Home Inspection Blog

By late summer, your house has taken a beating. As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, this is the time of year when I start noticing the evidence. The good news? Late summer and early fall give homeowners a perfect opportunity to catch small problems before snow, ice, freezing temperatures and another Illinois winter arrive. So grab a cup of coffee, walk around the house, and pretend you're a home inspector for 20 minutes. Here’s what I’d be looking for.

Some of the most expensive home repairs I’ve seen started with something small. Really small. Not a failing roof. Not a cracked foundation. Not a furnace gasping for its last breath. Sometimes the problem starts with a $12 outlet. More specifically: A missing or failed GFCI receptacle. And that tiny safety device can be the difference between: a minor repair, a serious electrical hazard, water damage, or a very expensive insurance claim.

Nobody ignores a $20,000 repair. But a $100 repair? That one's easy to put off until next weekend. Or next month. Or... next year. As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, I've learned something after inspecting hundreds of homes throughout Illinois: The biggest repair bills almost never begin with a catastrophic event. They begin with something so small that most homeowners barely notice it.

There's a moment during some home inspections when everyone in the room gets unusually quiet. The buyer stops taking pictures. The Realtor slowly lowers their pen. The seller suddenly becomes very interested in the weather outside. And I'm standing there thinking... "Well... this one isn't going to be fixed with a trip to the hardware store." As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, I've inspected hundreds of homes throughout Illinois. Most homes have normal maintenance item