Your home keeps changing after you move in. Roofs age, caulking separates, soil settles, sump pumps wear out, and small leaks can begin quietly. Catching those concerns early can make winter—and future repair planning—a lot easier.
This week on the KFGO Morning Crew, Lars explains why a Home Inspection is just as important for a homeowner as it is for a home buyer.
Schedule a professional home inspection with Nordic Inspections. Book on our website or call us today at 701.566.1446 ext. 0
Transcription: Why You Might Want To Schedule A Fall Home Inspection, Even If You Are Not Selling Your Home.
Sept. 22, 2026
(0:00) Good morning, it’s 642 The Morning Crew. Doug, Robbie, and our friend Lars Knobloch in the house. Good morning.(0:06) Yeah, morning. Well, Lars, (0:08) it’s definitely the official first day of fall. You can feel it in the air.7.05 p.m. (0:14) is when summer is done and into fall. When it comes to (0:18) home owners and maybe whether they’re, even if they don’t want to buy or sell a house, (0:25) getting a fall checkup is (0:27) something that can really help them out. Yeah, this is this is actually a service that that we offer and it’s like a home (0:36) checkup for the fall that (0:39) basically, this is a focused seasonal evaluation for existing homeowners (0:45) primarily, and the inspector will be looking for conditions that could (0:50) create problems during winter, (0:52) developing concerns that should be monitored, major expenses that might come up, (1:00) and I mean, this is not in replacement of like a full home inspection.It’s (1:06) we’re usually spending like an hour to an hour and a half at the most on-site, (1:13) and I (1:14) mean, some of the things like that, like the list is long, all the things they point out that we see, so I’m not gonna (1:19) go through every single item, you know, how that look like, but like at a higher (1:24) high level overview, it’s a visual inspection from the outside with focus on, you know, anything exterior (1:31) you need to be aware of for the winter, as well as, you know, water control. (1:36) Should you have your downspouts up or should you have them out? You know, how is your sump pump discharging? (1:41) How is your grading? Do you have any cracks in the foundation that we see that you might want to seal up before the winter? (1:46) We’ll look at an attic, making sure, you know, you don’t have any insulation problems, visible, you know, (1:53) signs of like air leakage into the attic that could cause condensation and frost in the winter, like, you know, even bathroom fans discharging up there. (2:02) For the heating system, we’ll do a basic furnace operation, and for all the major components of the house, (2:08) we will determine the age, (2:10) condition, and life expectancy, so you can get an idea of, (2:14) you know, what kind of future expenses you should be planning for, and (2:19) Do you take a quick peek at, like, say, furnaces and water heaters, too, just in case? (2:23) Yeah, yeah, furnace, water heater, we’ll get on the roof and check out the roof, you know.(2:27) We’ll look at the windows, too, to see if we’re seeing, like, obvious problems that stands out in terms of air leakage, (2:34) operational problems, (2:36) and (2:37) We’ll check your smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, you know, are they, is it about time to replace them based on the age? (2:44) It is recommended to replace them every 10 years or so. (2:49) Yeah, sump pump operation, (2:51) sump pump discharge is an important thing, you have to remember to disconnect that flexible hose, and there’s different setup options you could (2:58) have for that, and (3:02) Yeah, I mean, it’s just an overall (3:07) Condition assessment that you can help you get ready for the fall, and it’s only (3:11) $2.95 for this inspection, so it’s a very, very low cost for an inspection. (3:16) So you’re not surprised, winter comes around and all of a sudden your furnace goes out, or your heater, or your water heater goes out, (3:22) Yeah, you’re not surprised.No, no, and that’s the thing, like, it’s all about being ahead of the game, and the other thing, too, (3:28) is that we have additional services that you might want to have us do while we are there, because we (3:34) discount, for example, a radon test, or a sewer scope, or mold air testing, if we’re there already, (3:41) then we’re not charging the full price for that, so you’ll get discounted for all of those (3:46) services, so