LEAKY FOUNDATIONS OFTEN ARE UNDETECTED BY HOME INSPECTORS
Question #1:
What’s the most common question I am asked by the home buyers who hire my company? The answer is easy: for better or worse, indoor air quality is a major concern these days and “did you find any mould” is easily the most common question I am asked. Although it’s often not warranted, mould and its perceived health risks are the number one concern that my clients have. These days, when cancer and other environmental diseases are at an all time high, it’s not hard to understand their sentiments.
What is the most common source of complaints and call-backs against home inspectors? The answer is equally easy: Leaky foun
dations and wet basements are, by far, the most common source of complaints against home inspectors.
It’s no great surprise that questions 1 & 2 are so closely related and, as often as not, they are really just different symptoms of the same problems.
Spotting the signs of a wet basement and determining the extent of the problem can sometimes be next to impossible, especially in homes with finished walls and floors at the basement level. No matter how well equipped or experienced an inspector is, there will be times when detecting leaky foundations will include a heavy dose of detective work and conjecture.
However, with a bit of experience, the right attitude, and a few pieces of space age equipment, a home inspector should be able recognize the signs and symptoms of a leaky basement almost all the time. Of course, there will always be times, like at this time of year, when basement moisture will be so obvious it will practically jump up and slap you in the face, at least if you’re using an infrared camera.
Since 2007, my company has yet to have any complaints from clients about leaky basements, touch wood. While it may be just good fortune, I am inclined to think I must be doing something right; here are a few of the things I look for, to get a read on the conditions in a basement or crawlspace.
- Age of House – To generalize, the foundations of old houses will almost always leak when put to the test. Old foundations (35+ years) probably won’t have a perimeter drainage system, are rarely damp-proofed, and can be counted on to have cracks, cold joints and, quite often, honeycombing of the concrete; all conditions that can be counted on to be water permeable. Chronic sources of moisture associated with older foundations (downspouts, etc.), are an obvious red flag that demand a thorough basement inspection.
- Roof Drainage Systems – Are designed to remove the hundreds, or even thousands, of gallons of water that, at times, will be discharging from the roof. It only makes sense that homes that are missing working gutter systems will far more prone to have wet basements and other water problems; all that water has to end up somewhere.
- Site and Soil Conditions – Can be major factors that many people will often overlook when considering a home. Run-off water is the enemy and the site conditions can make a big difference in how much of it is present. Water receiving sites, like at the base of a hill, can be wet and soggy, while water shedding sites, like at the top of a hill, will retain far less moisture and will be dry most of the time. Finally, it never hurts to spend a minute thinking about the types of soils at the site; moisture will quickly drain away through sands and gravels but may be retained for weeks by silty soils or soils with lots of clay.
- Odors – Humans have developed an incredible sense of smell over the millennium, too bad so many of us are reluctant to rely on it. That musty smell that we all recognize should not be ignored, in a basement, or anyplace else. It is almost always a good indicator of moisture issues that should be rectified.
As I said, it is always nice to have a bit of modern equipment at my disposal. Infrared cameras, moisture meters and air sampling equipment can go a long way towards alleviating the concerns of nervous home buyers. Guesswork is not a part of my services, I am one of the few home inspectors who takes air sampling equipment, used to determine mold species and concentrations, to all my home inspections.
