Why hire licensed trade professionals for your inspection.

Should you hire specialists on top of a general inspection? Often, yes — and the logic is simple. A general inspector is a generalist by design: in a few hours they screen every system in the house and flag what looks off. They are not on the roof replacing membranes, inside sewer lines, or opening heat exchangers for a living. When the generalist flags something — or when the home’s age says there’s probably something to flag — the licensed trade professional is how a maybe becomes a documented fact. And in a negotiation, documented facts are the only kind that move numbers.

What can a licensed roofer see that a general inspector can’t?

The roof problems that cost real money are rarely visible from the ground or a ladder at the eaves. A licensed roofer walks the surface and reads the details: flashing at chimneys, valleys, and skylights; the remaining life in the membrane or shingle field; and the soft decking under a surface that still photographs fine. In our damp climate, moss and standing debris shorten roof life faster than most buyers expect, and a roofer can tell you whether you’re looking at maintenance, a repair, or a replacement window — three very different conversations to have with a seller.

Why do buyers of older Seattle homes order a sewer scope?

Because the most expensive plumbing problem on a classic Seattle block is buried in the yard. A licensed plumber runs a camera down the side sewer and shows you the condition of a line that may be older than anyone alive — older clay and concrete lines invite root intrusion, sags, and breaks that no walkthrough can detect. Inside the house, a plumber also reads what a buyer can’t: whether aging galvanized supply lines are near the end, whether the water heater is living on borrowed time, and whether that slow drain is a habit or a symptom.

When does an electrician need to look at the house?

Any time the home’s era raises questions. Much of the Puget Sound’s most charming housing stock predates modern wiring: the oldest homes can carry knob-and-tube remnants, some mid-century homes carry aluminum branch circuits, and certain legacy panel brands are routinely flagged by inspectors and insurers alike. Add the enthusiastic DIY circuits that decades of owners leave behind, and a licensed electrician’s hour in the panel is one of the highest-information hours in the whole transaction. It also answers a modern question the general inspection doesn’t: whether the service has the capacity for the heat pump or EV charger you’re planning.

What does an HVAC professional check that matters here?

The things you can’t see from the thermostat. A cracked heat exchanger in a gas furnace is a genuine safety issue, and finding one takes a technician on the combustion side of the equipment — not a glance at a service sticker. An HVAC pro will also assess duct condition and leakage, give you an honest end-of-life estimate on the equipment, and — in a region that is converting to heat pumps block by block — tell you whether the system is actually sized for the house or just for the brochure.

When should you escalate from the general inspection?

Three reliable triggers. First, when the general report says so — “have a qualified contractor evaluate” is an instruction, not boilerplate. Second, when the home’s age makes certain questions automatic: century-old craftsman, order the sewer scope; original panel, get the electrician. Third, when your plans depend on it — a renovation budget built on an undiagnosed roof or an under-sized electrical service is a budget written in pencil.

How do specialist findings become negotiating leverage?

A generalist’s “appears worn” is an opinion; a licensed roofer’s written scope of repair is evidence. That difference is the whole game. With a specialist’s documentation in hand, you can ask for a repair credit at closing, a price reduction, or completed repairs with receipts — and the seller’s side can verify every word, which is exactly why it works. Our guide to considering and negotiating offers covers the mechanics, and the closing-costs guide shows where a credit actually lands. The inspection contingency is your one structured chance to re-open the price conversation; specialists are how you walk into it armed.

What about floating homes and houseboats?

Our signature niche has a specialist inspection all its own. The most important part of a floating home — the float or hull it sits on — is underwater, and no land-based inspector evaluates it. That’s the job of a marine surveyor and a dive inspection: the condition of the logs, concrete, or flotation below, the stringers above them, and the moorage hardware holding it all in place. On floating-on-water residence houseboats the survey extends to through-hulls and marine systems. If the home floats, this isn’t an upgrade to consider — it’s the core due diligence, and our houseboat & floating-home guide walks through how it fits the purchase.

Where does your broker fit in?

Sequencing and translation. After twenty-plus years of transactions on the water and on land, Linda M. Bagley’s office has watched specialty inspections pay for themselves over and over — not because every house has problems, but because every negotiation goes better with facts. We help you decide which specialists the home actually calls for, get them scheduled inside the inspection timeline, and turn what they find into an ask the seller can say yes to — and when repairs are the answer, our recommended vendor partners across the Northwest are where the search starts. Start with the inspection checklist to know what to look at yourself, tap through the home-systems diagram to see which systems carry the biggest replacement bills, Ask Linda anything the guides don’t cover, or call (206) 419-0065 before your inspection window starts ticking.