Buying A House - Checking Exterior Wood
By Raynor James, Fri Dec 9th

You need to be very careful before committing to the purchase ofa house. If the house has wood and brick on the exterior, youneed to consider the following issues.

Wood Issues

Wood is a beautiful material, particularly when it is used onthe exterior of a home. Compared to stucco and other materials,it is a wonder wood isn't used more often. The reason, ofcourse, is wood simply doesn't hold up as well as man madematerials. If you are looking at a



home with a heavy emphasis onexterior wood siding, trim and so on, here are some things towatch out for when evaluating the opportunity.

1. The first thing to realize is the appearance of wood hasalmost no relevance to the condition. A perfectly good lookingpiece of wood trim may be infested with termites or rotting andyou will never know by just glancing at it. When inspecting woodexteriors, never trust your eyes.

2. One of the biggest issues with wood is degradation. Whenlooking at particular areas, make absolutely sure you physicallytouch the wood. In fact, you are probably best off giving it afairly good poke with a finger. In doing so, you should belooking for soft areas. Soft areas are indicative of rot in oneform or another. Finding rot in one area should make you veryconcerned about finding rot throughout the structure. Putanother way, you may want to start looking at other homes onyour list.

3. Finding soft spots in wood can be troubling, but there issomething worse. If you poke or squeeze a piece of wood and dustor bits fall off, run for the care. This type of degradation isoften a sign of termite problems. Termite problems should be ahuge red flag for any prospective home. If you buy the house,you are going to have to tent it to kill the bugs and pay toinspect and repair the damage done by the evil little bugs. Inshort, you are buying a minor, but expensive, nightmare.

Make no mistake, wood can be very attractive on the exterior ofa home. Just make sure you don't rely solely on a visualinspection of it when deciding on the merits of the house.

About the author:Raynor James is with the FSBO site - http://www.fsboamerica.org- FSBO homes For Sale By Owner. Visit our home buying page -http://www.fsboamerica.org/buyer.cfm - to view and buy homes,houses, condos, land and real estate.

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