General Home Inspections
The housing stock across Greater Philadelphia and the surrounding Delaware Valley is unlike anything else in the country. Row houses in South Philly and Fishtown, built in the 1890s, share a market with 1920s twin homes in West Chester, farmhouses on Lancaster County acreage, mid-century capes in Wilmington, industrial-era homes in Allentown and Reading, and newer construction in the growing suburbs around Pottstown. Each of those housing types was built to different standards, with different materials and quirks that have accumulated over decades of ownership changes and renovation attempts. A general home inspection helps you understand the specific property in front of you, rather than relying on generic assumptions about what a house at that price point should include.
Homer Inspection Services performs general home inspections throughout Philadelphia, Lancaster, Allentown, Reading, Wilmington, West Chester, and Pottstown. Our team of home inspectors has spent years navigating the wildly varied properties in this region, from Trinity houses with three floors of a single small room stacked on top of each other to sprawling stone farmhouses to newer builds with entirely different concerns. Each inspection we perform is built around producing a detailed, accurate record of the property that supports whatever decision is in front of you.
About the General Home Inspection
A general home inspection is a systematic visual review of a residential property’s major structural, mechanical, and safety systems. Our home inspectors begin outside, examining roof coverings including asphalt shingle, slate, clay tile, standing seam metal, and the flat roofs that appear throughout Philadelphia and other older urban neighborhoods. Roof access depends on pitch, safety, and material, and we use drone photography when direct access would be inadvisable. We document flashings, ridges, valleys, chimneys, parapet walls, gutters, downspouts, soffits, and fascia individually.
Cladding gets its own review material by material. Brick veneer is common on Philadelphia and Wilmington homes; stone is found across older Chester County properties; stucco on Lancaster farmhouses; wood siding on suburban twin homes; and vinyl or hardboard on newer construction all receive appropriate attention. Party walls in row house construction get specific documentation because moisture or structural issues at party walls tend to develop signals only a careful inspection catches. Decks, porches, patios, driveways, walkways, retaining walls, and any site drainage features are all evaluated.
Foundation review depends heavily on construction type and age. Older Philadelphia homes often feature stone or brick foundations with parge coatings, and each material carries its own signals when moisture, movement, or mortar deterioration is at play. Newer suburban construction relies on poured concrete or block, and we examine interior basement walls and floors for cracks, moisture staining, efflorescence, sump systems, and any evidence of past or active water intrusion. Slab construction, more common on some newer properties, is evaluated from perimeter locations and through interior finishes.
Interior work covers walls, ceilings, floors, stairs, rails, doors, and windows across every accessible room. Older homes get particular attention to original plaster, single-pane windows, historic trim, and any surviving elements of the home’s original construction. We check the plumbing system at fixtures, water heaters, hose bibs, and visible piping. In older properties across the region, we routinely find galvanized steel supply lines, cast iron drain systems, and occasional lead service lines that all warrant documentation. Older row houses may retain original stack designs that have been modified over the decades in ways not always compliant with current code.
We review the electrical service from the meter through the panel and out to branch circuits. Older homes across our service area often contain knob-and-tube wiring, sometimes still in active service, and vintage panels including Federal Pacific Stab Lok and Zinsco that carry documented safety concerns. We test GFCI and AFCI protection at accessible outlets. HVAC systems, which in this region include steam boilers, hot water boilers, gas and oil forced air furnaces, and increasingly heat pumps, are evaluated in operation with age, condition, combustion venting, and installation quality documented. Attics receive review for insulation, ventilation, framing, and any evidence of moisture, wildlife, or pest activity.
Reports are digital, illustrated with photographs, and organized so the priority items are easy to identify. Same-day or next-morning delivery is standard.
Why General Home Inspections Matter in This Region
The Delaware Valley combines several conditions that make a thorough inspection particularly valuable. Housing age is the biggest factor. A significant portion of the properties across our service area date from before World War II, and many are considerably older than that. Original systems in these homes have long since exceeded their intended service lives, and the maintenance and modernization history varies dramatically from property to property. A general home inspection sorts through what’s original, what’s been updated, and what’s been patched together in ways that may not hold up much longer.
Radon exposure is a specific concern across Southeast Pennsylvania. Much of the region, particularly Lancaster and Berks counties around Reading, sits within EPA Zone 1 for elevated indoor radon. Radon testing pairs naturally with a general home inspection, and many buyers request both to develop a documented picture of physical condition and indoor air quality. Wood-destroying insect activity is another regional constant, with subterranean termites, carpenter ants, and powder post beetles all present across the service area, and inspection reports frequently intersect with the wood-destroying insect inspection scope that transactions in Pennsylvania often require.
Sewer condition matters here too. Older Philadelphia neighborhoods, Lancaster’s aging small-city core, and the older parts of Allentown, Reading, and Wilmington all rely on lateral sewer lines made from clay tile, cast iron, or occasional stretches of other legacy materials. Sewer camera inspections during the general home inspection reveal conditions that no interior review can identify, and they’ve saved many buyers from post-closing surprises.
Rural properties across Lancaster County and outer parts of the service area often include private wells and septic systems that add their own diagnostic considerations. Our private well inspections and water quality testing services address those properties specifically, and rural home buyers benefit from bundling those services with the general home inspection.
Freeze-thaw cycles and humid summers put ongoing stress on masonry, mortar joints, chimneys, and exterior finishes. Our home inspectors know what winter and summer damage looks like in this market and document it accordingly.
Why Choose Homer Inspection Services for Your General Home Inspection?
Our team of home inspectors carries the Pennsylvania and Delaware credentials, ongoing training, and hands-on experience the region calls for. We work across the full range of local housing, from historic urban properties to suburban twin homes to rural farmhouses, and that familiarity shows up in the specificity and accuracy of our findings. Thermal imaging, moisture meters, drone photography, and combustion analyzers are part of our regular toolkit. Because we operate as a multi-inspector firm, we can accommodate the scheduling demands of active transactions, offer next-day appointments when possible, and dispatch additional inspectors when a property’s size or complexity calls for one.
Communication after the inspection is treated as part of the service. Follow-up calls from buyers, sellers, agents, contractors, and lenders are welcome, and answering those questions is how the report actually gets used. Past client reviews describe the working relationship in more concrete terms than we can here.
Schedule Your General Home Inspection in Philadelphia, Lancaster, Wilmington, and Beyond Today
Homer Inspection Services offers a comprehensive mix of services alongside general home inspections. We provide wood-destroying insect inspections, radon gas testing, sewer camera inspections, private well inspections, water quality testing, mold inspection and testing, and walk-through consultations. Walk-through consultations are particularly useful for buyers who want a professional read on a property before making an offer, and they can be scheduled independently of a full inspection when the situation calls for it. Bundling services in a single visit is often the most efficient approach, particularly on older or rural properties.
To book your general home inspection, contact us or schedule your inspection online. We serve Philadelphia, Lancaster, Allentown, Reading, Wilmington, West Chester, and Pottstown. Whether you’re closing on a first home in a South Philly row, evaluating a stone farmhouse in Lancaster County, listing a family home in West Chester, or approaching a transaction on a property in Wilmington, our home inspectors are ready to give you enough information about the property so that you can decide in front of you with confidence.
