Item

To Do

Structure

Walk around your house and check your foundation and exterior walls for cracks. Check your doors and windows to make sure they open and close properly, and check the interior ceilings and walls for movement cracks. Movement cracks are those type of cracks that are usually diagonal cutting through the drywall. A common, normal settlement crack are those that are usually straight lined and normally at the joint of two wall board pieces.

Mechanical

Make sure all your major appliances are in good working condition. Operate all your appliances - dishwasher (run through a full cycle), range (test on low, medium and high settings), oven (check the clean cycle, broil and bake at 350 for thirty minutes). Turn everything on - lights, ceiling fans, all the appliances and, if the weather permits (outside temperature above 60 degrees), the air conditioner. This gives your home a test to see if it can handle the full load of power - as it should. If breakers trip during this test, call a licensed electrician.

Plumbing

Run all your water for about fifteen minutes, flush the commodes and run the shower for about thirty minutes (this gives the pan a good test. Check under the sinks and around the commodes for leaks and feel around the shower floor for moisture (make sure to check in the closet area also.)

Another thing you can do is check your water meter for leaks. First, make sure that all water in the house is off (sinks, washing machines, etc.) and go out to your water meter and open the cover (some require a key that you can get at Home Depot) and check the meter. There is a small triangle (on newer homes from the 80's and up) on the meter that should not be moving. If it is, recheck all your plumbing fixtures for drips on faucet leaks. If everything is off in the house, you should consult with a plumber to do a pressure test on the plumbing lines and pray the leak is not in the foundation area - this can be expensive to repair.