How to Read Your Home Inspection Report

Most reports open with a summary of significant findings. Read it first for orientation, then go read the full sections. The summary compresses context, and context is often where the actual meaning lives. A summary line reading moisture staining observed at ceiling in primary bedroom does not tell you whether the stain was dry and old with a repaired roof above it, or wet with an active leak. The body section does.

We write the body sections to be read. Each finding gets what we observed, what it likely means, how confident we are, and what we recommend. Where we are uncertain, we say so, because a confident-sounding guess is worse than an honest uncertainty.

Photographs are part of the finding, not decoration. If a photo is included, look at it — we chose it because words alone were not sufficient. And read the captions.

Safety hazards come first, always. Missing GFCI protection at kitchens, baths, garages and exteriors. An obsolete or damaged electrical panel. A gas appliance with improper venting. A missing or misdirected temperature and pressure relief discharge line on a water heater. Unsafe stairs or missing guards. These are usually inexpensive and should be addressed regardless of who pays.

Major system defects come second: an active roof leak, a failed or failing HVAC system, evidence of structural movement, plumbing that is leaking or obsolete, or a water heater at end of life. These are the items worth spending negotiating capital on, because they carry real cost and near-term timelines.

Deferred maintenance comes third. Worn caulking, dirty condenser coils, a fence in poor condition, exterior paint failure, gutters full of debris. These are the ongoing cost of homeownership. They are worth knowing and generally not worth negotiating.

And fourth, informational items. Aluminium branch wiring, a specific panel brand, polybutylene plumbing, the presence of a crawl space, an original roof past its likely midpoint. These may not be defects today but they determine what you are signing up for. On a Florida purchase, several of them also determine whether you can get insured at all, which makes them urgent even when nothing is broken.

Some findings that read as minor elsewhere are decisive here because of the insurance market. If your report notes a Federal Pacific, Zinsco or Challenger panel, that is not a footnote — most carriers decline those outright. If it notes polybutylene supply piping, the same. If it notes a roof at or past 15 years, expect the carrier to require documentation of remaining useful life.

So when you triage the report, add a fifth question to every major finding: does this affect insurability? Take the report to your insurance agent during the inspection period. Ten minutes on the phone will tell you whether you are negotiating a repair or negotiating a deal-breaker.

Similarly, if your report notes limited or no access to a crawl space, attic or electrical panel, that is a gap in what you know, not a clean bill of health. Where the limitation is significant, it is worth arranging access and having it looked at rather than assuming.

A general home inspection is visual and non-invasive. We do not open walls, lift flooring, or dismantle equipment. We do not inspect inside sealed systems, buried pipe, or anything under the slab. We report on what is visible and accessible on the day, and we state our limitations plainly.

Several things sit outside the scope entirely and need separate specialists. Wood-destroying organisms require a separate licence in Florida held under the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, so that report comes from a pest control operator rather than from us. Septic systems need a septic contractor. Wells need water quality testing. Sewer laterals and under-slab drains need a camera scope by a licensed plumber. Mold and indoor air quality assessment is its own discipline. We are happy to help connect you with a licensed WDO or mold inspector.

None of that is an evasion. It is the honest boundary of what a home inspection can competently evaluate in an afternoon, and knowing where the boundary is helps you decide what else to order while you still have time.

Pick your battles. A repair request listing 40 items reads as unserious and invites a blanket refusal. A request listing four significant items, each referencing a specific finding, reads as reasonable and usually gets a response.

Prefer money over repairs on anything technical. A seller motivated to close cheaply will hire the cheapest available contractor, and you inherit that work. A credit lets you choose who does it and verify it yourself. Repairs by the seller are appropriate for safety items you want done before you move in and for anything requiring a permit that the seller can close before closing.

Ask for documentation on anything already repaired. Permits, invoices, contractor name and license. On roofs and re-pipes especially, the paperwork determines what your insurer will accept later.

And if you have questions, call us. Every inspection we do includes a conversation about the report afterward. Fifteen minutes on the phone is usually the difference between a buyer who is anxious about a long document and a buyer who knows exactly which three things matter.