Reference
All findings
Twenty-nine findings, each with a verdict: monitor it, budget for it, or get it evaluated before you close. The verdict is the point. An inspection report lists everything it sees, which is correct and also unhelpful — it gives a cracked mortar joint the same visual weight as a Federal Pacific panel.
Roughly a quarter of what follows genuinely warrants a specialist before closing. The rest is a house being a house in North Texas.
| Finding | Verdict | Era | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flashing, penetrations and roof leaks | Get it evaluated | Every era | Why roofs leak at their interruptions, and why an inspection cannot chase a leak |
| Attic ventilation in Texas heat | Budget for it | Every era | How the intake and exhaust loop works, what the code arithmetic actually says, and why adding vents often makes it worse |
| Composition shingle failure modes | Budget for it | Every era | How asphalt shingles actually fail in North Texas, and what the ratings mean |
| Conventionally reinforced slabs | Budget for it | 1960s–1970s | Rebar and mesh slabs in 1960s and 1970s houses, and what they tell you |
| Foundation drainage and grading | Budget for it | Every era | The cheapest foundation work in North Texas has nothing to do with piers |
| Hail damage and roof age | Budget for it | Every era | What hail actually does to a shingle, and why an inspector cannot adjudicate it |
| Pier and beam foundations | Budget for it | Pre-1960 | The pre-1960 foundation type, and why adjustable is not the same as inferior |
| Windows and failed glazing seals | Budget for it | 1980s–1990s | What actually fails in a fogged window, why nobody can honestly quote its service life, and the three limits TREC puts on window inspection |
| Brick veneer, lintels and weep holes | Monitor | Every era | Why veneer is a drainage wall rather than structure, what weep holes are for, and how to tell a lintel crack from foundation movement |
| Expansive clay soil movement | Monitor | Every era | Why North Texas soil moves, and when movement becomes damage |
| Post-tension slab foundations | Monitor | 1980s–1990s | How post-tension slabs work, and why finding one is not a finding |
| Radiant barriers | Monitor | 2000s | What Oak Ridge actually measured, why duct condition decides the answer, and what a radiant barrier cannot do |
| Reading interior distress — cracks, doors, floors | Monitor | Every era | What sheetrock cracks, sticking doors and sloping floors actually tell you |
| Roof decking and board spacing | Monitor | Pre-1960 | Plank sheathing, skip decking and shingle layers, and what only tear-off reveals |
| Aluminium branch circuit wiring | Get it evaluated | 1960s–1970s | Where the hazard actually is, and which repairs CPSC will accept |
| Cast iron sewer lines | Get it evaluated | Pre-1960 | The expected material under older DFW slabs, and what actually decides its condition |
| Ductwork and condensate in unconditioned attics | Get it evaluated | Every era | Why the equipment above your ceiling is the equipment that damages the house |
| Federal Pacific Stab-Lok panels | Get it evaluated | 1960s–1970s | The recall that never happened, and why the truth is worse than the myth |
| Slab leaks | Get it evaluated | Every era | Supply side against drain side, what actually finds one, and why the water comes before the foundation |
| Zinsco and Sylvania panels | Get it evaluated | 1960s–1970s | The evidence here is thinner than for Federal Pacific, and that matters |
| GFCI and AFCI protection | Budget for it | Every era | Why your report flags missing protection on a house that was built correctly |
| HVAC age, sizing and capacity | Budget for it | Every era | What an inspector measures, and what nobody can honestly tell you about service life |
| Irrigation systems and backflow prevention | Budget for it | Every era | Why the sprinkler system is a foundation system here, and what the inspection rule leaves out |
| Polybutylene supply plumbing | Budget for it | 1980s–1990s | The chemistry, the closed class action, and what is actually documented about insurance and lending |
| Service entrance, grounding and bonding | Budget for it | Every era | The ground rod does not trip your breaker. Bonding does. |
| Water heaters — TPR valves, pans, expansion | Budget for it | Every era | The safety devices that get defeated, and why attic installations change the stakes |
| CPVC and PEX supply lines | Monitor | 2000s | The 1990s CPVC decade, the PEX era, and how to read what is printed on the pipe |
| Sewer scope — what it actually finds | Monitor | Pre-1960 | What a camera in a drain line can show, what it cannot, and who is interpreting it |
| Wood-destroying insect inspections | Monitor | Every era | A separate licence, a separate form, and a report that answers a narrower question than buyers expect |
By build era
Grouped by the decade they belong to
Every era
16 findingsFindings that turn up in North Texas houses of any age.
Pre-1960
4 findingsCast iron waste lines, plank decking, pier and beam, original service equipment.
1960s–1970s
4 findingsThe panel and wiring era — Federal Pacific, Zinsco, aluminium branch circuits.
1980s–1990s
3 findingsPost-tension slabs become standard; polybutylene supply lines appear.
2000s
2 findingsCPVC and PEX, radiant barriers, tighter envelopes.