Most homebuyers assume newly constructed homes don't need professional inspections. After all, they're brand new and subject to county inspections, right? This dangerous misconception could cost you thousands down the road.
In this revealing discussion, we unpack why even fresh-from-the-builder homes need multiple professional inspections. County inspectors simply don't have the time to thoroughly examine each property—they're meeting minimum code requirements while juggling dozens of other sites. Meanwhile, we're finding issues in almost every new construction we inspect.
We outline the three critical inspection phases every new homebuyer should schedule: the pre-drywall inspection that reveals what will soon be hidden behind walls forever; the final walkthrough before closing; and the crucial 11-month warranty inspection that catches problems before your builder's warranty expires. We also discuss our upcoming foundation floor-level survey service that uses precision instruments to measure foundation levelness down to fractions of an inch—establishing a valuable baseline for your home's structural integrity.
The conversation also covers practical challenges with scheduling new construction inspections, including state law requirements for builder permission and the best timing to ensure project managers can provide necessary access. For anyone building or considering a new construction purchase, this episode provides essential knowledge that could save you from future heartache and expense. Don't wait until problems emerge—protect your investment from day one with proper inspection protocols.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Two-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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Episode Transcript
Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast,
where we discuss topics,upcoming events, news and
predictions with real estateprofessionals and entrepreneurs.
Listen and learn what makestheir companies and themselves
stand out and gain advantagesover the competition and gain
market share.
Subscribe for the latest newsand discussion on what it takes
(00:23):
to stand out from the crowd.
Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Habitation investigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in Ohio.
Trusted licensed homeinspectors for your needs.
From radon to mold towarranties for a great home
inspection, you really can't gowrong.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
visit home inspections in ohiocom hey
everybody, welcome to thestanding out.
How podcast this?
Is jim, and with me, of courseis Laura, the office goddess.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Hello everyone.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
All right, so Laura.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Jim.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
In doing inspections on new builds, some people they
don't know.
That's a thing which seems oddto us to not realize that you
should get it inspected Peopledon't know that new buildings,
new construction should getinspected.
Also, if it's commercial orresidential, they all need to
(01:30):
get inspected.
Yes, county, city, villageinspectors aren't spending as
much time as they need to, orshould, or should.
They have a job and they've gota crap ton of stuff to things
they're looking for right andand a certain number of things
(01:51):
they need to get done each dayor each week so they don't have
the time to spend you know anhour and a half two hours at a
free you know free drywallespecially so we can see a lot
more.
But there's an issue sometimeswith the new builds when people
call on Fridays to schedule aninspection for the weekend.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Or if they schedule online and they never respond
back to us when we say we needinformation.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
So this is for anybody who is.
Maybe you're having a new housebuilt, you're an agent and your
buyers are having a new housebuilt for themselves, or what
are the issues with schedulingfor new construction?
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So state law we need to have written permission to go
onto the property to do theinspection, which, in the case
of a new build, means thatsomeone from the building
company, like the projectmanager or someone like that,
has to give us approval to getin.
So if you schedule online andyou don't put their information
(02:59):
in, or if you schedule Fridayafternoon for something on the
weekend, most project managersthat I've met I've one in 20
some years that answered thephone on a Saturday One Okay, so
they don't answer.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
There's no way to get a hold of them If we get a text
message saying it's okay, it'llbe unlocked.
Is that cool?
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Yeah, that's fine, and I've tried that I've tried
texting, but if I'm not gettinga response back from the project
manager, maybe they should havea heads up.
Or I've asked, when theyschedule it, to send an email to
client care and to the projectmanager so that they know it's
going on and we can try and getit in writing an email form.
(03:44):
Those are the like.
It's a big one.
Now, the only caveat to that,my understanding, is that if
it's a custom build, the clientactually owns that property.
They just have a person comingin and building, like you and I
did, but we own the land.
We own the land.
That's what a custom build is.
So what we did was a customland.
We own the land.
(04:04):
That's what a custom build is.
So what we did was a custombuild.
We owned the land.
We had one builder come in andbuild our house.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I think I've heard the word custom used, even
though the builder owns the land.
The house is designedspecifically for those people.
It's a special design.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
I don't know if there's a separate way to word
that design.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
I don't know if there's a separate way to work
that.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
But my understanding was that if it is a custom build
where the client slashsoon-to-be homebuyer owns the
land, we don't need anythingfrom the builder.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
But typically builders, large builders.
They own the land and theydivide it up, build a house and
each little section of the land.
