What does a home inpsector look for in bathrooms?

One of the most common questions we are asked is along the lines of, "What is it that you check?"

While the answer to the question depends on the particular situation, I want to devote the next several posts to answering broadly but with some details that will hopefully give you insight into our procedures.

We'll start with the bathroom since this is one of the rooms in which many hidden problems can cause major expense if not discovered in a timely manner.  We go through the typical pattern in each room:  ceiling, cladding, doors and windows, electrical, plumbing, and floor.  Each of those broad categories has an almost limitless number of offshoots depending on the situation, but let's take a look closely at each:
Ceiling- we look closely to see if any ceiling stains are present, indicating water intrusion from above (often, first floor bathrooms are directly below second floor bathrooms).  We also look to see if the bathroom has a fan, since each full bath should have an operable window or fan to take away the hot, humid air from a shower.
Cladding- are there any signs of water intrusion?  any signs (particularly around doors and windows) of settling that may indicate foundation problems?  We look carefully around sinks and tubs/showers to ensure they are properly caulked.
Doors/Windows- bathroom windows should be made of tempered glass (see previous post); the window should be operable if no fan is present; the standard window inspection applies here- operation, glass condition, overall condition, water intrusion
Electrical- a bathroom should have only GFI outlets.  This includes GFI for a jetted tub, if present.  Sometimes it is quite a hunt to locate the jetted tub's GFI (I've seen them accessible only from the kitchen; other times they are actually on a breaker in the main panel; other times they are in the outlet under the tub area; still other times they are on a wall outlet.  We're persistent, but if we can't find one, we always recommend one is added.  Non-GFI tubs have killed people).
Plumbing- we're looking for leaks or future leaks.  We check security of the faucets/handles and the toilet.  We flush the toilet 3 times.  We will the sink and let it sit full of water to see if any leaks are present under the sink.  We run the tub, and then we run the shower with the tub plugged to fill it approx 1 inch with water.  We then drain the tub and the sink, looking for proper drainage and any leaks.  The tub and sink should also be free of any holes or damage that may lead to internal leakage
Floor- one last look to see if there are any signs of structural issues or any signs of water intrusion

And that, in a nutshell, is it.  There can be much more depending on what we see or find, but the whole inspection is something you can do yourself about once a year.  Many of the leaks we find are not known to the home owner, and the longer a leak persists the worse the damage can be.  So do yourself a favor and pick a day (January 1st works well) to do some of the inspections, and you may end up saving yourself a ton of money and headache.