Covered sub floor vent

Mr Inspector, a qualified Building Inspector conducts professional pre-purchase Building and Pest Inspections in the Heatherton area and surrounds.  The above photograph was taken by Mr Inspector during one of his many building inspections in Heatherton.

This photo was taken by Mr Inspector during a building inspection in Heatherton and although a minor defect in the scheme of things, can lead to further problems if not rectified.

Many brick homes have the sub floor vents covered by debris, soil, bark or paths during out building inspections.  This is not a major defect, but prevent adequate cross-ventilation throughout the sub floor.  Cross ventilation reduces damp conditions in the sub floor thus keeping it dry and unattractive to rot and termites.  Remember termites love damp conditions and reducing this factor reduces the risk of a termite infestation.  The same applies for weather board homes – the better the ventilation, the less chance of rot and termites.

Termites

The above  photograph was taken during a building inspections in Heatherton and shows a termite mud lead going up a stump into the flooring.  Termites build these tunnels so they can get to and from timber without being attached by predators such as ants.

We have seen termites in a shopping bag bull of clothes in a bedroom, termites build a mud lead up to the timber floor and then stop and for whatever reason leave.  We have seen termites on the third level of a house in a window frame and termites eat nothing but a ceiling joist above a bathroom leaving floor and wall frames intact.  The larges amount of termite damage we have seen was $120,000 at a building inspection in Cheltenham which was about a fifth of the value of the house.

Rusted roof sheeting


The above photograph shows rusted roof sheets on a flat roof, found during one of our building  inspections in Heatherton.

This could not be seen by potential buyers unless they actually had a ladder and got on the roof.

Replacement is recommended in some circumstances where it won’t be long before the rust penetrates and leaking occurs.

Many house inspections we conduct show homes that have repaired the front or sides of the roof – the parts you see when you turn up at the “open for inspection” – but the blind sides have not been repaired or replaced.  This shows the importance of having a thorough house inspection carried out as to replace an entire roof could leave you out of pocket by at least $15,000 to $25000.