We're Home Inspectors. These Are The 6 Dangerous Things We Worry About Most.
Is your dream home actually going to be a costly, unsafe nightmare? Before you close the deal, a home inspector will provide a necessary reality check.
It’s a home inspector’s job to show you the truth of what you want to buy and help you understand major hazards, so you can make an informed decision about whether you and your family should live in the home. And they’ve seen it all.
Chris Murphy, a Houston-based home inspector, said prospective home owners often have “no idea what they’re getting into.”
“They just know they want to buy a home, and then they don’t know what is going to be expensive or what can actually cause harm to them,” he said. “People come in, they see nice floors, perfect countertops, fancy ovens, and they’re like, ‘Oh, this is the house for me.’ Not knowing that ... the building science portion of it isn’t working.”
Time for a wake-up call. HuffPost talked to home inspectors across America about the biggest hazards they see homeowners ignore as lessons for us all, whether you’re buying now or have lived in your place for years.
Poorly Run HVAC Systems
Murphy said that where he is in the South, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system can be the “No. 1” overlooked problem.
He said that some people believe that “as long as their AC is somewhat working” and “they feel like the cold air is kind of blowing,” then it’s functioning. However, “it doesn’t mean that it’s healthy and it’s good for you,” he added.
“And if your AC isn’t running correctly, the whole house isn’t functioning,” he said, citing musty smells, mold and breathing health risks.
That’s why a home inspector can be crucial, Murphy said. They can check airflow and see if condensers are working.
“We’re going to go in the attic space and make sure that [the AC is] functioning, it’s not vibrating excessively,” he said as an example. “We’re going to take off the panels to see if it’s clean inside and if it’s operating.”
Foundation Cracks
“A home inspector knows common places of cracking, and his or her eyes are going to flit to those locations immediately,” said Michael Conrad, a home inspector based in Nashville, Tennessee, who cited garage doors’ corners, the bottom corners of windows, and “anything that penetrates a brick home” as some examples inspectors will investigate.
New York City-based home inspector Jacqueline Gathers said in some homes, a basement can have drywall and paneling that can hide serious foundation cracks. But it’s something a home inspector can notice when they look at walls that are not finished, like those in a boiler or laundry room.
“When we see large cracks in the foundation walls, we always advise the client to bring in a structural engineer to see how that’s compromising the home, and that is a big deal,” Gathers said.
Sometimes, it may not be worth the work.
“To me, that’s a costly repair. It’s complicated,” Gathers said. “I would walk away from a house that had foundation issues.”
And if you currently live in your home, watch out for large horizontal cracks running along a wall. These cracks can indicate serious foundational issues. If you see these or any other cracks suddenly appear in your home, you’ll want to hire an expert (like a structural engineer) immediately.
Detached Flue Vents
Oklahoma City-based home inspector Melissa Coon said the tornadoes and high winds in her area cause common roof replacement issues.
As a result, flues, or vent connectors, from gas appliances like water heaters or furnaces can get detached — and that can have deadly consequences.
“That’s probably the No. 1 issue we see all of the time,” Coon said.
Flues provide the passage for smoke, gas or combustion byproducts to move safely outdoors. When vent connectors are not properly attached to appliances, fatal gases like carbon monoxide can enter your home.
“They go all summer long, they don’t think about it. They turn their heater on at night because it’s cold, and they don’t want to be cold at night,” Coon said as an example. “When they go to bed ... they don’t wake up because they didn’t know [the flue] was detached.”
Even if it’s not detached, a flue can be a serious hazard if it gets moved and ends up next to combustible material.
“I’ve actually pulled down the steps to the ladder to go into an attic and seen charred wood because the vent connector, or flue, has been touching the roof sheathing,” Coon said.
Outdated Electrical Panels
Coon said people do not often think about how the electrical wiring in older homes can pose a major danger.
Too often, people who move into a house that was built in the ’40s or ’50s do not “realize that the electric is not going to keep up with their appliances,” she said.
Coon said a home inspector like herself would offer realistic expectations of what the house’s electrical wiring can handle.
“Hey, you got a 75-amp service total for this house, and you really need 150 or 200 with what you’re planning on doing,” Coon said as an example.
Moreover, Gathers noted that sometimes, when she takes an electrical panel off, she will notice the problem of “double tapping,” which is when an outlet has more wires connected to it than it should.
“A lot of times they take shortcuts, and they’ll put two wires on one, and that could cause an overload, and that could cause a fire,” she said.
Bedrooms You Can’t Easily Escape
Coon said too many people get into a contract for a home without considering if that extra bedroom should really qualify as one.
She said a home that is advertised as having four bedrooms might only have three you can safely use.
“That fourth is an extra room, but you shouldn’t use it. And they do overlook it,” she said as an example. “A lot of people are not paying attention when I say it can’t be considered a bedroom because it doesn’t have two means of egress.“
In other words, a bedroom ideally should have two ways you can exit it, such as a window and a door.
“If there’s only one way out, and the fire is in your hallway and it’s your bedroom door, there’s no way for anybody to get you out,” Coon said.
Moisture Damage
“Moisture is the enemy of the home in all forms, coming up from the ground, in the air, out of the sky,” Conrad said, noting that it’s a problem he can sometimes notice right away from the driveway.
He gave the example of arriving at a home right after it has rained and noticing that parts of it are not drying as fast as the rest of the house, which is a sign of moisture damage.
“When we see water that’s being held in the cladding or in the stucco ... a lot of times, stone veneer is a common one for this. You’ll recognize it right from the road,” he said.
And water damage is not something you want to put off or ignore — especially when it comes to cost. Conrad said that prices could cost upward of 10 times as much as they would if fixed early because the damage “will go unnoticed and fester.” He also warned that, in the worst cases with enough water, the engineered wood panels found in many homes will turn to “vertical mulch.”
Ultimately, it’s important to use this expert advice as a starting list for deeper reflection on what really matters when choosing a new home or examining your current one.
“The No. 1 issue I see with home inspections [is] that the client that we’re serving does not read their home inspection,” Coon said. “They rely on the advice from their real estate agent.”
Even if you do not plan on buying a home anytime soon, you can still channel your inner home inspector by checking your appliances and lesser-used rooms every season for potential damage or issues. This household homework takes extra time and sometimes more money, but don’t put it off ― or it could lead to bigger headaches down the road.
