The primary reason for a current homeowner to get a home inspection is to help catch small problems before they become big problems. For example, water leaks can often go undetected for long periods of time if the damage is behind walls or in the attic or crawlspace. Home inspectors have the knowledge and tools to help find those type of issues. As homeowner, it is much better on your wallet to repair a minor water leak for $200 than to have it go undetected and incur a potential $2,000 to $3,000 structural repair a few years later.
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Another top reason is for the health and safety of the occupants. Modern building standards are always changing based upon knowledge gained as unsafe practices are revealed (and litigated). It is prudent to stay advised on how your home could be upgraded to improve safety and, where feasible, to perform those upgrades. Sometimes undertaking an upgrade can reduce your home insurance premiums and, depending upon how long you plan to stay in your house, might help to pay for most or all the upgrade costs. So, when considering a major upgrade, it is advised that you also talk to your home insurance company.

Many types of upgrades can also increase the market value of your house. A house that is well-maintained, having had regular home inspections, could be a strong selling point if and when it comes time to sell your home. So, you might want to also talk to your realtor about the potential long-term benefits of getting regular home inspections.

However, what Zone 3 (yellow) represents is the statistical probability that a test for radon gas in that area will result in less than 2 pCi/L (picocuries per liter) based upon collected data. It does not mean that your house does not have higher levels of radon gas, just that that an elevated test result is less likely to happen versus other parts of the county. Zone 2 (orange) has the probability that a radon test will be between 2 pCi/L and 4 pCi/L. And, Zone 3 (red) has the probability that a test will be over 4 pCi/L.

Before we get too far, let us review what is radon gas and how the EPA came up with the Radon Zone map. Radon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and chemically-inert gas that is formed by the natural radioactive decay of uranium in rock, soil, and water. It naturally exists in low levels widely across the Earth’s crust and can be found in all 50 states. Once produced in the ground, it moves through the soil to the air above or dissolves into the groundwater. Of the two, inhaled airborne particles are much more hazardous to humans. The EPA has determined that ANY amount of long-term exposure to radon gas increases your risk of contracting lung cancer.
 
So, is 2 pCi/L safe? The technical answer is “no” as long-term exposure to radon is a hazard in any amount. However, there is one important caveat. Radon gas can be found anywhere and everywhere. So, if you were to take a long walk around the country, the EPA has determined your average exposure to radon would be about 4 pCi/L. Thus, that is why the EPA came to use 4 pCi/L as its standard. If your house has radon gas in higher concentration that 4 pCi/L, then your family is at higher risk of contracting lung cancer versus the natural environment and the EPA recommends you take measures to mediate that additional risk.
 
The EPA Radon Zone maps were derived from aggregated test results based upon ZIP code data. The most current ZIP code based radon data for all counties within California can be found at the following website.
 
https://www.city-data.com/radon-zones/California/California.html
 
Although based upon a limited sample set, you will notice that certain ZIP codes within Shasta County (notably 96003, 96007, 96049, and 96069) have had test results reporting greater than 4 pCi/L. The same is true for 96080 (south Red Bluff) in Tehama County plus 95928 and 95969 (Paradise) in Butte County. The EPA recommends that all homeowners test for radon, particularly when purchasing a new home. The results in those ZIP codes, so far, indicate that that caution has been warranted.
 
We recommend that all new homeowners test for radon, starting with the DIY home tests—see link below. Because the DIY tests are not 100% accurate, with both false negatives and positives possible, we recommend that you purchase and perform two separate tests. Follow the instructions carefully to get the best results. A typical DIY test kit includes the laboratory processing fee and can be purchased for around $25 each. The following is a product review site for some of the most popular kits:
 
https://bestreviews.com/home/safety/best-radon-test-kits#radon-test-kit-prices
 
Should your test results come back indicating higher than 4 pCi/L, we recommend that you then consult with a radon mitigation specialist. Another aspect concerning radon gas is that it requires an avenue to enter your home, which is where your mitigation specialist will focus and your home inspection report can help. Houses built on raised foundations (crawlspaces) without vapor barriers installed have little to no means of preventing radon gas from the soil from filtering upwards into the house. Radon gas can enter through gaps around piping and electrical connections, as well as cracks in the foundation. Helping to mitigate radon inside a home can be as simple as filling in cracks, sealing around pipes and electrical conduits, installing a vapor barrier, or adding vents to a crawlspace. Additional mitigation could include installing a powered vent into the crawlspace, basement, or even under a concrete slab. Our recommendation would be to also install a radon monitor device inside the home for on-going post-mitigation monitoring (typically less than $100 material cost). All of these measures are relatively modest in cost, as well as have other benefits such as reducing moisture entering the home and are in the range of other types of home repairs.
 
