Inspections For New Construction

I thought I'd take a moment to talk about the importance of inspections for new construction.  Most people think "it's a new house, the builder gave me a warranty, why have a home inspection?"

The reality is you probably do still need a home inspection.  I've done more than a few inspections where problems were of such magnitude  that the buyers chose not to purchase the home.  I'll give a few examples.

This past summer, during the height of the drought I inspected a development home built by one of the areas major builders.  The home wasn't brand new, having been lived in about one year prior to the owners being transferred.  Things got interesting in the finished basement.  The lower half of the drywall had been replaced, and the recently installed carpeting had been removed.  These are clear indications of water damage.

Of course the sellers had nothing about any of this in the disclosure.  There was a sump pump installed which was not working.  As I told the potential buyers that the sump needed replacement and re-installed the cover, the sump began to run.  And run.  And run.  It pumped water from the basin for the next 30 minutes or so.  I finished my basement inspection and it was still running.

I had not seen water in that amount draining that long in a sump.  It was like fire hoses were filling the basin.  Clearly something was amiss.  I delayed my departure a bit to see if it would eventually cease and it didn't.  The buyer realtor called the seller agent to let them know something was not as it should be.

I contacted several colleagues about this and all agreed that there might be water table issues in the area or that the sump was discharging at the exterior and coming right back in.  Two days later, when the Radon tester arrived to pick up the Radon monitor, he called me to confirm that after two full days, the pump was still running.  I suggested the buyers do some old fashioned detective work and talk to neighbors in the development.  Sure enough, stories of flooding and failing sump pumps (these things weren't made to run that much) from both sides.

Figuring out exactly what caused this would take some diagnostics by qualified contractors.  The buyers, who thought a one year old house would be worry free decided to buy another house.  

Tomorrow, I'll post an inspection story about a brand new townhouse/apartment.