Anatomy of a Home Inspection
The best clients I have are the ones who understand their homes — so here's a guided tour of everything I look at, what I commonly find around East Texas, and what you can watch for yourself. No jargon, no scare tactics. Just how houses work.
What does a home inspector actually check?
Ten major areas, and I'll walk you through all of them here. The roof and exterior. The attic, insulation, and ventilation. Foundation and structure. Electrical. Plumbing. Heating and cooling. Decks, porches, and anything else built onto the house. Grading and drainage. Pools and spas if there are any. Septic and well systems out in the country. I'm looking at what's visible and accessible, following the Texas TREC Standards of Practice, and photographing everything worth showing you. I'm Jeff Stalnaker, TREC #26322-PI, and this page is basically my clipboard turned inside out.
- Systems covered
- 10 major areas
- Standard followed
- TREC Standards of Practice
- Time on site
- 2.5–4 hours
- Report delivered
- Within 12 hours
What I Check — And Why
- Shingle or covering condition on every slope — by drone when it's too steep or tall to walk safely
- Flashing at chimneys, walls, and valleys, where most leaks actually start
- Gutters, downspouts, and where they dump water
- Fascia, soffit, and siding condition
What I See Around East Texas
Hail bruising and wind-lifted shingles are the East Texas classics. Most homeowners never see them — from the ground, a damaged roof and a healthy one look identical.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
After any big hailstorm, take dated photos of your roof from the ground. If you file an insurance claim later, a before-and-after story is worth a lot.
Report Terms You'll See Here
Attic Ventilation · Kick-Out Flashing · Ridge Vent · Roof Decking Delamination · Soffit & Fascia · Vapor Barrier
What the Drone Sees
A steep or tall roof used to mean binoculars and a guess. These are real frames from East Texas inspections — the kind of detail you simply cannot resolve standing in the yard.
Not Everything That Looks Bad Is Bad
Half of reading a roof is knowing what isn’t wrong. Every one of these four photographs looks like a problem, and not one of them is.
This is the part of the job nobody advertises. Anybody can photograph a stain and write it up. Telling you which ones actually cost money is the whole point of hiring somebody.
What I Check — And Why
- Decking condition from below — water staining tells the roof's real history
- Insulation depth and coverage (many East Texas attics are underinsulated)
- Ventilation — a cooked attic shortens shingle life and raises cooling bills
- Wiring, ductwork, and anything else routed through the attic
What I See Around East Texas
I find the roof's honest biography in the attic: old leak stains, patched decking, daylight where it shouldn't be. In our summers, poor attic ventilation can push attic temps past 140°F.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
Twice a year, stick your head through the attic hatch with a flashlight after a hard rain. Fresh staining means a live leak — catching it early is hundreds, not thousands.
Report Terms You'll See Here
Attic Ventilation · Kick-Out Flashing · Ridge Vent · Roof Decking Delamination · Soffit & Fascia · Vapor Barrier
What I Check — And Why
- Slab cracks, and the difference between shrinkage and movement
- Pier-and-beam crawl spaces: beams, piers, moisture, and past repairs
- Doors and windows that stick or won't latch — the house's early warning system
- Brick veneer cracking patterns and separation at corners
What I See Around East Texas
East Texas clay soil swells when it rains and shrinks when it doesn't, so nearly every home here shows some movement. My job is telling you which cracks are cosmetic and which deserve an engineer's eyes.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
Keep moisture around your slab consistent — soaker hoses in drought, working gutters in storms. Even watering is the cheapest foundation insurance there is.
Report Terms You'll See Here
Moisture Intrusion · Negative Grade · Normal Foundation Movement · Pier & Beam Foundation · Post-Tension Slab · Settlement Crack
What I Check — And Why
- Panel brand, age, and condition — a few brands have documented problems
- Double-tapped breakers and DIY wiring surprises
- GFCI protection in kitchens, baths, garages, and outdoors
- Outlet testing for open grounds and reverse polarity
- Smoke and CO detectors
What I See Around East Texas
Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels still turn up in local homes regularly — they have a documented history of breakers that don't trip when they should. Not a house fire waiting to happen, but something you need to know about before you buy.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
Press the TEST button on your GFCI outlets twice a year. If one won't trip or won't reset, replace it — they're a few dollars and they're the only thing between water and live current.
Report Terms You'll See Here
AFCI Breaker · Aluminum Branch Wiring · Double-Tapped Breaker · Federal Pacific Stab-Lok Panel · GFCI Outlet · Knob & Tube Wiring · Zinsco Panel
What Good Looks Like
Not every photo on this site is a defect. This is modern service equipment, properly installed — useful to have in your head as a comparison.
