Older style wiring.
The author has seen electrical failures from the following during inspections over the years., -Canvas coated and vulcanised rubber power cables. In the first instance the canvas can be eaten by rodents or just physically ages leading to the cables being exposed which can result in fires. The same can happen with older rubber cables which can split.
-Power cables not in conduit in contact with steel frames. I.e. If the cables are damaged the frame becomes live. A number of houses over the years have been inspected by Property Protect and found to have new wiring in all areas of the house but not inside the existing hard plaster. During the premium house inspections this company uses a high powered torch to identify wall patches and chases to the walls. An existing house without wall chases above the light switches and power points would generally indicate that the original wiring has not been removed. In this instance Property Protect would advise the client to engage an electrician to carry out a survey of the house to confirm if the wiring is original to these areas. Hard plaster cannot be removed during a house inspection as the vendor would not generally approve this.
Leaking pipes in wet areas This is generally caused through corrosion of lead or galvanised steel waste pipes under or in floor slabs. As the pipes corrode this leads to a leak which can wash away sub fill in a floor leading to the floor and or footing dropping.
This is very expensive to repair as generally the pipes are cast into the floor slabs in the wet areas and they need to be jack hammered up. This is a common defect as a large number of houses in pre 1970 properties have galvanised steel pipes cast into the floor slabs. For these steel pipes it is not a matter of if but when the pipes need to be replaced . Having stated this steel pipes although not draining as well as they should do can function for many years until funds can be found to replace them.
If you have steel waste and or water supply pipes in a pre 1970 house and you are contemplating a wet area renovation with new tiles etc we would strongly advise you to remove the steel pipes prior to the renovation.ie If you renovate the wet areas without removing the steel pipes a failure of the pipes could result in you having to re renovate the wet area at great cost again!
Cracks/Movement in walls
Movement in any home is hard to control. In most instances cracks are caused by changes in soil moisture levels around the footing although trees can also cause significant movement. Horizontal cracks can occur in walls if a window lintel sags or if a footing/wall drops.
Diagonal cracks radiating away from window and or door heads are the most common form of cracks. Lateral movement cracks can occur with a shear load if a footing rotates (Drops) on one side. Due to Adelaide's dry climate soil shrinkage related cracking in homes is causing many problems. This leads to footing settlement (Dropping of the footing) and cracks in all building elements.
Roof frame failures
The first type of failure is for an older style roof which does not have under purlins and or struts. In this instance the failure is generally from the frame not being able to take the dead loads from the weight of roof tiles. It is common to see the frame sag heavily and split and this instance repairs may need to be carried out. If a roof frame is sagging from the weight of the roof tiles and the timber frame is not splitting or showing any signs of stress our advice to you is to closely monitor the roof frame.
In the second instance the writer has seen heavy splitting to timber around defective gang nail trusses manufactured in the 1970's. In some instances the trusses could not take roof loads and sagged.
White ant attack
Property Protect does not carry out a survey for white ants in our inspections and we would advise that you engage a pest controller to do this. White ant attack is a very common problem in Buildings with the ants literally eating any form of timber in a home. As the timber wall frame is load bearing in a brick veneer home this can led to structural failures. The ants will normally enter a home where voids are close to the ground. One example of an entry point is where the paving bridges the Damp Course allowing ants to enter a wall cavity through weep holes (i.e. the paving is poured above the Damp Course in the wall).
A second example is where garden beds are placed up against walls without any paving and in this instance we would advise on removing the garden bed and then installing paving all around the house.
Poor Workmanship
The following defects are caused by poor workmanship which does not comply with the Building Code. -Render in brick wall weep holes This stops condensation from draining out of a cavity. The writer has seen fretting render caused by blocked weep holes. -Bricks overhanging the footing. BCA allows a tolerance but in many instances concreters' set out the slab incorrectly. As the wall is not supported the bricks can bow out.
-Render bridging wall Damp Courses In many instances plasterers do not strike a horizontal line through render which can result in ground moisture and salts rising up into the wall by passing the Damp Course. This can cause Salt damp in a wall.
-Concrete slabs poured up against brickwork. In some instances around porch slabs builders sometimes place the Damp Course one brick course above the footing and pour the porch slab up against the first course of clay bricks. In this situation clay bricks are not designed to be exposed to ground moisture and salts for extended periods of time and this leads to fretting of the bricks.
This is sometimes seen in older houses and it is hard to fix this if the fretting of the walls is heavy. Subject to a site visit sometimes the best option in this instance is to jackhammer up the floor slab and then repour the concrete below the Damp Course. At the end of the day this is an expensive problem to rectify. The writer has seen this in many garages in pre 1980 houses.
Puddle flange to wet areas not installed correctly. Puddle flange are designed to drain any water caught between the waterproof membrane and the floor tiles. In some instances the flanges are laid proud of the floor and the trapped water cannot drain into the waste pipe. In a second floor building this ponding water can bypass the membrane leading to the timber floor swelling and door, wall and window frames jamming up from compression loads. If this has occurred it is very expensive to repair.
