The main percentage of available secondary housing in the private sector are old houses that have been in operation for more than 40 years. Everyone understands perfectly well that they will have to seriously engage in construction work, extending the life of the house. But that's enough in an inexpensive way buy your own home. If a house is built correctly, its service life can be about 100 years, but almost all old buildings have been erected on our own their owners. We will try to look at the future purchase through the eyes of a builder, so that the investment does not become in vain, and we will also consider options for solving some problems with the house.

Where to start choosing

First, decide what buildings you need on the site. When inspecting the house, you will immediately have to consider the possibility of new buildings. To do this, study the latest standards and regulations in advance; distances to neighboring areas and buildings play an important role. The seller’s assurances, such as: “Yes, we agreed with our neighbors, they are building near us, and we are near them,” etc., have no meaning. Neighbors have the right to demand the removal of a building that was not built according to standards. Therefore, the dimensions of the site, or rather its façade, are very important. Knowing the laws will save you from problems in the future.

Be sure to make sure that all existing buildings on the site are included in the plan. Unregistered structures can deliver a lot unnecessary hassle and troubles in the future. This mainly applies to capital buildings. All future construction must be approved by the architectural department.

Try to clarify the hydrogeological structure of the area in the area where you purchased the house. Groundwater close to the surface will create a lot of problems during construction. If it is impossible to obtain this information, you can try to determine this on the spot. An alarming factor may be the absence of a cellar or other deep structures. Excellent information will be provided by the depth of a well with a wooden frame. The smaller it is, the closer the groundwater is. Pay special attention to the distance to the water surface in the well. If, with a large depth of the well, the mirror is located at a short distance from the soil level, then the water is under pressure and there is a possibility of its release in the construction pit. The presence of seasonal flooding with rain and melt water can be determined by the condition of the cellar walls. It is best to evaluate a site under unfavorable conditions. In case of intense snow melting or prolonged heavy rains. Despite the unpleasant weather, you can get rid of a lot of problems in the future in advance.

Home condition assessment

1. Living space and options for increasing it

Financial opportunities do not always make it possible to buy right away big house. Therefore, you should realistically evaluate the possibility of adding additional living space. You can immediately estimate where the windows will go, where you will have to cut through the doors, changes in the gas inlet, etc. Adding additional living space refers to major repairs and reconstruction existing house. Expanding the house on one level is preferable to adding a second floor. At approximately the same costs, the increase in living space will be significantly higher.

Almost all old houses exclude the possibility of constructing a full second floor. Even thick brick walls do not guarantee the reliability of the foundation. But modern materials allow us to complete the construction residential attic Light weight is enough. Enough for reliable support brick walls about 40 cm thick or a log house made of timber with a section of 150 by 150 mm. In any case, you will have to completely replace the ceiling. Perhaps with the construction of an additional load-bearing wall inside the house. The “cross” overlap scheme was very often used. Four beams were laid with one end on the walls and the other on a support pillar in the center of the house. They were the basis of the ceiling. A stove with a cross-shaped heater was built around the pillar, and a hog with a pipe was located in the center of the “cross.” The heater partially played the role of a supporting wall. This type of covering must be replaced. New beams will serve as an additional tie, preventing the walls from diverging, which is very likely in an old house.

2.Condition of the foundation

To assess the condition of the foundation, its presence is required. This is not a joke or a typo. Very often, wanting to save money or for other reasons, houses were built without a foundation. At best, it was filmed fertile layer, and on the bulk sand cushion brickwork was done. The number of rows depended on the availability of brick. Sometimes the supporting masonry was erected directly on the ground. It is impossible to determine the depth of the foundation without digging under it, but if the porch consists of one step, and even more so without it, then there is no smell of a real foundation here. A new foundation can only be poured if the house is log-built. And from a long beam. After all, to do this you will have to lift it entirely. Most likely, the economy regime continued to operate and the walls were made of whatever they could find. It is almost impossible to restore such a house.

The foundation should not have cracks or distortions on one corner or side. The statement that “everything was built like that back then” makes no sense. The plumb line, hydraulic level and cord have always existed. This is what we should proceed from when assessing the condition of any elements of the house. Skewing indicates the presence of loose soil or nearby water under the foundation. But if in the first case the situation can be saved by building an additional pedestal with a large support area or replacing loose soil with crushed stone and sand (this is difficult, but quite possible), then in the second case there are no options. Close water, fortunately, is a rather rare occurrence. Most often, the cause of subsidence is a septic tank located too close to the house. Wastewater saturates the soil and causes it to settle. Sometimes the distortion is caused by the fact that the foundation was not allowed to stand, and they began to immediately build a house. This is easy to determine by the condition window openings. If they are fairly even and located at the same level, then the subsidence of the foundation is caused by the haste of the builders.

3.Condition of the box at home

The walls of the house should not have cracks or obvious sagging outward or inward. Mostly outside. Small cracks in brickwork may arise due to seasonal rises and falls of the foundation when its depth is less than the freezing depth. Large cracks and walls moving away from each other in the corners indicate serious problems with the foundation or shortcomings during construction. In most cases this is unavoidable. Often walls come off due to improper addition of additional rooms. The extension is connected to the main house, and the foundation is made with violations. Then the difference in foundation vibrations causes cracks.

