The Pre-drywall Inspection!

If you are having a new home built, then a Pre-Drywall Inspection could be a huge benefit and save you in the long run.  A pre-drywall inspection is essential because it can discover problems with framing, electrical, plumbing, and other components in the home before they are covered with insulation and drywall!  Once those items are covered, you have no chance of getting them corrected until they rear their ugly head months or even years down the road!

This is an example of a recent find. This picture shows an HVAC register in a framed-out area for a coffered ceiling. As it is now, this HVAC air duct register will be above the ceiling and covered with drywall!  It was missed by the builder's site superintendent, and drywall was scheduled to be hung in about two days!

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This is another find that shows a misplaced wall or waste plumbing pipe! The pipe projects out from the framing about 2 inches!  As it is now, if drywall were installed, you would have a 2-inch visible bulge in the drywall above the bathroom cabinet all the way to the ceiling! This would not allow for the large bathroom mirror to be installed on the wall.

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 This picture shows an engineered floor joist for the second floor of a home that has had its top flange damaged by the plumbing and low-voltage installation! The top and bottom flanges of an engineered joist can not be modified. As it is now, if not corrected, this would cause a weak spot in the floor above, which could cause wall cracks or sagging floors.

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As you can see in the above pre-drywall finds, once the drywall was installed, you would have no idea of what your builder covered up. Items pictured are not usually caught by the local city or county inspectors. They are concerned more with safety and code-related issues and are in the home for only a few minutes during one of their visits. Be sure to have a  "Pre-Drywall Inspection" before you allow insulation or the drywall to be installed in your new home!