Here are some of the resources available:
1. Home Inspection Video - See a home inspection!
2. Read an actual home inspection report.
3. Read/search Barry Stone's column, Inspector's In the House (below).
4. Send a question using the form to the right. ===>
5. If you are a Seller, get your own inspection before you put your home on the market.

California does not require any license to be a home inspector, so it is important for both home buyers and sellers to make sure that they hire an inspector who is a certified residential inspector and who carries errors and omissions insurance. To help you think through the selection of your home inspector, click here for our 10 Tips.

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS Click on any of these topics to read questions and answers by syndicated columnist Barry Stone.
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As a buyer, you can be present on the home inspection (and we really recommend it). Being there gives you a chance to ask questions, to see and discuss what Mark has found, and to ask other questions about your new home. Some of the areas inspected include: structure, heating and cooling, roof, electrical system, plumbing and fixtures, attic, basement and/or crawl space, foundation, gutters, insulation, interior and exterior walls, porches and decks, and the water heater and appliances.

A good inspector helps both buyers and sellers become aware of any defects that weren't already known. (If they had been known, they would have been disclosed.) Please note: Sellers have no obligation to repair any defects. Repair requests are just that--requests. However, if an unknown defect is a safety issue, violates the then-current building code, or affects functionality, many sellers will accommodate the request in one way or another. A good inspection helps to put all those issues on the table so that everyone is satisfied with the transaction.

For information about various topics, just click on any of the links to the left or run your own search! One of our 600+ articles is posted below.

Gas Off at Inpsection Means Hot/Cold Water Reversal Missed
Inspector's in the House by Barry Stone, Certified Building Inspector

Dear Barry,
When I purchased my home, it was vacant and the gas service was turned off. Because of this, there was no hot water during my home inspection, and the inspector was unable to check the hot water at the tubs, showers, and sinks. Now that I've moved in, I find that the hot water is controlled on the right side, instead of the left, at two of the sinks. I complained to my home inspector for not finding this problem, and he said there was no way he could have discovered this without the water being hot at the time of the inspection. What should I do?
Allison

Dear Allison,
Checking for reversal of hot and cold faucets is a common procedure in the course of a home inspection and is most easily done when the water heater is operating. When the gas is turned off, and the water heater is cold, causing many home inspectors forego this part of the inspection. However, there is an easy method whereby the hot and cold configuration can be verified, even without hot water in the system. By simply turning off the water supply valve at the water heater, the inspector can then turn on each faucet to see that the water flow is off at the left side.

Fortunately, reversed hot and cold connections can be repaired simply and inexpensively. The connectors beneath your sink merely need to be switched.

Distributed by Access Media Group. To write to Barry Stone, please visit him on the web at www.housedetective.com.