Degree of preservation wooden log house easy to identify by openings. If the windows and doors do not have large distortions and are located approximately level, then the log house is in fairly good condition. But this can also be observed with uniform destruction of the casing crowns. This can be easily determined by the house's siding. This is evidenced by the deformed cladding of the lower part of the walls. This can be easily fixed; you don’t even have to lift the entire house. If the house has not completely settled, then the rotted crowns have compacted and are holding it up quite well. Replacing the timber in parts begins from the corners. Damaged pieces are cut out in the corner and replaced with new ones. The ends of the new parts are made staggered so that the next pieces overlap the joints. After the corners, they move on to the middles of the walls, then to the middles of the gaps between the new inserts, etc. New timber should fit tightly into the cut opening, sometimes using a heavy sledgehammer. The inserts are sewn together with nails or pieces of reinforcement. There is no need to worry too much about the wall coming apart. The log house had stood for a long time, and the beams fit very tightly together. It can be very difficult to remove the cut out pieces; you have to resort to using a crowbar and a sledgehammer. The cuts in the wall are made with a chain saw. You need to be extremely careful and careful. When sawing with the end of the bar, the saw may kick back, which can lead to injury. For this work it is preferable electric saw. It is more convenient, has smooth speed control and turns off completely after releasing the button.

Cannot be repaired adobe houses and it is almost impossible to restore walls from the so-called “tetanus”. It consists of a series of thick vertical poles, the ends of which are inserted into bars with grooves. Next, the sheathing was stuffed onto the poles, and a layer of plaster made of clay and straw was thrown on. An adobe house can be easily identified by trying to hammer a nail into the wall. Almost everywhere he will not meet resistance. “Stolbyanka” can be assumed only by the protruding ends of the logs of the crowns, if they are only at the bottom and top of the corner of the house.

4. Roof condition

The roof is the only element that can always be repaired. Only the scope of repairs differs. Only the percentage of wear can be estimated. Climbing into the attic, it is easy to determine the condition roof trusses, sheathing and roofing. It all depends on financial side question. There are no special problems when repairing the roof.

In previous parts inspection issues were discussed wooden house old building With outside. In this part we will talk about the internal inspection of the house. We will inspect the floor, ceiling, walls, we will also inspect the house from the underground side, we will check the functionality of all existing communications (plumbing, internal gas pipeline, electrical wiring, etc.).

And so we continue to inspect the house, go inside. But before you go inside the house, pay attention to front door, examine it.

Entrance to the house. Inspection of the door leaf and door frame

Photo 1

Pay attention to the wooden door frame, as can be seen in photo 1, at the bottom the frame is hewn, this means that in the off-season the house “walks” and it turns out to be skewed door frame. Not the door leaf, as many people mistakenly believe, but the door frame.

Trimming the bottom of the door frame is a simple but ineffective way to eliminate jamming of the door leaf during seasonal movements of the house. IN winter period, when the soil begins to bulge upward from the foundation of the house, the skew of the door frame will be the opposite of when the house sags in the spring when the soil thaws. This means that in winter, a gap forms between door leaf and a box, which means heat loss and draft.

Ceiling inspection

Photo 2

What exactly should you pay attention to when inspecting the ceiling?

First of all, our focus is on the condition of the ceiling finishing, and in general all structural elements of the house from the inside of the premises - finishing of walls, floors. Often, before selling a house, owners do redecorating, sometimes hiding behind the fresh appearance of the rooms, significant deficiencies in the floor, walls or ceiling.

So, without giving in to the first impression of the freshness of the ceiling, we pay attention first of all to the evenness of the ceiling surface. In photo 2, you can see that the ceiling is uneven. Why can the ceiling be so uneven in a wooden house?

1. Typically, such “drawdowns” of the ceiling in old houses are found in houses where they have been dismantled heating stoves. If the stove was installed incorrectly in the house, with it tied to the ceiling or floor, the stove could sag due to seasonal ground movements or simply under the influence of its weight, which led to subsidence of the ceiling.
2. IN panel houses old building, the walls were connected using a log passing from one wall to another, and if the log was not sufficiently dried, it could bend under its weight in the central part and this could also cause unevenness in the ceiling. Since the installed partitions in such houses do not have a capital base (foundation), the base of such partitions is built directly on the floor, and the floor joists may not have initially had support pillars, therefore, the log could be deformed and disrupt the evenness of not only the ceiling, but also the floor due to the lack of a capital pier.
3. In the "five-walled" log houses old building, it would seem, had a solid fifth wall that serves as a partition; such cases of uneven ceilings and floors can also occur. The reason is almost the same as in panel houses - poor quality of the columnar supports under the partition.

Correct such irregularities ceilings It is possible if, when renovating a house, you install a suspended ceiling.

Also pay attention to whether there are any smudges on the ceiling that could have formed due to a roof leak, but this can again be seen if pre-sale cosmetic repairs have not been made to the house.

