Fix Them Now!!
Buying or Selling a Home?
As a Board Certified Master Inspector, I would like to share with you 5 profit eating home defects that are easily fixable; at low or no cost to the seller of the home. These are things, when discovered during a home inspection most buyers ask the seller to fix; and by fix I mean hire a licensed contractor to repair. Often costing the seller of the home hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Here are 5 great ways to save that expense before listing your home.
1. Peeling Exterior Paint
Yes, the Shabby Chic look is in, but not for your exterior cladding of your home. Often on VA and FHA loans exposed exterior wood may often be called out as a loan condition. This means the Buyer of the home may not receive the proper funding to buy the home unless the home is repaired and in some circumstances completely repainted; which may cost the seller of the home thousands of dollars. So grab your old paint cans and touch up all of your exterior paint prior to the home inspection and appraisal.
2. Overhead Garage Doors
Has a garage door opening woke you up or caused you to cringe? Squeaking and noisy overhead garage doors can be a problem; not just to your ears but to your wallet. An overhead garage door that is noisy can mean lots of different things (out of balance, bad spring bent track). Most of the time the door just needs a tune up or proper lubrication. What a squeaky door says to a home Inspector and a potential buyer; lack of maintenance. That means the potential buyer of the home may be a little more uneasy, wondering what else was not maintained, and may ask for other small maintenance repairs to be made throughout the home; which otherwise may be overlooked.
3. Gutters & Downspout Extensions
How many times have you walked around your home looking at the condition of your gutters & downspouts? As a home inspector I look at gutters everyday. They take all of the rainwater that lands on your roof covering safely away from your home; This prevents flooded basements, wet crawlspaces, and sinking slab on grade foundations. One Missing downspout extension can leave hundreds of gallons of water right next to your foundation. A 6 dollar piece of downspout metal is all that sometimes protects a million dollar home from moisture damage. Take a walk around your home make sure your gutters are not leaking, have the proper slope and the water is being safely taken away from the home.
4. Caulking and Grouting
Caulking and grouting is your main defence against water damage throughout your home; areas like around your tubs, sinks, shower pans and doors, windows, exterior doors, tiles, thresholds, flooring, and even baseboards. Check around your tub spouts as well, sometimes they are loose and just need to be caulked. As a home inspector I often have to write up moisture damage to many areas of the home that could have been easily protected with a 4 dollar tube of caulking or grouting. Poor caulking mixed with water over time will cause damage. It may take weeks or even years to see the damage and living with it every day, you may not notice your baseboard in the bathroom swelling and staining. But when a home is inspected a great inspector will see the damage and call it out in the report, Nine times out of ten the buyer will ask “Well, is there mold” ….. Mold testing is expensive and remediation is even more money.
5. GFCI Protected Outlets
Ground Fault Circuit interrupter or GFCI, commonly refer to as those little red and black buttons in the middle of outlets. GFCI’s protect against water electrocution by cutting the power off when a ground fault occurs. An example of this is a hair dryer falling into a bathtub or sink that is full of water. These outlets are required for safety. THey need to be in many places of the home including the bathrooms, kitchen, garage, wet bar, unfinished spaces, basements, sump pumps, on the exterior of the home and laundry rooms. Think of it this way, if there is water there should be a GFCI. Most GFCI cost about 10 dollars. If a Home Inspector calls out missing GFCI protection on a home inspection report most electricians charge between 60 and 80 dollars per outlet to repair.
Thanks for reading.
I wish you you and your family a safe home. If you would like a copy of The Safe Home Book, visit my website at www.springstopinspector.com you can get your copy there.
Mark Jones, CMI, CPI, BPI
Owner of Springs Top Inspector LLC.
