Inspection on new build home
 

Hi,
We are building in Shady Brook and will be closing in November. The wife wants to get the home inspected when we close on the home and I want to wait until closer to the one year mark. So I would like to know what others have done about getting an inspection on a new build . Was it worth it or a waste of time. No matter what we decide to do we’ll still get the home inspection before the first year is up.
Thanks

We did a new build in 2013 and held off on the inspection until 11 months later, our inspector Frank DeAngelo found several items that needed to be taken care of. I believe this is the best way to handle this.

same, the builder's one year warranty for almost anything and living locally, is very responsive. A lot of the local contractors lively hoods depends upon quality installation and service, and add on service in the future so everyone is helpful and wants to insure a good product. This isn't the same scenario as most parts of the country.

There will always be exceptions, but just live in the house for 11 months and you will find the obvious issues, and then have The DeAngelos find the remaining issues after they become a bit more obvious and easier to find.

We found that the roman shower missed a second niche per the plans, so we did some thinking of what we could swap for instead of all the additional re-construction, and they agreed. . . again, minor oversight, as we had alot of electrical changes and additions, so that was their main focus. . .

There are a lot of things you can inspect yourself. Here are just a few that I would check:

- Shine a flashlight on all ceilings, including the closets, to look for water stains.
- Shine a flashlight parallel to long drywall runs to look for excessive bowing.
- Run your finger along all countertop edges, top and bottom, to check for chips and cracks.
- Use a 2 or 3 foot long level on countertops and hard floors.
- Try to walk in every part of the house to check for loose flooring.
- Check windows for fogging between the panes.
- Test all electrical wall outlets and switches. Switches that control an outlet may have a red dot on them.
- Turn on all faucets and fill sinks to check for proper draining. Flush toilets.
- Operate all appliances.
- Check the outside during a rainstorm for proper grading.
- Open and close all doors. Make sure they latch and have small, uniform gaps when closed.
- Use a thermometer to test the accuracy of the thermostat.

There is nothing saying you can't do both inspections. It's $ vs peace of mind.

There are certain items that only have a 30 day warranty for repair such as landscape plantings, sod, concrete cracks, missing or separated caulk, irrigation, etc. You will have a walk through with your builder at closing so don't let him or her rush you through it look carefully at everything. You also might want to walk around the house several times before closing if you are renting down here and take notes of what to discuss during your walkthrough. They are very good at taking care of any problem you find so don't let that be a worry.

First you need to do a punch list within 7 days, turning into warranty. Some items only have a 7 days window to fix or not covered. Your rep will tell you what is the list today.
This is our fourth house, so we did our own punch,( scratch's in windows, irrigation not correct so landscaping dying, is the 7 day fix now or on your own.)
We have alway used Frank D’Angelo, schedule him the week you close for 9-10 months out. Yes he is that busy.

We had everything cosmetic on our 7 day punch list, cabinets touch up, drawer not soft closing, something in the garage disposal (screw). And so on. Also within that year you can email warranty with items after your punch list as something becomes a problem.

Then at your 10 month mark your hired inspection, will take care of structural, roof, electrical, paint nail pops, and any major items for you. They will submit directly to warranty.

Irrigation inspection
 

We are on our 2nd home - just move to a 4 year old home in July. We insisted that the inspector (that we paid for) take a look at the irrigation system as we had to spend quite a bit getting the irrigation system on our first "older" home working properly. With that said, the inspector did a poor job saying all ok. After moving, we found that 15 heads didn't even pop up because they had become overgrown with grass and we had to pay to have someone come in and get everything working. We did get money back due to the poor inspection. My reason for saying all this is that I suspect most things will be ok on a new build but the irrigation systems are a real pain to kept working properly.

I’d also recommend a pre drywall inspection.

I did a walk through just before settlement. A/C not working. Fixed in a couple of hours since they did not want to delay closing. I would go through the day before if you can. Test all the wall outlets and lights. Turn on all equipment. Turn on heater. Open close all windows an doors. Test locks etc. Then get the professional at the end of the year as settlement type problems might have developed over time and you may not be able to spot.

I built three years ago. Had Frank DeAngelo, he’s retired so his son’s did the inspection, do inspections on day one AND at the eleventh month. Found several issues on both inspections. Originally, I wasn’t going to have a day one inspection but the walk thru with the super that built the house wasn’t very comforting. I found several problems immediately and all he could say was, sorry I’m new at this. Your house is a big investment, get an inspection now and at eleven months. It’s like insurance, they may find everything is perfect in which case you might feel it was a waste of money but what if they find everything is not perfect???

I did have one issue that lingered, but TV sub eventually fixed the problem.

What is a pre drywall inspection.From what our realtor tells us, we can not have any inspections done before closing because the developer still owns the home.

On our second house, we had 50+ items upon inspection of new-build home last September. DEFINITELY get an inspection.

Do both. Down the road you will not miss the few hundred dollars.

It’s an inspection that looks at the “Guts” of the house, before the drywall hides it all ; the HVAC piping, the plumbing, the electrical lines, the way the joists are secured to each other, the flashing on the windows.

Google it for further details.