In summary, radon gas, a known carcinogen, is present in Northern CA and a low percentage of homes in our area have seen concentrations exceeding 4 pCi/L that would call for some type of mitigation. The DIY tests are relatively inexpensive, and every homeowner should test their home. Should the test results come back with radon level greater than 4 pCi/L (not very likely, but possible), some moderate costs could be involved to help reduce the radon gas that enters the home to below 4 pCi/L that is the average atmosphere background level in the USA, or lower.

That is all well and good, but how much does adding attic insulation cost versus how much money will I save you ask? That is a very complicated question. It depends on how much insulation you currently have, the type of insulation you install, how much you actually use your heating/cooling, your price of energy (e.g. propane, gas, electric, wood), how long you plan to live in your house, and how handy you are to take this on as a DIY project versus the cost to use professionals. Since there are thousands of combinations to those variables, the only way to synthesize it down is to use a few scenarios and you pick which is closest to your situation.

Let’s say you have 1,500 sq.ft. house and your combined annual total energy costs (e.g. electric, gas, propane) per year is $2,500. The Department of Energy predicts that, if you live in Climate Zone 3, provided that you seal up air leaks into your house (e.g. doors, windows, attic, crawlspace), then  increasing your attic insulation from R-19 to R-38 will save you around 14% of your heating/cooling costs. If you can separate those individual costs out, then 14% is your predicted savings. However, if you are like most folks and are not able to separate just heating/cooling costs, then the Department of Energy predicts that for Climate Zone 3 such an upgrade would save 8% of your total annual household energy costs. Doing the math, 8% of $2,500 is $200 in estimated energy savings per year for our example house.

Let’s say that you are a DIY type of person and have 7 inches of blown cellulous insulation in the attic (roughly equivalent of R-20) and want to double that to 14 inches of cellulous (R-40). Cellulous and rock wool are some of the cheaper insulating materials. It will take about 30 to 40 25-lb bags of cellulous at about $12/bag for the “green” recycled-paper product, for a total of about $400 to $500 in material costs. Home Depot and Lowes both have deals that they provide a free one day rental of the machine to blow the insulation if you purchase a minimum number of bags. In this DIY scenario, the break-even point on your investment is only 2 to 3 years. If this is your lifetime home and you are handy person, the benefits versus costs are excellent. For example, 10 years of savings would equal $2,000 at current energy rates and those rates will almost inevitably increase in the future.

If the same house had fiberglass insulation, the recommendation is to add more fiberglass insulation (adding cellulose over fiberglass will compact the fiberglass and reduce it R-value). However, the cost of the materials is more expensive, most likely in the range of $600 to $900 dollars, perhaps more. In this scenario it might take 4 to 5 years to recoup your investment and if you are not sure how long you will stay in the house, perhaps the benefit versus costs will be less attractive.

If you are not the handy type or just want the professionals to handle the installation, material and labor costs might run $1,500 to $2,500 for a 1,500 sq.ft. house. In which case, the return on investment in this scenario would be 7 to 12 years. In this scenario, if you are not a DIY type nor planning to stay in the home that many years, the costs might outweigh the benefits.

