Annual maintenance inspections conducted by home inspectors are an essential aspect of homeownership that often gets overlooked. Annual maintenance inspections serve as a wellness checkup for your home that covers most aspects of a pre-purchase home inspection. These inspections are key to inspecting and monitoring all aspects of your home to prepare you for any upcoming repair or replacement needs.
What Is Inspected During An Annual Maintenance Inspection?
Roof and roofing structure
HVAC unit and duct system
Electrical components and wiring system
Plumbing systems
Foundation
Walls, ceilings, and floors
Bedrooms, bathrooms, and living areas
Interior and exterior walls
Appliances
Water pressure
Windows, doors, and other points of entry
Basement, crawlspaces, and attic
Garages, sheds, and other structures
Insulation levels
Landscape grading
Gutters
Porches, patios, and decks
Pool and related areas
Protecting Major Home Systems With Annual Home Inspection
If you want to get the most out of your major home systems like your HVAC system, water heater, and even your roofing system, then routine maintenance inspections are essential to protecting these components of your home and ensuring they are functioning properly year after year.
You can think of annual home maintenance the same way you think of routine car maintenance—you shouldn’t skip changing your air filters, cleaning your HVAC unit, replacing shingles, patching roof damage, or inspecting your water heater for any issues that could need repair just like you shouldn’t skip oil changes and tire rotations on your car.
Our highly skilled and licensed home inspectors have been thoroughly trained to inspect and identify key components of homes to ensure each major system is operating at its maximum potential while also making recommendations for correcting any wear and tear issues that are discovered during our Annual Maintenance Inspection to help you prevent more serious repair issues from occurring.
Why Annual Maintenance Inspections Are So Important
It is easy to say routine maintenance is important to improve the overall efficiency of your major home systems from year to year. But what does that really mean?
Routine maintenance inspection of your HVAC system will help you get the maximum lifespan from your HVAC system by identifying major concerns and minor issues that could lead to bigger problems.
Maintenance inspections of water heaters can identify components that are loose or worn, check for signs of corrosion or leaks, provide an opportunity to inspect the temperature relief valve, and identify when your water heater may need to be replaced.
An annual roof inspection provides an opportunity to check for any signs of leaks and water damage as well as identifying areas that may need to be resealed or reshingled and provide an estimated (remaining) lifetime for your current roofing structure.
Many manufacturers recognize the important role routine maintenance plays in protecting your unit from major repair issues and breakdowns, so most HVAC and water heater warranties require routine maintenance in order to keep your warranty active. Annual maintenance inspections can help you to keep up with the maintenance requirements.
Some areas of your home are hard to see, inspect, or care for regularly—like your roof or duct system. An inspection helps identifies potential concerns you may miss while living in your home.
This means annual maintenance inspections save you money in multiple ways—it reduces your energy costs, minimizes the costs of repairs by catching minor repair issues before they can become major repair issues, and protect your investment by keeping your warranty in effect.
In addition, annual maintenance inspections are an unbiased review of your home. While repair companies are not inherently deceptive, they may encourage you to perform repairs ahead of schedule to get you as a customer. A review of your home by a licensed home inspector will only provide you with an honest list of what should be done immediately and what could wait or is not a major concern. Our job is to conduct a thorough review and inspection of your home and that is exactly what we deliver.
