The Most Common Issues I Find on a Home Inspection
After more than 22 years inspecting homes in Celebration and the surrounding area, I can tell you the big, dramatic problems happen but not as often. What actually shows up on a lot of inspections I do is a short list of small, easy-to-miss issues: failing caulk, a handful of electrical quirks, and a some plumbing items. Not typically expensive to fix on their own. All of them are worth knowing about before they turn into something bigger, which is really the whole point of having a licensed home inspector go through the house.
Bad Caulk Around Windows, Showers, and Tubs
This is one of the most common things I write up. Caulk around window frames, shower surrounds, and tub edges breaks down from sun, humidity, and constant temperature swings faster in Florida than in most other parts of the country, and once it cracks, shrinks, or pulls away from the surface, water gets behind it. Around a window, that means moisture working its way into the wall cavity, which you won't see until there's already damage to the framing or drywall. Around a shower or tub, it means water getting under the tile or behind the surround and sitting there, which is exactly how you end up with hidden mold or a soft spot in the subfloor years later. The fix itself is cheap, a tube of caulk and twenty minutes of work, and I generally tell people to plan on recaulking these spots every three to five years here rather than waiting until it's visibly failing. I go into more detail on why this one small thing matters so much in my piece on why caulk matters more than you think, if you want the longer version.
GFCI Problems, Loose Receptacles, and Missing Cover Plates
On the electrical side, I'm not usually finding things people notice or get fixed. I'm finding the small stuff that people live with and forget about, which is exactly why it keeps showing up. GFCI protection is required in kitchens, bathrooms, garages, laundry areas, and anywhere outdoors, and on a lot of inspections I find at least one GFCI that doesn't trip and reset properly when tested, or one that's simply missing where should be one. Loose receptacles, the kind where the plug wiggles or the whole outlet moves slightly in the wall when you push on it, are just as common, and they're worth paying attention to because a loose connection behind the wall generates heat every time it's used, which is a slow-building fire risk rather than an obvious one. Missing or cracked cover plates show up constantly too, often after a painting or renovation project where nobody put them back; they look minor, but they leave live wiring exposed and give moisture, dust, and the occasional insect an easy way into the box. I test every GFCI and every accessible outlet on every inspection I do, and this is where I spend more time on write-ups than almost anywhere else in the house. If you want to understand why these small items get flagged the way they do, I covered it in more depth in my piece on identifying home safety hazards.
Loose Toilets, Drain Leaks, and Worn-Out Faucets
Plumbing is the third repeat offender, and it's usually quieter than the other two until it isn't. A loose toilet, one that rocks slightly when you push on it from the side, almost always means the wax ring underneath has failed or is on its way out, and every time that toilet rocks under someone's weight, it works the seal looser and lets water seep down into the subfloor a little at a time. I check this on every toilet in the house by hand, not just a visual look. Under sinks, slow drain leaks are common and genuinely easy to miss, because they only show up when the sink is actually being used and draining, so I run water and watch the trap, the slip joints, and the supply connections for a minute rather than just eyeballing a dry pipe. Faucets take a real beating from Florida's hard water, so corrosion around the base, mineral buildup inside the aerator, and slow drips at the handle are routine finds, especially on older fixtures that have never been serviced. None of these are expensive on their own, a wax ring, a slip-joint nut, or a new aerator are all inexpensive parts, but a slow leak under a cabinet or around a toilet base, left alone for a year or two, is exactly how you end up with a subfloor or cabinet repair instead of a inexpensive part. That tradeoff, catching something small now versus paying for it later, is part of why I think it's worth comparing against what the bigger version of these problems actually costs.
These are the easy ones. They're usually quick and inexpensive to fix once someone points them out, and that's really what a home inspection is for, not just flagging the big stuff, but catching the small things before they quietly become big ones.
Want a Professional Set of Eyes on It?
If you'd rather have someone go through your home top to bottom, or you're buying a home this fall and want to know exactly what you're getting, I'd be glad to help. I inspect homes in Celebration, Kissimmee, Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Davenport, and the surrounding area, and every inspection is done by me personally. Give me a call or schedule online below.
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