Water water everywhere: a reason to inspect your own home

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Published Date 12/21/2023

As a homeowner, you know it's your responsibility to maintain your home and keep it safe. So why not look at it from the point of view of what a professional inspector might find if you decided to sell it? It’s an exercise that may well have you thanking yourself for it later on.

While scary structural problems, like anything from mold to a cracked foundation to decaying beams might pop into your head, Realtor.com’s Jamie Wiebe says it’s interesting to note what truly gets a home inspector’s blood boiling.

“The three things that are going to damage your house most are water, water, and water,” says Washington-based inspector Larry Stamp. After all, most of those “scary structural problems” stem from water. Water causes mold, cracked foundations and even decaying beams.

If you’re not sure if water’s worth worrying about, here are some ways to see if your home’s at risk.

First, wobble the toilet. Does it slide from side to side? “We’re not talking about just a wiggly base,” says Wiebe. “What you’re looking for is actual movement along the floor, even if it’s just a few millimeters or so.” California-based inspector Jay Marlene says that’s a very dangerous few millimeters that could indicate a “common, slow leak around the base of the toilet that’s damaging your subfloor.”

Now study the tiles around the shower. Missing grout is indicated by thin, black lines. Water can easily seep into the bathroom walls and subfloors through those tiny cracks, Marlette says to give the tiles a hard tap. The resulting sound should be high-pitched; if not, either the tiling was never properly bonded or the glue has loosened. Either way, it’s a sure sign of a current or impending leak.

Let’s go outside now. When you surround your home with too much shrubbery or trees, you might be putting your home at risk of water intrusion. Wiebe says if you’re considering a yard renovation, make sure to engage a qualified landscaper. If you’ve purchased a home with significant foliage, make sure you have an inspector check for adequate clearance between plants and your home—otherwise, Stamp says, it can lead to high moisture and rot damage. As for decking, the hard truth is that wood and dirt should never touch. Period.

Here’s one you may never have thought about: Look at the space between doors and the floors of carpeted rooms. If your doors were cut too close to the carpet, heating a closed room can turn the air moist and water vapor can rot the walls from the inside out. To an inspector, it’s a big deal. A huge deal. So always plan to leave about a half-inch of clearance, depending on the bulk and height of your carpet.

Now shine a flashlight on your ceilings. Unless you’re in a newer or recently painted home, Wiebe says chances are good you can see the obvious brown-colored bubbles that indicate a leaky ceiling with your bare eyes. Marlette recommends shining a flashlight obliquely on the ceiling and looking for distorted shadows, “kind of like a welt.”

If your home doesn’t pass the water test, however, don’t panic. The sooner you address the problem immediately reduces the chance of it causing major structural damage down the line. “After all,” Wiebe says, “Nothing irritates an inspector more than complacency.”

Realtor, TBWS

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Bobbie Jo Haggard, NMLS 92472;
Licensed to do business in Washington & Oregon.

Heartland Mortgage, Inc. NMLS# 3205; Office(509) 529-3280
NMLS Consumer Access website: (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org)