Dallas, TX (PRWEB) December 13, 2011
In almost all cases, a professional inspection is required by law and, most likely, by the landing institution, before any home sale can be completed. Once the professional inspection is completed, the pro's at premierfoundationrepair.com strongly suggests that the prospective homeowners do some of their own looking around.
"Obviously, no one has more at heart the interest of the homeowners than the homeowners themselves. Should the inspector miss something, the new homeowner could save thousands of dollars and lots of headaches by catching potential foundation repairs themselves", says Julie Goines, CEO of Premier Foundation Repair Inc.
Here is a short but very important list of items to look for:
1. Do a slow walk around the perimeter of the house, possibly during and after a storm. This may sound a bit strange but any issues with drainage are easier to be highlighted during a heavy rain storm or shortly after.
2. If you are doing the walk-around during the rain storm, closely inspect the gutters and downspout all around the house. Look for leaking corners and overflowing gutters. Also, check the downspouts and make sure they are channeling the water away from the foundation of the house either with a long drain above ground or in some sort of underground drainage system.
3. If you are walking around the house after the storm look for standing water around the foundation. You do not want to see any standing water within 10 feet from the foundation’s perimeter. You also don’t want to see dirt pulling away from the foundation slab and exposing the bottom of the foundation.
4. On the outside walls, look for separations in the mortar between the bricks and or cracking in the bricks themselves. Pay close attention the foundation’s corners for signs of cracking. Most the stress in a foundation is pointed at the corners. Also make sure the dirt or grade is not too high over the foundation ‘s height.
5. Inspect bushes and trees around the house for signs of possible over grown roots system. Mature trees with large root systems should not be closer than 20 feet from the foundations. Most of the damage to residence foundations is not caused by a root pushing up of the foundation, although possible. Instead, most of issues occur when large root systems soak up a large quantity of water and with a poorly compacted soil, the foundation looses support. Look for close by sidewalks and walkways to notice if root systems have caused any damages to those nearby structures.
6. Ask neighbors if they had to do foundation repairs on their residences
Once you step inside, there are few more things to check:
1. Make sure all door’s frames are straight and plumb and that the doors close properly or don’t swing open due to being out of square.
2. Look around the corners of the door and windows for cracks in the sheetrock.
3. Wherever tiles are present, look for splitting tiles and separating grout lines.
4. Check for cracks in the garage floor or other concrete floors.
5. Look for separation between molding, walls and ceiling.
6. Look for uneven and sloping floors.
This checklist will greatly reduce the chances of anyone missing a possible issue with the residence foundation and will give you a chance to address the issues before purchasing the house.
If you have any questions or need any help with your inspection, get in touch with the pros at Premier Foundation Repair Inc. for any assistance. They are a Dallas - Ft. Worth foundation repairs company located at 3767 Forest Ln Dallas, TX 75244. They can be reached at (972) 417-0823
This type of soil is very sensitive to moisture, causing large amount of swelling and shrinking depending on how much water is present
