Hey there.
I'm guessing you're not a contractor, most people aren't. Maybe you know a little bit about houses, or maybe you just arrived from another country and have no idea what to look for. I can help.
Today I'll talk about lemons. There are lots of them out there, and owners happy to unload them on an unsuspecting buyer. Buying a home in need of big-dollar repairs you weren't aware of is a mistake.
I made a list of five things a homeowner is never happy to spend money on in order of most expensive to least.
1. Basement Walls
Yes, it's true, they built Regina in a terrible spot. The bottom of a
glacial lakebed qualifies as a terrible spot.
Long ago, Saskatchewan was covered in ice. Some would argue it's still covered in ice. As the ice receded, it left behind a lake. Regina was built where a lake used to be.
Now imagine what the bottom of a drained lake looks like. Goopy.
This goopy-ness is called expansive clay. When it gets wet, it expands, and when it dries, it shrinks. When homeowners do a poor job of keeping water away from their foundation, most often grading that slopes towards the home or eavestroughs not regularly cleaned, the clay gets wet and, with the strength of a thousand men, presses against the foundation. Eventually, a horizontal crack appears in the foundation wall. Over time, the wall starts to fold inward at the crack. This is common in Regina.
For support, the walls are often braced. You may have seen a truck zipping around town with AAA Solid on the side. They have a lot of trucks. And brace a lot of
basements.
Bracing requires the wall to be exposed. The workers then stand a steel beam against the wall, sink it into the floor and bolt it to the joist overhead. They put one about every 3 feet. This prevents the wall from moving any further inward.
When you are buying a home, the condition of the foundation requires your full attention, or your wallet will be compromised.
2. Windows
This is the second most expensive item to have replaced. On a typical home, it could have you signing a cheque for over ten grand.
The good news, it's easy to determine if windows need replacing before you make an offer.
A word of caution and this is just my opinion; people get all geeked up about windows. When they see a window with a wood frame, they immediately determine it needs replacing. That's not always the case. Most windows are fine the way they are, and the expense of new windows outweighs the cost of replacing
them. Although, I have to say, new windows can dramatically improve the overall look of the house.
3. Shingles
You can usually make a judgment call from the street, but your home inspector will provide a closer look.
Shingles last 15-20 years and always wear faster on the sunny (south) side of the home.
An improperly vented attic can also cause the singles to wear prematurely from the underside. When an attic is too hot, it causes the shingles to curl under.
Depending on the size and pitch of the roof, new shingles can come in between 7-15k.
4. Furnace
A new furnace will cost between 3 and 6 thousand dollars.
The best way to determine if a new furnace is required is to have a furnace inspector look at it during your inspection. He'll check the heat exchanger for cracks. This is the area inside the furnace that the flames come out of. Not too technical of an explanation, I know,
but you get the idea. A crack in the heat exchanger means the whole furnace needs replacing immediately because carbon monoxide can escape.
The inspector will also check the fan, see if there is any unwanted moisture within the furnace, and look for signs that the furnace has been maintained.
If your furnace goes out on a cold January day, you can't put off the purchase until you have more cash. Make sure you have a good furnace, or you may regret it.
5. Sewer Line
The poop flows to the street. When you use a drain or flush your toilet, it exits through a pipe under the basement floor, continuing under your front lawn, past the sidewalk and into a sewer main under the street.
In Regina, you'll find three main types of pipe; PVC, cast iron, and non-corrode.
The best is PVC. It's looks like a black plastic pipe and has been in use since the
'70s.
Older areas like Cathedral, Lakeview, or Arnhem were all built with cast iron drain lines. It was a good material, but over time many of the pipes have developed cracks, or the joints in the pipe have become offset. With the large trees in the areas, roots will find their way into the cracks requiring the homeowner to have the line cleaned annually.
Non-corrode was a terrible experiment. It replaced cast iron in the '60s and is very common in Whitmore Park. A pressed cardboard material, it most often collapsed, restricting the flow.
To find out if your sewer line is in good repair, you can have a sewer company come out and run a camera down the line to the street. And, you get to watch on a monitor!
If the line has collapsed, is offset, or broken, it may need replacing. A new line costs 4-6k, and they have to dig a hole in your front yard. More than inconvenient.
Look to get these five things
right, and you'll be a happy homeowner!
Curtis
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