Buying A House ? Checking Exterior Wood

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

Wood Issues

Wood is a beautiful material, particularly when it is used on the exterior of a home. Compared to stucco and other materials, it is a wonder wood isn?t used more often. The reason, of course, is wood simply doesn?t hold up as well as man made materials. If you are looking at a home with a heavy emphasis on exterior wood siding, trim and so on, here are some things to watch out for when evaluating the opportunity.

1. The first thing to realize is the appearance of wood has almost no relevance to the condition. A perfectly good looking piece of wood trim may be infested with termites or rotting and you will never know by just glancing at it. When inspecting wood exteriors, never trust your eyes.

2. One of the biggest issues with wood is degradation. When looking at particular areas, make absolutely sure you physically touch the wood. In fact, you are probably best off giving it a fairly good poke with a finger. In doing so, you should be looking for soft areas. Soft areas are indicative of rot in one form or another. Finding rot in one area should make you very concerned about finding rot throughout the structure. Put another way, you may want to start looking at other homes on your list.

3. Finding soft spots in wood can be troubling, but there is something worse. If you poke or squeeze a piece of wood and dust or bits fall off, run for the care. This type of degradation is often a sign of termite problems. Termite problems should be a huge 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 to inspect and repair the damage done by the evil little bugs. In short, you are buying a minor, but expensive, nightmare.

Make no mistake, wood can be very attractive on the exterior of a home. Just make sure you don?t rely solely on a visual inspection of it when deciding on the merits of the house.

Posted by Nancy Grgurich on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

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Nancy Grgurich is affliated with Realty One, which is located in Mentor, OH. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.

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Local Information for Mentor, OH

Latitude: 41.691245 -- Longitude: -81.341955

ZIP Codes for Mentor, Ohio	44060 44061
Area Code for Mentor, Ohio	440
Time zone for Mentor, Ohio	EST

Other Area Cities: Chester Center, OH East Cleveland, OH Eastlake, OH Lyndhurst, OH Mayfield Heights, OH Richmond Heights, OH Mentor, OH Gates Mills, OH Kirtland Hills, OH Mentor-on-the-Lake, OH Novelty, OH Painesville, OH Russell Center, OH Waite Hill, OH Wickliffe, OH Willoughby, OH Willowick, OH Hunting Valley, OH

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Mentor is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 50,278 at the 2000 census. In July 2006, CNNMoney.com ranked Mentor 68th in a list of the Top 100 Best Places to Live in America. In 1876 James A. Garfield purchased a home in Mentor, from which he conducted the first successful front porch campaign for the presidency. That home is now maintained as the James A. Garfield National Historic Site. Mentor is a diverse community with industry, commerce and residential components. A wide range of housing is represented -- from condominiums and small ranches to half-million-dollar lakefront homes. According to the Mentor city website, 11 city parks comprise 930 acres of parkland. Many bike paths have been built in recent years. The city is a major center of retail stores and restaurants in the Greater Cleveland area. US 20 (Mentor Avenue) is the major retail center, with additional shopping found along most major roads. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Ohio 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Mentor	Ohio	United States
Population	50,278	11,353,140	281,421,906
Median age	38.9	36.2	35.3
Median age for Male	37.9	34.9	34
Median age for Female	39.8	37.5	36.5
Households	18,797	4,445,773	105,480,101
Household population	49,802	11,054,019	273,643,273
Average household size	2.65	2.49	2.59
Families	14,235	2,993,023	71,787,347
Average family size	3.08	3.04	3.14
Housing units	19,301	4,783,051	115,904,641
Occupied units	18,797	4,445,773	105,480,101
Vacant units	504	337,278	10,424,540

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Buying A House ? Checking Exterior Wood

Local Information for Mentor, OH

Latitude: 41.691245 -- Longitude: -81.341955

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