The Checklist, System by System
Outside first, then up, then in, then the mechanical systems, then the panel. The exterior tells you the construction and the exposure before anything gets opened.
Exterior and Structure
- Foundation and slab edge condition
- Block walls, finish and visible cracking
- Lintels and headers above openings
- Grading and drainage away from the slab
- Driveway, walkway and patio settlement
- Soffit and fascia, including fastener corrosion
- Exterior fixtures, hose bibs, receptacle covers
- Garage door panels, tracks, springs, opener reverse
- Fencing, gates and screen enclosures
Waterfront Structures
- Seawall cap and face, visible cracking
- Separation at the cap joint
- Staining suggesting tie-back or weep issues
- Scour or undermining at the toe
- Dock decking, stringers and fasteners
- Piling condition above the waterline
- Boat lift framing, cables and cradle
- Drainage across a flat low-lying yard
Roof and Attic
- Covering type, age and remaining service life
- Fastener condition on exposed elevations
- Flashing at walls, valleys, vents and penetrations
- Drip edge attachment and eave condition
- Gutters, downspouts and discharge points
- Attic framing, decking and prior repairs
- Insulation depth and coverage
- Ventilation and evidence of leaking
Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC
- Service size, panel make and model
- Bus bar and lug terminals, checked for corrosion
- Breaker sizing against conductor gauge
- Branch wiring type, including aluminum
- GFCI and AFCI protection where required
- Supply and drain material, cast iron age
- Functional flow and drainage at every fixture
- Water heater date, relief valve and drain pan
- Condenser age, coil and cabinet corrosion
- Air handler, condensate line and secondary drain
- Temperature split across the coil
- Thermal imaging, confirmed with a moisture meter
Anything we cannot reach is written down as not accessed, with the reason. A painted-shut attic hatch, a panel behind stored boxes, a locked dock gate. A silent report reads exactly like a clean one, and you should always be able to tell those apart.
What You Can Usefully Check Yourself
Before you hire anyone, a careful walkthrough tells you more than most buyers realize. It does not replace an inspection and it is not meant to.
The Safe List
Run every tap and watch how fast the basin drains. Flush every toilet and listen for a fill valve that keeps running. Open and close every window and slider, because on a waterfront house the hardware is usually the first thing to go. Press the test and reset buttons on kitchen and bathroom GFCI outlets. Look at the ceiling in every room, particularly under bathrooms and around the air handler. Read the date label on the water heater. Walk the perimeter and watch which way the ground falls.
That is twenty minutes and it costs nothing.
What Not to Attempt
Do not go on the roof. Do not remove the panel cover. Do not crawl into an unlit attic, especially in August. Those three are where a serious proportion of significant findings live, and all three are genuinely dangerous without training, insurance and equipment. A roof fall or an arc flash is not a saving.
The same applies to the seawall. Looking at it from the lawn is sensible. Climbing down the face to inspect the toe is not.
Mistakes Worth Avoiding
Booking late in the inspection period, which leaves no time to get a plumber's scope or an electrician's quote. Skipping the attic and roof because the house presents well. Reading a forty-item report as a catastrophe instead of sorting it by consequence. Trying to negotiate all forty items, which reliably produces none of them.
And on a canal lot, never asking about the seawall until after closing, which is the most expensive of the five.
Book It
From $299 up to 1,200 sq ft with no travel fee on the island. See the schedule on the cost page, how the timing works on the pre-purchase page, or get a number from the rates page. Back to the Merritt Island overview.