Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

"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.