 |
 |
  |
(800) 339-9140 or (919)303-2525
CERTIFIED PLUS HOME INSPECTIONS
Raleigh, North Carolina Home Inspection Company
Serving the Greater Triangle Area
MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!
Prices Start at $199
Raleigh North Carolina Licensed Home Inspector #2173
|
RALEIGH NC HOME INSPECTION PRICES STARTING AT $199 FOR A NORTH CAROLINA HOME INSPECTION BY A STATE CERTIFIED NC HOME INSPECTOR. STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA / NC LICENSED ASHI, NACHI CERTIFIED, NORTH CAROLINA INSPECTORS, HOME INSPECTION SERVICES FOR ALAMANCE, CHATHAM, JOHNSTON, LEE, ORANGE, WAKE. TOWNS AND SURROUNDING AREAS CHAPEL HILL, HILLSBOROUGH, RALEIGH, NC, APEX, NC, DURHAM, NC, CARY, NC COUNTIES.
|
RED TAG REPAIR
AREAS OF THE DIFFERENT STYLE HOMES
CAPE
COD STYLE HOME
This style house is one of the most difficult houses to
inspect. This style house was designed for the "do it
yourselves?" It was designed for the returning veteran solders
after world war two. The theory being that as the solders
family expanded, the house could be expanded by finishing the
second floor and maybe adding dormers which would double the
size of the original size. With this type dwelling, many times
the second floor has been finished by the owner and expanded
with a dormer. The structure and the quality of the
workmanship has to be inspected very carefully. Many of the do
it yourselves should not be doing expansion or repair work and
for this reason I would say "It is the most difficult house to
inspect." Some areas in a cape style home that our inspectors
will pay special attention, too.
(A) Stair Well Opening - The second floor stair well at the
top of the stairs must be safety guarded. This area must have
a wall or proper rail guard around the opening to prevent
children from falling down into the stair well opening.
(B) Heat and A/C - Second floor heat, many times the home
owner will finish the second floor and not install any heat or
air conditioning. Or they will add electric heat with a plug
in heater, or, run under size ducts and the heat and a/c to
the second floor will not be adequate. And, sometimes the old
furnace with one fan speed can't handle the expanded room
space on the second floor.
(C) Quality of Work - Our home inspectors will evaluate the
quality of any finished work done in this style house,
particularly on the second floor, Over the years we have seen
some very poor amateur work done in a cape style house. On the
second floor our home inspectors will first evaluate the
quality of the finished wall covering. Many times the paneling
and sheet rock is installed improperly with waves in the
paneling and poor seam work on the sheet rock.
(D) Electrical System - The electrical system is always an
important part of any inspection but the second floor of a
cape cod style home is a major concern, particularly when the
home owner finished the second floor attic area himself. Many
times our home inspectors find that the whole second floor is
serviced by extension cords which is a real safety hazard.
(E) Dormers - If the dormers are small window dormers chances
are the original builder constructed the dormers and they are
constructed properly. Large expanded dormers many times were
constructed after the house was built and special attention
should be paid too the quality of construction and also
important is the chimney location. The home inspector must
make sure that the chimney is at least three feet above the
roof line. Sometimes the chimney is located right where the
dormer has been installed and the chimney is now too low to
meet safety standards. In other words, if a dormer is
installed in the chimney location, make sure that the chimney
is extended too the proper height over the roof.
(Read
more about how different styles of homes are inspected below.)
|
A CERTIFIED PLUS HOME INSPECTION INCLUDES:
|
PRICES - START AT $199 - The price is set according to the size of the house. Call for exact prices for your North Carolina real estate home inspection. | | |
REPORT - ON SITE SUMMARY REPORT - At the end of the home inspection, you will receive a summary report of the repairs. You are now ready to negotiate any repairs right after the inspection. | | |
MONEY BACK GUARANTEE - Our home inspectors are professionals. We are one of the few companies that offer a money back guarantee. If you are not satisfied with our home inspection, we will gladly refund your money.
| | |
APPLIANCES - All appliances that are purchased with the house will be tested at no extra charge. Appliances such as the dishwasher, stove, refrigerator and the washer and dryer.
|
|
COLONIAL STYLE HOME
The colonial style home is probably the most popular style
home with all the bedrooms on the second floor and many
colonials have a full basement. Our home inspectors will
inspect this type house thoroughly from top to bottom,
particularly the following areas:
(A) A colonial house can have five different style roofs. Our
home inspectors are familiar and experience with all the
different roofs and know the strengths and weakness with each
roof. When we say that our home inspectors will inspect the
house from top to bottom, we mean from the roof to the
basement.
(B) Another area of special concern is the water flow to the
second floor bathrooms, particularly if the dwelling is an
older home with original plumbing. Our inspectors will do a
special water flow test in all bathrooms to verify that the
water pressure and water flow is acceptable.
