Edmonton Home Inspection Services
We Provide Residential Home Inspection Services For Edmonton & Area
Edmonton Home Inspection Services
We know buying a home is a significant process, and if you make the wrong decision, a heavy price tag is attached. When you’re spending a large amount of money, it’s so important to get a home inspection. Hiring a professional Edmonton home inspector will ensure that your home is as it should be, allowing you to be confident moving forward with the home purchase.
Our team of certified and experienced Edmonton home inspectors provide an unbiased home inspection. We will look for everything that may be wrong with the home by using industry specialized tools designed to find major or minor defects. Additionally, we provide an extensive report showing the condition of the home. Also, we will go over our findings with you to point out key details of the report, and help answer any questions you may have.
Pleasantview Inspections
Edmonton Home Inspection Services
780-695-5595
Looking for a free estimate? or to contact us? —> click here
Home Inspection Services – Edmonton & area
When choosing an Edmonton home inspection company to evaluate the condition of your potential home, it’s key to remember to ask; what exactly will they cover in their inspection, the process of the inspection, what can you can expect, and most importantly, what they don’t cover in the inspection. We review all these steps with the home buyer during our initial conversations, and also encourages the buyer to be present during the inspection, so that the home inspector can point out things they see and you can ask questions along the way. In addition to our extensive general home inspection, we also are able to offer our clients additional services, such as sewage line inspections, thermal imaging, radon screening, and chimney inspections. The more you know about your home the more able you are to make an intelligent decision with one of the largest purchases of your life… and avoid costly repairs.
A properly completed home inspection with a competent and thorough home inspector provides many advantages to both the seller or buyer of a home. Our home inspectors, and their detailed reports, can alert you to major issues, and avoid costly findings before your purchase or sale, thus giving you an idea of the number of repairs and issues needing to be addressed. This enables you to have greater leverage in price negotiations, and provides you confidence in understanding your purchase, or the price of your home.
Let’s talk about home inspections, the first place to start in making sure you get all the details about a home inspection. So what does an Edmonton home inspector inspect?
Inspecting Foundations
First off is the inspection of the home’s foundation. We will be checking for horizontal cracks and/or vertical cracks, this will be a major indicator if your home has any structural issues, or if it’s a minor defect. As we examine the foundation, an important part will be inspecting the grading and drainage of the home. You want water to move away from the home, this ensures the home is not pooling water and causing damage to the foundation. It’s a huge bonus if we can get an inspection done on a rainy day. Just a reminder that if your basement is finished, it will be hard to determine with the visible eye what the condition of a foundation is. However, we use an infrared red camera, which helps us determine if there is any moisture in the walls. While in your basement, the inspector will check for water intrusion, and odours, if we have any concerns about mould, we suggest a further inspection be done, specific to mould.
Inspecting Exteriors
Next, the inspector looks at the exterior of the home. As we go around the exterior, we’ll be asking ourselves questions such as does the house need to be painted? Are the gutters and downspouts firmly attached to the house?, and how far are they from the foundation? These aspects are important for keeping water away from the home. What is the code for the electrical outlet outside the house? And are they GFCI protected and fully functional? This ensures that the circuit will automatically shut off if an electrical fault is suspected. The inspector will also physically be opening all doors and windows and will let you know if anything needs to be replaced or what issues need addressing. They also examine the fences’ structural integrity and safety. The driveway and stairs will be inspected to ensure there are no tripping hazards, and that stairs have the needed railings in place and are structurally sound.
Inspecting Roofing
The roofing will be inspected for materials, how it was installed, and if it needs updating, the age, and how many layers are installed, how the valleys and flushing are sealed and installed, how the gutters are maintained, and whether will they provide adequate drainage and prevention of ice dams. If the home has a fireplace, we will inspect the condition of the masonry chimney and any other materials used. As we move from the roof to the attic, we examine the attic for water damage, how the interior structures look, and if there are any signs or leaks, as well as the condition of the insulation. We check to see if the attic is ventilated properly, and if there are any signs of rodents.
Inspecting Electrical
We thoroughly inspect all aspects of the house’s electrical systems, including the main panel, sub-panel, receptacles, what type of wires are running within the home, if the switches and outlets work, and if the outlets are grounded. We’ll indicate in our report if the panel needs to be updated, or is on the recall list, and if the panel is full, or can be expanded. This will be good to know if you plan to add more appliances, or if you’re looking to remodel.
Inspecting Plumbing & HVAC
A professional Edmonton home inspector will review in detail, the plumbing and HVAC systems. this includes all toilets, showers, faucets, sinks, and basically anything draining water. This does not include a sewer inspection, this is an additional service we provide, that we highly recommend including it for for a thorough inspection. As we move onto the HVAC systems, we inspect the condition of the furnace, and how it’s functioning, as well as any air condition unit/s. It’s important to remember that air condition inspections can only be done during the warmer months. The hot water tank will be inspected for age, condition, and if it was installed properly.
A professional Edmonton home inspector is very much a generalist… similar to a general practitioner doctor who might refer you to an ear nose and throat doctor. The home inspector may refer you to a specialist like a plumber, roofer, or electrician for further evaluation.
Pleasantview Inspections
Edmonton Home Inspection Services
780-695-5595
Looking for a free estimate? or to contact us? —> click here
Frequently Asked Questions
What do home inspectors check?
A home inspector will check your home from top to bottom and side to side. They will be inspecting all aspects of your home that are accessible and visible. Therefore, they will be checking your structure, exterior, plumbing, electrical, heating, and interior, amongst many other systems. The inspector then provides you with an extensive report with as much detail about your home as possible.
In Edmonton, are home inspections required to purchase a home?
Although a home inspection is not mandatory in Edmonton. It is highly recommended, it will provide you with a thorough insight into a home that you have no previous knowledge about, and give you possible financial leverage in negotiations or prevent you from making a costly mistake. Knowledge is power. In addition, home inspectors are regulated in Alberta, which means they must have a license and you will have peace of mind knowing that they are regulated by a code of ethics.
Can you fail a home inspection?
A house does not pass or fail inspection, you just get a very long report, with everything wrong in the house. Also, a home inspector is not going to give you a glowing review of the house for two reasons. One that’s not what they’re paid to do, they get paid to give you an honest critical review of the house, and to tell you everything that’s wrong with the house. What you should do when you are speaking with the inspector, is to ask “if is this normal.?” Is a water heater working past its lifespan normal? yes, it is. So these are normal things, when something is not normal , that is a cause for concern, and may require extra inspections.
How much does an Edmonton home inspection cost?
In Edmonton, a home inspection generally takes about two to four hours, and costs on average about $300 to $500. The rule of thumb is the smaller or larger home is, the more the inspector has to check, and thus spend additional time to make sure they are covering all aspects of the home in their inspection report.
Home inspections are one of those things in life that you never regret having done, but if you don’t, you may be kicking yourself for a very long time. From the realtor, to the seller, and most importantly the buyer, A professional home inspection can quicken the sale of the home and let the buyer know that the seller is serious and has taken into account the home inspection into the price of the home. From the buyer’s viewpoint, a home inspection will guide you in your decision making process, protect you from possible unknowns, and provide ease in making a home purchase decision. Our home inspectors are objective in their reports, and want to educate the homeowner and any potential buyers about the health of the home, and to protect your purchase, and keep you and your family safe.
Pleasantview Inspections
Edmonton Home Inspection Services
780-695-5595
Looking for a free estimate? or to contact us? —> click here