Home inspector focuses on details of construction

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Bob Peterson owned a residential and commercial roofing and construction business before he decided to become a house inspector. |ret||ret||tab|

"I saw Realtors asking questions about the houses they were trying to sell," he said. "So my interest in doing home inspections developed from there."|ret||ret||tab|

Peterson, the founder and owner of his own firm, Accurate Inspections, has now been inspecting houses and commercial properties for more than 10 years.|ret||ret||tab|

To become an inspector, he took courses such as Asbestos Inspection and Lead Paint Inspection at the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri at Columbia.|ret||ret||tab|

"I'm a generalist," he said. "I look at the entire house to point out the deficiencies and areas of concern to a homeowner. I like the satisfaction I get from helping someone who's buying a house get the house they think they're buying."|ret||ret||tab|

Peterson said a normal home inspection covers doors, windows and doorframes to see how they operate and whether they're out of square or don't latch properly, which could indicate structural problems. |ret||ret||tab|

He also inspects electrical systems, including outlets, light switches, electrical panels and wires coming into the house. |ret||ret||tab|

"We also inspect plumbing systems showers, faucets, toilets and water heat-ers," he said. "We also make sure that furnace and air conditioner systems op-erate properly."|ret||ret||tab|

Peterson added, "Normally I move on into the attic and look at the structural framing, ventilation and quantity of insulation, and then I usually move on to the crawlspace and look at its structural framing. There I look for cracks in the foundation, moisture in the soil, basically for water under the house. The crawlspace gives us a view of the plumbing supply lines and the drain lines."|ret||ret||tab|

He said that while under the house, he usually does a pest inspection, looking for anything that might cause damage, such as carpenter ants, carpenter bees, wood-boring beetles and termites. |ret||ret||tab|

"Up on the roof we're looking at how many layers of roofing are there, the condition of the shingles, flashings, chimney, structural flaws, cracks in the chimney cap, and checking out pipe vent flashings and attic vent flashings."|ret||ret||tab|

Home exterior inspections attempt to spot "drainage problems, moisture damage to the wall structure, with trim components, soffits and facia, window and door trim that we can see from outside," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

There is a lot of detail in the inspections, Peterson said, "That's why they take two and a half to three hours. The buyer usually receives a real education on how their house works when I'm done inspecting their home."|ret||ret||tab|

Peterson said the cost of a house inspection begins at around $200 for a home up to 2,000 square feet in area. "The cost of the inspection is tied to the size of the home," he said. |ret||ret||tab|

Inspections also can last longer with larger homes. |ret||ret||tab|

After inspecting a home, he spends time on paperwork and consulting with the homeowner, who, he said, typically has a lot of questions.|ret||ret||tab|

Peterson cited three common problems with homes: |ret||ret||tab|

Moisture in the crawlspace or basement caused by improper drainage. "The landscape can affect that," he said. |ret||ret||tab|

Someone who doesn't have a license making electrical modifications to a home; and |ret||ret||tab|

Termites, which he said are almost always "a problem here in Missouri."|ret||ret||tab|

Accurate Inspections performs termite inspections, but they are not included in the price of a general home inspection. Termite inspection generally runs be-tween $35 and $50, Peterson said.|ret||ret||tab|

Peterson described himself as "service-oriented" and said he does "whatever it takes to make his customers happy." While he has no regular employees, he will bring in another inspector on a larger home. |ret||ret||tab|

He also brings in such help as heating and cooling professionals or electricians, if necessary.|ret||ret||tab|

"I look at an average of a dozen homes a week," he said. "I limit the inspections I do to two a day. If I don't limit them, I'm not giving a home the attention it needs. When I walk away from a customer, I want them to understand the components of the house, the significance of the problems and what can be done about those problems."|ret||ret||tab|

Peterson related one of his weirder experiences on the job. |ret||ret||tab|

About three weeks ago, he said, he was inspecting the garage door of a house when he suddenly got a shock from the metal door frame. |ret||ret||tab|

He soon discovered that the door was electrified only when the ceiling fan was on. |ret||ret||tab|

Further investigation revealed that the person who had made changes in the electrical wiring, who was unlicensed, had reversed the wiring so that the current was sending power through the ground and back into the garage door opener.|ret||ret||tab|

When Peterson started Accurate Inspections back in 1989, there were about four companies that performed home inspections, he said, and today, there are 25 or 30. His business has picked up since the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates at the beginning of the year, he said. |ret||ret||tab|

"We saw an increase in business the last two times the rates were dropped, but we didn't see an increase when the rates were dropped again about three weeks ago," Peterson said. "I think that's because people were already in the buying mode."|ret||ret||tab|

Peterson inspects homes and commercial businesses in Springfield, Ozark, Nixa, Ava, Republic, Strafford and Buffalo.[[In-content Ad]]