ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD.
Adages were coined by humans for humans to follow as examples to follow the path to righteousness. Adages can be used for almost any phase and situation in life including when would-be homeowners, who are looking to buy their piece of peace with their life-long savings, to purchase their dream-come-true-property.
Walking through the front door of a place that you might call your home in the near future, it’s important for homeowners to not get swayed by the dazzling décor. It’s not ever-lasting because you don’t take the décor with you – unless the seller has agreed to give it to you. It is the structure that is going to remain with you, and if there is something wrong with the structure, you might as well not proceed with the purchase.
If you are looking to have your building inspected, what are the things that you must always look for, other than the dazzling décor?
- Are there water stains or corrosion to the walls backing onto the baths and showers?
Try to look at walls backing into these areas for signs of moisture penetration or leaking water. Though this is not a structural defect, it can have you burning a hole in your pockets for maintenance or repair work afterwards.
- Check the ceilings for sagging
Look at the ceilings and check whether or not they are fixed firmly into place or if they seem to have a ‘parachute appearance’. This can be easily done with a shining torch reflected across ceilings. The focus-shining light happens to bring out all deflections and defects in the ceiling sheets.
- Check inside the cabinets for wet areas
All cabinets must be opened to check if there is a smell of dampness or mildew. Such odours are usually indications of water leaks or even rising dampness.
- Check the walls for large cracks
The internal and external walls must be visually checked to note all large wall cracks. If there are cracks more than 2.0mm in width or properties that show excessive cracking, it can be a major cause of concern and must be properly inspected by all building inspectors.
- Do the bathrooms show evidence of mould?
Recently cleaned mould mostly looks like clouds on walls and ceilings. Mould mostly needs to be cleaned by a professional. This detailed process might be very expensive.
Furthermore, there arises the question of the initial cause of the mould. It is just a result of bad upkeep or is there more behind the damage?
- Fine cracks can occur in the plasters of the internal wall
Internal wall plastering needs to be checked for very fine hairline cracks – map like. Caused mostly by the incorrect application of wall plastering at the time of construction, they seem to spread all over the property real quick once they have been found.
- Check the external roof lines
The roof lines need to be externally checked if possible. The lines must be straight and free from all deflections.
- Check for rusting on the roof gutters or on the inside edges.
Roof gutters may look great from the ground but if checked from the top, they might appear corroded requiring replacement.
- Check that the roof downpipes are running to storm water drains
Check the external boundaries of your home and ensure roof downpipes dumping the waste into the storm water soak wells and not onto the ground. You will also need to look for signs of flooding or excess water flow around the roof downpipe base – this can be an indication of well soaking being improperly designed or incorrect functioning. Installing a storm water soak well on any established property can be an expensive job as paving concrete beds and other material may need to be excavated to install the drains.
- Are there drain holes on the external perimeter walls of the home?
Drain holes are important for all multi-storied buildings. There has to be small holes evident both below and above the door and window frames and along all suspended slab levels. These holes are mostly placed approximately 1200 mm apart, allowing water to escape from wall cavities. Without these holes, water penetrates the internal walls of the homes and causes ongoing and expensive maintenance work.
Though these are suggestions to look into when looking at a building, an accurate analysis can only be done if a professional building inspector is present at the premises. Qualified building inspectors working with Inspex are here at Brisbane and Gold Coast to help you. Having a professional inspection will give you the peace of mind that you bought the right home, saving you many heart aches in the future.