They divide the land and then,and they're they divide it up,
build a house in each littlesection of land, they divide off
and they sell them that way.
So we need they're the owners,they are the owners, so we need
homeowners and sellers, we needtheir permission to go on, okay
right and that's.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
That's pretty much it .
So there's there's timing withthat.
Or, if you're going to schedule, talk to them and go, hey, can
we do it at this date in thistime?
Maybe even get approval fromthem during the week before you
schedule and then forward thatemail to us and let's get it
scheduled.
But we need to have somethingin writing or we can't do it.
I actually had to cancel onethis weekend because we've tried
(05:21):
for four days to get ahold ofthe client.
We had no clue who the builderwas, no clue who to call or talk
to and no permission to getonto the property, so I canceled
it.
And he still never contacted usback.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
So, yeah, something it could be scammy or something
weird going on there.
But we've had builders um say,yeah, you can come inspect the
house but don't go on the roof,right?
I, I understand they own thatand they don't.
They don't want the, theliability around.
Somebody going on the propertywith you know, who knows it
(05:59):
could be a liability forsomebody trips, falls.
I've been, I've been a new newbuilds pre-drywall where the
ladder they weren't really readyfor the pre-drywall but there's
no stairs.
The base there's a ladder you'dhave to climb oh heck, no, and
it's wet down there.
Typically not always, but oftenit is wet down the base but it's
(06:20):
like like, oh, this is likethis hazardous.
I would not want a if I was thebuilder, I would not want a
home.
My client, my client, comingthere trying to climb down these
wet ladder rungs down in thebasement.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
So I understand what they, the builders, need to give
us permission to be there andsometimes sometimes I've even
needed to provide that we haveworkman's comp insurance and
that we have general liabilityor they won't let us on.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It's been a while since we, or when was the last
time you had to do that?
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Oh past month.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
See, this is what happens when Jim doesn't work in
the office.
I don't know, but we havesystems.
Yeah, and they're all takencare of, and we have things
right, which is why things don'trun smoothly and we can take
care of more clients than mosthome inspectors are able to do,
and we are able to have openingswithin 48 hours typically.
Yes, we definitely try so allright.
(07:16):
So new builds let's go overthis.
We typically do threeinspections for new builds.
Yes, we've been asked aboutdoing a foundation inspection
for a long time, but typicallywe have always done the
pre-drive wall, the finalwalkthrough inspection, about a
week before they close and thenabout 11 months into the first
(07:37):
year warranty, about 11 monthsinto that first year we'll come
in and do a full houseinspection.
So they know what's changed.
If anything and there alwayshas been some changes something
needs done so they can give thatlist to the builder and go hey,
this is.
Can you take care of thisduring the one year warranty?
There's another inspection thatI really haven't quite figured
(08:01):
out.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
You've started.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I know how to do it and I haven't had the tool for a
long started.
I know how to do it.
I had the tool for a long time.
I was never.
I guess I was busy with otherprojects.
I need to develop theformatting to do it.
I got the SOP.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
Oh, you've got the.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
SOP.
I got the SOP on how to do it.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Oh, okay, I'll figure it out, it's just not written
on paper.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
What it is, it's a floor-level survey.
So what you do on a house,let's say a new build I think
new build is probably the best,easiest way to do.
It is when somebody is havingtheir house built.
When they pour that slab in thebasement, do a survey on it to
say how level it is.
(08:48):
Or is it level enough withintolerances that are typical
Right, because the basement, ifthat's off, everything else is
going to be off.
Maybe you can make someadjustments as you go up, but if
it's way off, that's going tobe a problem.
So the foundation inspectionwould be like the new part.
(09:09):
What's that?
Speaker 4 (09:11):
The new part of our yeah which I would go.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I'm assuming basement it's going to be the slab as
well.
I got this tool that measuresLike how level it is to like two
pieces of paper.
I don't know if it's even that,but it's a crazy, infinite
amount.
It will tell you okay, this isoff by one quarter inch over 20
(09:36):
feet.
I mean, I can measure that andthat's well within the
tolerances.
So, and what we'll do, and Ineed to write all this stuff
down, write the sequence and thereport template is what I need
to get before adding, because Idon't know, because you'll do it
on a house, about every 10 feetOn a slab, you will do a
measurement, you will set yourreference point, which is they
(09:57):
call it datum, but you set yourreference point and then 10 feet
squares like a matrix, like a xand y graph.
You're gonna measure thatlevelness and then compare it to
that first, that first one, andhopefully everything is only
off by a certain amount.
