3 Inspections You Should Have Done When Buying a House
Buying a home can be an incredibly exciting time full of fun, imagination, planning and dreams. Think of walking through the hallways and rooms imagining how you’ll put together the décor and the memories you’ll make while living there. Before you pull the trigger and make the offer to purchase your new house, however, you’ll want to do some checks on the property, and enlist the help of professionals to carry out these inspections.
Plumbing
While checking the plumbing, you’ll want to check the pipes and plumbing systems for leaks and stresses which could turn into leaks in the future. The general overall condition of the plumbing and pipes will be checked, but more importantly an inspection will also make sure that the pipes are not too old and rust-free.
If you want to do this yourself, a stress test is a good first step. Turn on a few of the taps and have them running while you flush the toilets all at the same time. Having this sort of load put on the plumbing system will tell you if the pressure and water supply is efficient.
Electrics
Electrics is another must-check when you’re purchasing a home, particularly an older home. An electric installation condition report, or EICR, can be performed to check the overall condition of the house electrics. It will cover the checking and reporting on things like the distribution board and switches and fittings, as well as the overall condition of the wiring running to all the different areas in the house.
While performing these checks, you can also ensure the circuit breakers are adequate enough and have the correct specifications for the electrical demand of the house’s circuits. You should also ensure both the heating and cooling systems are all in proper working order too and consider updating them if they are older. Installing new modern heating and cooling systems can improve efficiency and save you money on operating costs.
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Infestations
One of the most important checks you’ll make is for infestations of pests. This could take the form of wood-boring insects like termites in the floorboards or roof trusses which can cause structural issues with the house and be incredibly expensive to repair. Check for larger pests too like mice and bats in the attics and crawl spaces.
While you’re checking for infestations, you can also do a check for toxic materials that might need to be disposed of, adding cost to the house. Look for lead paints or asbestos, particularly in older homes.
Once these inspections and checks have been performed and you get the all clear, you can rest easy that one of the biggest investments you’ll ever make is structurally sound and all the electrics and plumbing is safe and in good order. The last thing you want to discover only after purchasing or moving in to a house is that there are big, expensive repairs that need to be conducted that can upset your budget or put financial strain on you.
