Full Inspection Scope
Everything we actually check
84 components across 8 systems — named specifically, with what's being judged about each one and why it matters in Bay Area housing.
Roof & Exterior
10 components checked
The exterior is what keeps water out, and water is behind most expensive surprises in Bay Area housing. Roof covering matters less than the details around it — flashing, transitions and drainage are where failures actually start. The roof is inspected from the ground, a ladder at the eave, or the surface itself where it is safe and the covering can bear traffic.
Roof covering & remaining life
Composition shingle, tile, slate, wood shake or flat membrane — assessed for granule loss, curling, cracking, blistering, patching and how much service life appears to remain. Age matters less than condition: a well-maintained 18-year-old roof can outlast a poorly installed 8-year-old one.
Flashing at penetrations & transitions
Chimneys, skylights, vent stacks, valleys, and above all the junction where a later addition meets the original roofline. Flashing fails far more often than roof covering does, and additions are where it fails first.
Gutters, downspouts & discharge
Whether gutters are sloped, secured and clear, and critically whether downspouts discharge away from the foundation or dump against it. A downspout discharging at the foundation is one of the most common root causes behind crawl space moisture.
Fascia, soffit & eave condition
Checked for dry rot, pest entry and staining. On San Francisco and coastal Peninsula homes, wind-driven rain attacks west and north elevations year-round and these are where it shows first.
Siding, stucco & cladding
Wood siding, stucco, fiber cement or shingle — inspected for cracking, delamination, moisture staining, contact with soil, and whether a drainage plane appears to exist behind stucco. Older stucco over wood framing frequently has none.
Exterior trim, windows & door seals
Sill and casing condition, failed caulking, and evidence of water entry at bay windows and light wells, which is where Edwardian and Victorian rot typically begins.
Grading & site drainage
Whether soil slopes away from the structure. Negative grading directing water toward the foundation is the single most correctable cause of chronic moisture problems.
Decks, balconies & stairs
Ledger attachment and flashing, guardrail height and spacing, post bases, and waterproofing on elevated decks. Deck ledger failure is a genuine safety issue, not a cosmetic one.
Driveways, walkways & retaining walls
Settlement, trip hazards, and on sloped lots whether retaining walls show drainage provision. Undrained retaining walls build hydrostatic pressure and eventually move.
Fences, gates & site structures
Assessed where they affect drainage, egress or safety — including whether landscaping has blocked foundation vents, a very common finding.
Structure & Foundation
10 components checked
Almost every foundation has cracks and most of them mean very little. What matters is pattern — whether cracking is displaced or hairline, progressive or stable, and whether doors and windows are racking in a way that suggests active movement. In a seismic region two findings carry extra weight on older homes.
Foundation type & condition
Poured concrete, perimeter with crawl space, slab-on-grade, or on older San Francisco housing brick and unreinforced rubble. Type largely determines what can go wrong and what a retrofit would involve.
Foundation cracking — pattern & significance
Hairline shrinkage cracking is normal as concrete cures. Displaced, stepped or widening cracks are not. The report distinguishes the two rather than listing every mark.
Cripple wall bracing
The short stud walls between foundation and first floor. Unbraced cripple walls are one of the most common seismic vulnerabilities in pre-1970s Bay Area homes and one of the most well-understood retrofits.
Foundation anchor bolting & sill plate connection
Whether the house is bolted to its foundation. Many pre-war homes simply rest on theirs. Checked alongside cripple wall bracing since the two are usually retrofitted together.
Soft-story conditions
A garage opening beneath living space leaves little lateral resistance. Widespread in San Francisco and identified along with whether retrofit work appears to have been performed.
Floor framing, joists & subfloor
Inspected from the crawl space or basement for rot, notching, sagging, prior repair, and moisture damage at bathrooms and kitchens.
Posts, piers & beam support
Post bases in contact with soil, undersized or improvised piers, and beams with inadequate bearing — all common in older crawl spaces and in unpermitted alterations.
Masonry chimney condition & attachment
Unreinforced masonry chimneys are a genuine concern in a seismic region. Assessed for cracking, separation from the structure, spalling and crown condition.
Signs of settlement or active movement
Racking doors and windows, sloping floors, and cracking patterns traced across the structure rather than noted room by room. Seasonal movement on expansive clay soils is distinguished from progressive settlement.
