The Pre-Drywall Walkthrough: What to Look At

Once drywall goes up, the framing, the wiring, the plumbing, the ducts, the insulation and every penetration through the air barrier disappear behind a surface that will not come off again. Almost everything expensive to fix later is visible right now.

Buyers routinely use this visit to stand in the future kitchen and imagine the island. Do that too — but do the inspection first, and take a camera.

Photograph everything, systematically

This is the single most useful thing you will do, and it costs nothing. Walk every room and photograph every wall from corner to corner, with something in frame for scale. Do the ceilings too.

• You will want to know where the studs, blocking, wiring and plumbing are, every time you hang something or renovate for the next thirty years.
• If a defect emerges later, dated photographs of what was behind that wall are the difference between a discussion and an argument.
• Photograph the mechanical room and every panel and manifold with labels legible.
• Keep them somewhere you will still have them in a decade. This is the most durable value in the whole exercise.

Structure and framing

• Do the rooms match the drawings? Take a tape. Wall positions do move, and it is far cheaper to correct now.
• Are window and door openings where the drawings show, and the sizes specified?
• Ceiling heights as designed, including any drops for ducting — a dropped ceiling nobody mentioned is a common surprise.
• Look for framing that has been notched or drilled excessively for services, especially in joists and studs carrying load.
• Check for blocking where you will need it: heavy wall-mounted fixtures, televisions, grab bars, cabinetry, handrails. Adding blocking now is trivial and later is not.
• Look at the stair framing — rise, run and headroom are difficult and expensive to change once finished.

Envelope and air barrier

This is the part that determines how the house feels in January, and it is the part a homeowner is least equipped to judge — which is a reason to ask questions rather than a reason to skip it.

• Ask the builder to walk you through the wall assembly at an exterior wall, layer by layer, while you can see it.
• Look at penetrations through the air barrier — every wire, pipe, duct and vent. Ask how each is sealed.
• Check insulation for gaps, compression and voids, particularly at rim joists, corners, behind services and above exterior wall top plates.
• Look at the transitions: wall to roof, wall to foundation, and around every window and door. Transitions are where envelopes fail.
• Ask whether a blower-door test is planned, and if so when and what the target is.

Mechanical, electrical and plumbing

• Walk the electrical plan against the walls. Every switch, outlet, fixture and data point — this is your last easy chance to move or add one.
• Check switch locations against how you will actually walk through the room, especially at doorways and the top and bottom of stairs.
• Look for outlets in the places people forget: inside cabinets, in the pantry, under the island, in the garage where you will eventually charge a car, and outside where you will want lights.
• Confirm rough-ins for anything future: a car charger, a hot tub, a future basement bathroom, exterior kitchen.
• Check duct runs and register positions — a register in the wrong place is unfixable after finishing.
• Look at plumbing rough-in positions against the fixtures you have selected, especially where a vanity or a freestanding tub has specific requirements.
• Ask where every plumbing shut-off is, and photograph them.

Water, and where it goes

• Look for any staining, standing water or damp framing. Wet framing before enclosure is common and generally fine if it has dried; standing water is not.
• Check that exterior grade falls away from the foundation everywhere.
• Confirm weeping tile, sump and any drainage provisions are in and connected.
• On a basement, look at the foundation wall from inside for cracking, and ask about anything more than hairline.
• Look at roof drainage — where does water leave the roof, and where does it go once it is on the ground?

How to raise what you find

1. Write everything down on site rather than trusting memory. Photograph each item as you note it.
2. Send the list to the builder in writing the same day, with the photographs attached.
3. Distinguish questions from concerns. Most items are questions and most have good answers.
4. Ask for a written response on each item rather than a conversation on site.
5. Anything requiring change: get it in a change order before drywall, not after.
6. Do not let the drywall go up on an unresolved structural or envelope question. Everything else can wait; those two cannot.