When you are buying a new house or even when you have lived in one for so long, sometimes we notice things that we believe are possibly dangerous. Structural damages are not always dangerous. But they are not to be ignored either. While it is best to get a contractor that you trust to inspect your home thoroughly, you might want to take a good look yourself first. If you are planning to do the latter and see if you can find more damages, look out for these signs:
Exterior Wall Cracks
Look for cracks that emanate from doors and windows. Take time to study them if you see any. See if one side is slightly higher than the other or if they appear to have already been repaired before.
Moving Components
Check to see if some of the building components are moving apart, especially where a chimney connects to a wall or the lines where walls meet.
Cracked Window Panes
Windows with panes that are cracked mean there’s a buildup of structural stress in a wall. If you’re about to buy a house, check if there’s any missing doorways too. Sometimes the frame is so out of square that the door is removed as a quick-fix because otherwise, it won’t function.
Sloping Floors and Soft Spots
Walk around and feel the floors when you do to see if there are any soft spots or sloping areas. Turn off any distracting sounds so you would hear any creaking floor boards and loose floor tiles as well.
When you find any problems with the floor, wall, and ceiling inside your home, see if they are correlated to the ones in the exterior. Do some of them align? For example, did you see a distress on your exterior wall and find that it’s connected to a big crack across your concrete floor? If you live in an older home, some settlement cracks should of course be expected but it would be better to have professionals figure them out.
Take note of all your findings and run them with your trusted contractor. If anything rings dangerous to him, he might suggest checking them out himself.
Whether it’s for an inspection to see the value of a particular home, or a routine general checkup that you like to perform yourself, it is always best to check for signs of structural damage thoroughly to make sure that you do not miss anything that could possibly be dangerous in the future.