Okay, how much can be offdepends on the distance from
(10:18):
that original point and the sizeof it, it, I would assume, yes
yes, so I needed the format forthat, but that's coming.
Yes, we've had quite a fewpeople who asked we do the
foundation inspection and reallythere's nothing.
I mean there are things I canlook at, but it's not.
(10:39):
I don't like doing them Because.
I'm looking like yeah, it's deepenough.
The walls look thick enough.
The footer I don't know.
That's an engineer.
It tells you how thick and howwide the footers need to be, but
it looks normal.
I don't see anything unusual.
I can do that easily.
But with this, the floor level,this is actual good
(11:01):
measurements.
I go hey this is level, as itshould be.
The floor slopes slightlytoward the drain or the drain is
going to be.
That's okay.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Well, and two, if they have that from when it was
built, you can always come backout.
You know, like the 11-monthwarranty and okay.
Has it moved any?
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Correct.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
Yes, I can add that and if it has, then okay, what
needs to be done?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
and that's another thought is it could be done.
Basement is usually the bestplace to do it makes sense could
be done on the first floor, butthen you got floor coverings
because your carpet is going tobe thicker than your laminate.
So you really can't go tomeasurements that way, unless
you put it on laminate.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
So you really can't go to measurements that way you
could on laminate, just not withthe If the whole first floor is
the exact same material, thenyou can't Like our houses.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
They're in a slab.
You can easily do it here,right, and they're all the same
floor throughout.
So anyway, that's coming, but,yeah, scheduling for a new build
.
Give us time and give theinformation earlier in the week
so we have time to get hold of aproject manager or reschedule
for Thursday, Friday, for theweekend.
Hey, call us Thursday morningor Friday morning.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Make sure Friday morning give us time to get hold
of that project manager, or letthe project manager know that
you're going to be doing thisand get it in writing from them
beforehand that that it's goingto be okay, that you know, like
anytime this weekend is okay, oryou're good on saturday, or you
know, and then call us andschedule anything like that.
We're, we're flexible, likegenuinely, but we need to be
(12:34):
able to have it in writing thatwe can be there yep, and
typically when we get there,it's it's all unlocked.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
This is for the pre-drywall.
This is pre-drywall.
It's all unlocked.
This is pre-drywall.
It's all unlocked.
Sometimes you find awalkthrough it's all unlocked
Right, because they know we'recoming, and then the project
manager at the end of that daywill go back and lock everything
up.
So early in the day is bad.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
So I know the project manager is not going to wait
until 7 o'clock in the eveningto uh, they're not going to.
They're not.
They're not wanting that and Idon't blame them.
I don't either.
That's the end of a long day,so that's, that's the scoop.
So make sure, if you or yourclient is contacting us or you
know for a new build, we needthat project manager information
.
We need an email, we needsomething from somebody saying
that we can get in and there'snot a problem yep, oh, and I was
also thinking that.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
The floor level thing .
If somebody has a house, wellit doesn't matter.
House on a slab, I could alwayscome back and measure every now
and see if it's moving right,because every house has cracks.
Right, our house has cracks.
I'm not like.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
I don't like it I don't either, but I'm looking
like I would.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
That's a normal crack , I know, and it's like all
right.
Everyone's perfection for thenew house and I get it I get it?
we did, but we could the househas some crap and some they're
concerned about.
If we take measurements, we cancome back and do measurements
later on, like a year from yeah,later on about the same time a
year ago.
It's pretty much right in thesame.
It moves a little bit.
(14:05):
It could be moisture levels,Because if you have expansive
soils the clay is going to movea little bit and you're keeping
out of that stuff, or if youhave like huge rainfall and then
all of a sudden it freezes upagainst the foundation.
That could be a problem.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
You know, this is a good way to kind of like have a
baseline for where your house isat.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
And it'll tell you down the road If your house
moves because too much water wasaround your house and froze.
That's a maintenance issue.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Yep, and actually we'll be talking about that in
another podcast.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Yes, we will Anyway thank you everybody, Bye-bye and
actually we'll be talking aboutthat in another podcast yes, we
will.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Anyway, thank you everybody.
Bye-bye, Bye.
You've been listening to theStanding Out in Ohio podcast.
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For more, please follow us onInstagram, Twitter and Facebook,
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company athomeinspectionsinohiocom or
(15:05):
jimtroffcom.
That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H.
And click on podcast.
Until next time, learn and godo stuff.
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