Inspection of the walls of the house

By visually inspecting the walls of a wooden house, you can determine the quality of the walls. Pay attention to the corner joints of the ceiling and walls.

Photo 3

As can be seen in photo 3, on corner connection The wallpaper on the ceiling and walls is wrinkled, it looks like an accordion. What causes this?

One of the reasons, of course, is that the house subsides due to seasonal soil movements. But there is another reason - this:

• in log houses of old construction, the inter-crown seal has lost its quality characteristics, the logs of the upper crowns of the walls of the house have become unusable and require replacement, the wood has lost its quality characteristics. All of the above affects the quality of the interventional tight connection, and with even the slightest movement of the soil, such walls begin to warp, which is the reason for the poor quality of wall finishing. roll materials;
• in panel houses, this condition of wall finishing with rolled materials can be caused by poor-quality connection of the panels to each other. Due to the long service life, poor-quality vapor and waterproofing, and also due to the fact that the wood of the upper or bottom trim And vertical racks the shield has lost its quality characteristics (when dismantling such shields, the presence of fungus, mold deposits, rottenness or damage by a bug is observed on the strapping bars), all this negatively affects the junction of the shields, which leads to uneven subsidence of each shield individually, and there is also a high probability of violation verticality of the walls.

Another common defect in the walls of wooden houses is wall deformation. This defect occurs only in log houses. When choosing houses, I encountered such a defect.

Photo 4

This defect in the deformation of the frame of a wooden house is visible in photo 4. The owners did not carry out any pre-sale repairs, and as they say, the facts are clear. Deformation of the log house occurs due to a violation of the connection of the central crowns of the log house, under the weight of the upper crowns, with soil pressure on the foundation of the house, the crowns of the house located in the central part of the log house have lost quality connection or initially these crowns did not have additional connections (pins), such crowns begin to bulge.

This defect in log walls can lead to the fact that without timely measures for major repairs, the crowns of the log house may simply roll out. Typically, such houses are bought for demolition, because of the space for the construction of a new house, since major repairs of a house with such a defect in the walls require a lot of labor and a significant investment of money.

Photo 5

What else can the walls of a house tell during a visual inspection? As can be seen in photo 5, the wall has water stains. This is a significant defect - in such a house, the hydro-vapor barrier of the walls is made with gross violations or is completely absent, and in a panel house, in addition to this, there are also no internal ventilation ducts between the insulation, all this leads to the fact that the walls of the house absorb moisture like a sponge , do not dry well, especially if in the house stove heating, the wood of such walls is most likely affected by fungus, has lost its quality characteristics, rottenness has appeared and heat loss in a house with such walls will be significant.

Even when there are no pronounced smudges, poor quality steam-waterproofing walls can be identified by the heads of the nails, which become visible in small dots with a reddish tint on the rolled finishing materials of the walls of the house. This happens due to the fact that when high humidity walls, the nails that secure the wall decoration, for example, fiberboard, simply rust, and so the “reddishness” of the nail heads appears against the light background of decorative and finishing materials.

Floor inspection

Photo 6

When inspecting the floor, pay attention to the evenness of the floor panel; also when moving around the house, conducting an internal inspection, pay attention to the strength of the floor:

• the floor should not sag when walking;
• There should be no creaking floorboards.

Also pay attention to the joints of the floor and walls, in most cases these joints are hidden by the baseboard and most likely you will not be able to see anything, but what could be hidden under the decorative finish?

In wooden houses of old construction, at the junctions of the floor and wall, especially in panel houses, you can find a common defect in both the floor boards and the wall itself - rotten wood, cracks form, and in the cold season you will feel a draft on the floor surface. Cold air coming from underground through the gaps formed between the wall and the floor, there will be a sharp temperature difference on the surface of the floor and at the height of human growth.

Elimination of this defect means repairing the floor and replacing boards. But if it is not possible to carry out such repairs, you can dismantle the baseboards and foam them polyurethane foam space between the wall and the floor, wait about 30 minutes until the foam is completely dry. Then cut off the excess foam and replace the baseboard.

Photo 7

Also pay attention at the junction of the ceiling and floor with the walls for the presence of passages left by rodents. The presence of such passages, as can be seen in photo 7, indicates the painstaking work ahead to destroy rodents if you buy the house being inspected. Why do I draw your attention to the presence of rodents and their habitat in a wooden house?

For any wooden house, rodents are almost always present, but for a log house, rodents do not pose a particular threat, unlike frame (panel) houses. I will write my view on the vision of this problem.

Let's answer the question - how were walls insulated in houses of this type in the 60-70s?

Photo 8

1. In those years, the walls of panel houses were insulated mainly with a soft insulating board (A), four or five layers with glassine waterproofing.
2. Walls frame houses, built using frame-frame technology, were insulated bulk materials- sawdust or shavings, as well as slag.

