Why a Colorado Home Inspection Catches What Owners Miss

A professional inspection catches what an owner misses because the inspector goes where the owner never goes (the attic, the crawl space, the roof, behind the panel cover, down the sewer line) with tools the owner does not own. In Colorado those tools find the four things that cost the most after closing: water where it should not be, movement in expansive soil, hail damage on a roof that looks fine from the driveway, and radon in a finished basement. This guide explains what a Colorado inspector does that an owner cannot, what a general inspection leaves out, and how to pick the inspector.

Owners are not careless. They are used to the house. A door that sticks in August, a hairline crack in the basement slab, a furnace that short-cycles: after five winters those are normal. An inspector sees them once, on a checklist, and writes them down. Firms such as Alert Building Inspections report the same recurring categories in every market they work: moisture, electrical, roofing and foundation. On the Front Range each of those categories has a Colorado version.

The tools, and what each one finds in a Colorado home

• Thermal imaging camera. Reads surface temperature differences. Finds missing attic insulation over a bedroom, a wet spot behind a shower wall, an air leak at a can light, and a hot breaker in the panel. On a January inspection in Denver the camera shows every gap in the envelope in one pass.
• Moisture meter. Confirms what the camera suggests. A pin meter reads the drywall below a window; a pinless meter reads the subfloor at a toilet flange. Fresh paint hides a stain; it does not change a moisture reading.
• Sewer camera. Runs 100 feet or more from a cleanout to the city tap. Finds root intrusion in clay tile lines across pre-1970 Denver, Englewood, Lakewood and Arvada, bellies in the line, and collapsed Orangeburg pipe. A sewer scope costs $150 to $300 and finds the single most expensive repair in the Denver metro.
• Continuous radon monitor. Placed on the lowest livable level for 48 hours minimum. Most of Colorado sits in the EPA's highest radon potential zone. The action level is 4.0 picocuries per liter; a mitigation system on a Front Range home costs $1,000 to $2,500.
• Combustion analyzer and gas detector. Checks the furnace and water heater for carbon monoxide spillage and the gas lines for leaks. Colorado requires carbon monoxide alarms in homes with fuel-burning appliances at sale.
• Outlet tester, GFCI and AFCI tester. Finds reversed polarity, open grounds and missing protection at the kitchen, baths, garage and exterior.
• Drone or roof ladder. Puts eyes on every slope, every vent boot and every soft metal that hail dents.

Water: the Colorado version

Front Range moisture is not humidity; it is snowmelt, hail, sprinklers and freeze-thaw. An inspector traces every one:

• Window wells without covers or drains that fill in a spring storm and leak at the sill.
• Downspouts that end at the foundation and sprinkler heads that spray the siding, the two causes of most wet-basement findings in Aurora, Centennial and Littleton.
• Negative grading where 30 years of settling put the soil sloping toward the house.
• Failed window seals. Double-pane units fog when the seal fails; UV at 5,280 feet and the pressure difference from sea-level manufacture make this a top-five Colorado finding. Replacement runs $300 to $800 per unit.
• Ice dam stains at the eave of a poorly ventilated attic, and swamp cooler lines that froze in October.

Expansive soil: what movement looks like

Bentonite clay under much of the Denver metro, Douglas County and the Colorado Springs area swells when wet and shrinks when dry. It moves basements, slabs and footings, and it is the item an owner rationalizes away most. An inspector reads:

• A heaved basement slab with a hump in the middle or a crack that steps up on one side.
• Floating basement walls built with a gap at the bottom, which is the Colorado way to let the slab move; the inspector checks the gap is still open and the drywall is not pinned to the floor.
• Doors out of square, drywall cracks at the corners of openings, and a stair-step crack in the block or a diagonal crack in the poured wall.
• A structural wood floor over a crawl space instead of a slab, standard in newer Douglas County and Parker construction, and the dryness of that crawl space.
• A perimeter drain and a sump that run, and whether the sump has a working pump.

On a new home, Colorado law requires the builder to give the buyer a summary of the soils report and the site recommendations at least 14 days before closing. On a resale, the inspector's notes plus a $400 to $800 structural engineer's letter settle whether movement is old and stable or active. That letter is the document lenders and future buyers accept.

