“I was curious about home inspections, particularly for properties with private wells and septic systems. Will the home inspector look at those, too, or will the buyer have to bring in specialists to determine if they’re in good condition?”
If you are buying a house, a home inspection is vital, but not all inspections are the same. What inspections cover vary by area of town, type of house and age of house. All houses will have the basic inspections, which the licensed inspectors do. These inspectors will check the structure, appliances, systems, roof, windows etc, but there are a lot of items that may need to be inspected and these items may other professionals.
The classic example are termite and pest inspections. These inspections are usually handled by an exterminator rather than the house inspector. The inspector will arrange for the pest inspector to come at the same time as the house inspector. This true of most additional inspections with the home inspector coordinating inspectors.
If the house has a basement, and even if it doesn’t, most inspectors will test for radon in the air. This is done either with an electronic monitor or activated charcoal canisters. The electronic system gives an instant reading. The canisters have to be sent off to a lab for test results that can take a couple of days.
You then have the special inspections mostly seen in the 2- and 4-acre zones here in Greenwich. These houses usually have their own water wells, septic systems and oil heat. The main house inspector can take a water sample to be tested for hardness, minerals and bacterial contamination. There are other pollutants that can also be tested for and you should talk to your inspector about those tests.
A new test is for uranium in water. Well water is frequently tested for radon, but the uranium water test is only in the last couple of years. If you do happen to have uranium in your water don’t panic, there are water treatment systems for removing it that are affordable.
An inspection of the septic system is usually done by a septic company. It’s better not to use the septic company that presently maintains the system. You want to get an independent opinion. The septic inspector will also check in the Greenwich Town Hall and review the file, particularly for the survey showing the location of the septic system components.
Often a heating company will inspect the furnace and oil tanks to make sure they are in good working order and no leaks. If the house is older, a professional can also do a magnetic search for buried underground storage tanks. Most houses with oil heat have the oil tanks in the basement or the garage, which is good. The problem is when the old underground tanks were abandoned in place. Buyers don’t want to buy a house with a buried underground oil tank. Last year I had a house that had converted to propane heat. The house had two underground storage tanks; one from the 1930’s and one from the 1960’s. They both still had oil in them, but only the tank from the 1950s had leaked. It all got cleaned up and we closed on time.
Houses are most people’s biggest purchase and working with your inspector to get the right tests done can give you a lot of comfort when you move in.
