One can’t finish the process of buying/selling a home without conducting a thorough home inspection. One of the main places inside a specific property professional home inspectors will want to check is, of course, the place where all the magic happens – the bathroom. The bathroom might be the crucial room inside our homes. If there’s something not alright with it, folks will suffer tremendously. Anyway, that’s also why we’ve put together this little article. In it, you’ll read about the common problems found during bathroom inspections. Once you’re done with it, you’ll know what to pay attention to and possibly prevent specific issues from appearing. Stay tuned for some helpful info.
1. Leaks, leaks, leaks
You’ll agree with us when we say that a leak is something that’s not so appealing to most folks buying a home. However, many bathroom inspections still “stumble upon” this issue. A professional home inspector will check if the toilet seal’s intact and not leaking. Also, the person will check if the sink faucets are in proper working order and if the bathroom tub’s grouted and draining properly. For instance, if they’re to find that the tub seal’s cracked or that the floor’s showing signs of good old warping, there might be underlying water damage resulting from poorly treated leaks.
2. Water Heater Issues
Of course, a professional home inspector will want to check if the water heater’s working correctly. In other words: are there any issues that prevent this sine qua non of bathroom inventory from working as it should? Anyway, since this is something you’d call a vital item inside our homes (especially during the winter), “scanning” the water heater for issues can’t be avoided. You might wonder: how does one notice there’s something wrong even before the home inspection process? Here’s what you’ll want to look out for:
- There’s a severe lack of hot water.
- The water heater’s leaking.
- There have been 15 years since the water heater was installed.
- You’re dealing with the reasonably unpleasant “smelly hot water” issue.
- For instance, there was no proper maintenance (flushing sediment) during the last couple of years.
If you’re to notice any of these, there’s a fair chance a professional home inspector will find that something’s wrong with the water heater.
Should I Repair This ASAP?
Good question! You might want to react to these problems immediately (before an inspection begins). That’s because the issues found during a home inspection can significantly affect the sale price of your home (if you’re selling in the first place, of course). And since you are selling the house, you are probably moving. Here’s a suggestion if you’re having some trouble wondering how to pack your bathroom before moving. You might want to pack it up, have it ready to go, and move it to your storage unit for the time being. If you don’t have one, see if you can find another place to store all your bathroom items.
3. Improper Ventilation Issues
Imagine you’re buying an old home. There’s a fair chance it might be suffering from improper ventilation (or, sometimes, no ventilation). Without a good ventilation system, you’ll have to deal a lot with moisture as it’s not being pulled from the bathroom during showers. Of course, this can result in things like the hardware of the bathroom rusting and other not-so-pleasant similarities. Exactly how does this happen? The steam will condense on various bathroom surfaces and cause rust to appear. You’ll want to know that your kitchen can suffer from a similar problem.
4. Drainage Issues are Among the Most Common Problems Found During Bathroom Inspections
This one’s not so significant, but it will still require you to invest some time and effort (or call professional plumbers). The pipes in your bathroom might suffer from blockage as a result of various debris, hair, or dirt falling through your bathroom sink. Issues associated with drainage will vary in their severity: for some, you’ll need to call up a professional plumber to take care of the issue, and for others, you might need to drive your car to the nearest hardware shop and find a solution to your problems in the form of a product. This is one of the most common problems found during not bathroom inspections since every home will suffer from this at some point.
5. Clogged Toilet
Here’s the thing: a clogged toilet isn’t something you’d call a common problem found during a bathroom inspection, but we feel inclined to mention it. You’re trying to sell your home, and you’ve scheduled a home inspection. Now, you don’t want them finding out you’ve got some issues with your toilet. When you’re dealing with a severe blockage, your toilet might need to be removed to enable a sewer scope of the piping to find blockages (if you don’t possess a bathroom with a plumbing clean-out which will allow the piping investigation to ensue without removing the toilet). And what if there’s a clog within the bathroom itself? A good old plumbing snake will be sufficient to handle the task.
6. Toilet’s Always Running
If you’re dealing with a continuously running toilet, that will also be something an experienced professional home inspector will want to write down inside their notebook. That’s because the excess running of water will result in a home becoming pretty susceptible to leaks. It will put the whole plumbing system of your home under excess, unnecessary stress. And we’re not even going to mention what it will do to your water bill. Most of the time, the problem is caused by a flapper that’s sealed properly inside the toilet tank. Here’s “the best thing” about his type of issue: it’s relatively easy to repair.
The Bottom Line
Alright, folks, that’s all about the most common problems found during bathroom inspections. Hopefully, you’ve had some fun reading this one. Besides, you’ve learned what kind of issues you should watch out for in your bathroom, even if you’re not buying/selling a home.