Home Inspection FAQs

Two ways, and neither is faster than the other: book online, or call the office on (703) 450-6398. If you would rather see the number before you commit to a date, ask for a free quote and the office will send one. Agents and repeat clients can also email [email protected].

As early as you can. Most buyers book as soon as the contract is ratified, which leaves the most room inside the inspection contingency for the report to come back and for any follow-up conversation with the seller. If your dates are tight, say so when you call and the office will work to the deadline you actually have.

If you are still writing the offer: it is worth making sure the purchase agreement contains a clause making your final obligation contingent on the inspection findings. That clause is what the timing is protecting, and it is the thing that gives you room to act if something major turns up.

No. As long as the inspector has access to the property, you get the same thorough evaluation whether or not you are there, and the full report either way.

We do recommend attending if you can. It is the easiest moment to ask the inspector about the condition of the property and about anything found during the visit, and answers given standing in front of the thing itself tend to stick better than the same answer in writing. Buyers' agents are welcome as well.

A way in, arranged when you book: you, somebody you trust, a lockbox, or the listing agent. The utilities matter as much as the key. If utilities are off, related systems may be excluded from the report, because a furnace, a water heater or a dishwasher that cannot be switched on cannot be evaluated, and the inspector will not guess. Tell the office in advance if a utility will be off so nobody finds out on the day.

We understand that unavoidable circumstances come up, and we would like to be as flexible as we can while still giving other customers the chance to take the slot. Cancellation requests received within 48 hours of the scheduled inspection are subject to a $100 cancellation fee. That fee can be applied toward rescheduling, or toward a new inspection, within 30 days. Call the office as soon as you know.

Yes, and it is usually the better option. Call (703) 450-6398 and the office will move the appointment. If the change comes inside the 48-hour window the cancellation fee applies, and it can be put toward the rescheduled visit or a new inspection within 30 days.

An objective visual examination of the property: the physical structure of the building from the foundation to the roof, and the systems inside it. It is visual and non-invasive, so nothing is opened up and nothing you own is moved. Residential inspections follow the InterNACHI Standards of Practice, which is the published document that defines what an inspector is and is not required to do.

The condition of the building's main structure and systems: heating and central air conditioning, interior plumbing, the electrical system, the roof, the attic including visible insulation, structures such as walls, ceilings, floors and doors, the foundation, the basement, and other structural components. Every finding is photographed, explained in plain language and rated by severity. The home inspection page lists the twelve areas one by one, and you can read a sample report before you book.

A home inspection is not technically exhaustive. It does not uncover concealed or latent defects, determine code compliance, or predict how long a component will last, and it does not cover items that are not permanently installed.

Radon, mold, termite and water quality testing are separate services, and any of them can be added to the same appointment.

Most people book one because they are buying or investing, and the sums involved make an independent opinion cheap by comparison. The inspection identifies problems before you are committed, and it teaches you the structure and the systems of a building you are about to be responsible for, which over time is worth as much as the defect list itself.

Owners book them too, without a sale in sight. A report tells you what is coming and what it will take, and if you are preparing to sell, it tells you what a buyer's inspector is going to find while there is still time to deal with it.

No. An inspection is not a pass-or-fail test. It records the condition of the property on the day it was inspected and identifies which structures and systems need repair, replacement or monitoring, so that you can decide how to proceed. A long report is not a bad house; it is a house you now know about.

It depends on the size, age and type of the property, so we do not quote one figure for every building. The office can estimate it for yours when you schedule, which is worth asking for if you are coordinating access with a seller or a listing agent.

Yes. Items get missed on even a well run build, and an independent inspector is looking only at the house rather than at the schedule. The report gives you a written list to take back to the builder while the work is still theirs to put right.

New construction is usually inspected more than once: at pre-drywall, while the framing, wiring and plumbing are still visible; before settlement; and again before the one-year builder warranty expires.

You can look, and you should. What is hard without the training is judging what you are looking at. Our inspectors are trained to evaluate construction, installation, maintenance and safety, and they have seen the same defect in hundreds of houses, which is what turns a stain on a ceiling into a diagnosis.

There is a second reason that has nothing to do with expertise. A third party has no emotional stake in the property you have already fallen for, and that is often the more useful thing you are buying.

Single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, multi-family buildings, new construction and commercial buildings. Commercial property has its own page and its own scope, because the systems, the documentation and the people who need the report are all different.

Most reports are delivered within 24 to 48 hours of the inspection, as a PDF you can share with your agent, attorney or contractor. Every report is peer-reviewed before it goes out.

