For many of us, living in a brand new home sounds like a dream. There’s not a ding on the wall, scratch on the floor, or squeaky cupboard to worry about. You may think since the home is newly built, it must be perfect. With new construction sales soaring, we often get a question from homebuyers: should I hire a home inspector for a newly built home? The answer is: yes! And here’s why.
Building a home is complicated and nobody’s perfect
According to the National Association of Home Builders, more than 3,000 components are used in constructing a house. That’s a lot of parts and that number does not even include the fine detail of how critical components such as screws, nails, adhesives, and sealants are selected and installed.
Roughly 20 different sub-contractors most likely install these 3,000 components and each sub-contractor may employ as many as 4 to 5 different employees to work on the house. Upon completion, your house could have seen more than 100 different people working with these 3,000 components, including sub-contractors for things such as roofing, framing, painting, drywall, electrical, flooring, appliances, insulation, etc.
With so many people working on a home and with so many components to the actual construction, mistakes can be made. No home is perfect but it’s important to know which aspects of a home are worth repairing and which are deal-breakers.
Most Common Issues with New Home Construction
Hiring a home inspector can help you find some of the most common issues that can occur in new construction homes:
- Incorrect installation of the roof, which may result in having to be completely replaced.
- The mechanical room or space being built too small and cannot fit all the appliances, including the furnace, water heater, pressure tank, etc.
- The home is not correctly insulated, which results in tearing out finished walls and ceilings to fix it. This can be especially true in some inaccessible sections of the roof.
- The siding of the house is improperly installed and ends up needing to be replaced.
- The basement walls were not insulated, which is particularly important in areas with colder climates.
- Crawl space ventilation is not installed, resulting in water from condensation to build up and cause a lot more damage.
- Improper insulation around recessed lighting, which can result in air leaks and heat loss.
- A leaky booster pump, which could cascade into a whole list of repairs to be made including having to replace hardwood floors.
- Structural issues, such as with a damaged roof truss system or an unusual floor frame configuration could require structural engineers to be called in to evaluate.
You may be getting the picture of why it’s recommended to get a home inspection on new construction. A house is a complex system of many variables that if done incorrectly or simply left out, could result in future damage to the home and you stuck paying for the bill.
