Home Inspection Tip

Buying a house? Here is a home inspection tip: Better check the water. And I am not talking about the water pipes and plumbing. I am talking about the kind of water that is suppose to be outside, and ends up inside. A closer look at the roof and the yards grading will give you a better idea of the chance you will end up with water damage. Personally, I believe the grading of the yard is more important than any other part of the potential water troubles. There are many houses being built today with a backyard having a high slop upwards. Normally, you will see some sort of retaining wall, and there may even be a French drain to help with the water, but why take the chance. If there is a hill going down towards your house, this means water will be flowing towards your house. Does this even make sense?

My last house was exactly like this. And one winter, we paid for it. The natural flow of the drainage was down the hill, into the French drain system, around the retaining wall, and d own through the backyards of everyone else. Well, it snowed about 18-24 inches the day before. The next day, it started to rain, and it was in the 40s, and the snow started to melt. It melted so fast, all of the snow on the hill over flowed the retaining wall. Our french drains were clogged up with snow, and show/slush mixture was not letting the water drain the normal path. Everything just backed up. My lower section of the house was on a slab, so once the water was over 2-3 inches deep, it was coming in the house. Talk about a nightmare. We eventually got everything fixed back up, but it was always a worry every time after that.

Another concern is obviously the roof. You need to have a good home inspector to inspect the roof. This will save you many a headaches in the long run. Ensure there is still atleast 5 years on the shingles. If they are starting to break apart, crumble, and crack, these need to be replaced. Have the sellers get a roof inspector and certify it to be free of defects. It will only cost the home owners about $125. If they need to fix it, they can either fix it, or give you a credit towards fixing the roof. Just make sure there will be no problems.

Always check the corners of the roof, as well as any adjoining angles, where the roof may overlap. These are good spots for water to seep in, and start to cause damage. I even had a problem once where we had the wrong type of roof installed. Our home inspector never caught it when we bought the house, but their home inspector did when we sold it. The angle on the roof was not enough to support an asphalt shingle roof. It should have been a tarp type roof. Like I new this? We eventually has this fixed as well.

A good inspector can help you with all of these issues. Remember, the yard and the roof deserve special attention. Many issues inside the house are cosmetic and can be fixed. Just remember this home inspection tip: But the structural stuff, roofs, and yards, are items you need to know about before you buy the house.