Now let's look at the situation this way - a house, for example, has stood for more than 40-50 years, and if in such a house rodents prevailed for quite a long time, and the fight against rodents was not carried out or was carried out, but did not achieve complete extermination of rodents, then thermal insulation materials the walls could have been significantly damaged:

1. If the walls of the house are insulated with a soft slab (isoplast), then rodents could damage a significant area of ​​the slab insulation, since due to the space between the layers of insulation, rodents were able to move unhindered and ideal conditions to build their nests. And damaged insulation, which has through holes left by rodents, loses its thermal insulation ability and the cold coming from the street side freely penetrates the wall sheathing from the outside, which undoubtedly leads to significant heat loss.
2. If the walls are insulated with bulk materials, this is especially true sawdust and shavings, then here the rodents also had ideal conditions for existence and reproduction. By breaking through passages in the loose insulation, rodents contribute to its gradual lowering down the wall, thereby top part Over time, the walls of the house may not be insulated at all.

Such damage to the thermal insulation of the walls of frame and panel houses entails urgency overhaul, which means additional cash costs for repairs and the purchase of building materials.

Note:

From practical experience I can say that major repairs of switchboards or frame walls, practically implies the construction of new walls of the house. There is a need to replace wall cladding boards, partial replacement frame posts, complete replacement old heat-hydro-vapor barrier material.

Heating system inspection

In older houses, the water heating system was usually made from steel pipes and registers (sometimes cast iron registers). What you need to pay attention to when inspecting such a heating system:

• inspect the connection of pipes and registers;
• inspect welding seams;
• if possible, inspect the integrity of pipes and registers (since the heating system may not yet be filled with water, and you will not see leaks in damaged areas).

In photo 9 (A) you can see a violation of the tightness threaded connection pipes and register. Pay attention to the rusty coating on the coupling and on the threads of the drive.

This deposit was formed due to the leakage (no longer significant) of water at the threaded connection. This may be due to the following reasons:

• when connecting the drive and the coupling, an insufficient amount of thread seal was used (flax was mainly used as an inter-thread seal);
• poor-quality thread on the connector or coupling, which over time led to a weakening of the connection and water began to flow through the threads.

To eliminate this defect, you will have to dismantle this part of the heating system, disconnect heating register from pipes (supply and return) where water flows. For a new thread seal, you can use silicone sealant, but if the threads are driven (A) and coupling(B) have a large gap, then in this case it is advisable to use flax tow. Wrap the tow tightly around the thread of the squeegee and apply a small layer oil paint over the linen seal, after which you connect the pipe and the register and be sure to secure the connection with a locknut (B).

In photo 9 (B) you can see a defect in the flow of the heating system along the weld seam (D), which is hidden under the tape (this defect can also be eliminated using a clamp). To eliminate such a defect, you will need to drain the water from the system and repair the leak using welding. Before execution welding work, it is necessary to cut off the old welding seam, for example, using a grinder, and only then apply a new welding seam.

Now let's get back to inspecting the main structural elements of the house, this will require going down into the basement of the house.

Inspection of the house from the underground

Photo 10

If the house has an underground floor, and in houses of old construction in almost 100% of cases the underground is used as storage for vegetables and preserves, then it is advisable to check the condition of the house from the underground.

What you need to pay attention to when inspecting the subfloor of a house:

• condition of floor beams;
• condition of floorboards;
• condition of embedded logs;
• the state of waterproofing between the plinth and embedded logs;
• check the humidity level of the underground.

Inspection of joists and floor boards from the underground side

When inspecting the logs, pay attention to the condition of the surface of the logs (beams), in photo 11, A you can see that the surface of the log has no traces of the presence of a bug, does not have putrefactive formations, unlike what can be seen in the same photo under the letter B - as the log is clearly damaged by a beetle and has a blue discoloration (the first sign of diseased wood).

To practically test the strength of wood, you can use any pointed object - an awl, a knife or, as shown in the photo, a screwdriver. Place the sharp end of the screwdriver on the surface of the log (beam) and press firmly on the screwdriver. What happens?

In photo 11, A, the log has a fairly strong structure, and a screwdriver leaves a slightly visible mark, which means that such floor joists will last for many more decades. But in photo 11, B you can see that the screwdriver, under pressure, almost completely passed through the sapwood and stopped at the core of the log; such floor joists require replacement.

Continuing to inspect the subfloor, visually check the condition of the floorboards, as well as what kind of boards the floors are made of (unedged board, edged or tongue-and-groove board).

In photo 12, A you can see that the floor is made of unedged boards and has putrefactive lesions on the surface of the boards, mainly putrefactive formations are visible on the core of the wood (the center of the board), this can be caused by three main reasons:

1. For sawing into boards, logs with wood that was no longer of high quality were taken.
2. The rules for drying boards were violated (stacks of boards were not ventilated during drying, the surface of one board was in contact with the surface of another board).
3. There is poor ventilation in the subfloor of the house, which causes increased humidity, which contributes to pathogenic formation in the wood structure, or the subfloor of the house is flooded by melt water during the melting of the snow cover.

In the same photo under letter B, you can see that the condition of the floorboards is in satisfactory condition, the floor is made of tongue and groove boards and does not require repairs, unlike the floor shown in photo 12, A.

