Your Walls Don’t Talk-43 Secrets Your House May be Keeping from you

Juan Jimenez-The Richmond Home Inspector

Oh the places you don’t go…

The adventure of home ownership has it’s ups and downs. Homeowners have creative freedom, build equity, and nurture their nest egg. Homeowners also get to plunge their own toilets, mend their own leaks, and patch their own walls. There is no landlord to call and complain about. While wobbly toilets, meager air conditioning, and impotent water heaters are easy to notice, there are other defects that often go unnoticed. There are places in the home that homeowners don’t frequent, and it is in these uninhabited places that the most crippling defects often lurk and fester.

In our anecdotal home inspection experience, the deficiencies observed in the places that are out of mind-and out of sight, often make or break a deal.

The roof…

Homeowners rarely have need to mount the roof, but there are a litany of things that could be wrong. There could be broken, damaged, or missing shingles. There may be moss, lichens, or foliage eating away at the shingles. Broken, cracked, or missing plumbing vent boots invite rain into the attic. The chimney might be coping with a cracked crown, damaged spark arrestor, or broken tiles.  Punctures, blistering or nail pops riddling the roof is definitely a possibility. Most of these problems don’t reveal themselves immediately. They often go unnoticed until there is a ceiling stain, which by then, is just the tip of the iceberg.

The attic…

We may occasionally visit the attic to grab the Christmas decorations, but how often do homeowners traverse the whole thing. If they did, they might meet some bats, rats, starlings, or squirrels. There could be mold, fungus, or rot, from leaks, or condensation. The condensation could be from broken ducts, displaced insulation, clogged ventilation, or bathroom fans terminating in the attic. It’s possible that insulation is contact with your furnace vents or non IC rated lights which is a fire hazard. There could be broken rafters, cut trusses, or damaged joists. Everything can seem quiet below while problems mature above in the attic.

The crawlspace…

The crawlspace is often the bane of the home selling process. Rarely do homeowners muster the courage to go spelunking below their home, but this is where we often find the most serious transgressions. The crawlspace can be immersed in water, swarmed with pests, or engulfed in mold. The insulation often gets commandeered by mice for warm, cozy abodes. Maybe the insulation saturated with water and mold from humidity and condensation. Joists can be rotted and soft to the touch, or perhaps are being gnawed away by a militia of termites. There could be lagoons from leaking pipes or busted sewer lines. It’s not uncommon to find lint stalactites formed from broken dryer vents, or to feel a cool breeze from a broken HVAC duct. The crawlspaces are dirty, and scary, and gross, but neglecting them is a risky gamble that is often costly.

 

These areas need attention and need to be monitored, or inspected regularly. The best thing you can do for your home, and your wallet,  is to hire a home inspector annually to keep your dream of home ownership alive. If nothing else, have them check out these covert areas to find the mole hills before they become mountains. An ounce or prevention is worth a pound of cure!