Loose or damaged cover plates are something that many inspectors will bring attention to in their reports. To many, this seems like an insignificant defect but that’s not necessarily true. This is because many of us inspect houses from a safety standpoint when it comes to children. Young children are very curious and will get into everything they possibly can.
Cover plates are very simple to tighten or replace. On single gang cover plates it’s usually one or two screws (depending on if it is a switch or receptacle outlets or GFCI receptacle outlets).
Reasons, why the cover plate may be really loose, could be due to the outlets (or switch) not being secured to the outlet box (evident in the photo), or the box to the wall.
Sometimes cover plates are damaged because they are overtightened.
At Sixth Sense Home Inspections we call out loose cover plates as simple maintenance items that should be taken care of fairly quickly if the owner has young children or if young children are going to be in the house visiting.
If you are in need of a home inspection feel free to call, text, or email anytime!
phone: (919)495-1572
email: jacob@sixthsensehi.com