What a home warranty actually covers
A home warranty is not insurance, a home inspection is not a warranty, and neither one covers what most buyers assume it does. This is a plain-English reference to 38 home systems, appliances and commonly-excluded items — what a home service contract covers, what a home inspector is actually permitted to report, and the deadlines that decide whether you still have a remedy.
The items buyers ask about most
Each profile answers the same four questions: is it covered, what does the contract actually say, what does an inspector look at, and what should you do about it before your window closes.
What is covered, and what buyers only think is covered
Home service contracts are written as a list of covered items followed by a longer list of exclusions. The exclusions win. Most disputes are not about whether a component failed — they are about whether the contract ever promised to pay for it.
Systems & Appliances
Heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical, kitchen and laundry equipment — the components a home service contract is designed to cover, with the caps, conditions and add-on requirements that apply to each.
Exclusions & Gray Areas
Roof, foundation, windows, mold, termites, water damage and solar — the items buyers most often assume are covered, why they are not, and which product, inspection or professional actually addresses each one.
Coverage by system and trade
Heating & Cooling
4 itemsThe equipment that carries the highest replacement cost and the tightest coverage caps.
Plumbing & Water
8 itemsSupply, drain and waste lines, and the equipment that moves and heats water.
Plumbing Water heater Sewer line Septic Slab leaks Well pump Water softener Toilets & fixtures
Electrical
4 itemsService equipment, branch wiring and the devices attached to them.
Kitchen Appliances
6 itemsThe appliances most often bundled into a base plan, and the limits that apply to them.
Garbage disposal Refrigerator Dishwasher Oven & range Built-in microwave Range hood
Laundry & Utility
3 itemsWashers, dryers and utility equipment that are frequently optional rather than standard.
Structure & Exterior
5 itemsThe building envelope — almost entirely outside a home service contract.
Garage, Outdoor & Site
4 itemsEquipment beyond the walls of the house, usually sold as an add-on if at all.
Environmental & Pest
4 itemsConditions rather than components, and excluded on that basis.
Every remedy in a home purchase has an expiry date
The inspection period. The financing contingency. The federal lead-paint disclosure window. The thirty-day warranty waiting period. The builder's eleven-month callback. Miss the deadline and the merits stop mattering.