Evidence of prior structural repair
Previous underpinning, added piers, epoxy injection or sistered joists — noted along with whether the work appears adequate and whether it looks permitted.
Electrical System
11 components checked
Electrical findings split into two categories: what is unsafe, and what is simply undersized for how people live now. A 100-amp service installed in 1955 was never intended to run air conditioning, induction cooking and EV charging at once — not a defect exactly, but a real cost worth knowing before you own it.
Main service panel & capacity
Amperage rating against how the home is actually used. Undersized service is one of the most commonly overlooked costs on older Bay Area homes, especially with EV charging added.
Breakers, fuses & overcurrent protection
Correct sizing for conductors, double-tapped breakers, and evidence of overheating. Fuse panels are noted along with what replacing one typically involves.
Panel brand & known concerns
Certain older panel brands have documented failure histories. Where one is present it is identified plainly and evaluation by a licensed electrician is recommended.
Branch wiring type & condition
Copper, aluminum branch wiring, or knob-and-tube. Aluminum branch circuits and live knob-and-tube both warrant specific attention rather than a passing mention.
Knob-and-tube remnants & partial rewiring
Very common in pre-war San Francisco and Berkeley housing that was only partially updated. Original wiring is frequently left live in attics and wall cavities, sometimes buried under later insulation.
GFCI protection
Tested at kitchens, bathrooms, laundry, garage and exterior outlets. Missing GFCI protection at wet locations is among the most frequent findings on any older home.
AFCI protection
Checked where required by the home's era and any updated circuits.
Outlets, switches & fixtures
Representative testing for polarity, grounding, open neutrals and physical damage. Ungrounded two-prong outlets are noted with what grounding would involve.
Grounding & bonding
Grounding electrode, water pipe bonding, and gas line bonding where accessible.
Smoke & carbon monoxide alarms
Presence and placement against current expectations. California requires CO alarms in homes with attached garages or fuel-burning appliances, and this is a routine point of sale correction.
Amateur & unpermitted wiring
Junction boxes without covers, wiring buried in walls without boxes, extension cords used as permanent wiring — all common in garage and basement conversions.
Plumbing System
12 components checked
Original galvanised steel supply piping is the quiet expense in a lot of mid-century Bay Area housing. It corrodes from the inside, so it can look perfectly sound while flow has collapsed. Testing several fixtures under simultaneous demand reveals far more than looking at the pipe does.
Supply piping material
Copper, galvanised steel, PEX or CPVC. Galvanised is noted along with the practical implication — it fails from the inside and typically needs replacement rather than repair.
Functional flow under simultaneous demand
Multiple fixtures run at once rather than one at a time. This is what actually exposes corroded supply lines and undersized piping.
Water pressure & regulator
Static pressure measured where a hose bib allows. Excessive pressure shortens the life of every fixture and appliance in the house.
Drain, waste & vent piping
Cast iron, ABS or galvanised drain lines assessed for corrosion, sagging, improper slope and prior repair. Mid-century cast-iron waste lines are commonly at or past service life.
Sewer lateral — visible condition & local requirements
The accessible portion is assessed visually. On older properties with mature trees, root intrusion into original clay pipe is common, expensive and invisible without a camera scope — a separate service by a licensed plumber, and in San Francisco often a transaction requirement.
Water heater — age, capacity & condition
Age from the data plate, corrosion, and whether capacity suits the household.
Water heater seismic strapping
Double strapping at upper and lower thirds is required in California. Unstrapped or single-strapped heaters are among the most common findings and among the cheapest to correct.
TPR valve & discharge piping
Temperature and pressure relief valve present, correctly oriented, and discharging to an approved location. A missing or improperly terminated discharge line is a genuine safety issue.
Fixtures, faucets & toilets
Operation, leaks at supply connections, loose or rocking toilets, and drainage at each fixture.
Shower & tub enclosures
Grout and seal condition, and moisture readings at adjacent surfaces where the pattern suggests a leak behind the enclosure.
Shutoff valves & hose bibs
Main shutoff location and accessibility, angle stops at fixtures, and exterior hose bibs including anti-siphon protection.
Gas piping — visible condition
Accessible gas lines, unions, sediment traps, and flexible connectors. Bonding and appliance connections checked where accessible.
