Chapter 1 Exercises

These exercises are designed to get you physically moving through your home with new eyes. Most require nothing more than a flashlight, a notepad, and the willingness to look at familiar spaces differently.

Exercise 1.1 — The Full-House Walk-Through Log

Objective: Create a baseline record of your home's systems and structure.

Time: 2–3 hours

What to do: Walk through your entire home — every room, closet, basement, attic, and crawlspace — and take notes on what you observe. For each space, record:

  • What you can see of the structure (exposed joists, beams, foundation walls)
  • The location of any visible MEP components (pipes, wires, ducts, registers)
  • Anything that looks damaged, unusual, or that you don't understand

You don't need to know what everything means yet. The goal is to create a snapshot you can return to as you work through this book. Take photographs where useful.

Exercise 1.2 — Find Your Shutoffs

Objective: Locate and label all critical utility shutoffs in your home.

Time: 1–2 hours

What to do:

  1. Find your main water shutoff valve. Note its location in writing. Test it (turn it completely clockwise to close; counterclockwise to open) if you've never done so — a valve that hasn't moved in 20 years may be seized.
  2. Find the individual shutoffs under every sink, behind every toilet, at the washing machine, and (if applicable) at the refrigerator's ice maker line.
  3. Find your main electrical panel and ensure every breaker is labeled. If labels are missing or unclear, use the circuit-testing method: with a partner, plug a lamp or night light into every outlet in the house and flip breakers one at a time to identify which circuit serves which outlets.
  4. Find your gas meter and main gas shutoff (if applicable). Do NOT operate the gas shutoff unless you have a real emergency — know where it is but treat it as a read-only item.
  5. Label everything with masking tape and a permanent marker.

Deliverable: A written list of all shutoff locations, stored somewhere accessible (a kitchen drawer, a shared notes app).

Exercise 1.3 — Structural vs. Systems Inventory

Objective: Practice the structure-vs-systems distinction in your own home.

Time: 45 minutes

What to do: Walk through each room and make two lists:

Structural elements I can see or infer: - Exterior walls (almost certainly load-bearing) - Any beams or columns - Any spots where walls seem to continue from floor to floor in the same location (suggests load path)

Systems elements I can see: - Electrical outlets, switches, panels, meters - Plumbing supply and drain pipes, water heater - HVAC registers, grilles, thermostats, equipment - Gas lines, propane tanks

Look for places where systems and structure visibly interact: a pipe running through a joist in a basement, wiring entering a panel through the wall, HVAC ductwork hanging from ceiling joists.

Exercise 1.4 — The Trade Sequence Game

Objective: Reinforce understanding of construction sequence.

Time: 20 minutes

What to do: The following list of construction tasks is shuffled out of order. Arrange them in the correct sequence for new residential construction. Refer to Section 1.2 if needed.

  • Final plumbing fixtures installed (toilets, sinks)
  • Roof sheathing and roofing installed
  • Drywall hung and finished
  • Footings poured
  • Interior trim and cabinetry installed
  • Electrical rough-in wiring run
  • Wall framing erected
  • Building permit applied for
  • Foundation walls formed and poured
  • Insulation installed in wall cavities
  • Certificate of Occupancy issued
  • Site excavation
  • Exterior sheathing and housewrap
  • Windows and exterior doors installed

Exercise 1.5 — Load Path Tracing

Objective: Trace a load path from roof to foundation in your own home.

Time: 30 minutes

What to do: Pick one spot on the top floor (or second floor) of your home and mentally trace the load path downward:

  1. What is directly above you? (Ceiling? Another floor? Roof?)
  2. What structure carries that load to the walls? (Joists, rafters, beams?)
  3. What walls are directly below you, at the same horizontal position?
  4. Do those walls continue to the basement or crawlspace?
  5. What do they rest on at the bottom? (Foundation wall, concrete pier, beam?)

Draw a simple cross-section sketch of what you believe the load path looks like. Mark anything you're uncertain about.

Exercise 1.6 — Identify Your Foundation Type

Objective: Determine your home's foundation type and note its visible condition.

