Inspecting a House: A Guide for Buyers, Owners, and Renovators [Paperback]

Carson Dunlop & Associates (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

A house is the biggest investment most people will ever make, not to mention the environment in which they spend much of their time. Whether evaluating a house independently or with the help of a home inspector, homebuyers owe it to themselves to understand as much as possible about house components and systems, how they function, how they can go wrong, the consequences of common problems, and what to look for in evaluating them.

Inspecting a House: A Guide for Buyers, Owners, and Renovators takes a system-by-system approach to the daunting task of assessing a building’s strengths and weaknesses. Readers will be able to break their evaluation into coherent, manageable pieces. Using clear, concise descriptions and outstanding technical illustrations, the book covers all major house components and areas, including:

• The structure, exterior, and roof of the house
• Heating systems, electrical wiring, and plumbing
• Insulation and interiors
• The hidden spaces-attics, basements, and crawl spaces

For buyers and owners interested in renovating a house, the book also covers the functions of architects, designers, consultants, and general contractors. Important elements of the renovation process are included: planning and budgeting, building permits, contracts, and new building materials.

Inspecting a House will be a valuable tool during the homebuying process and, afterwards, as a reference for home maintenance and improvement.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alan Carson and Robert Dunlop, experienced home inspectors, have been serving homebuyers since 1978 through their building inspection firm, Carson Dunlop & Associates. In addition to creating widely respected training materials for home inspectors, Carson Dunlop produces one of the industry's most popular inspection reports for homeowners. The firm is dedicated to helping homebuyers make informed decisions and maintain their investment.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing; 3 edition (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0793180546
• ISBN-13: 978-0793180547
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent guide for home owners and home inspectors, November 23, 2000

By 

"g_clarke" (Toronto, ON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inspecting a House: A Guide for Buyers, Owners, and Renovators (Revised) (Paperback)

This book is an invaluable guide for anyone who owns a home, or is planning to buy or renovate one. The different systems of the house are explored, from the heating system to the roof, with clear descriptions of the typical problems which occur in each of these areas and what to look for.

The pictures, which come from the "Illustrated Home" series of books are clear and certainly worth a thousand words each.

In addition to the technical explanations of the various systems of the house, there is a section devoted to the renovation process, dealing with architects, and information on contracts and budgeting.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book for the price, March 17, 2006

By 

Shane A. Brewer (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inspecting a House: A Guide for Buyers, Owners, and Renovators (Paperback)

"Inspecting A House" is about performing home inspections prior to purchasing a home. It contains sections the exterior, structure, electrical service, plumbing, heating, the basement and crawl spaces, interior, insulation, and the attic.

While I am not a professional, I did find this book useful for the cost. The book is easy to read and is fairly exhaustive of the type of problems you could run into and what those problems would look like. The book also contains several diagrams to help illistrate what problems would look like. I would have liked to have seen more diagrams, and even some color pictures... but that would have increased the cost of the book. Like I said, the book was worth what it cost.

The book is targeted to the US environment and codes. Being from Canada, I would have preferred if the author had included us as well... but this isn't fatal. Finally the last part on home renovations seemed to be out of place and far too elementary. The author should have left that part out and done more detail on home inspection.

This book gets the job done for the price. Pick it up for a good overview of home inspections. 3 out of 5 stars.