Hola! We are building a one story brick and stone home (3145 sq ft) in Pearland. Should I pay for a 3 phase home inspection myself or is it not necessary because the city will inspect?
Thank you!
Brad
Tom: I think you should get an inspection if you’re buying a home. Unless, if you’re doing a real custom home, and you’ve really got this builder that hangs the moon, and he really knows what he’s doing you don’t have to do that. If you’re a production home and you’re not sure, I think the inspection would not be a bad idea to have one. Are they going to change some of the things this inspector finds; maybe not. At least you’ll have documentation down the road if something happens.
Also, most importantly in the final punch out they check all the plugs, all the, even the temperatures on the cook tops to make sure everything is working right. That’s something that could take you over a year to find out if a plug is bad, because you never used it, and you finally decided to use it and found out it didn’t work. That’s a great thing to do on a punch out as far as a new home. Don’t ever rely on city inspectors. It is not their job, nor will they say it is, to inspect the home for quality for you. They just want to make sure it’s meeting the minimum guidelines that is required by their district.
Charlie: What is a three-phase home inspection?
Tom: They look at before they pour the concrete, the steel is in the form’s ready to pour, that’s a pre-pour. Then they look at the walls before the sheetrock goes up, so all the mechanicals, insulation, and framing is exposed. They get a good idea before the sheetrock goes up what’s there. Then the last one, of course, is the punch out.
Charlie: What’s that’s going to cover him, you saying it would cover him down the road. What’s it cover?
Tom: Let’s say you have a structural issue and he’s writes down this structure wasn’t done right. They say, “Too bad you’re going to get it this way.” Then that thing shows its ugly head down the road. You say, “Hey I told him that it had a structural problem and they didn’t fix it.” Hopefully you will never have to do that. You’ll put it in a file and know you got a good house.
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