| If you are in the market to purchase a home, it can | | | | hand across the sills with light pressure to see if |
| be easy to fall in love at first sight. Do so at your | | | | there are any soft spots. If you find a problem, |
| own risk. While the overall appearance of a home is | | | | warning lights should be going off in your mind. A |
| important, the quality is in the details. In this article, I | | | | mushy sill means there is a water penetration |
| provide a checklist of window issues you should | | | | problem. More importantly, it also means the problem |
| consider when viewing a home. | | | | has existed for some time. Long-term water |
| Windows | | | | problems can mean the existence of mold and mold |
| If you are considering buying a home, you should | | | | can be an expensive problem to fix. If you are really |
| have a checklist of things to review for the property. | | | | interested in the home, demand an inspection paid for |
| There is an old cliché that eyes are the | | | | by the seller. If the seller refuses, walk away from |
| window to a person' soul. In the case of a home, | | | | the home. |
| they can be a clue to the quality of the home building | | | | 3. Water stains are the final window item to check |
| if you check the following: | | | | for during your viewing. Just because the sills are not |
| 1. The first item to check is whether the windows | | | | soft, doesn't mean there isn't a leakage problem. |
| open and close properly. Quality windows should slide | | | | Stains around a window frame are sure signs of |
| easily and with little noise. Cheap windows tend to | | | | water problems. If a room has been painted, try to |
| stick and make grinding noises. If any window will not | | | | find one that hasn't. If the entire interior has been |
| open or close at all, careful attention needs to be | | | | painted, ask the seller to state in the sales |
| paid to why. Is it the quality of the window or has | | | | agreement there were no water stains before the |
| the house started moving because of foundation | | | | house was repainted. |
| problems? Make sure you know the cause. | | | | Windows are almost always an indicator of the |
| 2. The second item to check is soft or mushy sills at | | | | quality of workmanship for a home. Giving them a |
| the base of the window. Often you can identify a | | | | good "once over" should tell you a lot about the |
| soft sill by a "rotted" look, but make sure to run your | | | | house you are considering. |