How a Warranty Inspection Can Save You Thousands

For homeowners who have bought newer homes, your home might be in perfect condition when you first buy it. However, as time goes on, you may discover mistakes made by the builder that they should have to fix.

Unfortunately for many homeowners, these problems don’t pop up until the 1 year builder’s warranty has passed, meaning that tasks they should be responsible for are no longer their responsibility to fix. 

Here is how a warranty inspection can keep this from happening to you, and ultimately save you thousands. 

What is a Home Warranty? 

A home warranty is typically for new homes that have just been built, and are given to the first owner as part of the buying process. Once the home is purchased, the warranty is good for one year from the purchase date. 

During this time, the building company will cover things that go wrong with the home, such as structural issues, foundation problems, and electrical problems. Just about anything that has to do with the way the home was built is covered under this warranty. 

Once this one year has passed, the warranty is expired and any problems with the way the home was built that the buyer discovers will be the responsibility of the homeowner to pay for and repair. 

How Do I Know if I Should File a Warranty Claim?

The quickest and most accurate way to figure out if your new home has these defects so that you can file a claim with the builder before the warranty is up – is to get a warranty inspection. 

A warranty inspection is very similar to the home inspection that you would get before purchasing a home. 

The home inspector will inspect your home and give you a report with things in the home that need to be repaired or altered, which you can then give to the building company. 

What is a Warranty Inspection?

Essentially, a warranty inspection is the same as the inspection that you would get on a home before you purchase it. 

The only difference is that the inspector will specifically look for common issues that are submitted in a warranty claim. These are typically: 

• Foundation
• Roof
• Electrical and wiring systems
• Patios, driveway, and surrounding sidewalk 
• Doors and windows
• Garage 
• Heating, Ventilation, & Air Conditioning units (HVAC)
• Siding and exterior of the home

Because these are all things involved with the building process, they should be covered by the warranty. The builder should be liable for these issues, because they do not occur within a year from normal wear and tear. 

How Can a Home Inspection Save Thousands?

Getting a warranty inspection in the time before the warranty is up can pay off big time. While the house might not need repairs at that very moment, the report may find that there is an issue with the way sidewalk and driveway were poured. 

In five years when your driveway is totally cracked and you need to get it replaced, you can pull out the home inspection report and show the build company that this problem was found while the home was under warranty, and they will pay for the driveway to be fixed.