Building Inspection Books

The Complete Book of Home Inspection

Norman Becker

Amazon Price: $14.96 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Professional Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $3.64

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

contents ok. 3 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

this book covers all the topics on home inspection, and its material is ok. except that there is no color pictures, all the photographs are black and white, some of them could be barely seen. that put me off a bit.

This book did not teach me anything I didn't already know 1 out of 5 stars.
6 of 13 people found this review helpful.

If you are looking for a book that will teach you a lot about real estate and home inspections then this is not the book for you. The chapter information and text content of this book was very basic and did not teach me anything I didn't already learn from other books that were much better. Inspecting homes is something I have done for many years and I would not recommend this book to any customers or contractors. If you know absolutely nothing about real estate then you might learn a few things but not too much.

Editorial Review:

Probably the best source available for prospective homebuyer’s to use for evaluating property, inside and out. Originally intended to be for buyers and owners, it has sufficient detail that professional home inspectors use it throughout the country. Loaded with charts, checklists, and photographs, this is a must have for anyone considering a new or used home purchase. Nearly 75,000 copies are in print.

The Home Inspection Book: A Guide for Professionals

Marcia Darvin Spada

Amazon Price: $24.63 List Price: $36.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: South-Western Educational Pub Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $23.40

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

An Incredible Deal! This is Beyond Your Money worth... 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 13 people found this review helpful.

Before I start my review, here is a bit of background and introduction so that readers may or may not relate.
I've been working in the real estate industry for over 8 years and now starting a Home Inspection Service company.

Being quite familiar with the administrative and financial side of creating your own business and having a fairly educated idea about the home inspection industry, my next step was to get proper training on performing Home Inspections and the components of a property.

So I spent days and days browsing and evaluating dozen of web sites offering all kind of Home Inspection training, ranging from $275 to over $4,000! (I settled with AHIT but that's another story)
And also started to check dozen of books on How to become a Home Inspector.

Among other things, I went to my local Barnes and Noble and stumbled upon this book...

To make a long story short, this is probably the BEST (mark my words) investment you WILL EVER make as far as being introduced to the Home Inspection process is concerned.

This book tells you everything about home components with dozens of detailled architectural type of drawings and illustrations; it shows you how to properly conduct a home inspection, starting from the exterior, going through all of the interiors and finishing with all the optional enviromental testings a Home Inspector could perform... and much more...

It's divided in chapters for each systems inside the house (roof, electrical, plumbing, etc.. etc.. each with dozen illustrations) it gives you relevants key words and each chapter ends with a small multi-choice type of exam.

The books itself ends with a study workbook, going through all the chapters, reviewing all relevants key terms, exam type true-false questions, How would you respond situations and other practical questions.

And finally it ends with a Final 50 questions Exam with multi-choice answers that puts you in a real life examination condition, a very nice preparation for states exams.

AND ALL THAT.. FOR...$25?!?

It's an unbelievable deal, trust me! If you plan on becoming a Home Inspector, do yourself a favor and get this book!

All in all it takes aprox. less than 3 weeks (reading and taking notes at a reasonnable pace, and also attending a full time job) to go through it and then you would have MORE THAN basic knowlegde on how to become a home inspector and how to perform a home inspection.

I would however strongly suggest that after you read it and feel comfortable with the key terms, learning objectives and final exams that you enroll into a more hands-on type of training so that you see in real life what it takes to become a Home Inspector and have real examples of the type of homes and components that you will encounter in the field, as this book with its 396 pages can't possibly cover all the details and it only scratches the surfaces of the multiples components inside a house.

As for the next step, I'd suggest you get your hands on more in-depth and detailled courses about home systems to truelly complete your training.


Good Luck future Home Inspectors!

Editorial Review:

THE HOME INSPECTION BOOK is designed to serve as a learning tool as well as a reference guide. This professional guide is a comprehensive yet self-paced handbook covering both the practice and the business of home inspection addressing all the key areas associated with the business of home inspection in this rapidly growing profession. In addition, this handbook also takes you step-by-step through the entire process of home inspection following the most current guidelines established by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), the National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI) and the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI).

Home Inspection Checklists: 111 Illustrated Checklists and Worksheets You Need Before Buying a Home

Norman Becker

Amazon Price: $10.36 List Price: $12.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Professional Amazon Marketplace: 33 new & used starting at $1.61

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

Much too basic and does not cover much on inspection 2 out of 5 stars.
24 of 24 people found this review helpful.

This checklist book has some photographs of homes that were OK but the checklist and text part of the book was much too basic. None of the parts of a home inspection were revealed or included in this book. So it is NOT a worksheet with 111 checklists but only a very basic and simple guide. I could not recommend this to anyone. Get another book that has a more complete checklist that you can use and that is helpful. You will never be able to do a home inspection from using this checklist book. If you did then you will be risking a lot since you will not know what to check out and inspect if this book is your guide!!!!

