gives the buyer a feeling that you have cared for your home.

If you need a home inspection in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin, including Appleton, Oshkosh, and Fond du Lac, contact Ace Home Inspections today. We have the experience and expertise you need to make sure your home inspection is thorough and nothing is missed!

I view home inspections as being two pronged, informational and educational. We as home inspectors are there to inform people about the house they about to call home. On top of that, we are there to educate people on how to make their life in their new home easier and more economic. We want Buyers to enjoy their investment, not spend their time improving unseen issues with their home. There are 3 items that I commonly see in home inspections that the Buyer doesn’t see that can be easily fixed to either prevent expensive issues down the road or can make for an unsafe situation.

Let’s start on the outside, the home’s grading. The pitch of the landscaping around the home is crucial to the health of the foundation and items inside of it. Most homes will cost less than $500 and a Saturday of labor to save what could be thousands of dollars of damage. If a person can maintain a pitch of 1” drop of their landscaping per 1’ away from the home for 4’-6’ away from the foundation, that would be best. We also recommend adding plastic on top of the compacted soil, then stone on top of the plastic. Now, we have created a maintenance free bed that is a water barrier, keeping water out of the home, where it belongs. Any plantings should be kept 6’ away from a home due to the fact that we intentionally pour water there to keep them healthy.

Now, let’s move inside the home to the attic. Inspectors will commonly find organic growth, more commonly known as mold. Unless the inspector has special certification to identify it as mold, we have to call it organic growth or, colored fuzzy stuff. This is caused by the humid air from the living space entering the attic. Again, to fix the cause rather than the result can be much cheaper. A practice call air sealing is common to fix this issue. We want to trap the air in the home. Sometimes this is as involved as removing insulation and spray foaming leak areas. Other times, it is as simple as installing a cheap weatherstrip and eye hooks on the attic access. Either of these practices will keep your home from having organic growth creating possible health issues.

In homes built pre 1965, we commonly find 3 prong outlets having open ground. These can create potential issues if the occupant is in a shock situation. If not properly grounded, the occupant can become the ground and be shocked. An electrician will have economic ways to repair this whether it is a special outlet or breaker in the panel. The home owner wouldn’t know as all of the outlets will operate properly, just not safely.

Not everything found on an inspection means you shouldn’t buy the home. Sometimes, we are just starting your “To Do” list as a home owner. Welcome to never having a weekend without something to do!

We all think highly of loved ones that are well versed in the ways of the home. In fact, my dad taught me most of what I know about home repair and I will forever remember those lessons. With that being said, I wouldn’t buy a home just because he said “I don’t see anything wrong here.”

If we can’t trust loved ones with the single biggest investment in our lives, outside of education maybe, who can we trust? The answer is simple, a WAHI (Wisconsin Association of Home Inspectors) Home Inspector! There are many reasons why an inspection is important but I view 3 main reasons to have a WAHI member inspector this huge investment for you.

The first reason is the specialized training we have. WAHI Home Inspectors have access to the best training in Wisconsin. Inspectors can attend monthly education meetings along with 2-2 day long seminars a year that have a mix of classroom style learning of current trade practices and a day of getting their hands dirty with field training under the watchful eye of an experience home inspector. You won’t find a better training for someone you want to trust with your future home!

Secondly, TIME! When an inspection is performed, we are allotted an amount of time to allow us to thoroughly go through the systems of your home, pressuring them to make sure that they will perform safely and as intended while you are living there. When you bring a loved one through the home on a showing, you have a limited amount of time to see what you can see. Sometimes running faucets, flipping switches, maybe even running the HVAC system. What you can miss in that short amount of time can ruin your experience of home ownership. WAHI Home Inspectors are trained to inform you about the troubles that might lie ahead as a home owner.

