Here are some of the resources available:
1. Home Inspection Video - See a home inspection!
2. Read an actual home inspection report.
3. Read/search Barry Stone's column, Inspector's In the House (below).
4. Send a question using the form to the right. ===>
5. If you are a Seller, get your own inspection before you put your home on the market.

California does not require any license to be a home inspector, so it is important for both home buyers and sellers to make sure that they hire an inspector who is a certified residential inspector and who carries errors and omissions insurance. To help you think through the selection of your home inspector, click here for our 10 Tips.

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS Click on any of these topics to read questions and answers by syndicated columnist Barry Stone.
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As a buyer, you can be present on the home inspection (and we really recommend it). Being there gives you a chance to ask questions, to see and discuss what Mark has found, and to ask other questions about your new home. Some of the areas inspected include: structure, heating and cooling, roof, electrical system, plumbing and fixtures, attic, basement and/or crawl space, foundation, gutters, insulation, interior and exterior walls, porches and decks, and the water heater and appliances.

A good inspector helps both buyers and sellers become aware of any defects that weren't already known. (If they had been known, they would have been disclosed.) Please note: Sellers have no obligation to repair any defects. Repair requests are just that--requests. However, if an unknown defect is a safety issue, violates the then-current building code, or affects functionality, many sellers will accommodate the request in one way or another. A good inspection helps to put all those issues on the table so that everyone is satisfied with the transaction.

For information about various topics, just click on any of the links to the left or run your own search! One of our 600+ articles is posted below.

Drain Connections Very Important
Inspector's in the House by Barry Stone, Certified Building Inspector

Dear Barry,
Three years ago, a water softener was installed in our home, and the plumber who did the work connected the overflow pipe to one of the drains beneath the building. The system has given us no problems in all this time, but a home inspector has just listed the drain connection as illegal and has recommended the installation of a standpipe. Is this work really necessary?
Tom G.

Dear Tom,
Connecting a water softener overflow pipe to a sewer drain is
a definite code violation, and unfortunately, one that occurs in many homes.

A primary purpose of the plumbing code is the protection of water supply systems from sources of contamination. Essential to this objective is a general prohibition of direct hook-ups between water supply lines and sewer piping. Wherever such connections exist, there is the possibility of back-siphonage, with the potential for infecting the domestic drinking water.

In the event of a sewage backup, raw effluent could be forced through the overflow pipe into the water softener. From there, bacteria and protozoa could thoroughly contaminate your water supply. With a standpipe, instead of a direct pipe connection, a sewage backup would cause spillage only, without affecting your drinking water.

I strongly recommend that you follow the advice of the home inspector: The addition of a standpipe is usually not an expensive repair, and it will eliminate a definite health hazard.

Distributed by Access Media Group. To write to Barry Stone, please visit him on the web at www.housedetective.com.