Do Home Inspectors Check The Attic As A Rule

Check out the attic and any crawl spaces to assess insulation.

Do home inspectors check the attic as a rule. The first rule for every home inspection is. Attics are hot in summer cold in winter dusty dirty and part of a complete home inspection. Start by conducting a visual air leakage inspection on your home to look for cracks and gaps at the common leak sites shown in the diagram below list of common leak points take note of where you see gaps so you can come back and seal them later. A home inspection looks for defects related to the roof including attic shingles flashing and fascia all of which can cause ceiling drips and leaks in crawl spaces.

No matter which standards you work by you can bet that attic inspections are always on the list. The exterior inspection of the roof is critical but the attic can provide evidence of current or past water entry that may not be evident anywhere else in the house. What do home inspectors look for in a house. Inspectors typically work by a set of standards.

Hired by the buyer an inspector examines the house. Damage to the trusses and rafters can indicate that the home has shifted causing them to crack or break. Visual inspection for gaps and cracks. Inspectors will use binoculars to look at the roof from the ground level or from a higher window to identify any potential damages.

Inspect roof and eavestroughs. This helps them see missing or torn shingles or nail pops and potential holes but there may be more to the. They re the standards of practice and most home inspector associations have them. Do not try to conceal any defects you know are in the home.

Home inspectors don t take huge risks nor do all climb up onto the roof of a home to check for leaks. If there is access to the attic in a closet make sure it is accessible. Of course no one can inspect the interior of a chimney from the attic but an inspector can note whether the structure itself is solid within the attic space. Since the attic like the crawlspace is a place the home owner rarely goes there may be problems in the attic that are not known to the occupants of the property.

The home inspector will find them anyway and you will possibly be breaking the law. Examine in the closets and under the stairs. Inspect chimneys and flues in some cases chimneys require an additional inspection from a specialist. This is especially the case with older homes.