Heating, Cooling & Ventilation
10 components checked
Equipment is checked for operation, age, and whether it performs rather than merely switching on. On gas equipment, venting matters as much as the appliance — a disconnected or badly sloped flue connector is a carbon monoxide concern, not an efficiency one.
Furnace or heating equipment
Type, age from the data plate, operation through a full cycle, and condition of accessible components. Wall and floor furnaces common in older San Francisco flats are assessed on their own terms.
Heat exchanger — visible condition
Assessed to the extent visible without dismantling the appliance. Where condition cannot be determined, that limit is stated plainly rather than glossed over.
Flue, venting & draft
Flue connector slope and connection, clearance to combustibles, and draft at the appliance. Improper venting on gas appliances is a carbon monoxide risk and is treated as a safety finding.
Combustion air supply
Whether appliances in closets, garages or basements have adequate combustion air — frequently compromised when a space is converted or tightened up.
Air conditioning & heat pump
Operation, age, refrigerant line insulation, condensate handling, and temperature differential across the system where conditions allow testing.
Ductwork condition & distribution
Accessible ducts inspected for disconnection, crushing, missing insulation and obvious leakage. Disconnected crawl space ducts are a common and costly-to-run finding.
Thermostat & controls
Operation and whether controls actually command the equipment as expected.
Bathroom & kitchen exhaust ventilation
Whether fans exist, actually move air, and terminate outside rather than into an attic or crawl space. Venting into an attic is a direct cause of the moisture and mold problems found later.
Dryer venting
Material, routing, length and termination. Flexible foil ducting and runs terminating in a crawl space are both frequent findings and both are fire or moisture concerns.
Whole-house & attic ventilation
Soffit, ridge and gable venting assessed for adequacy and blockage — directly tied to attic moisture and roof deck condition.
Attic, Insulation & Roof Structure
10 components checked
Attics are where a small roof leak turns into framing damage while nobody is looking, and where inadequate ventilation quietly produces the moisture problems that show up later as mold. Entered and traversed where access and structure allow it safely.
Roof framing & sheathing from below
Rafters, trusses, ridge and sheathing inspected for staining, delamination, prior repair and any modification — cut or notched framing from a later installation is a common finding.
Evidence of roof leaks
Staining, rusted fasteners, delaminated sheathing and daylight at penetrations. Active versus historic leakage is distinguished where possible.
Attic moisture & condensation
Moisture patterns assessed and, where relevant, confirmed with meter readings rather than judged by appearance alone.
Fungal growth on sheathing & framing
Where growth is visible it is identified and the moisture source traced. Assessment is visual and instrument-based — thermal imaging and moisture metering — not sampling.
Insulation type, depth & coverage
Material and approximate R-value, gaps, compression and displacement. Older Bay Area attics are frequently under-insulated relative to current expectations.
Vapor barrier & air sealing
Presence and condition, and whether penetrations from below have been sealed.
Attic ventilation adequacy
Intake and exhaust venting balance, and whether insulation or storage has blocked soffit vents — a very common and easily corrected cause of attic moisture.
Exhaust fans terminating in the attic
Bathroom or dryer exhaust discharging into the attic instead of outside. Common, and a direct cause of sheathing moisture and growth.
Wiring & junction boxes in the attic
Open splices, unsupported wiring, and knob-and-tube buried under later insulation.
Pest & rodent evidence
Droppings, nesting material, chewed insulation and entry points noted. Identification of active infestation and any treatment is the province of a licensed pest operator.
Crawl Space & Under-Floor Areas
10 components checked
The crawl space is where Bay Area moisture problems most often begin, and because nobody looks, they grow unchecked for years. The usual combination is bare soil, a torn or absent vapour barrier, and vents blocked by landscaping. Entered and traversed where clearance and safety allow.
Vapor barrier presence & condition
Whether ground cover exists, is continuous, and is intact. A torn or missing vapour barrier over bare soil keeps floor framing damp year-round.
Standing water & moisture intrusion
Evidence of pooling, efflorescence on foundation walls, and moisture readings at framing. Source traced where possible — usually roof drainage or grading rather than plumbing.
Sub-area ventilation
Foundation vents present, unobstructed and adequate. Blocked by landscaping, fallen insulation or a later addition is the most common finding here.
Floor framing, joists & girders
Rot, insect damage, sagging, prior sistering and moisture staining, with particular attention beneath bathrooms and kitchens.
