Seasonal weather takes a toll on your home in Virginia. Then there are severe weather events that can accelerate the process. With all that, it’s very important to keep up with regular home maintenance. This can help avoid surprise repair bills as well as costly failures.
Routine home maintenance can also pay off when the time comes to sell your home. At that point, your home will require a detailed inspection conducted by a professional home inspector.
In this article, we’ve gathered a listing of top issues you can expect from a home inspection. This can be an excellent method for guiding your ongoing home maintenance efforts.
Top 7 Home Inspection Issues in Virginia
A home inspection’s purpose is to help the buyer determine that they are not buying a home plagued with significant issues. This is a list of issues found here in Virginia as documented by home inspectors.
- 1. Roofing problems. Asphalt shingles normally have a 15 to 40-year lifetime. Wear and tear from wind, hail, and rain can require early replacement. To avoid this, it’s important to keep up with regular maintenance by replacing loose or missing shingles and monitoring other areas. Rubber boots around pipes and damaged attic vents and may also require periodic replacement. Be sure to watch for a sagging roofline due to structural damage, as well as rotting eaves.
- 2. Faulty electrical wiring. This can be particularly challenging for older homes since their wiring systems may not be up to current codes. The inspection will identify whether the breaker box and wiring are compliant. It will also determine whether the capacity meets the needs of your home. It will further point out missing ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets that are required in areas with water, such as kitchens and bathrooms. Other items on the review are loose wires that can be a fire hazard, along with faulty outlets that can pose a shock hazard.
- 3. Attic ventilation and insulation issues. In some cases, owners have incorrectly sealed off attics to prevent heat or air conditioning loss. In addition, older homes may not have adequate attic ventilation or sufficient insulation. Both these problems can be reasonably addressed by installing vents and adding insulation. This also helps lower your heating and cooling costs.
- 4. Poor grading and drainage. It’s essential that the home’s landscape grading moves any water away from the foundation. This is also related to gutters and downspouts that need to move the water off the roof and onto the ground. They need to be in good repair and clear of obstructions. Any water around the foundation can cause cracking along with leaking into the basement or crawl space. A survey conducted by the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors placed this issue at the top of their list with 36% identifying it as the top issue they found.
- 5. Plumbing problems. These problems are usually due to dripping faucets, clogged drains, or leaky pipes under sinks. Leaking pipes can also be found in the basement or crawl space. They can also lead to other more serious problems such as rot and mold. A water heater can also be a source of water damage. In older homes, the heater may not have the required drainage system to protect from leaks or overflows. Rusting can be a big issue for older heaters, requiring replacement.
- 6. Mold in basements. Cracks in basement or crawl space walls can lead to leaks and flooding. Many older homes have crawl space issues that cause excess moisture and the resulting rotting and mold. Mold can be a very serious issue affecting your family’s health. It’s best to work with experts to add drains, insulation, and vapor and moisture barriers to prevent mold in the first place.
- 7. Pest infestation. Wood in contact with the ground along with moisture invites termites into your home. A termite inspection is important along with follow-up treatment and replacement of any damaged wood. Other common pests in Virginia include carpenter bees, powder post beetles, and carpenter ants. All cause damage that can jeopardize the structural integrity of your home.
A survey of home buyers conducted by Porch found that 86% of home inspections identified something that needed to be fixed. Ranked at the top were roof, electrical, and window problems. Gutters, downspouts, landscape grading, and foundation issues were also big items on their list.
We Can Help with Foundation Issues
As foundation repair experts, we have a great deal of experience identifying and repairing home issues throughout Virginia from our offices in Appomattox, Roanoke, Virginia Beach, and the Richmond area. As you review home repair challenges, we suggest consulting the professionals at JES Foundation Repair for a free inspection and repair estimate.
