Starting over with new walls and floors can be challenging when issues are revealed inside walls or behind floors. Homeowners regularly encounter unforeseen problems that delay their plans and break their budget, which could result in extra expenses, lost time, frustration, and possible risks for home usability. Such complications are often not really complete surprises, but rather things that have been sort of lurking in the background. This is where a good, performance-based, pre-renovation audit is crucial to find these issues.
In this post, we take a look at the typical hidden problems that you can expect when a home gets renovated and share how you can spot and prevent them from becoming major headaches. If that sounds like a recipe for a smooth remodeling process, you’d be correct. The walls won’t be opened soon enough for you to find out what you will be up against.
What’s Behind the Walls: Electrical and Plumbing Surprises
You never really know what’s behind walls till you open them. Older houses can have outdated or improperly executed wiring and plumbing. And while the outside might look great, it could be covering up nightmares like aluminum wiring, cloth insulation or dangerous wiring.
Old-fashioned electrical systems that haven’t been properly updated in 50 years cannot possibly handle today’s kitchen appliances or even simple lighting without tripping breakers or overheating. Plumbing problems can be as insidious; decades-old galvanized pipes might rot from the inside out, resulting in low water pressure, dirty water, and pipes that are more likely to burst.
DIY tweaks by a prior owner may seem harmless until you find pipes spliced with mismatched materials or affixed with duct tape. This hidden disorder can become water damage or mold in kitchens and bathrooms if left unattended. Another common difficulty is that your plumbing doesn’t vent properly. This can create smells or slow drains. Many of these issues are disguised unless you look at the inside of the walls, so it makes sense to make this inspection before you begin renovating. You can limit your risk by bringing a licensed electrician and plumber in to estimate the cost of the work, though you can get a good idea by evaluating the areas of concern yourself.
Avoiding inspections may be a time-saver, but you could be faced with an expensive problem, such as sabotaged wiring or a burst pipe. If there’s a problem, walk away.”A basic inspection costs a few hundred dollars but can save you thousands. For borrowers who have chosen to take out a bank statement loan, it’s important to keep unexpected expenses to a minimum.
The loans — based on income verification through personal or business bank statements rather than more traditional W-2 forms — tend to allow for less room for unexpected cost overruns. One of the best home improvement steps you can take before the actual remodel is to be proactive about electrical and plumbing problems.
Foundation and Structural Weaknesses You Can’t Afford to Miss
The security of your home depends on your home’s foundation, by which none of the other fancy features would stand a chance. The presence of cracks in walls, sagging floors and doors that don’t close can all be signs of deep structural issues. These are typical symptoms of foundation movement, rotting framing, or insufficient drainage. These are no small issues, either – left unaddressed, they can quickly turn into major safety hazards and repairs that cost a small fortune.
A sagging floor is merely a symptom of a much deeper problem which, if left alone, will eventually result in the floor collapsing altogether. Sometimes termites or water damage have already compromised the framing, weakening it where you can’t see. Those issues may otherwise remain shrouded until walls come down or floors are ripped up, by which time your renovation plans are well in motion — and your budget may be a lot more annulled. The good news is that red flags often reveal themselves early on (if you know what to look for).
Signs of uneven settling, moisture under the house, or poor structural connections among different parts of the house can be uncovered if a house is meticulously checked over. Their importance doesn’t mean much to homeowners until it’s too late. Yes, it may seem over the top to hire a structural engineer, but the truth is this is probably the safest way to find out the condition of your house if you’re planning a large remodel. Structural vulnerabilities don’t go away; we just allow them to get worse. If you’re planning to pour big money into a renovation, make sure your house is sound first. Everything else hinges on that.
Hidden Water Damage and Mold: The Silent Threats
Some of the costliest renovation challenges are the ones that are out of sight — at least initially. Damage and mold can creep in quietly and perniciously, seeping into walls, floors, and ceilings. When you first detect stains, soft places, or a musty smell, chances are, significant damage has already formed. How to Become Ready for Their very slipperiness means they are very elusive — and very hard to detect on your preliminary walkthrough.
Water can get into your home in a number of ways, whether via a leaky roof, a broken pipe, or even a poorly sealed window, and not all of those ways result in instantly visible evidence. It can drench insulation or floorboards, hiding for years. The mold begins to develop in dark, damp places, and its growth is rapid. It does not look good, and it is also very unhealthy, especially for people with asthma and allergies.
Avoidance of this catastrophe starts with a good moisture analysis. Prior to any renovation work, especially in the bathroom, kitchen, and basement, make sure you take a moisture reading and assess all the known water sources. Hire someone to crawl under the house, if necessary. Watch out for early warning signs such as:
- Staining on ceilings or walls, especially in corners
- Warped or buckling floorboards
- Peeling or bubbling paint or wallpaper
- A persistent musty smell in certain rooms
- Visible mold patches, even small ones
Skipping this important step is the biggest mistake homeowners can make. You might think it is all dry and clean, but mold doesn’t care about your intent. It does well in all the blind spots. When you don’t dry out hidden moisture and you start building, you are not remodeling; you are building over a problem that will reappear if not addressed properly down the road, and will cost even more to fix.
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