What I Check — And Why
- Supply line material — copper, PEX, or the 1980s polybutylene worth knowing about
- Water heater age, condition, and safety setup (check the manufacture date, not the install date)
- Active leaks, slow drains, and staining under every sink
- Water pressure and how the whole system behaves under load
What I See Around East Texas
Water damage hides — under cabinets, behind walls, inside slab lines stressed by our shifting clay. A slightly soft cabinet floor tells me more than any faucet test.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
Find your main water shutoff today and make sure everyone in the house knows it. When a supply line lets go, the difference between 30 seconds and 10 minutes is a flooring replacement.
Report Terms You'll See Here
Cast Iron Drain Line · Galvanized Supply Pipe · Hydrostatic Test · Polybutylene Pipe · Sewer Scope · TPR Valve
Water Heaters and What's Under the House
Plumbing is where I find the quiet, expensive problems — and most of them are either at the water heater or in the crawl space.
What I Check — And Why
- Data plate ages on indoor and outdoor units — 'works today' and 'survives August' are different questions
- Supply/return temperature difference
- Condensate drain and pan — the #1 source of sneaky ceiling damage
- Filter condition, which tells me the home's whole maintenance story
What I See Around East Texas
In East Texas an AC runs hard April to October. I regularly find 15-year-old units limping into their last summer — a fact worth thousands in negotiation if you know it before closing.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
Change your filter monthly in summer, and pour a cup of vinegar down the condensate line each spring. Those two habits prevent most of the HVAC grief I see.
Where the Money Is
Heating and cooling is the most expensive system in most East Texas homes, and the one most likely to surprise a new owner. Here's what I'm actually looking at.
What I Check — And Why
- Ledger board attachment — the #1 cause of deck collapses is a deck bolted wrong to the house
- Post bases, footings, and wood-to-soil contact
- Railing height and stability, especially with kids around
- Rot, insect damage, and fastener corrosion
What I See Around East Texas
Most East Texas decks were built by a previous owner on a Saturday. Some are great. Some are held up by hope. The difference is usually in the ledger board and the footings — exactly where nobody looks.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
Once a year, poke suspect boards with a screwdriver — solid wood resists, rot gives. And if your deck wobbles when you walk it, that's not character, that's a finding.
What I Check — And Why
- Which way the ground slopes in the first 10 feet around the house
- Downspout discharge — against the slab or away from it
- Standing water signs, erosion channels, and mud staining
- Sprinkler spray hitting the foundation or siding
What I See Around East Texas
Water is behind almost everything expensive: foundation movement, crawl space rot, mosquito farms. Half the 'foundation problems' in East Texas started life as a drainage problem nobody fixed for $200.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
During the next hard rain, grab an umbrella and walk your house. Watch where the water goes. Ten wet minutes teaches you more about your home than any document you signed at closing.
Report Terms You'll See Here
Moisture Intrusion · Negative Grade · Normal Foundation Movement · Pier & Beam Foundation · Post-Tension Slab · Settlement Crack
What I Check — And Why
- Shell, plaster, tile, and coping condition
- Pumps, filters, heaters — equipment I installed and repaired for 30+ years
- Electrical bonding and GFCI protection at the equipment pad
- Barriers, gates, and drain covers — the safety items that matter most
What I See Around East Texas
A pool can look crystal clear and still be hiding a failing heater, a leaking pump seal, or bonding problems at the pad. The water tells you nothing; the equipment pad tells you everything.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
Listen to your pump weekly — grinding or whining means bearings on their way out. Caught early it's a seal kit; caught late it's a whole new pump.
What I Check — And Why
- Septic: visible components, basic operation, and drain field surface signs (conventional and aerobic)
- Well: pump type, pressure switch behavior, and pressure tank function
- Water delivery under real use, not just a quick faucet flip
- Aerobic system sprayers and alarms
What I See Around East Texas
Rural buyers inherit their own private utility company and usually nobody has explained it to them. Soggy spots or extra-green stripes over the drain field are the yard telling on the tank.
Jeff's Homeowner Tip
Get your septic tank pumped every 3–5 years even if 'it's working fine.' A $400 pump-out on schedule beats a $15,000 drain field replacement every single time.
Want the Full Education? Book an Inspection.
Reading about houses is good. Walking through YOUR house with me for a few hours is better. Every inspection is a homeowner's crash course — and you're encouraged to ask everything.
Watch: 60 Seconds on This
Sixty seconds, no jargon. Same thing I'd tell you standing in the driveway.