A home inspection is essential to ensure that the house you’re moving into is safe and functional. If there are any major or minor repairs needed, your home inspector will be able to give you all the details. These things on the list might not be deal-breakers, but it is essential to at least check them before moving in:
- Replace the locks
- It is wise to replace your locks before moving into your new home to ensure nobody else has a spare key. While it is expected that the seller would give you all the keys at the time of sale, there is no way to ensure there are no keys out there that they might not know about. This will give you peace of mind that your home is secured and no one can just enter freely. Installing new security measures is also a good idea to ensure the safety of your family.
- Check for noisy pipes.
- There are many reasons why pipes make noise. The most common reason for noisy pipes is high water pressure that creates a knocking noise when you turn off a faucet. To fix this issue, you have to turn off the main valve, drain all the water from the faucet, and turn the faucet off before reopening the main valve. Installing a pressure-reducing valve or pressure regulator can prevent this issue from appearing again.
- Check for any squeaks and Creaks.
- No one likes noisy floors. One of the most common causes of noisy wood floors is shrinkage. Depending on what type of floor you’re dealing with, there could be a few other reasons as well. It could be that screws and nails have loosened up over the years, so tighten them up. In some cases, your only solution would be ripping up your floors and ensuring the subfloor is firmly attached.
- Heating and Cooling systems should be clean.
- It is important to keep the air you breathe clean and safe for the household. One way to ensure this is to clean your heating and cooling system at least once a year to ensure that the system won’t accumulate mold. Once clean, replace the filters on time to keep them in good condition.
- Pest control
- Before moving in, you should check if there is a need to hire pest control. It is more convenient that the house is not yet occupied if it is necessary to tent the home for spraying. It is better than experiencing the inconvenience of figuring out where to go while the pest control process is ongoing.
For most of these issues, it is good to have everything checked before you move in to ensure that the house is in its best shape before your family moves in. It will make it easier both to find the issues, as well as to fix them. While it might mean you have to wait a little longer before you move in, you will be happy that you have the best place possible to live in.
