Home Pre-Inspection Manual

Hello brave one

I just hope that you are fully insured because some of the things on my checklist requires acrobatics, resistance to the high voltage current, swimming through the flooded crawlspaces, crawling through the scary attics, and many more nasty things – yes my friend, this is what I ,and many other home inspectors, do. This is actually your last chance to turn around, pick up the phone and call your favorite home inspector (just make sure that it is somebody recommended, who already proved himself useful). If you make a mistake, I might be the one bringing you the bad news … actually my client will . OK let’s begin:

Because I’m an Illinois Home Inspector, this manual will be based (I’ll do my best) on Illinois OFFICE OF BANKS AND REAL ESTATE HOME INSPECTOR LICENSE ACT STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

Because such articles are usually written by attorneys, they explain everything in such a manner that you have to hire an attorney to actually understand what it means. Basically, it’s just a list of house components and a statement of required “minimums” the inspector has to do. And in my opinion, this is the main problem of the Standards of Practice for the Home Inspector, because it doesn’t specify top and bottom, so the sky is the limit.

We’ll begin our journey from the very top of the house – it’s probably the most dangerous part of the inspection:

(it’s just the most common stuff, there’s no possible way to cover everything, so let me know what else do you need, I’ll try to update it on daily basis)

Roof and Gutters Inspection

Chimney Inspection

Roof / Attic ventilation inspection