As already mentioned in the section on floor inspection, pay attention to the integrity of the wood - whether the floor joists have been damaged by rodents and, if any, wooden structures(shelves, racks, etc.) which are used for storing canned goods and vegetables (photo 13). The reasons why you should pay attention to the presence of rodents in the house are described in detail in the “Floor Inspection” section of the article.

Note:

Determine what the floors in the house are made of and what is hidden decoratively underneath - Decoration Materials floor, it is possible when you have just opened the underground hatch.

Photo 14, A shows that the floor is made of tongue-and-groove boards, the surface of the floor is covered with chipboard. These floors are warm and have a durable surface. Photo 14, B shows that the floors are made of edged non-groove boards, the surface of the floor is covered with fiberboard and painted - such floors are colder than those shown in the same photo under letter A.

Inspection of embedded logs and waterproofing

Photo 15

Continuing the inspection of the structural elements of the house from the underground side, pay attention to the embedded logs of the walls of the house:

• check the condition of the interventional insulation;
• see if waterproofing has been done between the surface of the foundation and the embedded log, visually assess the condition of the waterproofing material;
• pay attention to how the embedded logs are laid on the surface of the foundation, if there is a gap between the logs and the foundation, then how and with what the space between the log and the foundation is filled, and what condition the filler is in.

And, of course, the most important thing is to check the quality of the wood of the embedded logs.

In photo 15, you can see that the waterproofing between the foundation logs and the surface of the foundation is made of roofing felt, and it is even visually clear that the roofing felt has lost its quality characteristics; moss was used as a filler for the space between the surface of the foundation and the foundation log. After checking the quality of the moss, it turned out that the moss is colored and does not provide high-quality compaction of the space, as a result of which the likelihood of cold air penetrating into the subfloor of the house in winter increases, and this will undoubtedly affect the fact that the floors in the house will be cold and in general fuel consumption increases.

To prevent the entry of cold air through the sealing material that has lost its quality characteristics, in the described case moss, it is necessary to completely remove all the old sealant and fill the space between the embedded log and the surface of the foundation, for example, using mineral wool insulation.

Note:

When renovating my house, I filled the existing space between the surface of the foundation and the embedded log using polyurethane foam.

Check the quality of the wood of the embedded logs, it is checked in the same way as the quality of the wood of the logs from which the floor joists are constructed (see the section “Inspection of joists and floor boards from the subfloor side”).

When inspecting a wooden house, even if it is not an old building, it is worth checking the condition of the internal gas pipeline and electrical wiring in the house. This is due to the fact that the house is wooden, and most causes of fires in wooden houses occur due to malfunctions of gas equipment, electrical wiring, and chimneys.

Of course, you don’t have to inspect either the gas pipeline or the electrical wiring, but in this case, after buying a house, you may encounter “surprises” - faulty electrical wiring, malfunction of gas equipment or the gas pipeline itself. But you didn’t budget for expenses for repairing electrical wiring or replacing gas equipment.

To avoid all sorts of such “surprises,” I recommend conducting a thorough inspection of not only the structural elements of the house, but also, as I have already listed, the gas pipeline (with gas equipment), and electrical wiring, as well as the house’s water supply and sewerage system. You need to know everything about the house you are buying, even at first glance it may seem that some points can be ignored, but later these “little things” can result in “large” monetary expenses for which you will not be prepared.

And so, let's briefly look at some points when inspecting and checking gas equipment, checking the functionality of the gas pipeline, etc.

Inspection and testing of internal gas pipeline

If the house is gasified, then it is advisable to check the condition of the gas pipeline and its functionality.

When inspecting the system internal system gas supply please note the following:

• is there an exhaust hood above the gas heating boiler (photo 16, A), as well as above the gas stove;
• check how the gas boiler is installed; if there are violations in the installation of gas equipment, then subsequently you may be subject to penalties and even turn off the gas supply, so it is better to make sure in advance that the gas equipment is installed without violations (Fig. 16, D) (this in that case, you need to check if you do not intend to replace the gas boiler);
• check the functionality of the gas equipment and the reliability of the shut-off valves (Fig. 16, B&V).

For example:

You can check the functionality of the gas pipeline and shut-off valves this way: ask the owner of the house to light the gas stove (as shown in photo 16 B) and when gas burns in the gas burner, turn off the shut-off valve, turning off the gas supply to gas stove. If the gas stops burning after a few seconds (up to 5-7 seconds), it means that the shut-off valve is in good condition and eliminates gas leaks.

• Inspect the gas consumption meter, presence of seals, integrity protective glass and check its functionality.

Note:

When checking the documentation for a house, be sure to check the availability of documentation for gasification of this house. You can familiarize yourself in detail with the rules of gasification at home and the necessary documentation in the article.

If the house has plumbing and sewerage, then you can assess the condition of these communication systems.

Checking the internal water supply

If the house has a water supply system, check its functionality. Ask the owners how the water supply system to the house works:

• what pipes are used to supply water to the house;
• what pump supplies water to the house (if it is an individual water supply system);
• depth and location of pipes.

