Home inspection in Rome.

Position above it is the whole question. Rome is one of Henry County's earliest settlements and in 1866 it annexed land across the Skunk River to reach the CB&Q line, so the community's footprint has always straddled valley and upland. Alluvial river ground — the Iowa Geological Survey describes these corridors as layered gravel, sand, silt and clay — carries a high water table and behaves differently under a foundation than the till above it. Lot elevation comes first, then the foundation for settlement and past moisture, then the well and septic, which most properties out here rely on.

Plan on two to three hours for an average home; larger, older or multi-unit properties run longer because there is simply more to document.