if you have any foundation concerns, (3:49) you know, that you’ve seen some stuff happening, cracking going on, is this a big concern, if you want an opinion on that, or (3:56) you know, if you live in an older house that has an older sewer line, and you haven’t had it scoped yet in a while, (4:03) I think it’s a great time to do that right now, or before the winter, (4:07) we could do that for a discounted cost, as we were there doing the fall checkup, (4:12) and the reason I’m saying that, is that if there were some problems that we will identify in your sewer line, you could have those addressed, (4:18) let’s say you have to do a local repair, or you might get a blockage, (4:22) then if you wait until, you know, the winter comes, and that blockage happens in January, (4:29) now that repair is gonna cost you way more money, because now you’re digging in a frozen ground, like, there’s a significant cost difference, (4:36) so we want to try to help you get through the winter, be proactive, (4:40) and try to identify as much stuff as we can see with this inspection for a really low cost in terms of what a (4:46) home inspection will cost nowadays. Lars Knobloch, Nordic Inspection, joining the KFJO morning crew, (4:51) is this also something you could utilize if people are planning their budgets, and you do this (4:56) fall maintenance check, and say, you know, in the next year, (4:59) you might want to start budgeting for new windows, or some of the other bigger money projects? (5:03) Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and some people are maybe selling their house, and they’re wondering, (5:07) what are some of the things we should do in that process? (5:10) Is it worth replacing the windows, you know, in our house, if we’re gonna sell it this next summer? (5:15) Is it, well, what is it worth doing? What can give you a return on your investment, and what it really won’t, right? (5:22) And I want to say, too, like, we have done over (5:26) 16,000 inspections in our region, and if you are one of them we have worked with in the past, (5:30) all of the additional (5:34) services we offer, like the radon test, gyroscope, foundation, elevation survey, or mold testing, (5:40) you will get a 20% discount off, if you are a previous customer of ours. (5:44) Do you remember a couple years back, when everybody, it was that weird winter, and everybody, their roofs had all that ice freezing on the top? (5:52) Is there something you recommend to maybe prevent that? (5:55) Or, you know, like, I’ve seen, I’ve seen the wiry heating tape, or whatever it’s called, that’s on the roofs.(6:02) Do you recommend something like that? Well, first of all, let me say, that was a weird year, weird winter. (6:08) We had a lot of, like, freeze-thaw cycles, (6:11) so a lot of homes that never had ice dams before, in 30, 40, 50 years, or ever, all of a sudden had ice dams. (6:17) But there are, there are many houses that struggle with ice dams every year, and it’s often related to lack of insulation, (6:23) or air leakage into the attic, causing the, you know, warms up the attic, and the roof structure, so the snow melts.(6:30) So, air leakage is a big component, and also ventilation is a big component. (6:36) So, definitely, there’s, and that’s stuff we would look for, specifically, in the attic, yeah, if you need some more insulation. (6:43) Yeah, and we have infrared cameras with us, as well, that we could potentially identify some concealed issues that you can’t see, maybe, or have access to.(6:52) Wow. (6:53) Previous customers get a 20% discount. (6:55) You will also be offering some discounts if you take an advanced service of Get a Sewer Scope while you’re having the fall, the fall checkup, under $300.(7:06) Yeah, man, that’s not bad. (7:07) Okay, so, that, plus, if someone wants to get a full home inspection prior to selling their home, they’re thinking of buying a home, they want to have Lars Knobloch’s team check that out, how can they get on your project schedule? (7:19) Give us a call, 701-566-1446, and if you have any questions about any of these additional services, or you do offer, or you wonder about it, go to our website, there’s a lot of information about all of them, to figure out, you know, what is it, something that can bring value to you, and your house. (7:38) Our website is nordiccompaniesinc.com, you can schedule your inspection there, as well.(7:42) Thanks so much, Lars, take care, bud.Type your paragraph here