When you first start looking at the exterior of the home that you are thinking of buying, there are a few things that you’ll want to consider from the outside. After you’ve stood back and tried to eyeball the walls to see how straight they look and given the grading in the yard a once over, to make sure that you won’t have any water coming into the house, it’s time to get a little closer to the actual structure and take a good look at the paint. Remember that craftsmanship suffers when the contractor is in a hurry to get things done and there are various ways that you can see a rush job. The paint is one of them.
There are three basic points that you’ll want to note about the exterior paint of any home and the first of these is you’ll want to take note of any peeling or blistering that is present. This defect occurs when moisture is trapped under the existing coat of paint. This moisture usually comes through cracks between the boards or moldings on the outside of the house and once it makes it’s way into a wall, it generally tries to find a way back out. Here, it is generally pushed through the wood to blister the paint. Any home inspection will note the appearance of blistering paint as a symptom of some kind of moisture problem.
Other times the moisture is inside the home, where there is too much humidity and not enough ventilation. This is a common problem in snowy areas where the winters are long. Condensation on the inside of the house can also mean that the interior walls are not properly insulated since the warm air leaving the home meets the cold air from outside. Usually when there is an unusual amount of condensation present during a home inspection, there is more often than not some kind of moisture problem present. Remember that if the problem gets severe enough, the wood will not hold paint.
If you see these defects during an inspection, ask when the home was last painted since a good paint job will last for six to seven years. If blisters show on a recently painted home, the cause is almost always moisture on an inside wall. When you go through the place, having determined that there is some sort of moister problem, make sure to check the thickness of the wall inside as well as the type of insulation used. Often, using the improper type of insulation will cause the wall to retain moisture as the warm air from the inside meets the cold air from outside.
home-inspection
