We highly recommend that new homes be inspected when purchased. This recommendation is based on our extensive experience with new home construction, both as home inspectors and as former custom home builders and remodelers. There are many misconceptions about new homes. The fact that they are new does not mean that they are perfect.

New homes are built fast, and by many hands, under all weather conditions. Even builders with good reputations often miss things when the homes are under construction. Today's construction process involves the use of a series of suppliers and subcontractors, many of whom have varying levels of commitment to the quality of their work. The builder's site supervisors are under pressure to keep costs low and production times short. While this process does help to keep the selling price of the home as low as possible, at the same time it increases the risk of mistakes to occur, and for those mistakes to be overlooked.

But the city inspected it during construction, so the builder said you don't need an inspection. While it is true that city and county building inspectors come in at many different points during construction to check on specific items, their job is to insure that the minimum building code requirements are being met, and nothing more. Most often, these items or areas are checked only once. The original work can be damaged or otherwise disturbed by trades coming in afterward. Many things can be and are overlooked because of time and schedule restraints, and qualitative issues are not addressed. Also, there are many aspects of the work involved that are not simply included in the city and county inspection process.

Small problems grow. Building a home is a difficult and complex process that involves bringing many different systems and materials together, and meeting many different rules and regulations. All too often, what can seem like small and unimportant issues when a house is new rapidly grow into significant problems as the home ages, even within the first few months. The majority of these issues are simple to correct, but they first must be identified. Builders want nothing more than a satisfied client and are quite willing to fix legitimate issues when made aware of them.

Since most new home buyers do not intend to stay in their homes forever, these issues are too often first discovered when the home is resold and the buyer's inspector completes his evaluation. Most of the time it is you that will pay for the repairs at that point.

The bottom line for you is that no one with your best interests at heart has been through your new house. Hiring your own inspector is the best way to protect your very large investment. We feel that our extensive hands on construction experience over the last 30 years is why Four Walls Home Inspection Service is the most qualified home inspection firm for new construction in the Portland area, period.

Still have questions? Call us at 503-579-6962

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