Additional Services Offered
No matter what items or conditions that your future home throws at Red Flag Home Inspection, we have a Power Packed line-up of services to ensure all of the major systems and components are inspected.
Pool/Spa Inspection
A Pool or Spa are VERY commonly encountered items at Florida homes, and if left uninspected may end up causing significant financial loss due to unforeseen material defects. This inspection service evaluates the Pool Safety, first and foremost. This covers looking for unsecured electrical lines, to the walkways and decking of the pool for identifiable slip or trip hazards. The safety fencing/latching is evaluated (if present), to ensure someone doesn’t accidentally fall into the pool. While we do not, in this service investigate local laws and ordinances, we evaluate the in-place items for overall safety and adequate functionality.
We evaluate the plaster, vinyl or other finish to the interior pool, to ensure it is sound and not showing early or more severe signs of failure. This includes evaluation of the perimeter decorative tile for any signs of failure.
The pool equipment is operated to ensure proper functionality, and observe for any noticable leakage or performance issues. We also ensure that the in-place valves and configuration are conducive to the new homeowner coming in and having full functional operability. If a heater is installed to service the pool, we will attempt to ignite or engage the system using the systems controls, but we will not alter any supply valves or breakers to evaluate the systems. Confirmation of adequate heating will be provided.
These services do not include water quality testing, although we will be happy to explain the process and where you can have that service performed (typically this test is free of charge for most pool stores).
Sewer Scope Inspections
While the scope of your Red Flag Home Inspection, per our SOP, are limited to the visible and accessible portions of the residence, THIS service is for your inspector to use our Specialized Sewer Camera system to gain that visibility by inserting the camera system into the plumbing system beneath the residence.
The primary mission of this inspection service is to determine the TYPE of pipes servicing your future home, advise you on the condition, and allow you to understand the maintenance requirements that may come with some of the materials used in its construction. This is not an exhaustive survey that gains access to every corner of every line within the house.
We may be able to identify root intrusion, temporary or more permanent blockages, pipe collapse, bellies or reversed pitch of the lines, or any obvious defects toward the system functioning as originally intended. We also may visually see the effluent within the lines during flushing of toilets and running of water fixtures, to ensure we get an early look at drainage issues that may not have caused backup within the space.
When improper discharge and drainage of the plumbing lines beneath the residence, backing up into the residence and/or fixture performance issues can arise. If backup occurs, or worse it continuously occurs, the bacteria can be hazardous to those occupying the space. This condition also may damage building materials and finishes, leading to costly repair atop of the costs to fix the plumbing system. The plumbing repairs may run between $250 to $300 per linear foot, in addition to fees to access the pipe (inclusive of slab/finish floor replacement).
Your final Red Flag Home Inspection report will outline all of the various defects found, and may include a recommendation for a more intensive replication of this imaging survey by a licensed plumber.
Drone Imagery
Drone imagery has allowed us to see things from a completely different perspective, in ways that would have been VERY costly previously. These devices are getting smaller, and cheaper, and the Megapixel count ensures that the imagery is crystal clear. All of this ensures that your Red Flag Home Inspector gets to “see” the target material with extreme clarity, despite possibly not being able to get right up to the item being observed.
While our inspectors prefer to walk every roof, some conditions are not conducive to walking. Those conditions include concrete/clay tile roof coverings that are prone to breakage, metal roofing that is prone to denting, very steep roofs, or roofs that have an accumulation of debris or build-up.
These large images allow us to zoom-in and analyze to the macro level when needed to see damage that may be occurring on the roof. This allows us to take inventory of the damaged areas or items atop the roof, while giving us the ability to take higher elevation images showing the global conditions.
This service can be added to any home inspection not located within a FAA controlled airspace.
Research History of Home
There may be need to research the history of your selected home. It may be that very valuable discounts can be gained from documenting the age of the current roof (when invoices/permits are not recorded), or you might want to find out if the various additions or modifications were properly permitted. Let our inspectors research the history of your home, and help shed light on the past history of your selected property. IF you are inclined to do this yourself, we compiled a “how-to” blog posting explaining many of the tips and tricks we use to provide this service (read it HERE).