Time: 30 minutes

What to do:

  1. Based on what you know about your home, identify whether it sits on a slab, crawlspace, or basement — or some combination.
  2. If you have a basement: look at the foundation walls. Note their material (concrete block, poured concrete, stone/rubble). Record any visible cracks, staining, or efflorescence (white mineral deposits).
  3. If you have a crawlspace: access it safely (if you can do so without crawling through water or hazardous materials). Note the construction, any standing water or staining, and the condition of the wood you can see.
  4. If you have a slab: check the perimeter where the slab meets the soil for any visible cracks or separation.

Record your findings. Chapter 2 will give you the framework to interpret what you see.

Objective: Learn what work has been permitted on your home.

Time: 30–60 minutes

What to do: Most jurisdictions make permit records publicly searchable, either through a county assessor's website or a building department portal. Search for your property's permit history.

Questions to answer: - What permits have been pulled on your property, and when? - Do any recent additions or renovations correspond to visible changes in the home? - Are there any permitted renovations that suggest MEP system upgrades (electrical permits, plumbing permits)? - Are there any work orders that match — or fail to match — what you see in the home?

If you can't find records online, call your local building department and ask.

Exercise 1.8 — The Inspection Report Revisit

Objective: Re-read your home inspection report with new understanding.

Time: 1 hour

What to do: Locate your home inspection report (hopefully in a file somewhere — if you don't have one, note that and move on). Re-read it now, after having completed this chapter.

For each item flagged by the inspector, try to categorize it: - Is this a structural issue or a systems issue? - Is this a safety concern or a maintenance item? - Has anything changed since the inspection?

Note any items that were called out but that you still haven't addressed. The gap between "inspector flagged it" and "homeowner addressed it" is exactly the deferred-maintenance compounding that this book is designed to help you avoid.

Exercise 1.9 — Map Your Home's MEP Systems

Objective: Create a simple systems diagram of your home.

Time: 1–2 hours

What to do: On a simple floor-plan sketch (doesn't need to be to scale), mark:

  1. The location of your electrical panel, water heater, furnace/AC unit
  2. The main water entry point and shutoff
  3. The gas meter (if applicable)
  4. The sewer cleanout
  5. The approximate routing of any visible main duct trunks or supply/drain pipes

This doesn't need to be professional quality. The act of thinking through where things are, even roughly, is the goal.

Exercise 1.10 — The "Who Would I Call?" Drill

Objective: Build your professional contact list before you need it.

Time: 30–45 minutes

What to do: Using the trade descriptions in Section 1.3, identify one reliable professional in each category for your area:

  • Licensed plumber
  • Licensed electrician
  • HVAC contractor
  • General contractor (for future renovation planning)
  • Structural engineer (especially important if you have any foundation concerns)

Getting recommendations from neighbors, online neighborhood groups, or local real estate agents is a good starting point. Verify license status through your state contractor licensing board.

Document: A contact list with name, company, phone, and how you found them.

Exercise 1.11 — The "What's the Load-Bearing Story?" Survey

Objective: Make an initial assessment of likely load-bearing walls in your home.

Time: 45 minutes

What to do: Walk through your home and, for each interior wall:

  1. Is it on an exterior perimeter? (Almost certainly load-bearing.)
  2. Does it run parallel or perpendicular to the floor joists? (Check in basement or crawlspace to see joist direction — joists typically span the shorter dimension of a rectangle.)
  3. Is there a wall directly above or below it on another floor?
  4. Does it appear in the center of the house running the length of the building?

Mark on your floor plan sketch which walls you believe are load-bearing and which are partitions. Chapter 3 will add precision to this assessment.

Exercise 1.12 — Document Your Home's Age and Known History

Objective: Create a timeline of your home's construction and modification history.

Time: 1 hour

What to do: Gather everything you know about your home's history:

  • Original construction year (often available from county records or the deed)
  • Any additions (different rooflines, changes in foundation depth, mismatched framing)
  • Known renovation history (from sellers, permit records, or visible evidence)
  • Appliance ages (check manufacturer labels on water heater, furnace, AC unit)

Create a simple timeline: "Built 1963. Addition on rear, approximately 1978 (different roofline, different window style). Kitchen remodel approximately 2011 (permit confirmed). HVAC replaced 2019."

This timeline is the beginning of your home's "health record" — a document worth maintaining and adding to over your ownership.