You want the best for your investment, so choose the ASHI home inspector in Round Rock or Cedar Park. Don’t settle for the inspector that your realtor suggested, do your home work to know that you found the best home inspector for you. Know that your realtor wants to close the deal & may not give the most experienced home inspector. It is your job to find the home inspector that will most suit your expectations. Do you want an Austin home inspector that looks out for your best interest or a home inspector in Austin Texas that only cares about volume home inspections & getting to the next appointment?

Choosing a Builder is like finding the right car when there a dozens to choose from. That is why you need an ASHI home inspector in Austin Texas that is knowledgeable of the different builders & to know of their quality or short comings. The Austin home inspector you hire will give you necessary insights to the Builder & what you need to watch for. Don’t hire a home inspector that performs inspections for Builders, they only have the Builders interest. Hire the home inspector that has your interest at heart.

All of Central Texas is in a predominate area for expansive clay soils. These expansive soils act like a sponge. As they absorb water they swell and as they lose water they shrink. Soils tend to dry out (and shrink) during the summer and to absorb water (and swell) during the winter and spring. As this occurs your house and foundation will move up and down. So long as the foundation movement is not great enough to damage the house and/or foundation, it is not a problem. By keeping the moisture content of the soil under the foundation constant, foundation movement can often be minimized or even stopped. Please note that this is only a simple foundation preventive maintenance recommendation. Should you be concerned about the possibility of future movement or potential for movement or structural damage then a licensed structural engineer should be consulted for further evaluation and recommendations. The goal of a foundation watering program is to maintain a constant level of moisture in the soil under the house and foundation. The best way to water a foundation is to install a buried foundation watering system. If you do not want to go to the expense of installing a buried watering system, soaker hoses will provide you with many of the same benefits. The best way to use a soaker hose is to bury a soaker hose three inches deep, one foot from the edge of your foundation. Placing the hose a short distance from the foundation allows the water to soak into the soil evenly. The hose should not be placed against the foundation. When soil has dried and cracked, water can travel along the cracks for several feet in all directions. If the soil around your foundation is dried and cracked, then water placed next to the foundation will run through the cracks and accumulate at the bottom of the grade beam (the thick portion of the foundation that is under the exterior walls). In some cases, an accumulation of water in the soil at the base of a foundation can cause the soil to loose some of its load bearing capacity. If the soil loses enough load bearing capacity, the house will sink into the ground.

Obviously, it is necessary to water more during hot, dry weather and less during cold, damp weather. The amount of water required to keep a foundation stable during the summer can be surprisingly large. A single large tree can remove as much as 150 gallons of water, or almost 20 cubic feet of water, from the soil each day. Shrubs and other plants can also remove large quantities of water. During persistent hot dry weather, it may be necessary to water a foundation daily. Watering should supply enough water to keep the moisture content in the soil under the foundation constant. If the amount of water applied is only enough to keep the surface damp, the watering program will not work. Obviously, the homeowner is the only one who can weight the benefits of controlling foundation movement versus the increased size of the water bill.

Austin Texas - Home Inspector

Bob does not personally inspect homes in during phase (pre concrete pour & framing). 

He recommends that you call someone like Glen Davis, M.C.P. at 512-527-0823  or Brent Hays at 512-914-1907.

ASHI offers you the resources and opportunities to become a better and more successful home inspector at both the national and local levels. The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), founded in 1976, is North America’s oldest and most respected professional society of home inspectors. ASHI’s goals have always been to build customer awareness of the importance of a quality home inspection and enhance the professionalism of home inspectors. ASHI offers both new and existing home inspectors resources at the national and local level through the 80 plus ASHI chapters. The national education offerings include: on-line “Smart Track” Education, Practice Home Inspection Examinations, a vibrant Discussion Forum, and much more. At a local level, ASHI offers the largest network of Chapters with continuing education, learning and networking with successful home inspectors. For new inspectors is a “Parallel Home Inspection” program. There is also a pre-verification program to receive early constructive comments on three of your early inspections to determine if you are writing your reports in substantial compliance to the ASHI Standards of Practice.

Below are some but not all of the benefits of ASHI membership.

Learn and associate with the best and brightest.
Meet friends with shared experiences.
Be a part of something bigger than your own four walls.
Help to support efforts of others around the country in strengthening your profession.
Be held accountable for high ethics and standards.
Stay current with changing trends in the inspection profession.
Provide credibility to your work.
Have access to the resources on your ASHI web site.
Develop a network of inspectors you can call on for information or a shoulder to cry on!
ASHI provides you a voice at the national level. ASHI was a primary source for introduction of HR 4776 “Consumer Protection Home Inspection Counseling Act”

Protecting your Home

A home inspection by a professionally licensed Real Estate Inspector is the smartest investment that a homeowner can make. As a home inspector, I find life threatening issues in homes on a regular basis. Generally speaking, the homeowner has no idea that the condition even exists. The people living in the homes we inspect are typically not our clients. In most cases, the home is up for sale and the potential buyer has contracted our services to help assist them in making a responsible decision about purchasing the home. When we explain to the sellers that a life threatening condition exist, they are usually a little embarrassed that they were unaware of the issue. The simple truth is, they are not trained professionals in the construction or inspection industry. Who would expect them to be able to understand all the intricate details of every system of the home?

Obviously not every adverse condition that we observe is life threatening. However, we find many issues every day that should be corrected immediately. By taking immediate action on issues found during the routine home inspection, the homeowner can potentially save thousands of dollars down the road. If you have a nail in your tire; do you have it removed and patched right away or do you drive the car until the tire finally goes flat, leaving you stranded on the side of the interstate during rush hour traffic? I firmly believe that a homeowner can potentially save thousands of dollars over the course of a decade by hiring a professionally licensed home inspector to review the condition of the property every 3 years. It is unfortunate for everyone that homes are not inspected until the seller decides to put the house on the market. This dramatically decreases the likelihood that the home will be in top condition when the buyer’s inspector shows up.