Some common minor issues found in home inspections

When you're buying a home and having a professional inspection, you're definitely looking for any major issues that come up.  Leaky roofs, damp basements, structural issues are all things you hope not to find.  But between changing standards over time, wear and tear, and the occasional DIY errors there will almost never be a home inspection report that comes back with nothing at all identified as wrong.  Here are some pretty common items in home inspection reports that are usually not very big problems to fix:
  
Reverse polarity on electrical outlets
 
Most home inspectors have a handy little tool with lights that they stick into electrical sockets to test them.  The two things they are look for are grounding and polarity.
 
It is not uncommon at all to find some electrical outlets with "reverse polarity".  In many cases, it is probably a simple mistake by whoever was wiring the electrical outlet.  The "hot" and "neutral" wires are simply placed on the wrong terminals.
 
Alternating current found in electrical outlets is a form of electrical transmission where the current moves first in one direction and then in the other - this is why it is called alternating current (AC).  Simple electrical devices like lamps and fans will not really notice the difference because the current is simple moving back and forth.  As a result, polarity was not always top concern for electricians or homeowners wiring an outlet.  However, many modern equipment, and electronic devices in particular, like to have the cycle of the electrical current properly timed.  Reverse polarity can cause damage to this equipment, potentially creating a fire or shock hazard, so it is worthwhile to get these outlets fixed.
 
Fortunately, it is usually a simple matter of having the two wires switched to their proper terminals. As long as there are no other issues and there is a proper length of wire in the outlet box, a qualified electrical contractor should be able to fix this in a matter of minutes.
 
Railings loose or missing
  

This one is pretty self-explanatory.  Anywhere that you have stairs, you should have a handrail that can support you.  Often we find railings in homes that have come loose and would not support your weight at all if you lost your balance and had to depend on it to catch yourself.  These should be securely re-attached to the structure of the home, whether that is the wall or steps.  And of course, if there is no railing at all on a staircase, the inspector is bound to identify this as a deficiency that should be corrected.
 
Breaker panel knockout covers missing
 

Another electrical issue that is a pretty simple fix.  On breaker panels, there are knock-out covers that you remove to leave an opening for the breaker.  Sometimes, whether because the wrong ones were knocked out, some got knocked out by accident, or panel configuration has changed, you will have some of these covers missing where there is no breaker.  This leaves an opening into the panel.  Really, it's not particularly dangerous unless you stick your fingers blindly into the hole, but technically this is a safety hazard.  And it is so easy to fix, there's little reason not to. Filler plates are available in varying styles from most hardware stores for a couple dollars, or an electrical contractor should be able to provide them easily.  They just pop in to the space to fill it. Voila, no more open hole.

Downspouts going to weeping tiles
 

This one is a relatively common issue with a simple fix, but can have some more serious repercussions if left unremediated.  It was common practice many years ago to take downspouts from the eavestroughs below ground to the weeping tiles.

Weeping tiles are a system of pipes around the bottom of the foundation designed to take any ground water near the foundation out to the municipal drainage system.  The problem is that the old weeping tiles were most often made of clay and can break down over years of use.  When this happens, if you get a heavy rainfall and water being put into those pipes, you can end up with water seeping into the basement.  There has been a return to this practice in modern new construction because the weeping tiles are made of plastic and thus more or less impervious to the kind of breakdown clay pipe is susceptible to (although last I checked, Hamilton's by-laws prohibit this practice to reduce water flow through an aging drain system). 

So, while the weeping tiles may still be doing the job or getting the water away from the house, most home inspectors will advise disconnecting the downspout, closing off the pipe going down to the weeping tiles, and directing the downspout out and away from the house.  While this is sometimes tricky depending on placement of the downspout and obstacles or walkways, it's basically a matter of cutting off the downspout and using downspout piping available from most hardware stores