Thread: new home inspection

Do new homes such as those built by Ryan usually come with a home warranty?

How important is it for a home buyer to have it inspected prior to final walk through?

My point is, if the home is already complete, and it hasn't been inspected yet, and there is a warranty, is an inspection that comes a week after walk through as good as one that comes before or on the day of walk through?

Similar Threads:

• FHA home inspection sure to raise eyebrows - Upstate House
• HWA Launches First National, Licensed Home Inspection Warranty Program - RisMedia.com
• How To Do A Home Inspection - Black Enterprise
• County officials to review home inspection program - Fredericksburg.com
• Inspection vital when selling second home - Mortage 101

Lets say there is a 1 year warranty. If an inspector goes in at 6 months and finds problems that existed when the house was built, is the builder obligated to fix them?

It,s important to qualify damage prior to occupancy. as well as before the stages that have time limits , the 1 ,5 and 10 year warranty inspections must be documented or forgotten..
Items like chipped glass, stone , tile or dents and dings are easily blamed on the other guy.Either the owner or the builder has a problem or gets one.
I'd go to the building dept and ask what is the protocol is as well as the builder .as far as specifics,

Most builders around here offer 1 year warranty's. I have often done inspections 6 months into the warranty and the people use my report as a punch/fix list for the builder.

First off anyone buying a new house should get a home inspection. Many times there are construction defects the city inspectors never looked for just stamped approved. If these defects are large enough the buyer might decide to move onto another house. Or postpone the closing until the defects are fixed. It is amazing how fast builders can move on repairs when money is being held up.

I do 1 year warranty inspections around here. The builder will schedule there project manager to go through the house with the owners. He works for the builder and his job is to minimize everything. When the owners present my report the whole meeting takes on a different meaning. Then it is up to the builder and the owner to come to terms on what they will and not do. I do not have a dog in this fight try to stay out of it.

Steve Reilly
Owl Inspection Services
Villa park IL.

On many occasions I find quite a bit wrong with new builds. It is important to catch all those items before they get covered up.

As far as an inspection just before or just after or 6 months later I found a lot wrong in new construction. If folks do not have it inspected they usually won't know for some time that there is anything wrong. If it is done six months later and you find things wrong builders will fix it. I do not know of any builder that does not have a least a one year warranty and some offer 2 and up. Some will fix items found 5 years later that were done wrong from day one on the upper end homes. I inspected a six year old home recently where the builder fixed every item I found. Of course it was a million plus home and the builder makes a much larger profit and has to protect his reputation.

in NJ the LAW, the Uniform construction Code LAW that the AHJ inspector enforces specifically excludes issues that involve workmanship or cosmetics and are items covered by the Home Warranty Program.
Items that are bona fide claims under warranty are not usually code deficiencies. Go figure . Claims must be made before the exclusion period.
I have never met a homeowner who knew what to do and when.

Jim's modified Golden Rule, "He who has the gold makes the rules." (Stolen from somewhere else that did not have anything to do with home inspections)
When buying a home of any kind, new or old, you (the buyer) have the gold that the seller wants, so you get to make the rules or they don't get your gold.
When you close the deal, they have the gold and they make the rules.
Anything else is a compromise at best. Warranties are a "promise" that problems will be fixed and is only as good as the company that makes the promise.
Case in point, I did a warranty inspection Monday for a new client and found numerous issues. One of the issues was the first floor office that had a separate attic from the rest of the house and guess what? They missed insulating the ceiling and draft-stopping the open web floor trusses so the missing insulation fed hot and cold attic air from the un-insulated attic to the floor and ceiling over most of the house. You think the builder who is now out of business is going to help pay for the escalated energy bills for the previous 11 months??

John,

Builders in Texas are required to give a 1 year (workmanship), 2 year (equipment like HVAC) and 10 year (slab and structure) warranty.

I think it is important to do an inspection on a new home before the owners move in. For example, I have found improper size CBs for the A/C units and A/Csecondary drains that were not installed. I have found arc fault CBs not installed. There is no shortage of discrepencies that can be found that could be unsafe or do a lot of damage before the warranty runs out.

Thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge.

I see reasons why it's a good idea to have the new home inspected prior to the final walk through. I also see reasons why it's a good idea to have inspections after occupancy, and during the warranty period.

I perform 3 or 4 eleven month warranty inspections a week. I only market to homes 2500-4000 sq ft. The homes are in relatively good shape and most defects found are relatively minor. But I also find items that would not have shown up at a final walkthru of a new home.

One house the owner had a bank of 3 windows covered by heavy drapes that they seldom if ever opened. Pulled back the drapes to operate the windows. Three inch long black streaks radiating from the bottom corners up and along the sills. Flashing was wrong. Did not show up until a years worth of weather rotted it out.

Same house the HVAC tech did not properly connect the A/C condensate line inside the unit. Had been dripping moisture inside the unit. Furnace was rusted out.

Another house had black streaks on window sill. Mositure meter indicated damp drywall below and to the side of the windows.

Other items were wrong at time of closeing. Lack of insulation, torn or damaged ducts, double taps, broken GFCI, foundation cracks, broken shingles, missing underlayment, damaged A/C lines insulation, lack of bonding of gas piping, deck construction, missing hurricane straps, etc.

If the buyers does not get a home inspection at closing, they definitely need one before the end of the 1 year warranty. Even if they get an inspection at closing, they need to get an end of warranty inspection. Independent evaluation to document the condition of the home and provide leverage to encourage the builder to stand behind his product.