Facts That Matter
Did you know
All of the following problems and more can occur, and are likely to occur on some level, after you sign a closing contract on your home. Wear-and-tear, system obsolecense, weathering, and pest invasion/infestation do not recognize what a closing contract is, but a Home Maintenance Inspection can help you to prevent problems before they become an expensive reminder that that proper preventative maintenance is a priority worth taking seriously.
• Most home inspections occur at the time a home is bought or sold. Buyer-seller inspections may assure that a home is suitable for sale or purchase, but buyer-seller inspections don't prevent natural wear-and-tear on a home. Even after the closing contract is signed, the structural and mechanical systems of a home continue to deteriorate.
• The average family occupies a home for eleven years. This means that there are eleven years of damage that accrue on the home from normal usage, obsolecense of building materials, obsolecense of mechanical systems, inclement weather, and more.
• Heat causes building materials to expand. As building materials expand due to extreme or continuous exposure to heat (such as from the Sun), those materials can, and often will, twist, warp, bend, pull apart, and cause breaches. These breaches can, in turn, expose your home to pests and moisture. Long-time exposure can then lead to extensive damage caused by nesting, water-rot, rust, loss of insulation value, electrical shorts, mechanical system failures, and more.
• Gas or wood-burning systems produce CO gas (carbon monoxide) that, if not properly ventilated, can lead to potential health problems or poisoning.
• One-in-fifteen homes contain a high-level of Radon gas. Radon, a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that emulates from the ground, causes approximately 20,000 deaths per year in the United States according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).
• Toxic mold, such as Stachybotrys or Chaetomium, can lead to chronic bronchitis, learning disabilities, mental deficiencies, heart problems, cancer, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple chemical sensitivity, bleeding lungs and much more.
• Indoor air quality can be worsened by smoke, pet dander, pet hair, human dander, dust, invading pest feces, invading pest carcasses, and more. The heating and air systems in your home can distribute polluted air to all parts of your home if not properly filtered and vented.
• Improper insulation can lead to an increase of up to thirty-percent in annual energy costs.
• Improperly-grounded electrical systems can lead to fires. You typically will not know that your home's electrical system is damaged until systems begin to malfunction (short-circuits) or after a fire has already occurred.
• Water and heat can cause structural components in your home to contract and expand. This can cause adjoining components to pull each other apart thus reducing the structural integrity of your home.
• A single plant growing out of a crack in your driveway is strong enough to completely lift and push-apart large slabs of concrete. Mother nature will do her best to plant a tree in the middle of your driveway, and she will succeed if ignored.
• A cracked chimney or other improperly-flashed vent on your roof can cause a small waterfall down the inside walls of your home. This can lead to severe moisture damage, structural rotting, mold growth, infestation of insects, damage to electrical systems, and more.