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We are building a new home. We are doing our punch list tomorrow morning. What things did you miss at your walk-through? There are so many things for us to look for and I'm trying to get a heads up of certain areas to pay extra attention to.
We are having our own inspection on Tuesday but we need to have as many things as possible on the punch list tomorrow so they can get things fixed before we close next Friday.
Go to Staples or Office Max and get a package of colored dots or color coding labels.
Get the brightest flashlight you can find.
Keep in mind this is really for you to find cosmetic item. The professional inspector will look for the BIG stuff, and we really don't pay a lot of attention to cosmetic things.
Here is a home inspection method that will help you not miss something:
Start at the front door, or any starting point. Go through the house by turning right or left and follow the wall all the way through the house, from room to room.
Visualize this: when you walk in the door you put your left hand on the wall, and never take it off until you reach the starting point. You don't really have to do this (touch the wall), but you get the idea. Go through each room and look at each wall. Look up and look down. Operate all the windows and doors.
Mark the obvious paint holidays (term for mess ups) with the dots. Look for nail pops or dimples in the drywall where they didn't mud it very well.
Here is where the flashlight comes in. Take the flashlight and hold it flat against the wall and direct the light beam all around. This will bring out every defect, even ones that are not very noticeable with the naked eye. Keep in mind that this is not really a fair way to judge drywall taping and mudding, but you will see the big stuff. Pay attention to corners (inside and outside corners) for defects.
In the bathrooms and kitchen make sure the counter tops are sealed where they join the walls.
Look over all the cabinets and look for dings or defects.
Same for the floors.
Make sure all the doors close without rubbing, and they actually latch when shut.
Look in some of the floor registers (if the heating registers are in the floor) and look for construction debris left. Same for the return air plenum (where the filter goes).
Run water at every fixture. Make sure the hot is on the LEFT side, for a tub LEFT is when you are inside the tub. Check the toilet too.
If the house is on a crawlspace, leave that for the professional, unless you really feel adventurous. There is probably too much there for a novice to check much.
Probably should stay out of the attic too, since you could get hurt there.
Walk around outside and just check out the general appearance of the exterior finish materials and trim. Check that the windows and doors have been caulked where the trim joins the wall material.
Just off the top, that should keep you busy. I know what I look for, but to write it down in a list is quite another thing. There is just sooo much i look at when I'm walking through a house, it's hard to tell someone how to do it.
Great idea!! When we built our last house we missed a few minor things. It can be a pain to have them come out once we close so I want to try to catch what we can now.
Walk through without your shoes off. My friend just did a walk through on her brand new home and they had their shoes on. Her daughter had hers off and asked her dad how her socks got wet. They found out one of the bathrooms had flooded and the carpet pad was still soaked. They wouldn't have known about it otherwise.
In addition, when you are opening the windows, look around them, our drywall wasn't finished right & we missed it.
While you are in the kitchen, run your hand over the counter edge, I keep finding little nicks, although after 3 months I can't be sure if they were us or them. Also pay attention to the wiring job in the kitchen for the micro, did they do a good job or waste a cabinet? Same thing with under the stove & sink.
Also pay attention to slider doors if you have them. Pretty sure they should lock with the latch facing down, if it is up, it's possible they used a reverse door and flipped it over. We have one of these that we never noticed.
Good List. I will add to check the outside water faucets. The first new home we purchased... the plumbers hooked the outside bib to the HOT water. Thank goodness we found out before we gave the dog a bath.
Also, turn on all the appliances. I bring a small bag of popcorn and throw it in the microwave to check it. Flush all the toilets (twice). If you have a night light, bring it with you to check the outlets. Check the top of the door and window sills. The painters will skip painting those.
Let the professional home inspector check your outlets for grounding and polarity - a night light will only tell you if there is power, not if the outlet is actually wired properly.
The home inspector will (should) check ALL water fixtures.
We are having an inspection done and left all the "technical" stuff for him. We just looked for cosmetic things.
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