These are just a few scenarios. Check your energy bills, check the insulation level in your attic, investigate current insulation costs, get quotes from contractors, and so forth.  The 8% (of the total energy use) or 14% (of just heating/cooling costs) are the best available numbers to work with for predicted energy savings in Climate Zone 3. If you live in another part of the country, please refer to following link for energy savings estimates in your area.

https://www.energystar.gov/campaign/seal_insulate/methodology

​If you are a home seller feeling a bit anxious about the possible future results of buyer's home inspection or just hate being in stressful situations, you may be the perfect candidate for a pre-listing home inspection. The top reasons for sellers to get a home inspection include:

1. Reduce stress by helping to ensure a smooth escrow process.

Concluding a house sale successfully is often about managing the expectations of both buyers and sellers. Sellers are often surprised when significant defects are found during the home inspection, as many types of issues can go unnoticed for years with few symptoms in places of the house that are rarely visited such as the roof, attic, or crawlspace. Buyers can also get spooked if several previously-unknown larger issues are discovered during escrow. For both buyer and seller, it is much better if there are few surprises.

A pre-listing inspection by the seller can help to ensure that there are no big surprises during the escrow process related to the house condition, provided that the seller acts to address those issues in some manner. The general courses of action are:

• Do nothing. The seller could disclose the major issues with the house in the listing and share the complete inspection report with the buyer as part of the seller’s disclosure. This can support an “as-is” sale by reducing the unknowns and helping the buyer to better understand the scope of issues with the house. Some buyers are happy to take on small projects, or even large projects, provided they have a good grasp of the scope of the issues and have a good feel for how they are going to solve them.
• The seller could perform some, most, or all the necessary repair items before the house is listed. Some sellers then opt to have the same home inspector come back to re-inspect (for an additional fee) and create a modified version of the home inspection report to verify that the work was completed satisfactorily. The house could then perhaps be listed as “move-in ready,” attracting more potential buyers, with more confidence on the part of the seller knowing they had already dealt with most or all of needed repairs and upgrades. And, have proof of the same should it be needed.
• The seller can proactively apply credits to the buyer, even as part of the listing. For instance, if the dishwasher is broken (and not worth repairing) the seller could offer a $400 credit to the buyer towards the purchase of a new dishwasher. The buyer might be quite happy with this arrangement as they would then purchase a new dishwasher of their choice at the conclusion of escrow.

2.  Save money on repairs.

If you, as seller, are a handy homeowner or know a great handyman, you may want the opportunity to do many of the easier non-specialized repair items yourself to save on labor costs. If only a specialist is qualified to do the work, or that is your preference (qualified professionals are always recommended), then having adequate time to do some research, ask questions, get several competitive bids, negotiate on price, and get the work done at a more-relaxed pace can certainly result in money savings on repairs.

If you choose instead to later perform repairs requested by the buyer during escrow, there is typically only a small window to perform the work, which could put you at a distinct disadvantage in regards to who is available to perform the work and realizing any cost savings.
 
3. Get the best price for your house.

As they say, knowledge is power. In the “do nothing” vein discussed previously you, as seller, could get estimates from one or more general contractors for all the needed repairs and upgrades to help justify the asking price for the house. Say, for instance, that sales comparisons the area suggest that your house in excellent, “move-in ready” shape would be worth $300K and the contractor bids averaged about $25K, then you would have solid justification to list the house for $275K and hold firm on that price.
 
Alternatively, if you were to undertake those repairs prior to the listing using the most cost-effective approaches available, it is reasonable to presume that you could complete the needed work for less money. Let’s say you were able to get all the work done for $15K out-of-pocket. Then, instead of listing the house for $275K, you could list the house as “move-in ready,” asking the full market value of $300K, and hold firm to that price. Subtracting the $15K out-of-pocket would result in a net plus of $10K for your efforts, which would more than justify the cost of the pre-listing home inspection.

Your real estate agent is the best person to talk to develop a marketing strategy for the sale of your house based upon current market conditions in your area and how a pre-listing home inspection might be leveraged to attract more buyers, get the best price for your house, and help facilitate a smooth escrow process. 

See also:
​
A Home Inspection, Defined
The Top Three (3) Reasons Buyers Should Get a Home Inspection

​Buyers are taking on risks when purchasing a property and generally want to take actions that  reduce those risks, which is why buyers represent the bulk of the market for home inspections. The top reasons why buyers should get a home inspection include:

1. To learn much more about the house.

Some buyers may make an offer based upon only a 30-minute or so walk-through of the house, whereas a home inspector will spend several hours methodically examining all the various systems of the house from top to bottom. He or she will look with an experienced eye in all the accessible locations the buyers likely did not study in any detail, such as: the roof, in the attic, inside the utility closet, inside the crawlspace, and (most cases) inside the electrical panel. Even with an “as-is” purchase, it is much better to have professional help to detail the issues / concerns to acquire more information about the house.

