Buying a Home – An experienced Building Inspectors Advice

A lot of people when buying a home walk through it and thinks its all OK and subsequently don’t bother obtaining a qualified Building Inspector to assess it.

We have been doing inspections since 2004 and I have seen numerous times when unforseen problems and associated costs have arisen after buying a home.

This can be due to not getting a building inspection, not getting a competent and qualified building inspector to do it or they just think the home looks OK.

Here’s some advice to homebuyers that Safehome Inspectors believe may be helpful.

Don’t get your carpenter mate to have a look at it. We have seen this occurhundreds of times and we shake our heads. The main reasons for this are as follows –

• Your friend does not have the equipment to test for termites like the termatrac radar, moisture meter and timber testing equipment,
• They don’t even carry a ladder or a torch with them, to check the sub floor and roof space.
• They don’t own a moisture meter to check for rising damp that has been covered or leaks from shower recesses that you cant see.
• They do the inspection in the ”open times” which is usually 15 minutes which is not enough time to conduct a proper house inspection.
• They probably have no idea of the antics of termites including what they look like, where they are most likely to enter a home from and the conducive conditions that attract them.
• They won’t have insurance so if they miss something you will be fighting your ex-friend for compensation.

Don’t think cracks in masonry walls or internal means the house will fall down.
Cracking in older homes is quite normal and somewhat expected. Cracking is categorised from category 1 to category 4 by the Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2015 and also AS 2870 – 1996 (Residential Slabs & Footings Construction). Not all cracks are serious and the cause settlement cracking can be many things. Cracks above windows can be related to some shrinkage in the timber frame as all timber has moisture content. Cracks in bricks above windows can be due to lintel rust. Large step cracks in masonry walls can be due to settlement in footings and foundations that is more serious. Cracks can be live or dormant and sometimes they never get worse. An experienced and qualified house inspector will be able to assist you and if you make your own assumptions then you may miss out on a house for the wrong reasons.