[Inspirada buyer]

Do we need to hire a home inspector and if so at what stage(s) of construction should weI need a home inspector to do the walk thru?

We bought a garden home at Inspirada in Las Vegas thru KB Homes. They said it would take two months to construct a two story 1800 sq ft garden house. We are thinking of hiring a house inspector once the house is completed. Is it too late to do this or should we hire one during the pre-drywall stage of construction? Or are we just wasting our money to do so during this stage of construction. Would appreciate your advise. Thanks

Rick

[lyra33]

I went through the building process with three homes, two in Las Vegas. The best advice I can give is visit the home EVERY day. You would be amazed at how little the people building your home care about issues that will be huge later on. Once the home is drywalled most of the mistakes will be hidden. We had a slow leak in one of pipes in our laundry room. My husband took a picture and called the builder. Nothing happened. The next day they stuffed some insulation, drywalled and voila, no leak. Armed with his picture my husband confronted the sales rep and they had to rip out the drywall to fix the leak. And yes the insulation was damp.

Also they would often frame the wall with damaged wood. My husband would kick out any piece that was bad.

As far as the inspector goes it would be a really good idea to have one before the drywall (after the plumbing-water is in pipes- and wiring are done).

We also took video tapes/pictures of all the wiring so we would know where everything was once it was covered up. Also, we found that you don't always get what you think you are paying for when it comes to upgrades. We paid for a beautiful dark/dark mahogany stain on our banister (what they showed us in the design center) and it turned out to be a medium oak color. We had to fight for months to get the color we thought we were paying for. Only with the help of our agent did we finally get that resolved. So when they say it might not be exactly the color you are seeing...they are not kidding. Good luck.

[Inspirada buyer]

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes, I am now certain that I need a home inspector during pre-drywall stage and before closing. Can someone recommend a reputable home inspector familiar with KB Homes in Las Vegas that can do a phased home inspection? Do you know the average cost to do two inspections as mentioned above? I would appreciate your help.

[007 license to sell]

Originally Posted by Inspirada buyer

Do we need to hire a home inspector and if so at what stage(s) of construction should weI need a home inspector to do the walk thru?

We bought a garden home at Inspirada in Las Vegas thru KB Homes. They said it would take two months to construct a two story 1800 sq ft garden house. We are thinking of hiring a house inspector once the house is completed. Is it too late to do this or should we hire one during the pre-drywall stage of construction? Or are we just wasting our money to do so during this stage of construction. Would appreciate your advise. Thanks

Rick

Here are a few that you may want to interview.

I have a used Doug O'Brien he is a licensed inspector he is very thorough and he loves it if you would like to be there when he does the inspection. He will give you not only a printed report but he also give you the report on disc. Did you know that you will need to let KB know that you will be having your own inspection. The last time I sold in Inspirada it was a KB home and my client had to fill out a form regarding having her own inspector.

Here is his contact info:

O'BRIEN STRUCTURAL INSPECTIONS, INC.
7345 S. Durango Drive #B-107-122
Las Vegas, Nevada 89113
303-8293-Direct
270-3074-Fax
douglas@osiinspect.com
www.osiinspect.net

Here are some others as well so you can decide for yourself
Chris Mitchel
702-759-2771
InspectionLV.Yahoo.com


Stephen Hensler
Hensler Home Inspections, LLC
Certified Residential Inspector/Owner
Nevada License #00869
(702-837-4343) Office
(702)-283-4885 Scheduling
(702-283-4885) Direct
(702-837-8767) Fax
hensler@cox.net
henslerhomeinspections@cox.net
http://www.henslerhomeinspections.com/home

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by lyra33

I went through the building process with three homes, two in Las Vegas. The best advice I can give is visit the home EVERY day. You would be amazed at how little the people building your home care about issues that will be huge later on. Once the home is drywalled most of the mistakes will be hidden. We had a slow leak in one of pipes in our laundry room. My husband took a picture and called the builder. Nothing happened. The next day they stuffed some insulation, drywalled and voilà, no leak. Armed with his picture my husband confronted the sales rep and they had to rip out the drywall to fix the leak. And yes the insulation was damp.

Also they would often frame the wall with damaged wood. My husband would kick out any piece that was bad.

As far as the inspector goes it would be a really good idea to have one before the drywall (after the plumbing-water is in pipes- and wiring are done).

We also took video tapes/pictures of all the wiring so we would know where everything was once it was covered up. Also, we found that you don't always get what you think you are paying for when it comes to upgrades. We paid for a beautiful dark/dark mahogany stain on our banister (what they showed us in the design center) and it turned out to be a medium oak color. We had to fight for months to get the color we thought we were paying for. Only with the help of our agent did we finally get that resolved. So when they say it might not be exactly the color you are seeing...they are not kidding. Good luck.

That's good advice. While it is usual to bring in the home inspector right before the final walk through, I think a phased inspection is going to accomplish more. I stopped by nearly everyday and discovered several things that I had to call the builder on. Things that were supposed to be done but weren't, and things that weren't supposed to be done but were.

One of the builder's former employees hung out with my neighbor next door, and he'd look for things for me. But even he managed to miss one glaring mistake that I pay for now. He had told me to watch out for when they put in the insulation in the ceiling because they push the plumbing up out of the way to make room, and if it rubs on the metal hangers holding up the rafters it will cut holes in the (plastic) pipes. So I watched to make sure they didn't do that, and I took pictures since I figured that some day we might want to know where those pipes are located in the rafters. What I didn't pay attention to is that they put the insulation under the plumbing. Now there is no insulation between the plumbing and the roof, so in summer we never have cold water, and in winter it takes forever to get hot water. Plus the cold water in winter is really, really cold. Someday I'll hire someone to blow insulation in around the pipes, but I shouldn't have to do that.

[lyra33]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

That's good advice. While it is usual to bring in the home inspector right before the final walk through, I think a phased inspection is going to accomplish more. I stopped by nearly everyday and discovered several things that I had to call the builder on. Things that were supposed to be done but weren't, and things that weren't supposed to be done but were.

In my first home, although we visited every day... they did not insulate in the attic on the second floor in TWO of the rooms. (That was tougher to check as they blew the insulation in after drywalled and you would have to crawl up through the attic.)

After we moved we could not figure out why those rooms were so hot in the summer. (We moved in April.) We had AC guys come out and adjust things and they pretty much told us it had to do with the rooms being further away down the AC line. That's another thing. They make up anything to make it sound like they have things resolved. Anyway, when winter aka "the windy season" hit we heard this obnoxious rattling sound above one of the rooms. It literally sounded like 20 mice were running around. A guy crawled up there and discovered one of the vents was rattling around because there was no insulation above that room, and saw the next was without as well. The next summer was much cooler.

[SportyandMisty]

Visit the jobsite every day while employees are there. video tape things. take pictures. When they know you are watching, they are less likely to cut corners.