Did you forget to take the hoses off your faucets at the beginning of last winter? As you turn on your faucets for the spring planting season be careful. Frozen water that was trapped in the hose could have damaged the exterior faucet or worse yet have caused a leak inside your home. When turning on the faucets the first time this spring, take a quick walk inside and listen for the sound of dripping water. After your sure there are no leaking pipes in the house examine the faucets. Are they leaking? It is a good time to change all the gaskets inside the hoses. These tend to wear out over time. Here in Newtown we are mostly on well water. Owners need to be conscious when using the sprinklers and hoses. I usually advise to do 20 to 30 minutes and then give the well a chance to recoup some of that lost water. Another good idea is to get a timer for your hose. Most of the local hardware stores or a large home improvement stores will carry them. These are not that expensive and it is better than running you're well dry.
Water is the most common and can be the most damaging enemy to your home. Most of what we think of as the exterior of our home has been designed to control and limit water entry. I had a pin hole leak that started inside a wall behind a bathroom sink. A week later there was a foot wide hole in my kitchen ceiling and the water had worked under the wall into my daughters room. In my daughter's room it appeared as a single wet spot on the carpet. When I used an infrared camera I could see that the water had worked its way into half of the carpet. We had to cut a hole in the wall to get to the leak and have it repaired. It was several thousand dollars of damage, caused by a pin hole leak.
As a home inspector, it is my job to provide information to help people make an educated and informed decision. I hope that you find these opinions useful and informative. If you have any questions or are in need of a home inspection I hope that you will call me at Stonehollow. (203)304-9140. Get out there and enjoy the nice weather. I hope to see you around Newtown.
