Home inspectors are only as good as their fields of expertise. Don’t be afraid to ask a home inspector where his expertise lies. No one knows it all. Some are good with mechanicals, some with electrical, some with structures, some specialize in old houses and some know a little about everything and a lot about nothing. There are classes and certifications that home inspectors need to attend to stay up to date on all the new technologies and codes, but no one knows more about those codes than your master plumber or master electrician, structural engineer or building contractor. If you want a general idea what is good and bad about a home you intending to purchase then an ANSI Certified Home Inspector is a good place to start. If you have serious questions about the wiring in a house whether it be an old house or a new house then hire a master electrician to go through everything. The same with the plumbing, heating, septic and structure. If you think your ‘dream’ house has issues then hire an expert. Some inspection companies actually work in teams where each team member has an expertise. These inspections are usually more expensive, but also more comprehensive. Even the best inspectors MISS things.
A good example is when you buy a house that was wired by a homeowner of do-it-yourselfer that only thinks they know the code and are either working from a book or they think they know what they are doing. These situations are potentially dangerous. A kitchen usually has several circuits so when you fire up all the appliances at once you don’t blow the circuit. 1, 2 or 3 outlets on a circuit should be the maximum load for a kitchen. Dedicated lines for specific appliances are sometimes installed back to the main electrical box with GFCI breakers.
You can't miss this but you get my point?
But what if the homeowner only installed one Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) for 3 separate lines and that ONE GFCI was installed improperly? You have a problem and you may not discover it until you’re 3 or 4 years into owning your home because the home inspector isn’t obligated to actually check the wiring. Unless you have the proper tools like a Master Electrician then you’re inspector is not going to catch this type of problem.
An inspector will check to see if a line is working and will push the buttons of a GFCI to see if it shuts off, but they miss things. There should be a GFCI in each line into the kitchen and then the outlets need to be wired properly too. We recently hired an electrician to check a couple issues we thought we had and to install a light in the kitchen. Are you catching on yet? We had 3 circuits into the kitchen. 2 were without GFCI’s and one had a GFCI that was installed improperly so there was absolutely no protection in the kitchen against electrical shock. It was inspected too. We also found wires in the walls that were HOT and not capped. Just cut off and left LIVE. Missed by the inspector because they were in cabinets, behind cabinets and behind the refrigerator. A couple switches were also wired improperly, but worked. Many issues that were potentially life threatening and all missed by our original home inspector.
I know… what does this all have to do with landscaping? Not all that much unless you consider that when you buy a house and it has outdoor lighting, outdoor receptacles, underground wiring or ponds these things can and should be part of your inspection.
So I hope you get the point of this article. Ask questions. Hire experts. Make sure people are certified to actually inspect what you hire them to inspect. Your future home. It is nice to buy a home and know what the problems are that you need to fix. It shouldn’t necessarily deter you from buying a home, but a good solid in-depth inspection will allow to fix any dangerous issues immediately and it will give you a great list of things to do for the next 20 years. Have fun and good luck!
