What should you check in a house built in…
Every building era left its own problems — aluminum wiring in 1965–1973, polybutylene pipes in 1978–1995, lead paint before 1978. Enter a year and get the inspection checklist for that era, built from CPSC, EPA and InterNACHI documentation.
22 documented era issues · 126 year pages · every range cites CPSC, EPA or InterNACHI · no account, no signup
Quick answer
The year a house was built predicts which materials and code gaps to inspect for. This site turns any build year from 1900 to 2025 into a prioritized checklist of era-specific items — each with identification steps, commonly cited repair costs, insurer questions, and links to the CPSC, EPA or InterNACHI documentation behind the year ranges.
How it works
1. Enter the year
Not sure? County records, permits and meter tags all carry it — our guide shows where to look.
2. Read the checklist
Items are sorted by consequence: insurance-critical materials first, then by system. Boundary years get phase-in/out flags.
3. Take it to the pros
Each card ends with the exact questions for your inspector. Print the checklist and bring it to the walkthrough.
Most-checked build years
Browse by decade
The issue library
Deep dives into each era problem: how the material fails, how to identify it, what insurers ask, and what fixes commonly cost.
Guides
- How to Find the Year Your House Was Built
Six reliable ways to pin down a build year: county records, permits, meter and panel tags, plat maps, fire insurance maps, and appliance date codes.
- The 4-Point Inspection: What Insurers Check and How to Prepare
What a 4-point inspection covers (roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC), which era items fail it, and how to prepare an older home before the inspector arrives.
- Questions to Ask Your Home Inspector, by System
A master list of era-specific questions for your home inspector, grouped by system and generated from documented material eras.
- Home Insurance Red Flags by Building Era
Which era-specific items trigger insurer questions — polybutylene, FPE panels, knob-and-tube — what they ask, and what documentation helps.