Also ask the owner if the house has a bathroom, how the sewerage system is made, what is the volume of the sewer well, whether there is a septic tank with a filter well, and whether there is permission from the SES to install a sewer well in the place where it is located. You need written confirmation from the SES that the sewer system as designed in the house you are buying does not pose a threat of infection environment and drinking water sources. More information about the individual device sewer system can be read in the article.

Inspection of electrical wiring in the house

What should you pay attention to when inspecting electrical wiring in a wooden house?

Type of electrical wiring (in wooden houses of old construction, electrical wiring is mainly open type). In photo 18, A there is old-style wiring, in photo 18, B there is modern wiring laid in a specially designed PVC box.

Photo 19

Wire connection points (it is advisable to check how the wires are connected to each other, the insulation condition of the connection points)

Integrity of wires (if the wires are not in boxes, then it is possible to check by visual inspection the quality and integrity of the wire insulation).

Photo 20

Check the functionality of the electricity consumption meter, conduct a visual inspection of the meter (but this, of course, can only be done if the owners of the house do not object to such a thorough inspection), check for the presence of seals on the meter casing.

Photo 21

Check to see if additional power cutoffs are installed in areas of maximum electrical load (photo 21). Typically, such a place is a bathroom equipped in the house in which washing machine, electric water heater, pumping station(usually in the underground) and also if there is an outlet for electrical wiring to the street - to a bathhouse, barn, garage. But the installation of additional machines is necessary if the listed premises do not have an additional electricity consumption meter and the power supply is not supplied directly to these premises, bypassing the meter installed directly in the house itself.

In order to have a complete picture of the upcoming purchase, you can also inspect the land adjacent to the house and its fencing.

Inspection of the site fencing

If the fence of the site is wooden fence, then we pay attention to the following points:

• pay attention to the condition of the wood; there should be no putrefactive formations or moss on the surface of the picket fence (A), as you can see these defects in the photograph;
• the picket fence must be intact and securely attached to the legs, check the reliability of the picket fence by shaking it with your hand from side to side, if the wood has a high-quality structure, then the picket fence will hold tightly and will not break;
• the bottom of the picket fence should not be rotten; also inspect the integrity of the picket fence (B).

If still wooden fence It has poor quality, then after purchasing a house, you will have to change the fence to a new one - put metal fence or also wooden.


Photo 23

If the site fencing is made of chain-link mesh, then pay attention to the following:

• the chain-link mesh must be securely attached to the support posts and steel wire or steel wire must be stretched between spans along the entire length of the fence steel rope small diameter (A), which fix the verticality of the mesh between spans, preventing it from sagging;
• the chain-link mesh should not have any damage through which dogs or cats can enter the area, and the top and bottom of the mesh should be secured at the wire connection points (B);
• pay attention to whether the mesh is buried in the soil; according to the rules for installing chain-link fences, its lower part should not be buried in the soil. The distance from the soil surface to the mesh should be at least 3-5 cm. Otherwise, the lower part of the mesh, buried in the soil, will soon be corroded by corrosion and then the fence will have to be repaired.

Photo 24

If the fence is made of sheet metal:

• pay attention to the fastening of the profile sheets to the corners (legs), no traces of corrosion should be visible under the head of the screws, if corrosion does appear, then these places should be treated with metal brush and apply anti-corrosion protection. If this work is not completed on time, then the metal of the profile under the screw head will be completely affected by rust and the profile will no longer be securely attached to the corner(s). The fence will require major repairs with the investment of larger material resources than what you would spend on purchasing a metal brush and anti-corrosion liquid.

The posts of all types of fences must stand firmly in the ground and must not be skewed in any direction. Check the stability by resting your hands on the pole; a firmly installed pole will not give in to your efforts. If a pole, for example, a wooden one, tilts, this means that its underground part has rotted. If the pillar is made of metal pipes, but still succumbed to your efforts and tilted, which means that such a pillar is simply dug into the ground and is not concreted. All these defects in the support posts of the fence indicate that the wooden posts will need to be replaced and the iron posts will need to be additionally strengthened using a concrete slab.

It is also important to check the documentation for the house being purchased, the adjacent land plot, and documents for gasification of the house (if the house is gasified). You can read in detail about what documents you need to check in the article - (section of the article "Checking Documentation") .

P.S. Now that the inspection of the house has been completed - not only its structural elements, but also the condition of the heating system, electrical wiring, etc., has been checked, you can make the most accurate estimate of the upcoming costs of purchasing and repairing an old wooden house.

08.04.2014, 14:52

585458535852 Hello, forum users! may not be entirely on topic. but if you can advise, I will be very grateful. We are planning to purchase log house(year of construction 1950). The condition is a little confusing load-bearing walls. There seems to be a slight curvature at the corners. Experts, please help us determine the overall condition of the house. How dilapidated is the building, judging by the photo?

