Building And Pest Inspections – Keeping Unwanted Guests From Your New House
Building and pest inspections are an essential step in the purchase of a new home or investment property. There are certain things you can look for while you’re on the house-hunting circuit – like checking the proximity of gardens and trees to the walls of the house – but a professional building inspection is important before you sign anything.
What Are Pest Inspections?
Unfortunately, a pest inspection is not about assessing your neighbor’s behavior and their future potential as an annoyance. It is, however, about identifying if there are wood destroying insects, such as borers and/or termites (otherwise known as white ants) and any existing and potential damage they may have or will cause.
Hire a general contractor or home inspector to inspect all major house systems, from top to bottom, including the roof, plumbing, electrical and heating systems, foundation, and drainage. Accompany the inspector during the examination, so that you can learn more about the maintenance and preservation of the house, ask questions, and get a real sense of which problems are serious and which are relatively minor. (The inspector will write everything down on the report, so reading it can be a bit scary if you hadn’t already seen that, for instance, “cellulose against the foundation” just meant a pile of old leaves that you could easily remove.)
Get a Pest Report
In addition to the general inspector, it’s wise to hire a licensed structural pest control inspector, who will create a special pest report on the property (unless the seller has already commissioned one — pest inspectors, unlike general inspectors, traditionally accept work on properties they’ve inspected, so they have every interest in finding problems). The pest inspector will look for infestation by wood-boring insects such as termites and flying beetles, as well as evidence of dry rot and other fungal conditions.
Choosing A Home Inspector
As the buyer, you want someone who will be thorough and tough. This may not be the inspector your real estate agent recommends — the agent has a financial interest in your deal going through and may recommend an inspector who is not overly persnickety. For more information or to schedule an inspection, call your Minnesota Pest Control Expert Today!