Under-floor insulation
Presence, condition and whether it has fallen or become saturated. Wet insulation holds moisture against framing and makes matters worse than none at all.
Plumbing & ductwork in the crawl space
Accessible supply and drain lines for leaks and corrosion, and ducts for disconnection and missing insulation.
Fungal growth on framing
Where growth is visible it is documented and the moisture source traced with thermal imaging and moisture meters. This is a visual and instrument-based assessment; no samples are taken or analysed.
Post bases & soil contact
Wood in direct contact with soil, deteriorated post bases, and improvised support — common in older crawl spaces and unpermitted work.
Pest & wood-destroying organism evidence
Visible evidence noted and referred to a licensed pest operator, which is a separate licensed discipline from a general home inspection.
Access & clearance limitations
Where a crawl space cannot be safely entered or fully traversed, exactly which areas were not inspected is stated rather than left implied.
Interior, Rooms & Safety
11 components checked
Interior findings are usually symptoms rather than causes. A stained ceiling, a sticking door or a soft patch of flooring generally points at something structural or moisture-related elsewhere, which is why they get traced rather than simply noted.
Ceilings, walls & visible moisture staining
Staining traced toward a likely source rather than listed room by room, and confirmed with moisture readings where the pattern warrants it.
Floors — condition & slope
Covering condition plus whether slope suggests framing or foundation movement. Soft spots checked for underlying moisture damage.
Windows — operation, glazing & seals
Representative operation, failed dual-pane seals, condensation between panes, and security of latching.
Doors — operation & racking
Doors that stick or fail to latch often indicate movement. Seasonal versus progressive is distinguished where possible.
Stairs, handrails & guardrails
Riser and tread consistency, handrail presence and graspability, and guardrail height and baluster spacing — genuine safety items, especially in older homes.
Garage — firewall separation & door
Fire separation between garage and living space, self-closing door hardware, and automatic reversal and photo-eye function on the overhead door.
Fireplaces & wood stoves
Firebox, damper, hearth extension and visible flue condition. A Level 2 chimney inspection by a specialist is recommended where the visible condition warrants it.
Kitchen appliances — as installed
Built-in appliances operated in normal modes. Range anti-tip bracket presence is checked and is a routine safety finding.
Laundry connections
Supply valves, drain, and dryer venting including material and termination.
Egress from bedrooms & converted spaces
Window egress dimensions and ceiling height in basement and garage conversions — frequently non-compliant in unpermitted work, and a genuine life-safety issue.
Unpermitted alterations & conversions
Garage, basement and in-law conversions are widespread across the Bay Area. Not automatically a defect, but egress, ceiling height, ventilation, heating and electrical all need checking because nobody inspected them the first time.
Knowing The Limits
What a general inspection does not cover
Knowing the boundaries is as useful as knowing the scope, because it tells you which specialist to bring in and when. None of the below is a gap — it's the difference between a generalist assessment and a specialist one.
Anything concealed or inaccessible
The inspection is visual and non-invasive. Walls do not get opened, finishes do not get removed, and areas that are unsafe or physically unreachable are reported as not inspected rather than assumed sound.
Sewer lateral interiors
The accessible portion is assessed visually, but the buried line needs a camera scope from a licensed plumber. On older properties with mature trees this is worth doing separately — and in San Francisco it is frequently a transaction requirement.
Pest and wood-destroying organism reports
Visible evidence gets documented, but identifying active infestation and recommending treatment is a separate licensed discipline. A licensed pest operator issues that report.
Laboratory analysis of samples
Mold and moisture assessment here is visual and instrument-based — infrared thermal imaging and calibrated moisture meters to find the water source. No samples are collected or sent for analysis.
Engineering and geotechnical evaluation
Where a structural finding warrants calculation rather than observation, the report says so plainly and recommends a structural or geotechnical engineer instead of leaving it vague.
Code compliance certification
An inspection reports condition and safety concerns; it is not a code compliance certificate. Permit history is a matter for the local building department.
This is the full home inspection
Everything above is covered by the full home inspection, starting at $649 for a single-family home and $549 for a condo. Where a property needs a closer look at moisture specifically, the mold inspection and moisture assessment go deeper with thermal imaging and moisture metering.
Questions about a specific component?
Call and ask. If it's something a general inspection can't answer, you'll be told that plainly rather than sold an add-on.