When we made an offer on the new house in the Kingston area, we had two conditions: the sale of our existing home by the end of July and a satisfactory home inspection report. The people who placed an offer on our current home had only one condition: a satisfactory home inspection report.

I do not see much of an issue with our current house. It is roughly 20 years old and the home is in good condition. We expect the sale of our home to go firm Monday evening.

The new house is being inspected on Tuesday morning. We will need to spend several hours at the property as we work through several tasks.

The first task is to assess the water and septic system. The water supply is from a dug well. The well was constructed by a local firm with an excellent reputation. However, dug wells typically face two challenges: drought and contamination. We have a specialist who will assess the recovery of the well and complete a chemical analysis of the water. The home does have an ultraviolet system but may require some additional filtering. Hopefully the dug well shows appropriate recovery otherwise we would be looking at a very expensive option to install a drilled well.

The second task is to assess the heating and cooling systems. The house uses a state-of-the-art hydronic radiant heating system and a high velocity air conditioning system. The heating system uses a boiler to heat water. The water is then circulated through piping in the floors and the heat radiates from the floor area.

We talked to the designer of the system that was installed in this house. His tests indicate that to keep the ambient temperature at 72 degrees Fahrenheit during the coldest weather scenarios would require a 100,000 BTU boiler. The current boiler is 136,000 BTU. However, we are getting conflicting views. Another expert believes that the house needs a 200,000 BTU boiler. We have a person coming in to assess the system and give us yet a third perspective.

The third task is to assess the balcony of the home. The balcony is very large as it stretches the full length of the house — roughly 80 feet wide. The builder did something a bit unique and I am not convinced that it was a good idea.

Basically, the support structure is sound. Pressure treated posts support a solid flooring system. The main decking area has been clad with vinyl. The railing is encased with glass and the overall panorama and view from the balcony is really stunning. However, the joists were covered with a pressure treated plywood subfloor and covered with an outdoor carpet. We are concerned that the moisture from the carpet will prematurely rot the underlying plywood subfloor.We have an expert coming out to inspect the balcony.

I am not worried about the water or the heating and cooling system. The balcony will be an extra cost to us as I won’t run the risk of water damage to the underlying structure.

After all of this work, we will discuss any action required by the seller. And then waive the conditions and hopefully get into the house before September. Our current close date is August 22nd for our current house and September 3rd for the new house.

Moving is a lot of work.