The Walk Through

I was surprised to find workers painting the exterior of the house when I arrived for the final inspection. Additionally, the screen porch had not been installed, and our shower was missing a panel of glass. On the plus side, we now had a kitchen floor, and the house was a comfortable 70 degrees.

Before our inspection began, our realtor met us at the house, and gave us the unofficial results of the home inspection we commissioned that morning. She gave Martin and Jim a short list of the findings before we began.

The walk through was well organized, and flowed nicely for us newbies. Things started with the new home manual, which contained directions, maintenance, and product information for all the major house components. Need to know who installed the heating system? What's the ideal height for the grass in summer? how do you light the pilot in the water heater? Its all there. As a long time apartment dweller, this will get me started in the right direction, now there's no maintenance staff to call...

After the orientation, and explanation of the punch list process...we started the top to bottom, inside and out inspection of our future residence. Problems were flagged, notes were taken. It felt a lot like grading a term paper... or what I imagine grading a term paper is like. Lose a few points for fit and finish in a few areas, but get them back for spotting and flagging some things before we do. Extra points for the bonus archways, and the slate stepping stones from the back porch to the garage. The final grade comes next week....but overall things are looking good.....