Most people book a home inspection having never seen one. That makes inspection day harder than it needs to be: you do not know how long to set aside, whether you are supposed to follow the inspector around, or what you will be holding at the end of it. Here is the whole sequence.
How long it takes
Two to three hours for a typical detached home. Older properties and larger ones take longer, because there is more to look at and more that has been changed over the years. A condominium unit is usually closer to ninety minutes, since the scope stops at the walls of the unit.
An inspection that finishes in forty-five minutes has not covered the property. That is worth knowing when you compare quotes, because the cheapest inspection is often the shortest one.
What actually gets examined
A home inspection is a visual, non-invasive assessment of the accessible parts of a property. Nothing is opened up, and no walls come down. Within that limit, the inspection covers:
- The roof covering, flashings, chimney and drainage
- The exterior envelope, cladding, grading and how water leaves the property
- The structure, as far as it is visible
- The electrical system, from the service entrance to the outlets
- Plumbing supply and drainage, fixtures, and the water heater
- Heating and cooling equipment, and ventilation
- The attic, its insulation and its ventilation
- Interior finishes, windows and doors
Anything that cannot be seen cannot be reported on. Behind finished basement walls, under wall-to-wall carpet, inside a sealed ceiling — those are limits of the method, not oversights, and a good report says so plainly rather than staying silent.
If a system cannot be tested safely — a shut-off gas appliance, a roof too steep or too icy to walk — the report should say it was not tested and why. Silence is not the same as a pass.
Should you be there?
If you possibly can, yes. Reading that a furnace is near the end of its service life is very different from standing next to it while someone explains what they are looking at and why it matters. You will also learn where the shut-offs are, which is the sort of thing you only want to look for once.
You do not need to be present for the whole thing. Arriving for the last hour and walking the findings gets most of the value, and it is what many buyers do when they cannot take a full morning off.
What you get afterwards
A written report within 24 hours. Every finding photographed, described in plain language, and ranked — so a cracked outlet cover is not sitting in the same list as an active roof leak. Ranking matters more than length. A hundred-item report that treats everything equally is harder to act on than a shorter one that tells you what actually changes your decision.
You should also be able to phone afterwards and ask about anything in it. A report you cannot ask questions about is only half the service.
Before the day: what to arrange
Two things make an inspection go badly, and both are avoidable. The first is access. If the electrical panel is behind stored boxes, the attic hatch is inside a closet packed to the ceiling, or the furnace room is being used for storage, those areas may not be inspectable — and "not accessible" in a report is a gap in what you know. Ask the listing agent to confirm that the panel, attic hatch, furnace, water heater and any crawl space can be reached.
The second is utilities. Systems that are shut off cannot be tested. On vacant properties, estate sales and new builds, confirm that water, gas and electricity are all on before the appointment. It is a five-minute phone call that prevents a return visit.
How to book so the report is useful in time
Work backwards from your condition deadline, not forwards from today. You want the report in hand with enough days left to get a quote on anything significant, because "there is a problem" and "the problem costs this much" are different pieces of information in a negotiation. Most inspections in the GTA are scheduled within two to three days, but a tight condition period is worth mentioning when you call so the date can be prioritised.
What happens if something serious is found
The report will say what was observed, why it matters, and what the sensible next step is. That step is often a specialist — a licensed electrician, a roofer, or a formal structural assessment. This is not the inspection failing to answer the question; a visual, non-invasive assessment has real limits, and the honest response to some findings is that they need opening up or testing to characterise properly.
What you should get in the meantime is a clear sense of scale: whether you are looking at something that changes the transaction, something to budget for in the first year, or something to keep an eye on.
What an inspection is not
It is not a warranty, a code compliance review, or a guarantee that nothing will fail. It is a snapshot of observable condition on the day, by someone who looks at buildings for a living. Where something warrants a formal engineering assessment or a specialist, the report should say so — that is a separate service, not part of a standard inspection.
Booking an inspection in the Greater Toronto Area, or want this discussed against your own property?