The problem with people keeping low maintenance of their house is that they are the ones who complain the most about the resale of the property. It is as simple as it can get, the better your property is maintained, the more desirable price it can go off at. There are various issues with houses which act as a hurdle in the selling of a house but a house with molds, damaged chimneys and damaged basement are an immediate red light for buyers.
The regular maintenance cost of the house is nothing compared to the big chunk you have to let go out of inevitability later on.Chimney crack repair services in Greenwich CT and basement wall repairs are getting more involved in the solving of these problems. Though every house is unique in its own style and design, these problems you will find common among most of them.
Common Maintenance Problems In Most Houses
The encounter with these problems always sound scary and become a point of despising whereas just like every other problem you need to know the cause, only after which you can start to solve it. The problem may not always be severe and vice versa, but still, require you to keep a regular check on them through proper maintenance. Let’s now go through some causes, their solution and/or their preventative measures if any.
- Chimney
Chimney repair is an integral part of home maintenance, it is often overlooked to the point where most of the times, the damage was done becomes impossible to recover. It can either be the gradual blocking of the chimney by soot, damaged or leaked chimney cap letting water in, cracking of flue (which is the inner section of your chimney) or complete blockage by the nest of a bird. There are various other reasons limiting the use of your chimney but these four are the most common ones and also the most commonly overlooked.
The right idea is always to consult a professional twice and year, once before the winters and once after. This allows you to have a regularly maintained chimney through which you eliminate the chances of mishaps in winters for e.g. broken cap leads to leakage of water which can be a huge problem in rainy winters and also blocked chimney will limit the complete combustion of the fuel.
- Damaged Basement
Seeing cracks anywhere around the house is a huge panic trigger and distractor. Cracks can be anywhere from a hairline crack in walls or around windows and doors to larger more prominent cracks in the basement. The reasons for these cracks to appear be countless but you should probably start worrying if you notice large horizontal cracks in the foundation wall or vertical ones. The main reasons for this to happen is shrinkage, settlement of soil or frost heave. Shrinkage is the natural process of the concrete drying and shrinking to cause cracks, these cracks are normally harmless and impossible to prevent as well. The settlement of soil beneath your home causes a shift in the placement of your foundation walls causing them either contract or pull apart, this can be a sign of immediate danger and a call to a professional is due soon. Although one of the most common causes, it rids your house to have a stable base to support the foundations and weight of your house. The seasonal reason for cracks in your basement or walls is the frost heave, in winters when temperatures drop low, it allows the moist soil to freeze and expand and the cause a shift under your foundation.
- Mold
Walking into your basement and noticing black spots that are growing is a scary situation. Mold is a very common problem in most basements, it is a result of excessive moisture due to condensation, leaks in basement piping due to years of wear and tear, poor ventilation and a sump pump failure. All of these reasons promote the moisture percentage of your basement making it the perfect environment for mold to feed and grow on. If you’re seeing dark patches of mold on the walls, chances are there is a colony on the other side of the wall.
As big as the problem might be, there is always a solution, dehumidifiers’ works best as a preventative measure as it limits the environmental conditions for the growth of mold. What works really well is filling in or sealing the cracks that have appeared through which the mold grows, identification and fixing of basement leaks limit the growth of mold to considerable extend as well as it cuts off the supply of moisture. Acrylic waterproof paint can also be considered to be a good preventative measure against the growth of mold.