Laboratory work keeps its own clock. Anything measured on site you hear about during the visit, but samples sent to a laboratory come back separately from the inspection report.

It opens with an executive summary that lists safety concerns first, then major defects, then maintenance items and informational notes, so the things that matter are not buried in the middle. Each finding carries a photograph and a plain language explanation of what it is and why it was written up. Read a sample inspection report to see the format before you book.

Expect it to. No property is without its problems and no report comes back perfect, and that on its own is not a reason to walk away. Treat the report as a guide to where current and potential problems lie and where repairs may be needed.

Buyers routinely take the findings back to the seller, and sellers routinely agree to some of them. If you want the findings priced rather than just listed, a Repair Estimate Report puts a cost against them, which is a more useful thing to negotiate with than a list.

It is your report. Share it with your agent, your attorney, a contractor pricing the work or a lender who has asked for it, as you see fit.

It depends on the property, so we do not quote one number for every building. Book online or call (703) 450-6398 and the office will price it for yours. A free quote is the quickest way to get that in writing.

The location, size, age and type of the property, and whatever testing you add to it. We would rather you did not choose an inspection on price alone: the report is the thing you are buying, and a cheap report you cannot act on has cost you more than it saved.

Yes. Three inspection packages bundle the reports and testing most buyers add anyway, and each bundle costs less than buying the same items one at a time. Package prices cover the add-on services only; the inspection itself is still quoted by property size and type.

Cash, check, money order and credit card. Make checks and money orders payable to NextDay Inspect. Credit card payments carry a 3% processing fee.

Yes, and it is usually the simpler way to do it: one visit and one set of access arrangements instead of two. Radon, mold, water quality, air quality and termite testing are all separate services that can sit alongside a home inspection. The full list is on the environmental services page.

The monitor stays in the home for a minimum of 48 hours, and you have the written result the day we collect it. Drop-off and pick-up each get a two-hour arrival window, with pick-up on a weekday, so a test started on a Monday is normally reported on the Wednesday. That fits inside a typical inspection contingency. Adding radon to a home inspection puts the drop-off inside the inspection visit, so there is one fewer appointment to arrange.

Every option that includes sampling takes an indoor sample and an outdoor comparison sample on the same day, and both go to an accredited laboratory. The comparison is the result: a single indoor spore count on its own cannot be read, because the same number can be unremarkable on a damp spring morning and a genuine finding in midwinter.

Anything measured on site you hear about during the visit. Samples that go to the laboratory come back in 3 to 5 business days. The mold testing page has the options in full.

No, and that is deliberate. We do no remediation and no mitigation, so there is no version of your results that pays us better than another. We will not quote you for removal and we will not refer you to a contractor who pays us.

If work is needed you take our report to whoever you choose. If you want us back afterwards, we re-test independently to confirm the work did what it was supposed to, which is a job the company that did the work cannot honestly do for itself.

4.0 picocuries per liter is the EPA action level. At or above it, the EPA and the Surgeon General recommend reducing the radon in the home. Between 2.0 and 3.9 the EPA says to consider reducing it, because there is no known safe level. Reducing it means a mitigation system fitted by a licensed mitigation contractor. See the radon testing page for what the report tells you.

Yes. A wood destroying organism inspection, which almost everybody calls a termite inspection, looks for current and previous activity from subterranean and drywood termites, carpenter ants, carpenter bees, powder post beetles and the other organisms covered by the NPMA-33 standard. It is a common lender requirement on a purchase.

Yes. Inspections are carried out by InterNACHI and ASHI certified inspectors who are licensed, continuously trained, and backed by General Liability and Errors and Omissions insurance, and every report is peer-reviewed before it goes out. Radon testing is carried out by technicians certified by the National Radon Safety Board, and mold sampling by NAMRI certified environmental technicians. The certifications page lists every credential we hold.

We are based in Sterling, Virginia and inspect across Northern Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC, southern Pennsylvania and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Check your city, county or ZIP code on the service area page.

Since 2009, in the same market we started in. What that buys you is not the number itself but the pattern recognition behind it: the local builders, the local soils, the defects that keep turning up in a particular decade of construction around here. The about page has more on how we work.

Yes. Homes inspected by NextDay Inspect qualify for optional home warranties covering the roof, structural and mechanical systems, mold and the sewer line for a period after the inspection. Warranties must be requested when you schedule the inspection; they cannot be added once the inspection is complete.

Yes. Agents can request inspections, reach the inspection team and view past reports from a personalized dashboard, and licensed agents in Virginia and Washington, DC can earn free continuing education credits by scheduling with us. The agent resources page has the details.