11-Month Builder Warranty Inspection in Metro Detroit
Your new home has been settling, drying, heating, and cooling for almost a year. Before the builder's one-year warranty closes, find out what moved.
15% off for active and retired military, first responders, nurses, and teachers. Any inspection — just mention it when you book.
Home › 11-Month Warranty Inspection
What It Is
What an 11-month warranty inspection covers.
Most Michigan production builders warrant workmanship and materials for one year from closing. In month ten or eleven, before that window shuts, I do a full home inspection of the house you have lived in since the build: roof, exterior, structure, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing, attic, and interior, with the drone on the roof and the pole camera in the attic, exactly like a buyer inspection.
The difference is the audience. The report is written as a warranty claim list, organized by trade, with a photo and a plain description of each item, so you can submit one complete claim instead of a dozen emails. Builders respond to photos and lists. They tend not to respond to a homeowner who is pretty sure the floor squeaks more than it did.
A year of seasons finds the things the final walkthrough could not: drywall cracks and nail pops from lumber drying, doors and windows that bind after the framing settled, caulk and sealant that failed on the first freeze, a furnace that short-cycles, an air conditioner that never balanced the upstairs, grading that washed back toward the foundation, attic insulation that the cable installer pushed aside, and roof shingles that lifted in the first big wind.
The visit takes two to three hours and costs a flat $349. If I also did your pre-drywall or final walkthrough inspection, I bring those photos and compare.
Scope
Systems inspected
What I Find
What a year does to a new house.
The first year is when a new house tells you what the builder got right. In the subdivisions going up across Macomb Township, Shelby Township, Washington Township, Chesterfield, and Oakland Township, the same items show up in month eleven again and again:
- Settling and drying: drywall cracks at window and door corners, nail pops, gaps at trim and crown, tile grout cracking at tub and shower corners, and hardwood gaps that opened over the first winter.
- Doors and windows: exterior doors that no longer latch or seal, sliders that drag, windows with failed operators, and weatherstripping that was never adjusted.
- Roof and exterior: lifted or missing shingles after the first windstorm, exposed nail heads, siding gaps and unsealed penetrations, and downspouts that were never extended.
- Grading and water: backfill settlement that now slopes toward the foundation, sump pumps discharging at the wall, and the first efflorescence on the basement block.
- Mechanical: HVAC that never got balanced, condensate lines that drip, bath fans ducted into the attic, water heater relief lines run wrong, and GFCI or AFCI protection that trips or never worked.
- Attic: insulation moved aside by the cable and alarm installers and never put back, bath fan ducts disconnected, and the first signs of winter condensation on the underside of the roof deck.
None of it is dramatic and all of it is covered, if it gets on the list before the warranty closes.
Process & Pricing
How it works and what it costs.
1. Check your closing date
Count eleven months from closing. Book two to four weeks before the one-year date so the claim goes in on time.
2. Pull your warranty documents
Send me the builder's warranty booklet if you have it. I write the report to match how they want claims submitted.
3. Inspection day
Two to three hours, drone on the roof, camera in the attic, every system operated. Walk it with me if you can.
4. Report in 24 hours
A photo-documented claim list organized by trade, ready to send to the builder's warranty department.
5. Submit before the deadline
Submit the claim in writing before the one-year date. Keep the email. If the builder pushes back on an item, the photo usually settles it.
A flat $349 for a typical single-family home; very large homes scale up modestly and you get a firm price before anything is scheduled. New homes are built tight, so a radon test ($175) is worth adding if it was not done at purchase, especially in Oakland County. Active and retired military, first responders, nurses, and teachers get a permanent 15% Heroes Discount.
One honest note: the InterNACHI® Buy-Back Guarantee and Inspection Warranty apply to buyer inspections of existing homes, not to new-construction or warranty inspections.
Questions
11-month warranty inspection questions.
Why month eleven and not month twelve?
Because the claim has to be submitted in writing before the one-year date, and you need time to get the inspection done, read the report, and send it. Booking in month ten or eleven leaves that margin. Booking in month twelve is a gamble on the builder's warranty department being fast.
Isn't the builder's own walkthrough enough?
The builder's one-year walkthrough, where they offer one, is a visual pass by someone who works for the builder. It does not put a drone on the roof, a camera in the attic, or a meter on the panel. It also does not produce an independent report you can rely on if the claim is disputed.
What does the builder's warranty typically cover in year one?
Most Michigan production-builder warranties cover workmanship and materials for one year, mechanical systems for two, and structural elements for ten, though the exact terms are in your warranty booklet. The 11-month inspection is aimed at the year-one items, which is the largest category and the one that closes first.
What if I didn't have a pre-drywall or final inspection?
The 11-month inspection stands on its own. It is a full home inspection of the house as it exists today. If I did earlier visits I compare against those photos, but most warranty inspections I do are for buyers who are meeting me for the first time.
What if the builder refuses the claim?
Send the report anyway and keep the email. A written claim submitted before the deadline, backed by dated photos, is the record you need if the disagreement goes further. Builders decline vague complaints. They rarely decline a photo of a duct terminating in the attic.
Can you do a two-year mechanical or ten-year structural check later?
Yes. If your warranty booklet carries a two-year mechanical or a longer structural term, call before those dates and I will scope the visit to what is still covered.
Service Area
Available across Southeast Michigan
Schedule your inspection.
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