The inspector will likely catch many things that the buyer would miss. The inspector is looking for structural problems, health and safety issues, problems with roofing, ventilation, insulation, heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical issues. Since they have probably looked at hundreds of good examples, anomalies (i.e., defects, issues, concerns) literally jump out at them.

A portion of the inspection report is providing valuable informational and proactively answers questions, such as:

• Where the main water and fuel shutoffs are located?
• Where the main disconnect for electricity is located and what is the available electrical amperage?
• What types of siding materials are present?
• Approximately how old is the roof?

 
​You will receive a good overview of the major systems of your new home.

Although a home inspection is visual only and not invasive, most inspectors will employ a variety of inspection tools as applicable to help discover defects and verify their visual and olfactory observations. These are just some of the specialized tools that inspectors may use:

• Receptacle Tester—detects if an electrical outlet is wired correctly. Incorrectly wired outlets are an electrical shock hazards.
• GFCI / AFCI Circuit Testers—allows the inspector to perform realistic tests of Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) and Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) equipped branch circuits.  
• Moisture Meter—reports the percent moisture content of drywall, wood, or masonry. Used to detect if an apparent water stain is likely active or dormant. Wood and other solid materials tend to rot and deteriorate when their moisture content exceeds 20%.  
• Humidity Meter—determines the relative humidity in the air. Just how damp is the crawlspace? Mold starts to grow and insects tend to invade when relative humidity reaches 65%.
• Infrared Thermometer—reports the temperature of an object without requiring contact, such as the temperature of a furnace exhaust vent.
• Carbon Monoxide Test/Monitor Devices—able to detect low-levels of carbon monoxide (CO) in the air below the alarm level threshold of standard home CO detectors. Even low amounts of CO are considered a health concern. CO in the air can be indicative of a fuel-based appliance that may not be burning fuel properly, not vented properly, or has a leak within the heat exchanger.
• Combustible Gas Detector—determines if a combustible gas is in the air, which is a fire and explosion hazard.
• Pole-mounted cameras—useful for inspecting hard to reach areas and roofs that are unsafe to walk upon.
• Aerial Drones—useful for inspecting roofs that are unsafe to walk upon.
• Thermal-Imaging Cameras--senses heat radiation emitted from objects and converts that into a color image. When there are significant enough temperature anomalies at the wall (or equipment) surface, these will then show up as color variations in the resulting image. In this manner, thermal cameras can sometimes be used to detect such things as insulation problems, overloaded electrical circuits, water leaks, and even pest infestations behind walls and ceilings.

Using their practiced eyes and useful detection tools, home inspectors will gather much information about the condition of a dwelling in a short amount of time and relay that to the buyer in a detailed report. If possible, you will want to be present during the home inspection so that the inspector can point out important observations and for you to ask questions. However, try not to interrupt the inspector too much and let them go through their regular routine, which will help the inspector to not miss anything.

2.  To identify safety concerns.

​While home inspectors are not building-code inspectors, they have a similar mission focused on the safety of occupants. Home inspectors sometimes quote international building codes and trade association safety standards as guidance in many important areas of the home inspection. However, those are used only as representative of "modern standards" and not a substitute for local building codes that could be different or even mute on the subject.
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As most people know, building codes change over time. For example, what was considered good practice and safe in 1965, such as using solid aluminum wiring in electrical branch circuits, is no longer considered safe and the building codes everywhere have since changed. In other words, many people were killed in electrical fires and homes destroyed caused by faulty aluminum wire connections and governments reacted promptly to update the rules. Apply that same principal to hundreds of other unsafe building practices that led to property damage and people getting hurt, with subsequent building code additions and changes, to get a sense of what building codes contained in 1965 versus what they cover today.

