AMI - home inspection sample - Structural Inspection sample

I’m Melting! Melting!

Well, no, this building isn’t coming to the same fate as the Wicked Witch of the West, but its split-face block wall does have serious issues with water penetration. Split-face block walls absorb a lot of water and it lifts the paint as it tries to escape. The source of the water penetration may be from improper flashing details or even from small fissures in the face of the porous block itself and, on this wall, we see no mid-wall flashings, weep holes, or any other ways for water to be directed out of the wall assembly. Re-coating, sealing, and painting large areas of a wall like this can be very expensive, and will not “fix”. Repairing the wall surface would also not address any possible hidden damage to wood and metal framing inside this wall, especially where floor framing ties into the walls. This wall needs to have additional invasive inspection work to fully understand and eliminate the water penetration and to find and repair any hidden structural damage.