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Prepare your home for a buyer’s home inspection; understand the equipment and areas that should be easily accessed and check vital safety points for your protection.

A home does not ‘fail’ a professional inspection; a professional inspector puts observations in the perspective of the overall condition of the home, not blowing issues out of proportion. Cosmetic, easily corrected or irrelevant issues should be discussed as such. These thoughts will help you prepare for an inspection, your assistance making it easier for the inspector to focus on any relevant issues.

1. Ensure that there is unobstructed access to your furnace, electrical panel, and water meter and that access doors and covers all open easily; flag the water meter location if not obvious.
2. Change your furnace filter if dirty; regularly changing a dirty filter lowers your heating bill.
3. Check your hot water temperature; over 50°C is too high and a serious scalding risk.
4. Test your smoke alarms, you should have one on each level at an appropriate location.
5. Test your ground fault protected receptacles (in the bathrooms, outside, and anywhere else that you have them) and replace defective ones; test them every month for your protection.
6. If you have a fuse panel ensure that fuses are 15 amps (blue) unless a higher capacity is needed for say an air conditioner, otherwise the wiring in the wall protects the fuse.
7. Ensure no electrical switches and receptacles are loose and that all have covers; a safety issue.
8. If you have a sump pump, test it regularly and ensure that there is unobstructed access to it.
9. Make sure any attic access panel opens freely and is easily accessed; if it is located in a clothes closet, empty the closet for the inspection as insulation particles often fall when the hatch is opened.
10. Check all door hinges for tightness of the screws, many times these loosen and the door will bind. Good draft strips on outside doors improve your comfort.
11. Ensure windows open easily; use silicone lubricant on sliding surfaces to prevent freezing shut.
12. Remove mildew from bathroom tiles and around windows using diluted bleach. Opening windows when condensation occurs on them and running vent fans after showers or baths and while cooking will reduce humidity levels in the home to prevent mildew returning.
13. Wash the filter from the clothes dryer each time you clean off the lint, as fabric softeners can leave deposits on the mesh, reducing airflow and causing a fire hazard.
14. If you have a fireplace, consider having your chimney swept, depending on when last swept, how much and what type of wood you burn.
15. In winter, turn off and drain outside hose taps at the inside shut-off and mark their locations; no-freeze taps can be installed so you don’t have to remember to turn them off for winter and on in the spring.
16. Remove the cover from an outside air conditioner unit as the unit really doesn’t need a cover; this makes access easier and you won’t run the risk of forgetting to take the cover off and turning on the a/c, with the cover left on, the outside unit will last about 5 minutes before burning out.
17. Test and adjust the backup pressure on an automatic garage door; when closing the door should backup easily from an obstruction otherwise it could cause injury, or damage to a vehicle.
18. Provide information such as receipts about any improvements that you might have had done, such as additional insulation in attic or walls, electrical service or wiring upgrades, plumbing or similar upgrades that might not be obviously apparent or easily observed.
19. Leave instructions on switch locations and procedures for turning on gas fireplaces, whirlpool baths and any other similar items that might have controls that are not immediately visible and obvious.