In our case, the inspector said the home was in good shape except for a couple of expected problems. For one, the roof needs re-shingling and second, as might be expected with a house built in the '50s, the basement was not waterproof. You can see it in the picture below, which was taken after three days of constant rain. On one side of the house, the floor is damp and the foundation wall is discoloured. This discolouration is called efflorescence and it is an accumulation of crystalline salts on the masonary walls. This mineral residue is what's left after moisture, which seeped through the walls, has evaporated. There is moisture on this wall because the grading of the soil outside the wall slopes in toward the wall. Hence, water that falls on the ground drains toward the wall and then seeps down into the ground against the foundation. It would be easy to fix this problem by fixing the grading outside. However, to be sure the basement will stay dry, it really should be wrapped in a plastic membrane.
In modern homes, the basement is wrapped in a waffle-like plastic membrane, which allows water to flow down the wall to a perforated plastic drain tile that sits beside the footings of the basement. The drain tile (weeping tile) is usually covered with coarse gravel or crushed stone and, in urban areas, is connected to the city storm sewers to take water away. This keeps the basement of modern homes nice and dry. But in older homes, this type of treatment was not done. Before our basement can be properly finished, it should be waterproofed, otherwise water that may seep through the walls will cause mold to form inside the newly drywalled basement walls. Besides being smelly and unsightly, it is also a health hazard.
Waterproofing the basement requires digging out the dirt outside the basement walls and installing the plastic membrane and weeping tile. This will cost about $20,000. Re-shingling the roof will cost about $10,000.
In addition to this, the inspector told us that it would not be unusual for the sewer line from the house to city sewer to be in rough shape and may need replacing (it is 50 years old after all). For about $400, we had Mr. Rooter inspect the sewer with a camera, which confirmed that the sewer, while not blocked, was corroded in several places and had holes in it. While it is not really a problem right now, if we ever had a tree root grow into the sewer, the necessary cabling or pressure flush to clear the way would most likely cause irreparable damage to the sewer. The cost to replace the sewer line could be as high as $10,000.
So, we see that there are a fair number of expenses that we should plan on after we take ownership of the house. However, given that we are planning on renovating and may be adding an addition on to the house, the cost of the waterproofing and sewer repairs could be cheaper because the heavy equipment required for digging will already be on site.
As mentioned above, a home inspection is essential before you make an offer on a house. However, it also pays to educate yourself. A great book that I really liked was "The Holmes Inspection: Everything You Need To Know Before You Buy or Sell Your Home", by Mike Holmes. It is quite informative about what to look for in a house, but is also quite informative about the actual home inspection process as well.
Mike Holmes was on the radio recently talking about picking a home inspector. According to him, the biggest mistake people make when buying a new home is waiting until the last minute to pick a home inspector and they end up with someone who they know nothing about. As it turns out, not all inspectors are created equal. In fact, it takes only two weeks of training to become a licensed inspector. For all you know, that person may never have even picked up a hammer before. Mike suggests lining up your inspector as soon as you decide to start looking for a home. That way, you can check him/her out thoroughly before you need to call on him/her. As with all contractors, Mike suggests asking lots of questions and checking references. Mike says you should pick an inspector who has worked in the building trade for some time before becoming an inspector. If you live in Toronto, you can use Mike, who runs his own home inspection company. His inspections cost between $1000 and $1500 and take all day to complete. He brings a thermal camera and a snake camera with him so he can find all kinds of surprises behind walls that normal inspections could not find.. He is more expensive than any inspector I have ever heard about before, but you know with Mike that it is going to be extremely thorough.