Last, ACCESS! Wisconsin Standards of Practice for Home Inspectors dictate what we need to inspect and what we don’t.  As Home Inspectors, we have access to everything system in the home. Walking roofs. Opening electrical panels. Crawling in attics and crawlspaces. WAHI Home Inspectors brag that we go into places in a home that some people didn’t even know they had much less ever want to venture into. These are all areas that can provide indications that something might be wrong, giving you the opportunity to call in a trade professional to determine if and how wrong something might be to give you an accurate idea of how it should be dealt with after discussion with your Realtor.

Home Inspections are a small price to pay to make sure you buy a home with peace of mind and a good knowledge of your home. A WAHI Home Inspector is your guide to a happy and long time of being a home owner! If you need a home inspection in Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Appleton, or anywhere in the surrounding areas, please give us a call!

It's not All About Price!

I get a lot of calls that start with, "How much do you charge?" My answer, as much as humanly possible! We have a chuckle and begin talking about the inspection.

As President of the Wisconsin Association of Home Inspectors, I get all of the bad calls. Let me tell you, it sure seems like you get what you pay for. 

When looking for an inspector, don’t just ask about the price. We don't all do the same inspection. Ask about their procedures. Ask about their experience prior to becoming a home inspector. Ask how many inspections they have done. Ask about where they get their continuing education. Ask if they are a WAHI member!

The cheap inspectors are cheap for a reason, mostly. Some just want to be cheapest, most are begging for work. Make your search about more than just price! You may just get what you pay for!

Recent market conditions have led to buyers waiving the home inspection contingency in their offer. In my opinion, this is a huge gamble for you as a Buyer!

I hear routinely,"My dad has owned a lot of homes and knows a lot about them." Or, "My neighbor used to be a contractor and walked through the home with me. They didn't see anything." Did your dad look in the attic? Did your neighbor take the cover off of the electrical panel? Did either of them notice the foundation cracks that couldn't be seen in the basement because  the basement was finished?  These are all things home inspectors do. We go into places in your potential home that you didn't even know you had in some instances!

Home inspectors are trained to see hints that something is wrong when the actual problem can't be seen. Most of the time, this service is offered to you for less than 1% of the price of the home you are purchasing! For that little bit, you can be protected from having to pay thousands dollars in unexpected costs in repairs to your home that the Seller may have been responsible for.

Buying a home is supposed to be your single biggest purchase as an adult. Don't let the market ruin that joyous time for you!

Home inspectors are trained to get into spaces you may not even know exist. These places many times have concerns that may affect the health and safety of people living in the home.

For example, when was the last time you looked in the attic during a showing? Most homeowners generally don't think to as they are determining if they want to purchase that particular home. Inspectors are trained to find existing issues such as organic growth or broken roof framing components. We are also trained to identify items that may lead to those particular items. 

The attic is just one of the many items in a home that will be examined during an inspection that home buyers don't consider when making the purchase. A home inspection can not only protect the well being of the buyer and the family but can also prevent someone from buying a money pit.

I commonly hear parents coming along on home inspections, tell their children that they should be getting the air filter for their furnace that catches everything! Well, unfortunately for them, but fortunately for the Buyer, the parents are wrong.

HVAC professionals will recommend the cheapest, simplest filters you can find.  The recommendation comes for a few reasons.

1) The upfront cost. Unless you have extreme allergies in the home, changing the simple filters a little more often will give you the same protection while costing much less than changing complex filters a couple times a year. Even mild to moderate allergy sufferers will be comfortable with the simple filters.

2) Complex filters work your furnace harder, shortening the life of the furnace in the long run. It is much harder to draw air through even the clean, complex filters thus, shortening the life of the furnace.

3) It takes longer to heat or cool the home, depending on the season. Due to the fact it is harder to draw the air through a complex filter, it in turn takes longer to move the air that is heated or cooled through the home. The more complex the filter is, the more gas and electricity you waste heating and cooling the home.

As a homeowner, you have much better ways to spend your money! Probably more fun than a furnace filter too! Go cheap, simple and change them more often and both you and your furnace will be better off in the long run!