New construction inspection - would you like to take a bath here?
I do a lot of pre-drywall and then final inspections on new construction. And it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. We never know what we will find.
On every inspection I do a sweep with my thermal camera. Mighty Mo is great at finding missing insulation, weak or poorly-placed insulation, unknown leaks, HVAC ducts that aren't working properly (or where HVAC registers are missing! - click here), and even predictive electrical issues.
In this house Mighty Mo found an interesting circumstance. This is in the second bedroom bath. This would be used by the older of two young girls in this family. After my sweep I asked her to sit in the tub and tell everyone what she felt. Here's what I knew:
Sitting down she screeched and stood up quickly! (I love object lessons...) "It's really cold!!"
Looking at the two thermal images you can see why. On the left is the corner in the bedroom beside the hardware end of the bath tub. The image on the right is the tub itself. The temperature outdoors at this time was about 45F, and in the tub it was as cold as 48F. So that would indicate there is little to no insulation between the tub and outdoors!
Mighty Mo strikes again! I could almost hear him laugh when the girl let out her yelp!
How about a nice hot bath!? Not in this tub! The water would get cold quickly.
My recommendation: final inspections on new construction are something that I consistently recommend. We never know what's in store! Of course the builder tries to dissuade buyers from hiring a private inspector - "there have been dozens of inspections already..." or "the County does many inspections and already gave approval..." or "we have an experienced supervisor on site every day who oversees each step in the building process..." Whatever. But inspection after inspection I come up with things that really need attention. So hire a home inspector! And get one with a good thermal camera. Or better, insist on Jay Markanich.
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC 
Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia.
Office (703) 330-6388 Cell (703) 585-7560
