top of page

Standard Home Inspections in Cincinnati

What to expect?

Whether you choose us or not, the most important thing you can do is attend the home inspection.  If you can make it to the entire inspection, that's great.  Our inspections range from 3-5 hours, depending on the size, condition of the home as well as any questions you might have (we love the questions!).  If time is a constraint for you on your inspection day, we recommend attending the last 30 minutes to an hour of the inspection so we can walk you through a summary of the home.   â€‹

a single family house in cincinnati ohio

 

​

For first-time home buyers, our home inspections provide an excellent education on home ownership and home maintenance. For the more experienced buyer, we’ll focus more on major issues and general building science. We take many photos and videos throughout the inspection and include them in our inspection report. After the inspection, we write the report. This is usually another two-hour process. We will email the home inspection report to you by that evening.

What's Included?

We are licensed inspectors through the State of Ohio and follow both Ohio Standards of Practice (SOP) as well as InterNACHI SOP.   These standards are the minimum and only state what we have to inspect and not how.  This is why we use specialized equipment on each and every inspection.  The list below combines the Ohio and InterNACHI required Standards of Practice in addition to Holistic Home Inspection's best practices.  

This list is written in the same order as in your home inspection report.

Attic

  • We access nearly every attic to inspect them. If we can walk or crawl through the attic without damaging the insulation, we’ll do so to inspect the attic.

  • Framing and sheathing

  • Exhaust fans and ducts

  • Insulation

  • Ventilation

Interior

  • Ceilings – A thermal imager is used on all inspections.

  • Walls – A thermal imager is used on all inspections.

  • Floors

  • Doors – A thermal imager is used on all inspections.

  • Windows – A thermal imager is used on all inspections.

  • Skylights – A thermal imager is used on all inspections.

  • Stairs, handrails, and guardrails

  • Countertops and cabinets

  • Exhaust fans

  • Kitchen appliances

Fireplace

  • Fuel-burning fireplaces, stoves, and fireplace inserts. This means both wood burning fireplaces and gas fireplaces.

  • Fuel-burning accessories installed in fireplaces, such as gas logs.

  • Interior Scan of Flue - Not Included.  Recommend Level II inspection if this is desired/needed.

Basement/
Foundation

  • Foundation walls

  • Basement floor

  • Crawl spaces

  • Sump Systems, including the sump basket, sump pump, sump cover, and extension piping.

  • Floor structure (posts, beams, joists, etc.)

  • Basement insulation

  • Signs of basement moisture/water intrusion. Water seepage is a major concern for buyers. We scan the exterior walls with a thermal imager and we use moisture meters to prove, or disprove, elevated moisture levels when they’re seen with the thermal imager or if any other signs of past leakage is present.

Garage

  • Overhead doors

  • Including torsion springs for proper tension and expansion springs for safety cables.

  • Garage door openers, including auto-reverse features

Plumbing

  • DWV – Drain, waste, and vent pipes

  • Water supply pipes

  • The visible portion of the water service pipe

  • Water heaters

  • Water heater vents.

  • Floor drains

  • Sinks

  • Toilets

  • Tubs

  • Showers

  • Gas lines.

  • Main Shutoff for gas and water valves.

  • Sewer Scope - Extra Fee  We record a video from the street connection all the way back to the clean out entrance point. We will charge if we gain entrance into the sewer line. Our goal is to provide proof that the sewer lateral is in good condition. If we cannot get to the street, that means there is an issue that needs to be corrected. 

Electrical

  • Exterior electrical components

  • Service drop

  • Service entrance conductors

  • Service entrance cables

  • Service mast

  • We remove panel covers of main panel and any sub-panels to inspect the wiring inside. 

  • Service grounding and the grounding electrode conductor.

  • Interior electrical components, including most, if not all, of outlets, switches, and lights.

  • Ground fault circuit interrupters

  • Smoke and CO alarms. 

HVAC

  • Installed heating equipment such as furnaces and boilers. 

  • Furnace filters are inspected and clients are shown how to change the filter.

  • Ductwork

  • Registers are all checked for operation with an infrared camera.

  • Vent connector, vent and visible portion of the chimney

  • (ERVs) Energy Recovery Ventilators or (HRVs) Heat Recovery Ventilators

  • Central and through-wall cooling equipment

  • Temperature difference testing is used to determine if cooling equipment is operational as long as exterior temperature is above 65F

  • Condensate drain

Exterior

  • Wall coverings (siding)

  • Windows

  • Doors

  • Decks

  • Balconies

  • Stoops

  • Steps

  • Porches

  • Guardrails and handrails

  • Drainage and lot topography

  • Retaining walls

  • Bushes and trees that are affecting the building

  • Walkways

  • Patios

  • Driveways

  • Foundation walls

  • Vent exhaust (dryer and kitchen vents) and air intakes

  • Exterior spigots

Roof

  • We place our ladders on the house and climb up on the roofs to inspect them. We feel this is the best way to inspect them. Some common-sense exceptions would be unsafe roofs, roofs not accessible with a 14′ ladder, snow-covered, etc. If we cannot walk the roof, we will inspect the roof with a drone or an extension pole/360 camera.

  • Roof coverings

  • Gutters and roof drainage systems. 

  • Flashing 

  • Skylights, roof vents, plumbing vents, and other roof penetrations are inspected.

bottom of page