Alexander Smolnikov

08.04.2014, 15:14

IMHO, when they take a 60-year-old house, talking about the curvature of the walls and the condition of the logs is somehow inappropriate. :)
Usually such houses are to be demolished, or in extreme cases - to live for five or six years and still demolish and build a new one. Why do you care about the curvature of the corners? Don't shoot. The main thing that lower crowns they were more or less alive and not rotten. And the roof didn't leak. You'll have to come to terms with the rest. Because redoing EVERYTHING is expensive and will not pay off. But everything will have to be rebuilt. Therefore, first, create minimal comfort so that you can live and start saving money for construction.
I’m not just saying this, I live in such a house myself. Well... not exactly like that. Also built 53 years ago. I bought it for a million, invested another 120 thousand rubles, and built an extension for 100,000 rubles, about a stone one. And you can live. Now we will need to rebuild everything else.

And further. TO check the condition of the lower crowns, an awl was actively used, with which they tried to pierce the log. Usually it works. Upper layer solid. There's rot inside. And that's okay. The lower crowns need to be changed at a minimum.
Well, the condition of the attic. The joists are not rotten and there are no water leaks. The ceiling is free of water stains and there is no dampness in the underground.
And the curvature of the walls :) It’s a log. Log house He walks anyway.

08.04.2014, 15:22

Let's pay attention - the house is smeared.
examine the smear carefully - look for traces of dampness. if they are not there, good.

You have to poke the logs. I poked it with a screwdriver. the rottenness is immediately visible. rotten MOST bottom crowns are excusable, if more - unforgivable.
pay attention to the foundation - it should not crumble.

Andrey Dachnik

08.04.2014, 16:28

08.04.2014, 16:37

Usually such houses are to be demolished, or in extreme cases - to live for five or six years and still demolish and build a new one.
If the question is such that there is absolutely no place to live, and with the available funds you can only buy such a house, and then think further - then you can consider it.

Alexander Smolnikov

08.04.2014, 17:13

If the question is such that there is absolutely no place to live, and with the available funds you can only buy such a house, and then think further - then you can consider it.
And if you just want your own house, but there is somewhere to turn around, then it is better to look for a bare plot and build from scratch. As a result, the house will come out cheaper and faster.

I completely agree. This is exactly how I live).
There is nowhere to hang out. We will build on the old site.
Building from scratch... of course it may be easier, but not cheaper.
I already have a ready-made heating system, doors, plumbing and sheds for storing all sorts of junk. And there is somewhere to stay overnight while construction is going on. So, on the one hand, building in the field is easier and faster. But there are also advantages to building on the site of an old house.

08.04.2014, 18:35

Log or hut?
This is a log house with walls leveled using a mixture of clay and manure.
I agree with "Alexander Smolnikov"

08.04.2014, 20:25

I have a log house built in 1956. Moreover, it was built from old hut. We still live in the house. He's fine. Comp. The age of a log house is not the main thing. The main thing is a high foundation and good roof. The house in the photo is confused by the low foundation.

Andrey Dachnik

09.04.2014, 00:12

09.04.2014, 01:18

I have a question: why are the vertical logs installed that are visible under the wall coating?

Good question. But really, what are they for? who knows? maybe they are holding the logs together?

Andrey Dachnik

09.04.2014, 11:29

Where is your home? I have a suspicion that this is not a log house, but a half-timbered structure popular in the post-war period (it was also used during the development of Peter the Great’s Petersburg): post-frame made of logs and wattle made of reeds or willow between the posts with a layer of clay and dung reinforced with chopped straw .

If this is so, then the house is only for demolition (or sold to a museum). We need to open up a section of the wall from the inside and get to the bottom of the truth.

So, you decided to buy a wooden house on the secondary market instead of building from scratch. It seems to you that a finished wooden house is cheaper than a new one; you won’t need to waste time on design, construction, and shrinkage. I bought it and you can move in.

We will not say that this is not the case, but you must understand: it cannot be cheap and high quality at the same time. We know of many cases where, having saved at the time of purchase, people spent many times more in an attempt to bring the house into proper shape.

In this article we will look at the main points that you will need to pay attention to before purchasing.

First of all, ask the owner about the reason for the sale. Better yet, talk to your neighbors. Find out how long it took to build the house. If it is a long-term construction, and the uncovered, unprotected frame of the house has stood for at least a season (or even several years), then the wood is most likely already affected by fungus and is slowly deteriorating. We do not recommend purchasing such a house. If you suddenly decide, be sure to re-inspect it with an independent specialist in the field of wooden house construction.

Another option: the seller built the house immediately for sale (which he will hardly admit). On good quality In this case, there is also no need to hope for construction: by the time of sale, the goods have been hastily brought into proper condition, and the seller does not care what happens to the house in a couple of years.

If the owner built it for himself and lived in the house for a long time, then he invested a lot of effort, time and money into it - not only at the time of construction, but also later, in caring for the house. Such real estate will not be cheap. If the price seems attractively low to you, think about what the reasons might be.

Most importantly, never rely solely on the attractive appearance of the house. You choose not a beautiful picture, but your own home, which should last for a long time and not rot in a few years.