So, that begs the question, is a home built in 1965 that passed a rigorous building-code inspection at that time safe to occupy today? The short answer is, it depends upon what renovations, repairs, and upgrades were done to the home in accordance to more modern building code standards since 1965. Building code inspectors only perform re-inspections to current codes whenever significant renovations, additions, and repairs to the home are covered by permits. If no permitted major renovations or repairs have been done to the house, or the homeowner or contractor performed work not in accordance with modern standards, many unsafe building conditions could be present.

Home inspectors are specifically trained to look for solid-conductor aluminum branch wiring in homes built in the mid-to-late 1960’s, for instance, as well as dozens of other specific safety concerns that tend to persist in homes. This is a key reason why you want to use a home inspector.

3. To identify potentially costly repairs or needed upgrades.

Most issues that are discovered during a home inspection are minor and should not factor in your decision to purchase. Home inspectors include those into the report to help you get a better picture of the overall condition of the house. However, many repairs, replacements, and upgrades recommended by the home inspector could cost hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars. Those are the issues that you really want to know about as buyer.

If there is an inspection contingency to the purchase contract, the buyer likely has some bargaining leverage with the seller. Focusing on the bigger-ticket repair items, the buyer has five main courses of action, which could be applied selectively to each individual issue:

• Do nothing. If the issue is a safety concern, for example, then the buyer may decide to simply accept those risks and defer the recommended upgrade and associated costs to some indefinite date.
• Take responsibility for performing the repair after the sale. Perhaps the house is a “fixer-upper” for which the condition is already reflected in the home price and that was the plan all along. In which case, the inspection report largely serves to clarify the scope of the repairs and upgrades needed.
• Request that the seller perform selected repairs before the close of escrow.
• Ask for a seller’s credit to the buyer ($) to help pay for the repairs to be performed by the buyer after close of escrow. This could perhaps be the preferred choice of the seller, as it will be likely less stress on them versus having to complete repairs within a short time window.
• Ask for a price reduction on the sale price on the house in light of expensive repairs that were revealed by the home inspection, but not included in the listing description.

It is sometimes a delicate negotiation between the buyer and seller to arrive at a satisfactory resolution. There are tons of variations as well as some rules that need to be followed. It is important for all parties to be reasonable. What is possible can depend on several factors, including market conditions. For instance, if it is a seller’s market and the seller has several backup offers waiting in the wings, the buyer’s bargaining leverage with the seller may be reduced. So, listen to what your realtor is recommending. The sixth possible course of action is, of course, the dreaded "walk away" option that nobody wants, including the home inspector. It is important to note that most home inspectors are well-attuned to this entire process and are often quite interested to hear what the outcome was for their client.

See also:

A Home Inspection, Defined
The Top Three (3) Reasons a Seller Should Get a Home Inspection

For the immediate future at least (i.e., before the robots take over) homes are built and maintained by people and people are, shall we say, less than perfect. As a result, every home has defects, even newer homes, and inspectors have long checklists.

You can think of the inspection report as the equivalent of a grade school report card for your house with the subjects being: foundation, roof, exterior, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and interior including the attic, crawlspace or basement, and attached garage. The following is one way to interpret the theoretical grades received in each subject:

• Outstanding: No defects were found.
• Excellent: Only minor defects were found.
• Satisfactory (functional but needs improvement): The system or component may be still functional or degraded in some manner. Some prominent issues were found and/or there are some safety concerns for which the inspector is recommending repairs or upgrades.
• Poor (failing): The inspector found one or more “material” defects, which are defined as conditions that adversely affect the value, desirability, or habitability of the dwelling or the safety of the occupants. Some examples of material defects are a wooden deck that is in danger of collapse, an electrical panel with open breaker slot (an electrocution risk for children), or a fuel-based heating system that is showing signs of backdraft (pushing exhaust fumes into the home potentially causing carbon monoxide poisoning of the occupants).

Home inspectors are specifically trained to look for hundreds of types of defects, issues and concerns that may indicate a problem or the need for an upgrade. They create short written accounts in their report of their observations and recommendations for each deficiency that succinctly summarizes: 1) what is the defect/issue/concern, 2) why it is important, and 3) what is a recommended course of action, typically backed up by photographs and sometimes video.

