If you are considering buying a home that has been sitting vacant for a long period of time there are some important things that you need to do in addition to a general home inspection. We were contacted recently by a buyer that is purchasing a home that has been sitting for just over 10 years. This is an extremely long time for a home to be vacant because the general maintenance that you provide your home has been neglected which in turn causes bigger issues.
The first thing you want to do if you are purchasing the home is make sure your inspector understands how long the house has been sitting vacant and then you want to make sure that they go beyond the normal inspection process.
Performing The Structural Inspection
Everything from roofing to foundations have to be looked at carefully. A small leak in flashing, siding or roofing can end up causing wood rot on structural members that might go unnoticed.
You want to take close notice of your downspouts and the water runoff around the home. Make sure that the foundation has not been undermined by years of drainage along the foundation. Go inside the basement and look at the rim board that connects all of your joists and the sill plate board that sits on top of the foundation wall. Make sure there is no rot in the ends of the joists. If there is damage you will need to repair it before you can move into the home. Unfortunately this can be very expensive because floor joist are difficult to replace especially if they are the newer I-Joists.
Take close notice of the concrete floors and walls. Look for cracks but also look for any signs of water penetration. Make sure that your sump pump is in good working order and it hasn’t been covered in silt.
The structural walls of the home should be looked at for any settling that has happened. A small crack in the drywall might not mean much but if you see that the drywall might have mold from water infiltration you might want to pull the drywall to take a look. Exterior walls are all load bearing but so are walls that are around steps and beams that might support a loft. Make sure that all load bearing and structural members are inspected and noted.
Damage Due To Pests
The next thing that is important is to look for any damage that might be caused by pests. This includes inspecting most of your services including your Electrical, HVAC and Plumbing. Whether it is cockroaches or mice there can be a serious amount of damage that occurs because they have moved into your home.
Rodents love to hide in furnaces and eat electrical insulation. You should perform visual inspections where you can including your duct work and where you can’t such as electrical in walls you might have to just perform continuity tests. Another option is using a small hole saw to cut into the drywall and then using an inspection bore scope. Bore scopes can even be purchased by the home owner for about $50 or less that can operate off a laptop or your cellphone to inspect the inside of walls where you suspect damage.
Chimneys are another place that pests like to live. Whether its a fireplace, wood burning stove or a furnace chimney you do not want to operate the system before you inspect it. Anything from Birds, Bees, Bats, Raccoon and Squirrels might have taken up living in your chimney.
Carpet or any furniture is another problem and bugs such as mites and fleas can make homes in any fabric type material. For the most part you are going to be better off just replacing the carpet for this reason and others.
While walking the home look for insect and pest droppings. Termite or carpenter ant damage can look like a pile of saw dust and mouse damage might look like a pile of chewed up carpet formed into a nest.
Final Note
General walk through inspections that most home inspectors charge a couple hundred dollars for will probably not be enough for any home that has been sitting for an extended time.
You really need to inspect every part of the home including its structural and services equipment and much of this can be done by the potential buyer but whenever there is any doubt you will need a professional.
Things like your Gas and Water meter are normally changed by the provider on a regular basis. You want to ask them at the time that they are turning your services on if they can update your meters to the newest units if they haven’t been changed for over 10 years. State Utility Commissions normally require regular change outs but you can also make a request. Electrical Service Meters may or may not need changing but you can ask. Its not a bad thing to start with fresh meters.
Remember that your shingles may be at the end of life and if there has been damage that hasn’t been repaired you might have problems with the plywood roof decking or roof joists if leaks caused damage. You want to replace your rubber pipe flashing for your vent pipes on your roof as they are almost surely cracking and will eventually fail and leak if they haven’t already. They are relatively inexpensive and you should only need a couple. Check any flashing around your chimney too.
Expect to do a lot of servicing to your home to get it back in best shape but just because it has been sitting doesn’t mean you can’t do most of the work yourself.