Buying a New Construction Chicago home is an exciting time for most buyers. However, new construction homes have their own specific inspection items to look out for as these items can be overlooked during the building and initial purchase phase. Here’s a few of the common things I find a couple years later when the new construction is re-sold.
New Construction Chicago | Top 5 Items to Watch For
- Unfinished Wood – Look for unfinished wood on windows and doors. The outside edges of casement windows and tops of doors are often left bare. This can contribute to the wood rotting later on, which you will be on the hook for during the home sale.
- Built in refrigerators – This is a popular style of refrigerator in new homes. You want to ensure that the fridge is secured to the wall. These types of fridges are top heavy and could fall over if they are not properly secured.
- Door Latches – Open and shut every single door in your new construction home. If you have to put additional pressure on the door once it’s shut to fully latch it, you will need to get that fixed.
- Built In Ovens – In the same vain as the built in fridge, you will need to ensure that any built in oven is secured to the cabinets. You don’t want these falling forward and injuring anyone.
- Micro/Exhaust Units – These units should have the exhaust discharge configured correctly. (re-circulating through grills on the front of the unit, into ductwork in cabinet above, or ductwork in the wall behind).
Buying a new construction Chicago home can be a great investment for years to come. However, if you don’t work with a professional home inspector to protect your investment, you could be throwing all of that money away when you go to sell and find all the costly. errors left over from the initial construction phase.
Every inspection might be different but at Keeshin Home Inspections, we are always thorough and professional. We participate in continuing education courses to stay appraised of code changes and laws that might effect your inspection.
We have been a top Chicago home inspector, providing the very best in home inspections since 1993. After 25 years of experience, we can confidently say that our inspections and reports meet and even exceed the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) Standards of Practice.
