Inspect Your Bathrooms for a Safe Home Purchase
Inspecting the bathrooms as part of your comprehensive home inspection is crucial. Water leaks often occur in the bathroom. Our inspection will find out if there are any signs of leaks or problems with the exhaust vent.
With a thorough home or property inspection, you can feel confident that your bathroom is clean, safe, and dry.
Leaks
Any time property undergoes a complete inspection, we check for plumbing issues. This mostly includes finding any leaks or signs of water damage in the home. The same applies to the bathroom, where an SDI inspector looks for any indication of trouble.
While they’re inspecting the home, your inspector should look closely at all bathroom plumbing and fixtures. Signs of standing water, leaks, or previous water damage should be notated on the report. A leaky faucet should be addressed before you agree to purchase the home.
We also closely examine areas around the tub, shower, and toilet. Any water around the toilet and other areas can indicate problems with the fixtures that may need remediation.
The sink and toilet is inspected. Loose or wobbly sinks and toilets may not leak today but could cause leaks in the future. This can result in damage and other issues if it’s not corrected immediately.
Along with signs of leaking, the home inspector will look for any evidence of mold. If there is mold present, it may mean that something else is going on behind the walls that should be taken care of.
Ventilation
Bathrooms should be properly vented to remove moisture accumulation. Most home have a bathroom exhaust fan to help keep moisture to a minimum.
If the bathroom exhaust fan is not operable, the inspector should include this information on the report. The fan should lead to the exterior of the home, usually through a vent or pipe directly above it on the roof.
Most bathroom exhaust fans event through the roof, but they could vent out of a window in older homes. The roof option is ideal since venting moisture from a window is not the best situation during extreme hot or cold weather.