Pre-Drywall Inspection - Did anyone get it?

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by jas1999

Many builders will also tell you they've hired an independent inspector to inspect the home. But can you really trust someone who is paid by the person selling the home.

I've performed new home final inspections where these builder hired independent Inspectors performed their thing. Some are good but others are , well....

The going rate for these quality control (????) inspections seem to be from $50 and up per visit. They are generally performed by much larger inspection firms who send out one of their Inspectors for the QC inspection. The large firm keeps their cut (a large chunk) and the Inspector will get the rest. You can imagine at $50/inspection how many the company and Inspector must do to make any money! That itself is worth a thousand explanations about the quality of new builds!

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

A builder who is against independent inspection at any "pre-cover up" point in the process would make me VERY nervous. I would consider that attitude a likely deal breaker during the builder selection process.

I also like a good look at the exterior prior to installation of finish materials. Some guys can install Tyvek. Some just don't seem to think it important.

That is why I added the extra phase inspection step (1A). One of the big problems today are improperly flashed windows and doors. Without a doubt they are the number one hidden water leakage points in a home.

As for Tyvek installation, here is the link to Duponts installation manual:
http://www2.dupont.com/Tyvek_Weather...WRB_K16282.pdf

During the construction boom I used to go out between inspections and check out the developments being built. There were so many homes going up all at once in a development you could look around and see almost every phase of construction. I'd actually walk around the sites and see the many, many, many potential problems that were going to happen to a home due to the shoddy construction. A common one was the poorly/improperly installed Tyvek barriers! You know the barrier installer called it done when the bricker already had his brick ties nailed in and the brick lined up for installation.

[1984vt]

Originally Posted by des1rees

While building a house, would you get a pre-drywall inspection? We will get one before we close, but our realtor is strongly recommending we get a pre-drywall inspection as well. We had built our old house as well and had not gotten one...and wondering if we need to do it for this one.

Opinions?

Thanks,

D

I don't know how you would get a final inspection on a new home without one. In most muncipalities (unless extremely rural and even then sometimes) the construction must meet the IRC Standards. The only way to inspect, stud spacing, electrical, duct work etc is prior to drywall being installed.

Good Luck with the new home.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by 1984vt

I don't know how you would get a final inspection on a new home without one. In most muncipalities (unless extremely rural and even then sometimes) the construction must meet the IRC Standards. The only way to inspect, stud spacing, electrical, duct work etc is prior to drywall being installed.

Good Luck with the new home.

With the drop in building due to the economic conditions then hopefully the whole municipal inspection process will get better. Here is a good example of what can happen and how inspections can be missed.
ICC Bulletin Board: Certificate of Occupany without Framing Inspection (http://www.iccsafe.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=011250 - broken link)

In the building boom local Building Departments did not ramp up their staff to handle all of the building occurring. As a result many municipal BD's were WAY understaffed. During one of my visits to a development under construction (see my post above) a contractor friend and I were peeking around a 4000+ Sq. Ft. home. In comes the Municipal Inspector to perform a framing inspection. His total time on site from the time he stepped out of his vehicle to the time he got back in was a whopping 15 minutes!! That included the time it took to write and place a "Green Tag" indicating a framing inspection passed. In the short 20 minutes we were there, between my friend and I we found well over 20 significant framing issues. Of them at least a dozen could be easily spotted with a quick glance. These were issues such as no squash blocks on TJI's (Manufactured floor joists), improper size hangers used for the TJI's, missing fasteners in the hangers, and a load of other issues. This house was a custom that was selling for over $500K.

In defense of the Municipal Inspector he was most likely tasked with performing over 20 inspections that 8 hour period. They were probably spaced out around a large area necessitating as much travel time as inspection time between them. We had one Municipal Inspector in my general area (name and location will be left out for obvious reasons) who tried to blow the whistle on this type situation and conditions. Instead of receiving even just a pat on the back he was instead crucified by the city and, as far as I know, still is not working in his chosen profession after several years.

The local municipal Building Inspectors are many times overworked and overburdened. It is important that either you have phase inspections performed by your own Inspector or visit the site OFTEN and document what you see. It can mean the difference between a pi$$ing match between you and the builder who is holding a handful of green tags from the city.