The roof after hail season

Hail season runs May to September, and the Denver metro sits in the most active hail corridor in the country. From the ground a roof with hail bruising looks fine. On the roof the inspector finds granule loss, bruised shingles that give under a thumb, dented gutters and vent caps, cracked pipe boots and dented AC condenser fins. The inspector also dates the roof. Colorado insurers ask for the roof age, decline some roofs over 20 years, and write hail deductibles as a percentage of dwelling coverage, so the roof report drives the insurance quote as much as it drives the repair negotiation. The roof report every Colorado buyer needs before closing covers the full checklist.

The mechanical and electrical items owners never open

• The panel cover comes off. Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels, aluminum branch wiring from 1965 to 1973, double-tapped breakers and a 100-amp service in a home that now wants an EV charger.
• The furnace gets a combustion test. A cracked heat exchanger on a 25-year-old furnace is a replacement, $5,000 to $9,000 in the Denver metro, and it is invisible without the test.
• The water heater gets its age, its relief valve, its expansion tank and its venting checked. Denver metro water heaters last 10 to 15 years.
• The attic gets entered. Bath fans venting into the insulation, missing insulation, roof deck stains and rodent activity all live there.

What a general inspection does not cover

Every Colorado inspection report carries a scope statement, and it excludes more than buyers expect. A general inspection does not include: a sewer scope, a radon test, mold or asbestos sampling, a wood-destroying insect report, a Level 2 chimney camera, a pool or hot tub, a well flow test or water test, a septic inspection, the irrigation system, a structural engineer's opinion, or a code compliance review. Each is a separate order with its own fee, and on a Colorado home the first two are not optional. The radon and the Denver home purchase post explains the 48-hour test, and the Denver home buyer verification checklist lists the rest.

Colorado does not license home inspectors: how to choose one

Colorado has no state license for home inspectors. Anyone with a ladder and a flashlight can call themselves one, and the state does not set a standard of practice. That makes the choice the buyer's job. The Kenna Real Estate Group screens inspectors on these points:

• Membership in ASHI or InterNACHI and the written standards of practice that come with it.
• Errors-and-omissions and general liability insurance, with the certificate available on request.
• The tools listed above in the truck, with the sewer scope and radon monitor done in-house or by a named partner on the same visit.
• A sample report with photos, thermal images and a summary page that separates major defects from maintenance items.
• Colorado experience: the inspector should talk about floating walls, window wells and hail without prompting.
• A 3 to 4 hour inspection on a 2,000 square foot home, with the buyer welcome to attend the last hour for the walkthrough.

Our post on finding a good home inspector before buying a Denver home has the interview questions.

What it costs and how the Colorado timeline works

The Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell sets an inspection objection deadline, an inspection resolution deadline and an inspection termination deadline. The Kenna Real Estate Group writes 7 to 10 days for the objection so the general inspection, the scope, the radon read and one specialist visit all fit. The buyer terminates by the termination deadline and keeps the earnest money if the findings are not resolved. The full sequence is on the what happens after your offer is accepted page, and the reasons to never waive the inspection are in top reasons you should have a home inspection.

The appraisal is not an inspection

The lender's appraiser values the home and notes visible conditions the loan program requires fixed; the appraiser does not run a camera down the sewer or test for radon. FHA and VA appraisals flag peeling paint, missing handrails and roof life, nothing more. Mike Oswald, VP of Mortgage Lending at Rate, NMLS 261003, Equal Housing Lender, explains what each loan program's appraisal will and will not catch before Kenna buyers order their inspection. You are free to use any lender. The Colorado home financing guide covers the loan side.

Sellers: the pre-listing inspection

A seller who orders the same inspection before listing fixes the sewer line, the panel and the roof on the seller's schedule instead of the buyer's, and lists with the report in hand. The preparing and adding value before selling page shows which fixes return more than they cost in the Denver metro.

Where to go next

• Search every home for sale in Colorado
• The Colorado home buyer's guide
• How the Kenna Real Estate Group helps buyers
• Making an offer on a Colorado home
• Pre-offer home checks for Denver metro buyers
• Meet the Kenna Real Estate Group agents

Talk to the Kenna Real Estate Group

The Kenna Real Estate Group at Keller Williams DTC books inspectors who carry every tool on this list, writes the deadlines so the radon read and the sewer scope fit, and turns the report into an objection the seller answers with money or repairs. Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers. Not a robot, not a phone tree. Or search every home for sale in Colorado and tell us which ones to inspect.