I am going to share some Home Inspector Tips with you today.
When you start looking for a new home for your family, here are a few things that you should keep in the back of your mind as you view a potential home for the first time.
Walk around the exterior of the home and look at the foundation wall closely, is the foundation wall made of poured concrete or concrete block? Determine if there any cracks in the foundation wall and keep a mental note of where they are.
Foundation walls made of concrete block, have a greater potential for numerous problems, water leakage, structural failure.
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Look at the grading around the home, is the lot graded in order for the water to drain away from the house, or has the grading around the home settled and now drains towards the house?
Are the downspouts connected to a pipe that goes into the ground? If so, keep in mind that this downspout will need to be disconnected in most cases, and should spill onto a concrete splashpad on the ground in a manner to drain away from the home, and not adversely impacting on surrounding properties. Downspouts that are improperly discharged, create the potential for water in the basement. This is one of the most common problems for water leakage, another common problem for wet basements is the lack of eavestroughs on homes.
Check in frequently, stay tuned, I will be updating and continue my tips, time permitting. In the mean time if you have any questions please feel free to email me, and I will email you back within 24 hours.