Appliances

Is a home really a home if there’s no one cooking in the kitchen?  The Smart Inspectors love to cook!  That means The Smart Inspectors know appliances, too!  Dishwashers, disposals, ovens, ranges, hood vents, microwaves, etc… Kitchen appliances aren’t the only appliances in your house, though.  What about garages door openers, bathroom vents, and dryer vents?  Yup, The Smart Inspectors check out all of those, too.

The majority of your appliances are in the kitchen, however.  Do you know if your appliances are bonded to your house’s electrical ground system?  If they aren’t then you risk electrocution if you’re using your appliances during a thunder storm (and we have plenty of those here in Texas)!  How hot does your oven actually get?

Did you know in Texas an oven has to measure +/- 25 degrees when set to 350 in order to pass?  Speaking of ovens, free standing ovens are also required to have anti-tips devices to keep children from being able to topple them.  If you have a gas burning range, then you probably also have a range hood vent.  Does that vent exit to the exterior or is it a recirculating type?  If you have a gas range then that vent is supposed to exit the exterior of the house.  You’d be surprised how many range vents look like the exit the house but actually are dumping vented air into your new attic.  The same goes for water heaters and furnaces; any appliance that burns gas.

Garage door openers have multiple safety concerns as well: does the door auto-reverse under pressure? Do the photo-electric sensors function? Are they mounted the proper distance from the floor?  Are the manual locks removed from the garage door?  Every quality home inspection will look for these items.