Can a Home Inspector Move Things?

You’ve just signed a contract on a beautiful home and booked Ensure Home Inspections San Antonio to perform an inspection tomorrow morning. The home is clean and organized, but there is still furniture, including beds, drawers, couches, etc. in most rooms of the house. The garage is filled to the brim with stuff the sellers hurriedly through in there to make the main house look better for showings. The water heater closet door is covered by boxes and a matteress. The pulldown attic can’t be pulled down because there is a car in the way and the seller’s aren’t home. Or maybe you can pull the attic ladder down but when you go up there, you can’t see a thing because the the home seller has stuffed old TV and printer boxes up there along with a Christmas tree or two and photo’s from the 1970’s. Its a bad day for a home inspection.

What Happens Next?

We inspect as thoroughly as possible WITHOUT disturbing any furnishings. In a majority of instances, we are able to inspect around a furnished home with minimal difficulty by just being mindful of where we step and put our hands. At the same time, if an outlet or window is blocked a bed or a headboard, we’re not moving anything to inspect it. The primary reason for this is liability: we don’t want anyone to get angry at us for breaking the ancient glass vase that has been in their family since before recorded history that also happened to be worth a bajillion dollars (or at least that’s what their lawyer will say).

Because of this, we don’t move things. Instead, we will note in our report that some receptacles, windows, doors, etc. were not inspected due to lack of access or other circumstances related to occupation, and continue on to give you the best look at the home that is possible.

You can help avoid having problems due to storage and clearance by communicating with the home seller prior to the inspection about making sure the attic access, water heater, electrical cabinets and panels, and air-conditioning equipment are all accessible to the inspector before hand.