Houses, like people, need to be maintained. We get yearly check-ups to make sure we’re healthy, and that everything is functioning normally. But when it comes to our homes, often our biggest financial investments, the only time we get them checked out is when we’re preparing to sell. Giving your house periodic ‘physicals’, especially if it’s up there in years, could save you money and a headache down the line.
Home inspector Jim Delgado of Delgado & Associates sat down via Zoom with Lou Vivas, a real estate agent with Viva the Life, to talk about why home inspections aren’t just for houses on the market.
Delgado, who has been doing home inspections for 20 years, says it’s important to get things like your roof, drainage pipes, and basement walls regularly checked. He has his house inspected about every 10 years to help ensure that simple problems don’t become major issues.
He recommends having an inspector check your basement walls with both a thermal imager and a moisture meter. This is definitely a must if you’re looking at buying a house where water damage may be hiding behind a new carpet and fresh paint. It’s also good to do semi-regularly in your own home. DC is a humid place, and moisture in walls can often go undetected. But if you allow it to continue unchecked, mold can set in, leading to a much bigger and more costly repair later on.
If you experienced flooding in DC’s recent storms, there might not be a way to fully prevent that reoccurrence in a similar or worse storm. However, you can set your house up for a better likelihood of success. Making sure your storm drains are clear is a great idea, as is hiring someone to run a plumbing camera down your storm drain to make sure it’s clear all the way to the street. Drainage lines sometimes crack, allowing soil to seep in. Not only could this lead to a backup during a rainstorm, but the last thing you want to deal with is a corroded or broken drainage line in the middle of winter when everything is frozen over, Delgado warns.
The key is being proactive and acting preventatively rather than reacting to a problem once it’s too late. Save yourself the headache and money. Keep your house healthy.
Thinking of buying or selling?
Lou Vivas
Viva the Life Properties
lou@vivathelife.com
202.243.7700 x 992
www.VivatheLife.com
