Pre Dry wall walkthrough -- Inspector

cyrano_oneone · May 28, 2019

Hi,

I have a house being built around Milton and I have a pre drywall walk through in a couple of weeks.

I now very little about construction so I feel I need some help. Can anyone recommend an inspector I can hire to do the walk through with me.

The builder is Capstone Homes. From what I was able to find out they are a good builder.

thanks,

Jon

outrider58 · May 28, 2019

I've not heard of "pre-drywall walk-throughs". I'm not sure what you're supposed to be looking for. Normally, building inspectors are charged with that to check rough wiring, rough plumbing, HVAC etc.

Beats me. :shrug:

traveller · May 28, 2019

Hire a contractor and an electrician to accompany you. They know where the bodies are buried.

Mike3888 · May 28, 2019

Pm sent.

MackM · May 28, 2019

He probably means a rough-in inspection, looking at plumbing and electrical (and maybe insulation) before the drywall covers it all up.
Word to the wise: if you did the electrical yourself and got a master electrician friend to sign it off, don't make it look too neat. Years ago, when the AA Co inspector looked at my addition's electrical (which I had painstakingly done myself, with every wire being straight and every bend 90 degrees), he said "You did this wiring yourself". I asked "now why would you say that?". He replied "No commercial guy would have done this good a job". Then he laughed and signed it off.

Alan3413 · May 28, 2019

Had one do a walkthrough before the drywall went up. It was uneventful. He pointed out a few minor things that were quickly addressed. Guess both the builder and inspector were competent, which is the desired outcome.

I did tell the onsite foreman we were having an inspector do a walkthrough, so maybe that helped prevent shortcuts.

Cuttyfunk · May 28, 2019

Normally it is a last chance to bless locations of switches, outlets, plumbing, etc. I would also reccomend taking lots of photos for the future.

welder516 · May 28, 2019

That is what Punch List are built on walk thru's , If I am paying I would want to walk and check out work .

smokedog · May 28, 2019

Do yourself a big favor and see if the builder will add blocking for towel bars,tp holders and curtain valances or for anything you may want to hang that has weight or a lot of use. If you can write measurements on the blocks from corner and ceiling to center of block. Take picture with numbers for future reference. Not sure where somethings going add blocks at several locations.

Moyaone · May 28, 2019

Once you find an inspector you're comfortable with I'd also suggest taking a set of the blueprints with you during the walk through. In the absence of either you will likely be easily convinced that everything is correct. Just a thought. Good luck!

ToolAA · May 28, 2019

Moyaone said:
Once you find an inspector you're comfortable with I'd also suggest taking a set of the blueprints with you during the walk through. In the absence of either you will likely be easily convinced that everything is correct. Just a thought. Good luck!

I recommend getting a set too. You never know if you might want to make modifications down the road.

Some builders will not give you a copy. Mine didn’t even when I offered to pay for them. but I stopped by the job site one afternoon and borrowed the set to get a copy run off at Kinkos.

Cuttyfunk said:
Normally it is a last chance to bless locations of switches, outlets, plumbing, etc. I would also reccomend taking lots of photos for the future.

Very useful advice.

I did this 20yrs ago. I photographed every wall in every room. This was before I had a digital camera. Those photos have come in real handy when making modifications over the last 20yrs. I had get a plumber to move a gas line and got the estimate first then after I had shown him the photos he knocked $500 of the price.

davsco · May 28, 2019

yes, photos of everything behind the walls is great advice. also blocking etc for anything future you may want to put up.

my one buddy went into his future house after hours and threw in a bunch of insulation below the upstairs toilets and pipes to lessen noise downstairs when those were being flushed. stuff like that.

PapiBarcelona · May 28, 2019

And then 10-20 years later when you need to do work as you pull the drywall empty rofo bags and empty boxes fall out.

Used drug paraphernalia is pretty common too unfortunately.

Threeband · May 28, 2019

I also was going to recommend taking a good photo of every wall in the house.

smokedog said:
Do yourself a big favor and see if the builder will add blocking for towel bars,tp holders and curtain valances or for anything you may want to hang that has weight or a lot of use. If you can write measurements on the blocks from corner and ceiling to center of block. Take picture with numbers for future reference. Not sure where somethings going add blocks at several locations.

Ha! I do this for myself all the time at work. My phone is full of photos of blocking, usually with measurements written on them.

I think it's my German ancestry, certainly not the Celtic fringe.

welder516 · May 28, 2019

Hopefully , they at least pick up the turd buckets in the corner before the walk-thru ...

Rich1911 · May 28, 2019

welder516 said:
Hopefully , they at least pick up the turd buckets in the corner before the walk-thru ...

nothing you can do about them pissing in every corner - that will always be there...

Bertfish · May 28, 2019

davsco said:
yes, photos of everything behind the walls is great advice. also blocking etc for anything future you may want to put up.

my one buddy went into his future house after hours and threw in a bunch of insulation below the upstairs toilets and pipes to lessen noise downstairs when those were being flushed. stuff like that.

I took video of mine. Has already saved me twice finding outlets the drywallers buried by accident!

Johnconlee · May 28, 2019

I can’t recommend an inspector because the one we used buying this house was a joke at best. I will say if the inspector knows or is in any way associated with the builder, realtor, loan officer or any of the subs hire a different one even if it means holding up progress on the house. Our inspector was recommended by the realtor and picked apart pointless things holding up settlement and ignored major issues that I knew about and had plans to deal with.

357Max · May 28, 2019

I'd recommend you review the following before they sheet rock.

~Recessed can light locations and qty's
~Pendant lights/locations for a kitchen island or breakfast nook
~Ceiling fan receptacles
~dining room hanging light centered over table
~If you plan to hang any flat screens, make sure HDMI cables are pre-installed to the correct ht & or run from a central location to master bedroom etc.
~Confirm the builder included pull down attic stairs and not just an access panel.
~Do you want a sub panel added for a back up generator?

Current electrical codes require plenty of receptacles so that's usually not an issue, however builders tend to try and save money by minimizing the items I listed above.

Occam · May 28, 2019

Yup, take pictures of every wall, so you know where stuff is once it becomes invisible. Hopefully you've also got someone (or you're doing it?) to run some low-voltage stuff, like network cabling ... so you can wire up household internet hardware later without having to do it ugly-style. There's no time like the no-drywall-time to make sure that you've at least got a line from where utilities are likely to enter, to where your computer hardware is likely to be, and to at least one spot on each floor ... and maybe also to the front and back entrances, in case you want to put up security cameras down the road. Now's the time.

Pre Dry wall walkthrough -- Inspector

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