(C) Basement - The basement is an area of major concern with
any style house and our inspectors will pay special attention
to the following areas when inspecting the basement: the
foundation, the wood structure; signs water penetration into
the basement; structure wood rot or termite damage.
WHAT ABOUT MOLD AND ASBESTOS?
Mold and Asbestos are separate inspections and not included in
a regular home inspection. However, If our home inspectors see
any Mold or Asbestos in the basement or any place else, they
will give a courtesy report and recommend that a licensed
professional evaluate the mold and or asbestos.
BASEMENT FOUNDATION WALL THAT FACES
IN-GROUND POOL. - This foundation wall must to be
inspected very carefully because, if the in- ground pool has a
severe leak, major damage to the foundation wall facing the
pool could be the result. Over the years, our home inspectors
have discovered several foundation walls literally buckled and
pushed in from in-ground pool leak problems.
(D) Termites - North Carolina is abundant with termites, for
this reason Certified Plus Home Inspections, when a termite
inspection is requested, has a professional termite inspector
inspect for termites and other insects .The termite inspection
is preformed at the same time as the home inspection. With a
Certified Plus Home Inspection, there is a structural home
inspector and a termite inspector that will inspect all the
wood components in the basement for structure, condition and
termite damage.
OLD HOUSE STYLE HOME
HOME INSPECTOR NC - Certified Plus Home Inspections has
inspectors that are very familiar with the inspection of older
dwellings. With the inspection of these type houses, the home
inspection takes a lot longer that two hours. The home
inspector has to really slow down and inspect very carefully.
Every area of an old house inspection is of major concern. For
the purpose of this article, the author will give a quick
overview of the concerns with an old house inspection.
(A) Slate roof - The roof could be over 80 years old. The home
inspector must inspect very carefully for missing slates and
leaks. If the house has an asbestos shingle style roof, the
inspector will inspect the condition of the shingles and how
many layers of shingle are on the roof.
(B) Structure and settlement - The house and roof structure
may settle unevenly or is the house leaning or the roof
sagging. Are the floors sagging or pitched out of an
acceptable level?
(D) Bathrooms - have they been updated and how efficient is
the water pressure and flow throughout the house.
(E) Heating system - how old is the furnace and has the whole
heating system been up-dated. The home inspector must make
sure there are no missing radiators if the house has a
radiator type heating system.
(F) Electrical system - has it been up-dated or does the
dwelling still have the old knob and tube wiring. With knob
and tube wiring the buyer will have difficulty obtaining home
owners insurance. The insurance companies deemed this type of
wiring a safety hazard.
(G) foundation - Our home inspectors will evaluate the type
and condition of the foundation. With old houses some
foundation deterioration is expected but the question is, is
the amount of deterioration acceptable. Our old house home
inspectors are very knowledgeable when it comes to old house
foundations.
SPLIT LEVEL STYLE HOME
A split level inspection is a class room study in home
inspection. A split has two of everything: two roofs, a
basement and a slab and sometimes a crawl space, and, an upper
and lower attic area. With this type dwelling, Our home
inspectors will pay particular attention to the front roof
rafters, they are very long and sometimes split and bow. The
inspection of the attic area and the rafters in this type
house is very important to the long term condition of the
roof. The attic must be well ventilated and the insulation
must have an air space between the roof sheeting and the
insulation to prevent any moisture on the rafters and the
sheeting. As mentioned earlier, the rafters are very long and
to keep the rafters straight and have a good flat roof
surface, attic ventilation and moisture control is a must.
RANCH STYLE HOME
HOME INSPECTOR NC - A ranch style is a very popular type house
for a very good reason, all the living area is on one level,
there are no stairs to climb. The ranch style home is also one
of the easiest free standing home to maintain. The handyman
home owner of this style home can do most of the maintenance
himself . With the one level style, most maintenance problem
can be handled with a 12 foot fold up ladder. Again, our home
inspectors will inspect this type home very carefully because
many time all the maintenance has been completed by the home
owner himself. And, not all the home owners doing the
maintenance and repair, should be doing the maintenance and
repair.
BI-LEVEL STYLE HOME
A bi-level is a large house that gives the buyer more living
space by using both the lower and upper level as living space.
With this type dwelling, the lower level is ground level and
usually has a glass sliding door to the rear yard. The front
entrance has steps leading to the entrance door located
between both levels. Once inside there are steps going to the
lower or upper level. In plain English, instead of having a
finished basement below ground, with this design, there is a
finished lower level that is still above ground. Our home
inspectors understand the design and will inspect this type of
dwelling very thoroughly. A few red tag areas of a bi-level are
as follows: (a) The rail around the entrance steps on the
second level must be well secured. If a child leans against a
unsecured loose rail, the child could wind up on the first
floor with the rail on top of the child. (2) A deck built off
the second level is another area of serious concern
particularly if the deck was a do it yourself installation.
