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 Hendrickson on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

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Nancy Hendrickson is affliated with U-First Real Estate, which is located in Cincinnati, OH. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.

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Local Information for Cincinnati, OH

Latitude: 39.13616 -- Longitude: -84.503088

ZIP Codes for Cincinnati, Ohio	45201 45202 45203 45204 45205 45206 45207 45208 45209 45210 45211 45212 45213 45214 45215 45216 45217 45218 45219 45220 45221 45222 45223 45224 45225 45226 45227 45228 45229 45230 45231 45232 45233 45234 45235 45236 45237 45238 45239 45240 45241 45242 45243 45244 45245 45246 45247 45248 45249 45250 45251 45252 45253 45254 45255 45258 45262 45263 45264 45267 45268 45269 45270 45271 45273 45274 45275 45277 45280 45296 45298 45299 45944 45950 45999
Area Code for Cincinnati, Ohio	513
Time zone for Cincinnati, Ohio	EST

Other Area Cities: Cherry Grove, OH Forestville, OH Glendale, OH Groesbeck, OH Kenwood, OH Lincoln Heights, OH North College Hill, OH Northbrook, OH Norwood, OH Reading, OH Springdale, OH Mason, OH Hamilton, OH Oxford, OH Cincinnati, OH Blue Ash, OH Bridgetown, OH Cheviot, OH Amberley, OH Covedale, OH Deer Park, OH Finneytown, OH Forest Park, OH Madeira, OH West Chester, OH White Oak, OH Woodlawn, OH Wyoming, OH Mariemont, OH Sharonville, OH Loveland, OH

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Cincinnati is a city in southwestern Ohio, in the United States of America, that lies on the Ohio River. It is the county seat of Hamilton CountyGR6. As of 2005, Cincinnati's population was 308,728, making it the third largest city in Ohio and the 55th largest in the United States. It has a much larger metropolitan area, commonly called "Greater Cincinnati", which covers parts of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. As of July 1, 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau esimates that the Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington Combined Statistical Area has a population of 2,113,011 (making it the 20th largest in the country) and is growing at a rate of about one percent annually. Greater Cincinnati is the 25th largest metropolitan area in America. It is home to major-league sports, including America's first professional baseball team, a National Football League team, and the historic Cincinnati Masters. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Ohio 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Cincinnati	Ohio	United States
Population	331,285	11,353,140	281,421,906
Median age	32.1	36.2	35.3
Median age for Male	30.7	34.9	34
Median age for Female	33.7	37.5	36.5
Households	148,095	4,445,773	105,480,101
Household population	317,849	11,054,019	273,643,273
Average household size	2.15	2.49	2.59
Families	72,496	2,993,023	71,787,347
Average family size	3.02	3.04	3.14
Housing units	166,012	4,783,051	115,904,641
Occupied units	148,095	4,445,773	105,480,101
Vacant units	17,917	337,278	10,424,540

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Buying A House ? Checking Exterior Wood

Local Information for Cincinnati, OH

Latitude: 39.13616 -- Longitude: -84.503088

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