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Home systems

Structure & Foundation

Most foundation cracks are ordinary shrinkage; a few are five-figure problems. The whole game is telling them apart before you remove your conditions.

The ten second check

What else is typical in a house this age?

Type the year the house was built and I will tell you what else tends to be true at that age, what it costs, and what to ask. One number, ten seconds.

A guess is fine. 1965, or just the 60s.

Anything worrying you? Tap any that apply, or skip it.

Free. No account. Educational and impartial, not a home inspection.

Foundation cracks

Which cracks are ordinary shrinkage and which are five-figure problems.

$500 to $40,000+Address before purchase

Deck & balcony safety

Most deck failures are attachment failures, check the ledger, footings and permits.

$25 to $12,500Address soon

Sagging or uneven floors

A bouncy or sloped floor: ordinary settling, or a joist problem worth an engineer's look.

$300 to $8,500Address before purchase

Detached garages, sheds & outbuildings

Standard inspections skip outbuildings, ask, or nobody looks.

$500 to $20,000+Monitor

Carpenter ants, rodents & household pests

Sawdust piles and winter ants, treat the ants, fix the wet wood.

$300 to $1,000+Address soon

Newly built homes: what is still worth checking

A home built roughly in the last ten years. It has none of the era problems this library s

$30 to $4,300Address soon

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