"I never have to go to work because I like what I do."
- Mike Cothran


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Phase Inspections During Construction

Mike I am buying a new home, do you think I need an inspection? Absolutely!

Should I have my new home inspected?
Are some builders better than others?
Do builders have inspectors thru the homebuilding process?

Good questions. As a former homebuilder of 20 years, I ended by homebuilding career as a Vice President of Houston Operations for a major builder. From that vantage point my opinion was more objective than when I was in the field

"The truth is that one can get a good or a bad home from any homebuilder in town. Homes are brick and stick and concrete…just put together in different ways. The real determiner of quality construction is the concern level of the superintendent on the jobsite. The one that is actually supervising the construction. He or she must have the knowledge and then be concerned enough to manage materials and labor, then have enough experience to check "punch-out" the work, confirm that the contractor has corrected the issues, then go back and check to determine that it was "fixed" properly.

I have often said that if I were to have a home built, I would interview the superintendent, not the company.

The quality of construction falls to the superintendent on the site. Builders do have inspectors who come approximately three times during the building process. If you will check the home page, you will see that MLC Real Estate Inspections performs these inspections also. These inspections are performed to satisfy the requirements of the 10-year warranty companies.

The problems are
1. the builder picks the inspector
2. the builder pays the inspector
3. so the inspections are not "third party"
4. the normal fee for a warranty inspection is about $60. per visit
5. that is very small for time and travel and indicates the time spent on these inspections
6. a stage inspection by MLC costs more and more time is spent on the site - with you!
7. the warranty inspection is more cursory as you might imagine

The fact is that pre-owned homes have maintenance caused problems,
new homes have installation caused problems.

Mike should I have my new home inspected thru the construction process? Absolutely! Here's why!

So what is a construction stage (phase) inspection?

The buyer of a new home has the following options.

The three recommended inspections are: 1. concrete pre-placement inspection - to confirm that the builder has installed the foundation and reinforcement to the specifications of the engineer who designed it - foundations are designed specifically for the home and the location - they are highly dependent on soil conditions - this inspection judges the integrity of the moisture barrier, steel placement, plumbing, adequacy of forms, just to name a few things

2. framing inspection - actually this occurs after the roof covering and rough electric/a/c/plumbing has been installed - you can see how many things are involved and is one of the few times that an inspector can actually "see behind the walls" 3. final inspection - performed just prior to the "walk-thru" with the builder - it judges the operational/installation of all accessible components within the home

4. revisits - the purchaser can arrange revisits after any of the above should they suspect that work has not been adequately performed

The homebuyer can schedule any or all of the above, as they wish. Each inspection is priced and reported on individually.

The homebuyer is encouraged to be at all inspections.

Pricing can be found under the home page pricing button.

Even new homes are not perfect..