NationSpec Home Inspection provides every inspection that a residential home owner/prospective purchaser, seller, or commercial business needs.
We are the premiere building inspectors in Katy, Texas and within a 75-mile radius of our headquarters.
Our services:
- Commercial building inspections
- Residential home inspections
- Pre-purchase and Construction-phased inspections
- Pre-listing inspections
- New home inspections
- Warranty Inspections
- Home Maintenance Inspections
Wait…what’s that last one?
Most people only order a home inspection when they’re thinking of buying or selling their house. It doesn’t occur to them to order a home inspection once they’ve been in their home for five or ten years, for example, and have no intention of selling.
Yet a home maintenance inspection is a vital part of the upkeep of your home, to help discover any small problems that may develop into larger – and more expensive – problems in future if action isn’t taken immediately.
Why a home maintenance inspection?
Homes are just like people. As the systems outside and inside the home age, they can break down if not properly maintained.
The systems that make up the whole of a home include:
Structural system
The structure includes the foundation and frame of the house, as well as its roof. It also includes the sidewalks and driveways.
Electrical system
Electricity runs all through your house, with access to it from wall plugins and light fixtures. There will be a circuit breaker or fuse box located somewhere. (It may be in the garage or basement, or even outside the home.
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning system
There are many different methods by which a home can be heated in winter and cooled in summer. Forced air heat, radiant heat, a central air conditioner or window air conditioners.
Plumbing system
The plumbing system is rather complex, with pipes leading to and from baths, showers and toilets – however many of them there might be. There’s also the kitchen sink, dishwasher, clothes washer, utility sink and probably one outside faucet as well.
Appliances
Major appliances include your refrigerator, dishwasher, trash compactor, oven, and clothes washer and dryer, as well as your water heater and air conditioner. Small appliances would be such things as coffee makers, toasters and toaster ovens, slow cookers and portable grills.
In a home maintenance inspection, NationSpec inspectors perform a thorough visible inspection of the components of each of these systems.
At the same time, we perform a thermal imaging inspection.
Thermal imaging inspection
Thermal imaging is technology that lets us see inside your home without having to tear things apart to do so!
Our inspectors carry hand-held thermal imaging cameras which enable us assemble a complete thermal imaging map of your home.
With this map, we’re able to determine such things as:
- Status of heat distribution. If elements of a radiator, heating panel or underfloor radiator aren’t heating properly, or are overheating, thermal imaging will reveal exactly where the problems lie.
- Hot spots in attics, which could potentially cause ice dams in winter
- Missing or incorrectly installed insulation, allowing heat to leak out.
- Plumbing leaks
- Roofing leaks
- Moisture intrusion at the foundation
As you can see, thermal imaging is an invaluable tool for home inspectors.
When we prepare our home inspection report for each client, we include all the relevant digital images, should we find any issues that need to be addressed. These consist of full color images from the thermal camera, and then regular images of the same location so that the issues are easy to interpret.
NationSpec: The Home Maintenance Inspection experts
Our clients depend on us to conduct a thorough inspection of their home and provide a report that is exhaustive, and at the same time easy to understand, with all recommended repairs listed.
Our inspectors are experienced professionals with experience in the home construction as well as the home inspection business. They know everything to look for!
NationSpec: Trust Our Specs of Your Home
NationSpec’s Visual Inspection Checklist
STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
- Foundations
- Grading and Drainage
- Fencing, Retaining Walls
- Driveways and Walkways
- Porches, Balconies, Decks and Carports
- Roof Covering and Materials
- Roof Structure and Attic
- Walls (Interior and Exterior)
- Ceilings and Floors
- Doors (Interior and Exterior)
- Windows
- Stairways (Interior and Exterior)
- Fireplace and Chimney
ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS
- Service Entrance and Panels
- Branch Circuits, Connected Devices, and Fixtures
- Smoke/CO Detectors
HEATING, VENTILATION AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS
- Heating Equipment
- Cooling Equipment
- Duct System, Chases, and Vents
PLUMBING SYSTEM
- Water Supply System and Fixtures
- Drains, Wastes, and Vents
- Water Heating Equipment
- Hydro-Massage Therapy Equipment (if present)
APPLIANCES
- Dishwasher
- Food Waste Disposer
- Range Exhaust Vent
- Ranges, Cooktops, and Ovens
- Microwave Oven
- Trash Compactor
- Mechanical Exhaust Vents and Bathroom Heaters
- Garage Door Operator(s)