Every home inspection (bedek bayit) looks for construction defects: things that can be a nuisance now, cause needless expense later, or put residents at risk. Checking the kitchen cabinets is one of the more important parts of that inspection.
Cabinets are the main storage space in the home, so it matters that they work properly and keep what is inside them in good condition. Most kitchen cabinets are fixed in place, and beyond faults in function or appearance, a built-in cabinet can hide problems behind or inside it. Arad Bedek Bayit's engineers catch these before they turn into serious ones.
What a kitchen cabinet inspection covers
The inspection has four parts: whether the cabinets meet the standards in force in Israel, both in the materials used and in the labeling that must be present; the structure of the cabinets and any construction defects in it; wear affecting normal use; and faults the cabinets may be hiding, such as dampness in a wall from a pipe leak.
On the legal side, regulations require a written record on every kitchen cabinet: the manufacturer's name, the material it is built from, its model name or number, and which cleaning products are safe to use on it. A missing record, especially for kitchen cabinets, breaks Israeli regulations, and a proper home inspection should catch it.
The soundness check looks at the finish: whether the doors are aligned, and whether there are stains or aesthetic flaws, visible or hidden. Israeli Standard 1271 covers this and requires every part of the cabinet, seen or unseen, to be properly coated or covered, clean and complete.
Door alignment matters both for looks and for everyday use, since the doors should sit at the same height. The inspection also covers the hinges, their quality and function, and the door handles, since fittings that are not rust-resistant will start to corrode within a short time.
Because the cabinets sit against a wall, and piping often runs through or near it, dampness inside a cabinet can point to a leak behind the wall. Leaks are the most common problem any home inspection finds. Arad Bedek Bayit uses moisture meters suited to checking dampness in wood.
Checking the kitchen cabinets matters for all these reasons, but there is a further one: the cabinets are a sign of the overall quality of materials used in the home. Serious defects in the cabinets, or in the walls behind them, point to the condition of the house as a whole.
The engineers of Arad Bedek Bayit, led by building engineer Ron Arad, whom courts appoint as their own expert on construction defects. The company has been inspecting apartments and buildings since 2001. Engineer Ron Arad · More about the company