Should a New House be Inspected?

Jim Radcliffe, Manager, Medallion Inspections

If you’re having a home built or you just purchased a new home, you probably think that new construction is less likely to have any real problems.  You are wrong!  Home inspectors actually see more items in need of correction on new construction than on most existing houses.

Here’s one primary example. Most houses today are built using wooden roof trusses which are assembled in a factory and shipped to the job site. Home inspectors often find damage to the truss plates - the pieces of metal that attach the wood parts that make up the frame of the truss. These plates are extremely important to the structural integrity of the truss itself. Builders commonly slide trusses off the truck onto the ground and then lift them onto the top of the house by manual labor.  In the process, bending and twisting occurs which results in the teeth of the plates being pulled out of the lumber. The framing carpenters generally install the truss anyway, and leave the repair to someone else. Unless the builder or superintendent is made aware of the damage, it likely won’t get fixed.

To protect your valuable investment of a new home, contact a licensed and experienced home inspector.  As part of the overall inspection, he’ll walk on the roof and crawl throughout the attic making detailed notes of any problems that need to be addressed. He’ll also bring these concerns to the attention of your builder to assure that it gets corrected.

Learn more about Medallion Inspections.