Author: Best Franchise Sources

You have decided you want to be a home owner. You have started shopping around and have narrowed down your choices of homes. The next step is to narrow it down to the one you will call home. This is all great and dandy until you move in and realize that you need a new roof, or there is mold growing in the basement, or the air conditioner doesn’t work correctly. No matter what the problem is, it has now become your problem and you have to pay to have it fixed. If you would have gotten a home inspection you may have been able to find out before you purchased your home. You could have then went with one of the other houses that were an option.

On average only ¼ of homebuyers get a home inspection, an even smaller amount of home sellers get one. This is something that is simple and can prevent future headaches. A home inspection doesn’t take that long. It takes anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours. If you are buying a home it is worth taking the time to have a reputable, certified home inspector come look at the home you’re looking at buying. The home inspector will go through the house and check the heating and cooling systems. They will check the interior plumbing and the electrical systems to make sure they are working correctly; they will check your roof to make sure that the shingles are all in place and there isn’t any spots in the roof where there is rotting. They will also check the attic and visible insulation to make sure that it is intact and there isn’t any mold growing anywhere. They will then go around and check the walls, ceiling, floors, windows, and doors. They will then go around and check the foundation, basement, and structural components. They will check for any holes, cracks, or gaps. The reason it is important to check for any cracks, gaps, or holes is because these are paths were either water can get in and cause mold or radon can get in and cause high levels of radon. If your home tests positive for high levels of radon you need to act immediately and get as much radon out as possible. The reason for this is that radon damages lung tissue causing lung cancer. People live in their homes for years and years and sometimes never find out they have radon in their homes until it is too late.

A home inspector will bring some tools to help with his inspection. For example they will bring a ladder to get on the roof, a flashlight to get down in crawl spaces, electronic testing equipment to test for carbon monoxide, they will also bring a circuit analyzer to test the outlets and circuits to make sure they are all in working correctly; they will also bring a moisture meter. This will help them determine how much moisture is in the air. If there is too much moisture it could start to cause mold and other problems.

Knowing what problems a home has is going to save to a lot of headache down the road. It will also help you to make the decision if the things that need to be fixed are still worth buying the house or is it going to cost you more money than the house is worth. Knowing everything up front is going to help you be less frustrated once you move in for the fact you knew before hand what you were up against all because you spent a little extra time and got a home inspection.

If you don’t know where to find a company to do a home inspection you can go online to websites such as HouseMaster.com. Here not only will you be able to find reputable home inspectors in your area but also a plethora of information on home inspections.

Written By: Chauntel Greenwald

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/save-yourself-a-headache-by-getting-a-home-inspection-5408506.html

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