Insulation Issues
Where the Rubber meets the road
Something that most conscientious buyers want to know is how well insulated the house is since this can directly affect both your comfort level and energy costs and over time can add unnecessary costs to maintaining living space temperatures.
My experience with having preformed over five thousand inspections is that in excess of 50% of buildings are either under insulated or materials improperly installed. Some of this has to do with the age of the house where minimum standards years ago were much less when energy costs were more reasonable and it would not be realistic to expect homes of this time to meet current standards.
The remaining issues are related to poor construction practices and oversight of the building contractor that do not monitor the insulation subcontractors who are being paid by the job, not by the hour, and may “hurry up” through the process and not actually install proper minimum depths.
Either way, Advanced Home Inspections will fully inspect and report on these conditions making either recommendations for upgrades or determining installation defects that can be addressed with the sellers as part of the negotiation process.
My LEED AP professional designation and experience uniquely positions myself to report on these concerns which come as increasing energy awareness and costs become more important to the buying and home owning public.