It is important to note that home inspectors are generalists and not specialists in any category. As such, most often their recommendation is for a specialist to be consulted for further evaluation and correction of the issue. Which, in a practical sense, would mean that the customer should engage specialist professionals (e.g., a plumber, electrician, or roofer etc.) to further evaluate the problem(s) and obtain quotes for repairs or upgrades.

It is also important to note that what a home inspector calls out as an issue or recommends as a course-of-action is a professional opinion based upon training and years of experience, but is not binding on anyone.

The home inspector is free to speculate on what could be the possible source of the problem to be helpful, but they are in no way obligated to figure that out. They are also not obligated to determine the extent of the problem. It usually takes a specialist to arrive at a definitive conclusion as to the cause and extent of the problem, sometimes resorting to destructive methods, such as cutting into a wall to find the exact source of a water leak.

The severity assigned to the issue as a minor, prominent (major defect), or material defect is also subjective, although there are industry-standard guideline definitions for what constitutes a “material” defect.

Feel free to enlist another home inspector or industry experts for their recommendations, which could be different. Most home inspectors (as well as specialists) will generally come to the same conclusion about what constitutes a defect or concern, but may differ on the possible cause, severity, or course of action. Ultimately, it is incumbent upon the customer of the inspection report to take into consideration all the available information to draw their own conclusion as to the most appropriate course of action.

The purchaser of the home inspection, most often the buyer, is the owner of the report and is not obligated to share the report with anyone. However, if the inspection is performed as a pre-listing inspection contracted by the seller, the seller may be obligated by law to disclose those items that were not repaired as part of the seller’s disclosure during a future escrow period. Please consult with your real estate agent on the applicable laws in your state. The seller should also take into consideration that a home inspection performed by the eventual buyer is very likely to discover the same issues during an escrow inspection period and then your timeframe as seller to consider and possibly engage in lower-cost avenues to address those issues will be abbreviated. Many sellers find that situation stressful, or for other reasons want to help the escrow to proceed smoothly, which is one of the main reasons that pre-listing home inspections are also performed for sellers.

See also:

Top Three (3) Reasons Buyers Should Get a Home Inspection
Top Three (3) Reasons Sellers Should Get a Home Inspection

Due to the findings of the CPSC, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) created standards in 1991 that require free-standing over ranges to remain stable while supporting 250 pounds of weight on their open doors. The manufacturers generally meet this standard with an anti-tip or anti-tilt device that secures one leg of the range to the floor, while still allowing for easy slide-out of the range for servicing. Manufacturers have been including these devices with their unit packaging with instructions for how they are to be installed since the 1990’s, but many installers either do not read the instructions or just skip the anti-tip device installation.

​You can check you range by simply sliding it out of its location and looking for a bracket. If an anti-tip bracket is missing, you should be able to order one through your local hardware store for popular range models or get one online directly from the range manufacturer for around $10 to $20, plus tax and shipping.  Installation is relatively straight-forward for a handy homeowner or handyman, and well worth doing for home safety.

Emergency response time from your local fire department in the event of a house fire is an important consideration when purchasing or owning a home. If your home is more than 500 feet away from a municipal fire hydrant or more than five miles away from an 24/7 manned fire station, it might take firefighters more time than is their norm to reach your residence, perform a rescue (if necessary) and extinguish the fire. For those same reasons, it can also impact your home insurance rates.

​The benefits of fire sprinkler systems in commercial settings have been long established, with fire code regulations within U.S. and internationally in place for commercial buildings for many decades. However, fire code regulations for single-family homes are a somewhat recent development. Residential fire sprinkler systems have been required for new single-family home construction in California since 2011.

Some facts about fire sprinklers you may not know or have thought about:

• Fire sprinklers use significantly less water to extinguish a fire than would be used by the fire department.
• Newer sprinkler heads are designed to activate independently of each other. In homes equipped with fire sprinklers, 90% of fires are contained by the operation of a single sprinkler head.
• Fire sprinklers are triggered only by temperature that surpasses a certain heat threshold, making it practically impossible to trigger them accidentally.
• There are recessed and concealed sprinkler heads on the market that are relatively small diameter and blend-in aesthetically with the ceiling. The smooth cover-plate, which can separately painted, drops off as part of the trigger mechanism.