Editorial Review:

A prospective home buyer's guide to evaluating a property, inside and out – loaded with inspection checklists, worksheets, charts, checklists, and photographs. This is a must-have for anyone considering a new or used home purchase.

Construction Waterproofing Handbook

Michael T. Kubal

Amazon Price: $64.76 List Price: $89.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Professional Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $47.04

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Latest Waterproofing Techniques and Technology

Fully updated to include new techniques for mold remediation, Construction Waterproofing Handbook simplifies the critical task of keeping a building's envelope watertight. It begins with a tutorial on basic waterproofing concepts and materials, then moves on to the particulars of designing and installing systems in commercial, industrial, and residential structures.

Written by a renowned expert and popular author on the subject, this comprehensive guide provides key information on such matters as quality assurance, admixtures, expansion joints, testing, and safety. Because of recent natural disasters, clients are more concerned with waterproofing than ever. Construction Waterproofing Handbook provides everything you'll need to complete the most demanding projects with confidence and within budget.

Packed with hundreds of illustrations, Construction Waterproofing Handbook includes:

• Innovative mold remediation techniques
• New information about residential waterproofing
• Illustrations of installation procedures
• Detailed plans and specifications
• SI units

Inside:

• Waterproofing Principles • Below-Grade Waterproofing • Above-Grade Waterproofing • Residential Waterproofing • Sealants • Expansion Joints • Admixtures • Remedial Waterproofing • Mold • The Building Envelope • Life Cycles • Envelope Testing • Leak Investigation and Detection • Safety • Guide Specifications • Resources

Home Inspection Handbook

John E. Traister

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Craftsman Book Company Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $9.98

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A sound, well-written companion for home inspectors/buyers 4 out of 5 stars.
46 of 46 people found this review helpful.

This book hits upon the major components of home inspection. The checklists throughout the book are a bit redundant (I found many duplicate checklist items). The book also goes in to some considerations for starting your own business in home inspection, which is helpful. I view this book as a good SUPPLEMENT rather than the "bible" of home inspection because I feel it is not exhaustive and technical enough in content. However, for the non-technically inclined homebuyer, the book will be a good tool to have under his/her belt.

The Investigation of Buildings: A Guide for Architects, Engineers, and Owners

Donald Friedman

Amazon Price: $27.71 List Price: $39.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $22.95

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Very good book 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is very good for Engineers to review the status of different existing buildings.

Editorial Review:

In this reference for building professionals, owners and managers, and individuals planning to purchase or renovate a building, an experienced investigator explains why buildings should be inspected. He discusses what to look for, how to do it, when to hire a professional, and how to understand what architects and engineers are talking about once a survey has been carried out. The scope includes ordinary wood-frame houses and small commercial structures as well as larger buildings.

Construction Inspection Manual

Building News

List Price: $34.95 By: BNI Publications Amazon Marketplace: 3 new & used starting at $18.28

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Editorial Review:

here is the nationally accepted guide used by the construction industry to promote more uniform specification writing and inspection procedures. It features a series of technical checklists covering all the basic elements in a construction project and corresponding to the 16 divisions of the CSI Masterformat. A major feature of the book is the defining of roles and allocation of responsibilities among the architect, engineer, contractor, owner and inspector. Includes sample forms and discussions on project coordination and building codes. Eleven Appendices provide valuable supplementary information including a glossary and the metric conversions now required by the Federal government. The accompanying disk features the technical checklists.

Property Inspection: An Appraiser's Guide

John A. Simpson

List Price: $35.00 By: Appraisal Institute Amazon Marketplace: 7 new & used starting at $2.83

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Editorial Review:

Property Inspection: An Appraiser's Guide provides an overview of basic property inspection knowledge and techniques, covering all aspects of site and home inspection and offering insight into the special challenges of inspecting commercial properties. The text also outlines how appraisal offices can develop customized inspection forms and set up property inspection programs to train employees in inspection techniques.

Introduction to Engineering Construction Inspection

Edward R. Fisk, Randy R. Rapp

Amazon Price: $94.66 List Price: $110.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $55.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Ideal Guide 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I've found that this book is ideal guide to junior Civil Engineers, like me, working in supervision field. It puts your feet on the correct path. Thanks to Mr. Fisk and Mr. Rapp for their great efforts.

Editorial Review:

Introduction to Engineering Construction Inspection offers expert tools and advice on construction inspection for buildings and civil engineering projects, including construction of roads, highways, pipelines, reservoirs, water and wastewater projects, hydroelectric, and other large engineered projects. More than 150 informative illustrations supplement expert coverage of the activities and processes involved in observing and documenting a project through the construction phase–from initial site work and geotechnical work to major engineered structural systems in concrete and steel, and project acceptance by the owner.

Mechanical Field Inspection Manual

John Habjan

List Price: $44.50 By: Mcgraw-Hill (Tx) Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $34.00

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