What Home Inspections Don’t Cover (and Why)

It’s a visual, non-invasive assessment

Inspectors evaluate what they can see and safely access — they don’t open walls, lift flooring, or move heavy belongings. Defects hidden behind finishes may not be visible, which is a limit of any standard inspection.

Specialized items are separate services

Radon, mold, sewer scope, and termite (wood-destroying insect) inspections aren’t part of the standard inspection — they’re add-on services, each with its own tools and process. A fireplace is inspected, for example, but the flue liner isn’t scoped; that’s a job for a chimney sweep.

It’s not a code inspection or an appraisal

A home inspection assesses condition, not municipal code compliance or market value. Those are different evaluations with different purposes.

Why the boundaries exist

These limits keep the inspection non-destructive and focused on condition. The add-on services exist precisely to go deeper where a general inspection can’t — so you can layer in exactly the coverage a given home warrants.

Book your home inspection with City Home Inspectors online at cityhomeinspectors.net.