What to Expect From Your Inspection

Whether you are buying, selling, or maintaining your home, Nomad Home Inspections provides professional and quality service from the moment you call us. I will walk through your home with you and teach you as much as you want to learn. I strictly follow the Standards of Practice for home inspectors established by the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI), the leading home inspection association.

After we walk through the home together, I will explain the general condition of the home and systems with you and your agent. I will talk through any major issues that need to be addressed sooner rather than later. I will also mention the items that you will want to keep an eye on for deferred maintenance. All of this will be detailed in our easy-to-read Spectora report, which will be delivered in HTML and/or PDF format. From that report, you will be able to see the items we discussed, with images for reference.

What you see vs what I see when inspecting your home using a thermal imaging device:

Nomad Home Inspections thoroughly inspects and reports on the following:

  • Structural Systems

    Foundations, grading & drainage, basements, walkways, and floor, wall and ceiling structures.

  • Roofing

    Roof coverings, drainage systems, flashings and skylights, chimneys and other roof penetrations.

  • Electrical Systems

    Service entrance and panels, branch circuits, connected devices and fixtures, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and making sure your outlets are GFCI-protected.

  • Plumbing

    Fixtures and faucets, water supply systems, drain, waste and vent systems, water heater, vents, flues and chimneys, and any sump pumps or fuel storage and distribution systems.

  • Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems

    Heating and cooling equipment, ducts, vents and flues.

  • Appliances

    Dishwasher, garbage disposal, range hood, range or oven, cooktop, microwave, trash compactor, bathroom exhaust fans, garage door operator, and other built-in appliances.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Reports are routinely sent out the same day, usually within hours of completing the inspection. In the rare event that a same-day report cannot be sent out, reports will be sent within 24 hours.

If possible, yes. The best time to attend is about two hours after the start of the inspection. This will give me enough time to get a good “feel” for the house as well as have the major components inspected prior to your arrival.

If you want an awareness of radon levels in your home, then yes. The EPA has set the action level of radon at anything greater than 4pCi/L. According to the EPA map North Idaho is Zone 1, which means levels are predicted to be above 4pCi/L. Radon levels are frequently tested to be much higher than that. Radon is the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer aside from smoking.

For more information about radon, visit the EPA website.
An inspection for your home is like a physical or health check up from your doctor; It’s not invasive like a surgery, but is meant to look for red flags. Here are some more specifics:
  • A home inspection is a visual examination of the home’s observable physical structure and systems. Because only what can be seen can be inspected, issues hidden from view cannot be accounted for. For example things obstructed by furniture or personal belongings and things behind walls or below ground.
  • A home inspection is a snapshot in time. The defects found during the inspection are the ones that were present and observable at the time of the inspection. While I do my best to identify potential future problems and suggest preventive measures, you should expect future issues in the house that your inspection cannot predict.
  • Home inspections are not code inspections. Although many home defects have roots in code compliance, we do not enforce building code. For a more comprehensive picture of what is inspected, look at the InterNACHI SOP.
Home inspections start at $345 for single family homes up to 4000 sqft. Single family homes larger than 4,000 sq ft will have an additional fee of $0.05 per sq ft. Contact me directly for pricing and lead time on homes larger than 4,000 sq ft. Multi-family units like duplexes, ADUs, and homes with “granny units” add $95 per unit.
Radon testing is $135 and includes a detailed document with hourly measurements of radon levels, temperature, air pressure, and humidity.