Business Times of Edmond, Oklahoma January 2020 - Page 22

Home inspectors like Russ
Butler are looking for issues
within a house
Hearth and Home Inspections Making Sure Things
‘Working as They are Intended’
BY VAN MITCHELL | PHOTOS BY KAREN MOORE
G
etting a home inspection can
sometimes make the difference
whether or not a potential
homeowner takes the leap to purchase
a home.
And as a result some homeowners are
doing a pre-listing visual home inspection
to find out what their home may need in
terms of repairs/upgrades to make their
home more sellable.
“That is the seller wanting to know
what is wrong with their house before they
put it on the market,” said Russ Butler
with Hearth and Home Inspections of
Edmond. “Oklahoma doesn’t require it. If
someone wants to be proactive and locate
some of the larger issues with the house, so
22
January 2020 | The Business Times
they can get it fixed or at least put it on the
disclosure.”
Butler started his home inspection
company 15 years ago, partly as a result of
a home inspection he had done on a home
he had purchased.
“I bought a house and it had all kinds
of issues with it,” he said. “They did a
“so-called inspection,” and at that time
you didn’t need a state license for an
inspector.”
Butler said Oklahoma requires home
inspectors to have 92 educational hours to
be licensed. The inspector also has to pass
a national inspection exam, and carry the
required insurance to be licensed by the
State of Oklahoma.
He said there are a variety of public and
private home inspection schools licensed
by the state, and home inspectors learn
both in and out of the classroom.
“There is so much that you have to
learn while you are in the field through
experience,” he said. “You can’t learn
everything in the classroom.”
Butler said home inspections should
have a standard checklist.
“The basic parts of a home inspection
are safety issues within a home,” he
said. “Are things operating as they are
intended?”
Butler said home inspections should
look at all the big ticket items like
plumbing, electrical, roofing, as well as