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Start at the Right Place With a Home Inspection

So, you’re ready to get cracking on your project! You know exactly what you want your new open kitchen/dining room to look like, down to the backsplash of your exciting new open concept cooking/entertaining space.

Before you put the cart before the horse, you need to understand the condition of your house. This not only helps you avoid problems down the road, it also affects your plan going forward.  If you discover that repairs are necessary (and perhaps expensive), you’ll need to budget for those repairs first before considering anything on your wish list.  For example, during the home inspection you may discover that the sloping of your floor in the middle of the kitchen that you thought could be fixed by replacing the sub-floor is really due to sagging, termite-ridden floor joists that need to be replaced. Cha-ching!

Now is the best and cheapest time to address any deficiencies in your home.  So, don’t let your excitement make you “pennywise and pound-foolish.”  If something needs to be taken care of, make sure it lands on your list of must-haves.  Taking a little extra time now can save you thousands of dollars, lots of headaches, and possibly even legal bills.

Home inspections are your way of knowing what you’re getting into before you start.  If you’ve purchased a home before, you know home inspections require a qualified inspector to come to the property and look at every part of the home that’s accessible, including any basements, attics, secondary buildings, and the roof.  Home inspections, especially for older homes, will almost always bring up minor issues that should be addressed. So, don’t be alarmed.  Minor issues can be something as simple as pruning the trees in your yard back away from the roofline, while something more critical would be like a major plumbing repair.

There are five big reasons to have a home inspector take a good look at your home prior to your remodel:

1.     Mold, radon, asbestos, and other toxic substances that affect indoor air quality
2.     Electrical code and safety violations
3.     Building code changes that happen over time
4.     Plumbing concerns
5.     Hidden structural issues

Each of these reasons will need to be addressed as part of your remodel plan, and can be a nasty surprise if they were discovered part way through your project.

Even if you’ve kept up with routine maintenance, an inspection can uncover issues that might change your mind about moving forward with your remodel because you may not be able to justify the cost of repairs.  While disappointing, sometimes not moving forward is the right choice.   Or, underlying issues in your home pose a serious risk to your health, jeopardizing your safety and well-being.   If so, these issues may not make pursuing a remodel of your current home worthwhile.

When you hire a home inspector, make sure:

•       They are licensed in your state.
•       They are also a general contractor with experience estimating corrective work (Jackpot!)
•       You know what the home inspection does and does not cover.

A home inspection is one of the most important steps in the DREAM phase of my Remodel Success process. Once you know what you’re really working with inside your home, you can move on to the external factors that dictate your remodeling plans, which I’ll address in my next post.