It is the common belief that newly built homes will be perfectly sound and free from any deficiencies or issues. This belief, however, is a myth as homes are built by people, and people make mistakes. The construction of a home is an intricate dance between multiple tradespeople as they rely on each other to be able to complete each trade’s work. Miscommunications and mistakes can and DO happen. When making a large investment such as a home, it is worth the small fee to have a qualified and unbiased inspector come out on your behalf and ensure that you are moving into a safe and sound family home.
During this last week we have come across a few costly deficiencies in brand new homes. One such case that could have cost someone’s life. As Adam Boccinfuso, our licensed home inspector at Bocc Home Inspections, was inspecting a brand new home’s electrical panel he discovered that the screw for the electrical panel cover had been inserted directly through the live feed for electricity. This simple error resulted in a large sparks, smoke and what could have been a deadly shock for Adam if hadn’t been following his safety practices. We are very thankful that our clients had taken it upon themselves to schedule a home inspection, as the entire panel was electrically charged and could have resulted in a serious injury by the homeowners in the future. Luckily, this inspection occurred before our clients took possession, and the home builders have been wonderful to rectify the situation and ensure that our clients will have a safe and sound family home to move into in the near future.
In another recent case with a new home, a simple mistake left a homeowner with water pouring into their home via their electrical panel, all because a small area of waterproofing had been overlooked during construction. Now the homeowners have a large repair on their hands and a headache as they have already taken possession of the home. We wished we could have been there before the heavy rains and caught this deficiency before it had escalated to a costly fix.
If you know someone who is having a new home built, or is looking to buy a fairly new home and does not understand the importance of scheduling an inspection, please be a friend, and share this article with them. Here at Bocc Home Inspections, we are there to help ensure that when our clients take possession of their new home, they do so with peace of mind knowing they made a healthy and sound investment on their family home; whether the home is sixty years old, or brand new.