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Yesterday I inspected a 30 year old home in high termite risk bush setting. The dwelling was well built and was provided with ant caps over stumps and ant strips over perimeter brickwork. That is the best type of physical protection but it is only as good as the workmanship and like all protection systems it has weak spots. In this case ducting under floor prevented full access for inspection and “strategically placed” stored goods clutter in front of another sub  floor access prevented entry.

This meant that the area I was particularly interested in because it is potential weak spot for termite entry “junction between timber and concrete floor” was not accessible for inspection. Our inspection policy is “strictly not to move anything” for fear of being accused of interfering with personal items.

Internally I found that wet areas and around kitchen skirting and architraves were partially and selectively painted and the remainder of the home was in original wood stain finish. Why? Innocent reno or sinister cover up?

Even the best inspector cannot pick up termite damage if skirting and architraves are replaced and painted, particularly if it is done skilfully  and tell tale access to sub floor is “skilfully cluttered up”.

However there was one piece of evidence that convinced me that there had been a termite”hit”. Missing skirting in kitchen behind fridge “missing for no apparent reason other than termite damage”.

I outlined to my client that I could not find any termite damage( and that I could not access all sub floor areas) but that had strong suspicion that there was a termite hit and that they should ask vendor if there is history of termite damage or treatment. Then I was informed that vendor already owned up to termites in garage just outside the dwelling but they did not enter the home. “Bullshit”

Would you believe what vendor said?

Yesterday I inspected a home in a high risk termite area when in noticed property next door and could not resist taking a picture. Why? A very large roof line dip was screaming “something is wrong”

What could it be? What has caused this roof to sag so badly? There are three possible explanations:

The first one is that the owner has interfered with the roof structural support. This is not all that uncommon. People do cut rafters or remove props.

The second is that the roof frame was built with a defect and the roof has simply sagged

Third and the most likely is termite damage to roof frame

If I was the owner I would be getting professional building and timber pest inspection

There are really only two scenarios. The first one is when the owner genuinely does not know it is in best interest to get professional help or does not know where to look for it.

The second is when the owner knows but chooses not to, perhaps rationalising cost saving but then playing Russian Roulette.

In the following case a couple bought substantial dwelling off the plan from the developer and then proceeded to settle even after being lied to and misled about the defects. They now have a serious problem. A basement structure(a habitable room) has developed serious dampness issues. The dampness cannot be cured without substantial excavation, tanking and rebuilding waterproofing and drainage. To make the matters worse the dwelling is close to a very deep engineered drain and any type of excavation repair work will interfere with the engineering of the drainage.

I am a builder with over forty years of experience in difficult repair jobs and I for one would not look forward to repairing this dwelling.

The cost to repair is likely to be astronomical. What can we learn from the above?

DON’T BUY FROM THE DEVELOPER OFF THE PLAN, IF YOU MUST GET PROFESSIONAL HELP BEFORE YOU SIGN THE CONTRACT OR YOU MAY DEARLY REGRET IT.

The cost of not getting expert advice may be more than 100 times than the cost of getting expert advice. Think about it! Can you take the risk? Do you need to?