What can I get from a pre-drywall inspection?

Updated 11/18/2022

With a pre-drywall inspection, find and fix problems early while the systems of the home are still easily accessible. Later the pipes, wires, ductwork, and framing will be hidden behind drywall, making any issues harder to find and harder to address. The builder may even thank you for uncovering minor issues before they grow into problems! This will be the last time some items will ever be visible.

Homes are built by many different people, and people make mistakes. Masons, electricians, plumbers, HVAC specialists, painters, and more will all contribute to your home. With all those moving parts, things can fall through the cracks, or someone could have an off day in the months it takes to construct your home. However, with a new home construction inspection, you get a fresh set of eyes on all the details of your home. A fresh set of eyes that work for you, not the builder or the county.

A county inspector makes sure the building is up to local code, along with the several other properties they inspect that day. They work hard and do work for your interest, but they don’t work for you, and they can’t take the time to thoroughly go over the whole house. For example, according to a video made by the city of McKinney, TX, their team of 12 building inspectors performed 60,000 home inspections in one year! Wow! That’s 5,000 homes per inspector. Even if an inspector worked every day of the year, which I certainly hope they don’t, that’s 14 inspections per day. While that certainly requires a ton of dedication, it does not leave a lot of time for each home. Assuming no breaks or travel in an 8-hour workday, very unlikely, each inspection only gets 34 minutes. In comparison, we take 2 to 2 ½ hours on average for every pre-drywall inspection to thoroughly examine the home.

A pre-drywall inspection is also ideally pre-insulation. A quality pre-drywall inspection report is a great document to have years down the road. You can show it to repair persons and contractors many years from now. It will give them a guide to what’s behind your walls. They’ll be able to see what areas have already had repairs which will make their work easier, and less expensive for you!

Pro tip: You can use the pre-drywall report to check on those early repairs before your one-year warranty is up in case any items need additional work while it’s still the builder’s responsibility.

Getting a home inspection at this stage in the construction process is fantastic for saving money and trouble now, and it will keep giving over the lifetime of your home! Plus, because it’s easier to see and inspect everything, this inspection is shorter than a general home inspection and priced to match! So, whether you get a pre-drywall inspection with us or another company, it’s definitely a worthwhile investment in this home you’re putting your hopes, dreams, and hundreds of thousands of dollars into.

Thank you for reading!

If you found this article helpful, I encourage you to check back later for the rest of our New Construction Home Inspection Series!

Pre-drywall (this article)

- Before the insulation and drywall.

- More on a Reliable pre-drywall inspection

Final/Finish Out

- Right before you settle and money changes hands

- Make sure the home is move-in ready

- More on a Reliable finish inspection

1Yr Warranty/11 Month

- 11 months into the warranty so the house has seen all four seasons

- A great opportunity if your builder didn’t allow earlier inspections

- More on a Reliable 1 Yr Warranty inspection