These type of decks have very long support post and the Home
Inspector should examine the posts very carefully to make sure
they are not undersized and bent from the deck weight. All
decks should be lag bolted to the house , not nailed. Nails
pull out too easy and the deck could pull away from the house.
Also large decks should have metal joist supports for strength
and safety. If one or all of the items mentioned are missing
or in poor condition, the deck could be a real safety hazard.
Another area of concern is support columns used on the
southern style bi-level that has a front overhang. When
inspecting a dwelling with support columns, our home
inspectors will inspect the columns for wood rot. They will
also inspect for signs that the columns have been removed.
Some times a home owner will remove rotted columns with the
idea that the columns are not needed. Either situation could
be an expensive repair problem.
HALF DUPLEX STYLE HOME
A half duplex style home is really a full house divided in
half, and each half of the house is separated by a center
concrete dividing wall. There seems to be two red tag
inspection areas with this type house.(1) If the center
dividing wall has heavy settlement, the home on each side of
the wall will slope towards the wall. The first thing noted
with this condition is that the steps to the second floor will
not be level. Another tip off that the wall has heavy
settlement is when there are extra support post in the
basement to support the inside stair wall section. The roof of
a half duplex is another area of concern. As mentioned
earlier, the half duplex is really a house divided down the
middle by a concrete dividing wall. The problems with the roof
begin when the roof needs changing. A new roof should be
installed on both sides of the duplex at the same time. With
the complete roof changed at the same time, both dwelling now
have a functional new roof.
The problem begins when one party wants a new roof and the
other party wants to keep the old roof even though the roof
needs changing. In this type situation when a new roof is
installed on one half of the structure and, is butted up to an
old roof, rain water may leek under the old roof.
The water then migrates into the plywood of the new roof and
damage the first few feet of the new roof that is butted up to
the old roof. When an inspector sees an old and new roof on
this type dwelling, even though the roof sheeting is new, it
should be evaluated very carefully for water migration and
damage.
TOWNHOUSE
Townhouses are usually newer style houses and they have all
the problems of any other style home but, there is a couple of
red tag areas that the home inspector should pay particular
attention . RED TAG AREA - Most townhouses have thermopane
windows which means that each window has two panes of glass.
With two panes of glass the window becomes a regular window
and a storm window all in one. In between the panes of glass
is argon gas to keep moisture out which keeps the window nice
and clear. Problem arise with these type windows when the
window seals leak and moisture gets in between the panes of
glass. When this happens the window become fogged and hard to
see through besides the fact that a fogged window looks
terrible. The only real way to correct the fogged window
problem is to change the window which could cost between $
150.00 to $300.00 plus dollars per window. This estimated
price depends on the size and style of the window. The
thermopane window leaking seal problem pertains to all houses
with thermopane window particularly townhouses and
condominiums.
CONDOMINIUMS
There are four red tag areas of a condo, particularly one
floor condos on the lower level.
(A) WATER DAMAGE - Many times ceiling and wall water damage is
caused by the up stairs unit. If the upper unit has a plumbing
problem, the water runs down and damages the lower unit.
(B) THERMO WINDOWS - Thermopane window damage - leaking seals
in the thermo window. This problem was described in the
townhouse section.
(C) FURNACE PROBLEMS - Furnace problems are quite common in
condos particularly if it is a rental unit. Many times the
filters have not been changed for years and the unit is
putting out high carbon monoxide.
(D) BATHROOM PROBLEMS - Again, tenant occupied condos appear
to have the most bathroom problems. Water can cause a lot of
damage if it not controlled. If one is careless with water in
the bathroom, it will damage the floor, walls cabinets, tiles,
etc. It could also cause a Mold condition which could cause
health problems.
All About Home Inspections from A to Z - National Association of Certified Home Inspectors
Triangle area towns -Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Hillsborough, Carrboro, Apex, Holly Springs, Garner, Fuquay-Varina, Morrisville, North Carolina, all home inspections will be conducted to the American Society of Home Inspectors standards (ASHI ). All inspections will be conducted by a licensed, certified, insured professional NC home inspectors - Raleigh, NC.
In North Carolina, all home inspections will be conducted to the American Society of Home Inspectors standards (ASHI ). All inspections will be conducted by licensed, certified, insured, professional NC home inspectors. Licensed North Carolina Home Inspectors serving: Alamance County, Chatham County, Johnston County, Lee County, Orange County, Wake County, towns and surrounding areas for Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Hillsborough, Raleigh, Carrboro, Holly Springs, Garner, Morrisville, Fuquay-Varina.
Licensed North Carolina Home Inspector Serving: Licensed North Carolina Home Inspector Serving: Alamance County, Chatham County, Johnston County, Lee County, Orange County, Wake County. Towns and surrounding areas for Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Hillsborough, and Raleigh.
|
SERVICES
