Buying a home is likely to be the most expensive purchase of your life – so it goes without saying that you want to make sure it’s a smart one. In addition to a pre-purchase building inspection, organising for a timber pest inspection is crucial in guaranteeing the quality and safety of your potential new home.
Here’s what you need to know about timber pest inspections and why you should never buy a property before getting one.
How timber pests can affect your property
There are a few common timber pests that any good inspector will look out for. Here are the worst offenders and how they can impact your home:
Termites: These critters are the most common timber pests, eating their way through timber framing, doorways and flooring. Even worse, they often leave no trail of destruction, making it hard to identify that there is something wrong.
Decay: Timber decay or ‘timber rot’ can deteriorate the strength of the wood in your home. When timber structures and flooring are affected, the timber may become so weak that it causes a serious safety risk to anyone living in the home.
Borers: A wood boring insect will dig tunnels into timber, causing small holes and discolouration in affected areas.
The risks of buying before inspecting
The last thing you want is to excitedly move into your new home, only to find that it’s infested with timber pests. Unfortunately, the only way you can safeguard yourself against this possibility is with a pre-purchase pest inspection. Without one, you risk…
Overpaying for a property: With help from an experienced pest inspector, you can make sure that the property doesn’t have any infestation issues that affect its value. If your pest report comes back with some issues, you have the ability to walk away from the sale or negotiate a better deal with the vendor.
Expensive repair costs: The issues caused by timber pests to the flooring, doorways and structure of your home can run up a huge bill. Due to the extensive nature of these problems, you could easily spend thousands of dollars fixing them.
Safety issues: The safety of the people living in your home – whether it’s friends, family or tenants – is paramount. Unfortunately, when timber pests attack the structure of your property, they can leave it vulnerable to degradation that can put you at risk.
Finding a great timber pest inspector in Adelaide
With this in mind, it’s vital that you organise for a pre-purchase timber pest inspection before buying a home. Qualified, experienced professionals will not only identify any existing pest problems, but can usually tell you whether the current state of the house puts it at risk of infestation in the future.
Here at Building Inspections Adelaide, we pride ourselves on offering comprehensive building inspections that you can count on. Get in touch with us today to organise your free quote!
