In this vacant house (a short sale) I had to pick up on a couple of clues that the windows were leaking.
And there were just a couple.
Looking carefully you might pick up on them too.
Let's see:
- The previous owners had rolled up towels inside each window.
- One window had plastic over it, with the towel inside the plastic. The plastic was torn.
- All the windows had staining on the window sills.
- A couple of windows had damaged drywall under the sills because so much water had come in.
- All the windows had staining in the framing, along with mud. Sometimes that mud overflowed the plastic window framing and came into the house!
- Two of the windows had interior wood framing that had swollen so badly the moving window would not slide.
Gee, that's more than a couple!
Thinking carefully the home inspector told his clients it may be that the windows were leaky! Okay, he may have been a bit more explanatory than that. The buyers had seen it, of course, but did not know what it meant. So that leave the home inspector with the necessity of teaching a bit of building science.
Windows leaking water and air! Not a good combination. There really is only one solution.
So, how would you feel about buying this house?
My recommendation: sometimes the home inspection news is not good news. These buyers are certainly in this purchase for new windows. There is also seen and unseen damage that will have to be addressed. That could include interior wood framing, along with insulation and drywall. That the expense is known upfront is obvious, just not how much expense. That always creates a lot of discomfort for a buyer, and difficulty with making the decision to proceed further.
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