Testing the system the builder already called finished
A brand-new house arrives with a brand-new assumption: the heating and cooling must be right, because nobody has used them yet. We test that assumption before you close or before the builder’s walkthrough, while every problem we find still belongs to the builder. Jimmy Willson does the inspection himself and writes it up so the builder can act on it.
Builder-grade equipment on a builder’s schedule
The newer developments to the north of Cleburne follow the pattern we see anywhere houses go up quickly. The system comes out of the builder’s standard package, a crew working against a construction calendar puts it in, and somebody starts it long enough to confirm it runs. Then the drywall goes up, insulation gets blown across the attic floor over everything, and nobody looks at that equipment again until something goes wrong.
Most of those installs are fine. Some are not, and an off install rarely announces itself on move-in day. A refrigerant charge set during mild weather can look normal until the first real heat. A duct that slipped off its collar can condition the attic for months before anybody connects it to the bedroom that never cools down. A drain line without enough pitch holds water quietly until the pan fills.
“It’s new, so it’s fine” is the exact assumption this inspection exists to test. New tells you nobody has run the equipment hard yet. It says nothing about whether the system was matched to your house, charged correctly, or connected all the way at every joint.
Timing it so the builder pays for the fixes
When you inspect matters as much as what gets inspected. Before closing, or before the builder’s final walkthrough, every finding has an obvious owner: the company that installed it and is on the hook to make it right. Findings go onto the punch list. Wait until you have lived there a while and the same problem becomes a game of phone tag, and sometimes it becomes your bill.
If you already closed, you have not missed your chance. Homeowners getting close to the end of a builder warranty book this inspection for exactly that reason, to have the system measured while a defect is still a warranty claim. Written readings give you something specific to send, which carries a lot more weight with a builder than saying the upstairs feels warm.
Builder-grade does not automatically mean bad, and we will not invent findings to prove a point. Plenty of systems in newer homes read healthy from end to end, and when yours does, the report says so in plain words. A clean result has value of its own. It is a dated record that the system worked as built, which comes in handy the first time anybody questions it.
The full new home HVAC inspection service runs the same way everywhere we work. Buying an older house near the courthouse square instead? The whole-system HVAC inspection is built around that kind of house and its retrofit history.
Still framing? That is a different visit
If the walls are still open, a look at the duct layout and equipment placement before drywall is its own inspection, and the new construction HVAC inspection page covers it. This page is for a house that is finished, or close to it.
What gets checked on a system that has never seen a summer
First, whether the equipment fits the house. We compare the outdoor unit, the indoor coil and the air handler to one another and to the home’s size and layout, since a mismatched pair can wear a nameplate efficiency it will never deliver. Then refrigerant charge, read against the manufacturer’s figures for that exact equipment rather than a rule of thumb.
In the attic we follow the duct. Every connection at the air handler and at each supply box gets checked for a sealed, fastened joint, and the runs get checked for proper strapping, because flex duct sagging between supports chokes its own airflow. Condensate routing gets traced from the coil to where it drains. Under a horizontal unit, the secondary pan gets inspected and the safety switch gets tripped to prove it shuts things down. Thermostat setup gets confirmed against the equipment it controls. Last comes airflow, room by room, so a starved bedroom shows up on paper before anyone has to sleep in it.
Our gallery shows the kind of attic work we mean, and the contact page gets you on the schedule. Living in a heat pump house? Read heat pump installation in Cleburne to learn how backup heat ought to be configured before your first winter.
A report a builder can act on
A finding nobody can act on is only a complaint. So the write-up is organized the way a builder’s crew will use it. Each item says where it is, what we measured, what that reading should have been, and what correcting it involves. A supply duct in the attic over the second bedroom, loose at the collar. A condensate line with no trap. A refrigerant charge running low against the equipment’s own chart.
That format takes the argument out of the conversation. A builder can wave off an opinion. A measurement with a location attached is a lot harder to dismiss, and clearly written items are the ones that actually get fixed. You are also spared the awkward job of describing an airflow problem in your own words to someone with plenty of other houses on his mind.
After that, the next move is yours. Send the report to the builder and keep a copy in your warranty file. Once the corrections are made, you can have us back to confirm them. If the heating side turns out to be the trouble, furnace installation in Cleburne covers how we handle that equipment, and if the attic duct is leaking, duct sealing in Cleburne explains how we find leaks and close them for good.
This is the work Jimmy built 2L around: twenty-plus years of experience spent inside your house, explaining what he sees, instead of at a sales desk deciding what to sell you.
New-build inspection questions, answered plainly
Not sure which visit fits your house? Call (214) 717-3959 and the owner will tell you straight.
The system passed the city inspection. Why check it again?
A code inspection confirms the installation meets minimum requirements at a point in time. It does not usually measure refrigerant charge, room-by-room airflow, or whether a duct came loose after the insulation went in. Ours is about performance, and that is where the problems we look for tend to hide.
When is the best time to book a new home inspection?
Before closing or before the builder’s final walkthrough, ideally with the system able to run so we can measure it under load. That timing lets every finding go onto the punch list while the builder still owns the fix. Already moved in? Book before your builder warranty runs out.
Will the builder accept a report from an outside company?
We write it to be hard to ignore: location, measurement, what it should read, and what fixing it involves. Builders respond to specifics far better than to a homeowner saying a room feels off. Whether they agree is up to them, but you will be holding evidence instead of a feeling.
My new house has one room that never cools. Is that normal?
Common, yes. Normal, no. On a new build it usually comes down to a duct that was pinched, undersized, or disconnected, or a supply register that was never balanced. Room-by-room airflow readings show which one it is, and that turns a vague complaint into a specific punch list item.
Do you check the attic even if the house is brand new?
Especially then. The attic is where a new system gets assembled out of sight, and it is the last place anyone looks once insulation covers the floor. Duct joints, strapping, the air handler connections, the secondary drain pan and the condensate line all live up there, and we look at every one.
Is this the same visit as a pre-drywall inspection?
No. A pre-drywall inspection happens while the walls are open and focuses on layout and rough-in. This one happens on a finished or nearly finished house and tests whether the completed system actually performs. You can book both. If you are still in framing, ask about the earlier visit when you call.
Closing on a new Cleburne home soon? Get the system measured while the builder still owns it.
Book an Inspection