Inspections Make Sense

          Most new homebuyers never think about it, but it’s true.  How do all those new homes get built?

Homebuilders often use subcontractors to do large portions of their work on new homes.  A substantial portion of a Homebuilder’s work consists of coordinating the work of the different subcontractor trades.  Scheduling can become a critical issue.  If the concrete subcontractor is too busy to pour the foundation, then it’s difficult for the framer to put up the walls.  Sometimes different phases of the construction can be done in parallel.  But you’re not going to put the roof on before the walls go up.

Lack of proper sequencing by the developer can lead to odd results.  For example, what if a Homebuilder schedules the sheet metal contractor to put on the chimney caps before the chimney flues are fully finished?  It can happen.  If that kind of a sequence is followed, a house could end up with a sheet metal cap on the top of the chimney, but the flue might be only partially completed – or there might be no flue at all.

Is it possible for such things to happen?  Yes.  And they do.  So what would happen in such a situation?  The embers from a fireplace could ignite the wooden chimney box in a framed in chimney – and a house fire could result.

So how can homebuyers protect themselves from such things?  It’s difficult to detect every construction defect in new construction.  But many new homebuyers seem to think there’s no need for a home inspection on new construction, because after all, the home is brand new.  What these homebuyers don’t realize is that even though construction is new, there can still be issues or imperfections.