Ryan, I would NOT close until you receive the okay from a structural engineer (not a home inspector). If your wife wants to know what kinds of things a structural engineer could discover in a brand new home, how about just a few of the things that ACTUALLY DID exist in my brand new home: - Windows installed without flashing (water leaked into the wall cavities, causes mold, rot, early demise of house) - Drip edge material missing from roof installation (water seeps under roofing, causes mold, rot, etc.) - Nothing supporting load bearing wall (portions of the house could have collapsed) - Main steel I-beam supporting center of house too short (could have caused structural issues) - Roof trusses incorrectly cut and patched (portion of roof could have collapsed over time) - Drainage system around foundation incorrectly installed (excessive soil and water pressures could have compromised the foundation) - Fireplace box incorrectly installed (fire hazard) I could go on, but I think you probably get the point. It should be noted that our city inspectors APPROVED the construction. Our builder was a highly respected custom home builder, recommended by our architect. We did a lot of research on our builder before hiring him and found nothing to give us a clue that he was a bad builder (arbitration clauses keep disputes out of public records). Our builder was NOT the low bidder. The structural defects listed above were found DURING construction by our structural engineer. I will be forever grateful for his expertise. Looking back, no price is too great to know that we now live in a structurally sound home. I do not worry that parts of my house will collapse on my children or that mold will make them sick - because we hired a structural engineer and he pointed out things that we did not have the skills to see. Without question, I would recommend investing whatever is necessary to have every inch of your house FULLY inspected before closing. Anyone can check to see if the stove works, if the toilet flushes. It's the stuff behind the walls that can cause you the most harm - those are the things that need an expert's evaluation.

Thanks, everyone! I'm still shaking my head today about what wasn't inspected, but we did have regular and more thorough inspections along the way while building. I'm glad to know others experienced lackadaisical finals also. Congratulations to you, Amanda. You're geting so close to being done. DH was very happy that I didn't stop the inspector to come in and look at our new panel. I'll remember those words if something ever goes wrong. :) Caliente--I'm jealous of your ready supply of Meyer lemons! I made some delicious Meyer lemon curd last weekend, but I have to pay a decent price for my citrus up here in the north. I posted the margarita recipes in a KAW thread. Linked below. Here is a link that might be useful: KAW Margarita Edition

Where we live sellers are never present at the inspection. You just get the report of repairs, not the entire inspection. If the sale falls apart, and you know of all issues, you are on the hook to notify the next buyers of everything up front. We had a bunch of very minor, like changing cabinet knobs etc, but we took it for what it was worth because there was probably other more legit things she didn't ask for. The inspectors have a list of criteria too that they use. For example, our dryer vent clogged up and made the laundry room really humid for a month or so. We thought it was weather but it wasn't. The 2yo hot water heater rusted on the outside a little bit, according to the inspector's criteria, a rusted tank has to be marked at 10yo even though we had a receipt to prove it. They call it "estimated age" so they can be aware of the actual age and still value it differently. Just get through it and that's that.

Did you pull the permit yourself, or was it included in the list of contractor provided services? The cost of the permit normally includes all inspections. In this type of job the permit is usually pulled by the contractor, and he/she handles all the interaction with the city. In that case it doesn't really matter to you how many times they come to inspect, as long as the final inspection is approved. You may also want to go to the city office and discuss what is needed for permits and inspection, since the web site info is often not well written. Sometimes if you are doing a direct replacement of an existing appliance the testing and approval will be simplified. For example, if all they did was disconnect a flexible gas line from your hard pipe, and then install a new flexible line to the new furnace, this may not require a gas line test because you didn't really change anything with the gas line. Bruce