Your Annual Home "Physical"

Eagle Eye Inspections promotes a proactive approach to home inspection and suggests that homeowners have their homes inspected on an annual basis. Regularly scheduled maintenance will reduce the chances of a homeowner facing unforeseen expenses. It also provides a potential seller with the information needed to correct any deficiencies prior to placing the home on the market. An annual inspection makes good financial sense to protect your ever-increasing real estate investment.

Many people don't have the expertise or the time to conduct an annual inspection and that is why a professional home inspection company should be hired. Even though most homes sold receive a home inspection, homes are rarely inspected after the buyer moves in. Spring is a good time for preventive annual maintenance as it comes just when the ground thaws.

Just as your body gets its' yearly physical, so should your home! Here are some helpful tips that Eagle Eye Inspections offers to ensure your home is in good working order for your summer enjoyment!

Roofing:
Stand back from your house so you are able to see your rooftop with a good pair of binoculars. Check to see if your shingles are curling, chipped, torn or otherwise damaged or if they are missing altogether. These signs are good indicators that further investigation is required. Remember, your observations from the ground are limited. Without actually walking on the roof, you may not be able to tell the extent of the damage. The homeowner should not access steep and high roofs, and walking on a roof can void a manufacturer’s warranty.

Chimneys
Masonry chimneys should be inspected for loose or deteriorating bricks and mortar. Loose bricks and mortar could pose a serious safety matter. First, they can obstruct a chimney flue and trap poisonous carbon monoxide gases in the home. Second, falling or unstable bricks, resulting from weather damage, could result in serious personal injuries if they fall. Although a homeowner may check for these damages themselves, it is difficult to decipher if the chimney flue is obstructed. Eagle Eye Inspections recommends that a homeowner utilize the services of a professional chimney sweep to ascertain internal chimney obstructions.

Metal chimneys should be checked for rust and/or perforations larger than ¼ of an inch. These can pose serious safety concerns. The chimney flue could potentially have an obstruction and trap poisonous carbon monoxide gases in the home. Metal chimneys should be inspected by a certified chimney sweep.

Gutters:
Gutters and downspouts should be checked for blockages and leaking. Gutters should be checked in Spring and Fall as blocked or damaged gutters or downspouts may result in rainwater not draining properly from the water which could, in turn cause damage to the exterior walls and foundation. This could also result in damp or wet basements. Eagle Eye Inspections suggests that your gutters and downspouts be professionally cleaned or inspected.

Structure

To inspect the structure of your home, walk around the outside perimeter of your house and check the foundation walls for deterioration, cracks, dampness and signs of movement. Cracks can allow water to penetrate the foundation walls and cause water damage that can result in damp basements, rot and mold. To the untrained eye, however, these signs could be overlooked. Eagle Eye Inspections can help you locate potential structural problems.

Grading
Check the grading of your home to ensure that the ground surface around your foundation walls are sloped at least one inch per foot for the first six feet away from your home wherever practical. This will promote drainage away from the foundation to prevent wet or damp basements. To ensure that your grading is appropriate for your home, why not contact Eagle Eye Inspections to help you ascertain whether you have a problem with your home's grading.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of inspection tips for your home but we think these are a great place to start for those times in between your annual home inspection.

Sellers Tips
Here are a few tips for the home seller from Eagle Eye Inspections to make the visit from your home inspector easier and more time efficient:

Don't make statements about your home that are beyond your personal knowledge and can't be verified.

Be courteous. Home inspectors are there to present a fair assessment of your property, not there to find faults.

Tidy up; clear clutter away from crawl spaces, furnace rooms, electrical panels, and attic accesses, to assist the inspector during the inspection. Hidden shut off vales should be identified for easy access. By completing these simple procedures, you will save inspection time.

Allow for about 2 1/2 - 3 hours for the inspection.

Most important of all, we respect that your home is your castle. We treat it like we would want our own home to be treated.