Skip to content
Home/Home Inspection/Takoma Park, MD
Home inspection
Home Inspection in Takoma Park, MD
From an 1880s Old Takoma frame house to a New Hampshire Avenue apartment, the inspector documents what each building is actually doing today.
Read client reviews Licensed and insured inspectors Serving Takoma Park and all of Montgomery County
What we check in a Takoma Park home
The inspection follows the same 12 areas, from the roof down to the grounds, within the agreed scope and safe access available. It is visual and non-invasive: finishes are not removed, and personal belongings are not moved. Select an area to see what is checked.
- Range, oven and wall oven run normally
- Dishwasher, disposer and microwave run
- Kitchen exhaust fan and the dryer vent exit
- Service entrance, meter and main disconnect
- Panels, breakers, grounding and bonding
- Sampled outlets and switches; GFCI, AFCI, smoke and CO detectors
- Siding, flashing, trim, eaves, soffits and fascia
- Every exterior door and a sample of windows
- Walkways, driveway, stoops, porches, decks and railings
- Foundation walls, slabs and the basement
- Any accessible crawlspace
- Signs of movement, water penetration and wood touching soil
- Vehicle door and opener on their normal controls
- Auto reverse and photo eye safety sensors
- Walls, ceiling, floor and the fire door into the house
- Grading and drainage at the foundation
- Retaining walls and vegetation against the house
- Downspout discharge, walkways, driveway and steps
- Heating and cooling run on their normal controls
- Energy source, method and thermostat location noted
- Visible ducts, filter, condensate drainage and equipment condition
- Floors, walls, ceilings, stairs and railings
- A sample of doors and windows opened and closed
- Accessible attic: insulation depth, ventilation and framing; fireplace and damper
- Sink, faucet, drain and disposer run
- Dishwasher connection checked for leaks
- Cabinets, drawers, counters, floors, walls, ceiling and exhaust fan
- Main water and fuel shut-offs located
- Water heater, its venting and TPR valve; pipe materials
- Every toilet flushed; every sink, tub and shower run
- Coverings, flashing, vents, skylights and chimney
- Gutters, downspouts, eaves and rake
- Roof structure from inside the attic where accessible
- Visible framing, beams, posts and joists
- Masonry walls and the chimney structure
- Settlement signs: cracks, out of square openings, unlevel floors
Every inspection follows a written standard of practice. Need additional testing? Explore radon testing, termite inspection, mold testing and water testing, then confirm your selected services and timing when booking.
Add a package to the inspection
Three packages built around the home inspection. Package prices are for the add-on services only and are added to the inspection price. The savings are against booking the same services one by one.
Home Essentials
The perfect starting point
Home Advantage
Most popular for homebuyers
Home Enhanced
The ultimate peace of mind
Warranties must be requested when you book, not after the inspection. Radon and thermal imaging can also be added on their own. Read more about each package.
What a home inspection actually involves
No jargon, no surprises. Here is the whole visit, start to finish, so you know what you are booking before you book it.
You book, we confirm
Online or by phone, in a few minutes. Your agent can book for you. Add radon, termite or a package at the same time, and we confirm the appointment with you before the visit.
The walk-around
Roof, siding, grading, decks, the garage and the grounds first. The inspector photographs what they find as they go, so the report shows you exactly where each item is.
Systems and accessible spaces
The inspector checks accessible electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling components and operates equipment with normal controls when conditions allow. The report identifies areas that could not be inspected and any recommended follow-up.
The walkthrough and the report
You see the main findings in the house itself. The written report follows online with photos, priorities and what to do about each item.
Old Takoma to the avenue
The city's own history page dates its start to 1883, laid out as a wooded suburb reached by rail, incorporated by Maryland seven years later and, by 1913, the largest city in Montgomery County. Its earliest houses now sit blocks from later brick construction and, along New Hampshire Avenue, mid-century apartment buildings, so a reported repair can point to very different plumbing depending on which era it sits in.
Enclosed porches, added rooflines
A house from the town's original rail-suburb years may have an enclosed porch, a rear addition or a changed roofline, so the inspection separates that later work from the original structure before evaluating either. Cellar access, framing and the electrical panel get checked directly rather than assumed from the house's age. Where a porch was closed in and finished as living space, the inspector treats that room like any other, from its windows to its heating source.
Takoma Park's own history page credits developer B. F. Gilbert with laying out the town in 1883 as a wooded suburb reached by rail, with Maryland incorporating the city seven years later, in 1890.
Apartment floors, shared stacks
In an apartment or condominium along New Hampshire Avenue, the inspection covers your unit's own electrical panel or subpanel, plumbing fixtures, heating and cooling equipment, windows and doors, and interior finishes. A plumbing stack or a roof section shared with the floor above is noted as shared rather than assumed to be your responsibility. Building management needs to grant access for a rented or managed unit, so confirm that arrangement before the visit is scheduled.
Any renovation or building project in Takoma Park needing a Montgomery County permit first requires a Municipality Letter from the City, though that letter is not itself a permit; the county's Department of Permitting Services still issues the actual permit.
Home inspections around Takoma Park
Takoma Park sits in Montgomery County, and the same inspectors cover the whole county. Every place below has its own page.
Home inspections by city
Maryland
Virginia
Washington DC
Takoma Park home inspection, no jargon
What Takoma Park buyers and renters ask before scheduling a visit.
Who actually issues a building permit in Takoma Park, the city or the county?
Montgomery County's Department of Permitting Services issues the actual construction permit, but Takoma Park requires its own Municipality Letter first for projects that touch trees, stormwater or the public right-of-way. The letter itself is not a permit and carries no fee; it is a local sign-off the county checks for before it will proceed. None of this changes how we schedule or run the home inspection.
Our New Hampshire Avenue unit is below one with a reported leak. Does the inspection address that?
The inspection covers your unit's own ceiling, walls and fixtures, and notes any staining or evidence it finds there. It does not enter or evaluate the unit above yours, since that is outside the property being inspected. Ask building management for any repair records tied to the unit overhead; that history is useful context alongside what the inspector documents in your own space.
Our Old Takoma house has an enclosed porch that is now a sunroom. Is that inspected differently?
No, it gets the same attention as any other room: its windows and doors are opened and closed, and if it has its own heating source, that is run on normal controls too. Where the porch's roof and floor meet the original house is worth a closer look, since that junction is where an older addition most often shows its age, whether through framing, flashing or a settled floor.
Does the inspection test for well water on an older Takoma Park property?
Most Takoma Park properties are on public water and sewer, and the inspection tests functional drainage and fixture operation the same way regardless of the connection. On the rare property with a private well or septic system, those systems themselves still fall outside a standard home inspection everywhere we work; confirm the connection type with the seller if your listing does not state it.
Can I just attend the walkthrough at the end of a Takoma Park inspection?
Yes. You are welcome for the whole visit or only the walkthrough, when the inspector goes room by room through what was found before the written report follows online. The walkthrough is where most buyers get their questions answered on the spot, and your agent is welcome to be there with you.
Explore Our Inspection Reports
- HD Photography
- Commentary & Recommendations
- Grading Scale
- Repair, Safety & Maintenance