Before you go to the final walkthrough, hopefully you have been inspecting the contractor's work as the project had progressed. It is much easier to catch a problem and fix it early on in the remodeling process than it is to wait until it is time to sign off on the project. The final walkthrough is just that; final. Once you sign off on the work it is unlikely that a contractor or builder will be motivated to continue to make changes or repairs. Unfortunately, once they have your money it is unlikely that they will look back.

When you go to your final walk through, your contractor may have prepared a list of items for you to sign off on. It is wise to also come up with a list of your own. While the contractor may list some of the larger items to sign off on, you will want to make sure that all of the details pertaining to the remodel have also been done to your satisfaction. You will want to look for just about anything that you can think of. You paid for the job to be done right and that's what you should get. After all, the worst thing that could happen in response to being picky is that there is nothing more that can be done; you would be no worse off than had you not asked. Preparing a list of walk through items before hand is advised because it can be very easy to forget items of concern when it actually comes time to take that final walk. Not only will you want to examine the finished product but also the effects that the workers may have had on your home. Things like damaged walls, dented moldings, clogged drains or vents, other garbage or construction debris, and items missing from the home are not generally the first kids of walkthrough items that come to mind, nevertheless, they can make a huge difference and you would regret not considering them.

Don't underestimate the time it can take to conduct this final inspection. Depending on the size of the home, this walk through can take several hours to complete. Remember, you're going to be flushing toilets, running water, turning on dishwashers, opening and closing doors. A home or house is a complex building and you need to make sure everything is working as expected. If you rush through the inspection, you might be faced with thousands of dollars in repairs later on.

Resolving inspection problems is the last thing that you want to have to deal with, however a lax attitude could cost you a significant amount of money in the end. If during the final inspection of a remodel you find that the contractor had not lived up to his end of the agreement there are some courses of action that you have available to you. The first is to place repair money in escrow. Make sure that you consider this amount carefully. An escrow account is then used to pay for repairs as they are made. The second option that you have available to you if you still have unresolved issues at the time of the final walkthrough is to reduce the price you pay to the contractor. Costs can be removed from the initial bid if the job was not completed to a reasonable level of satisfaction. Again, make sure that the cost reduction accurately reflects the amount of money that it will cost you to make the repairs yourself.