Be sure to ask the seller for all documents for the house. Check his right to real estate: whether he can carry out purchase and sale transactions. Find out who else is registered in the house, so that after a while you do not discover an unpleasant surprise in the form of relatives and heirs. Be sure to check all documents with a notary.

Study the development plan for the area with the local government: perhaps the house is being sold only because it is planned to be demolished in 5 years.

Ask the seller project documentation- an album with all the drawings, estimate tables and explanatory notes with seals and signatures of the designers. This is a guarantee that the house was built according to the project, calculations were made for it, and everything building codes were taken into account. By buying a house without documentation, you risk getting a pig in a poke: an unscrupulous developer could deviate from the norms and make changes to the project that will subsequently lead (or have already led) to the destruction of the house. In the absence of documentation, all responsibility will fall on your shoulders.

Be sure to spend several hours inspecting each home option, and take clothes that you don't mind getting dirty while checking hard-to-reach areas. Remember: the seller wants to show you the advantages of the house, your job is to find all possible disadvantages.

Let's start the inspection from the bottom.

Foundation

A good foundation is the key to the reliability of a building: it determines how long and well the house will stand. Visually assess the presence of cracks, delaminations, presence and performance drainage systems and/or blind areas. To check the drainage, you can pour a bucket of water in there and see where it comes out. To assess the depth of the foundation, it is necessary to dig, but not every home owner will agree to this. The foundation should not have distortions on one corner or side: you can use the building level to determine this.

Base

The recommended plinth height for wooden houses is 60 cm. There must be a layer of waterproofing between the foundation and the backing beam. Look at the presence, size and location of vents in the base - special holes that provide natural ventilation space under the floor (only with certain types foundations).

Basement (underfloor)

The basement is part of the foundation with increased requirements for waterproofing and ventilation. There should be no musty smell, no limit to the water level: its presence is indicated by the difference in the shade of the walls.

If the floorboards have an unusual bluish or reddish tint, the wood is infected with fungi. Here you can use a knife: if the inserted knife sits firmly and is difficult to remove, then the boards are in good condition. Run your palm where the floor meets the walls: there should be no cold air coming from there. You can use a thermal imager and find all the weak areas in terms of ventilation and freezing.

Walls

Tap the entire first crown (the first few logs from the bottom) or pry with a screwdriver: rotten logs may look normal, so a simple visual inspection will not help. A loud and clear sound indicates the reliability of the log. Inspect the logs for mold, insect damage, and examine the condition concrete screed: It should be dry and not crumble.

Inspect the walls, joints of logs, corners of the house inside and outside, if necessary, with a flashlight. There should be no specific blue discoloration, traces of rotting and mold, or cracks. Walk around the outside of the house and look for large gaps between the logs or uneven caulked joints. Note the small black dots - these are wood-boring beetle nests. They indicate that the wood was not treated with special compounds in a timely manner. Do not buy such a house, no matter how tempting its price may seem: this is the slow death of the house, which is almost impossible to overcome.

Spend some money and have your home inspected with a thermal imager. This special device, which will show weak points in the thermal insulation of a house in the infrared range. Inside the room, ventilated corners will appear as dark blue, and outside as yellow-orange spots. Most carefully it is necessary to check the foundation piping, inter-crown cracks, corners, slopes and attic floor- that is, all places bordering the street.

An important condition: such an examination can only be carried out during the cold season (the difference in temperature outside and inside the room must reach at least 10 degrees) in a heated room. Therefore, if you are going to buy a house in the summer or spring, you risk finding out about problems with the thermal insulation of the house already during the onset of cold weather.

The house should be inspected by an expert who can evaluate the result and offer solutions. For example, if the crown seal is defective, re-caulking will help, but if the roof has a “smelling” smell, you will have to dismantle the interior trim and update the insulation. Therefore, be sure to think about how much money you will have to spend on alterations (corrections) and how justified such a purchase will be.

pay attention to interior partitions: When pressed, they should not bend under load.

Check the walls for sound insulation.

Wall material

Profiled timber is practically indistinguishable in appearance from four-edged timber, and round log- from a rounded one, which is often used by unscrupulous developers. However, it all ends with the external similarity: a 4-edge beam and a round log do not have technological features OCB and profile. For example, a four-edge beam does not have inter-crown grooves - this leads to the appearance of large gaps, and subsequently to the walls being blown through; there is a high probability of through cracks appearing in the crowns of the log house. Read more about various types You can read the material in ours with infographics and detailed descriptions.

The question is whether you can independently distinguish one material from another, or take the seller’s word for it and buy a Lada for the cost of a Mercedes. To prevent this from happening, it is better to conduct a home inspection with an independent expert.

Windows and doors

If the walls near the windows are colder than in other places, then this indicates violations in the window installation technology. All windows and doors must open freely, without any jamming. We recommend that you remove the trim on the windows and doors from the inside and outside and check for yourself the quality of installation, tightness and quality of insulation.

Ceiling

Visually evaluate the ceiling: it should be smooth, without obvious deflections, all corners should be the same color. If the color/shade is different, this indicates freezing of the building. Inspect the house for gaps between the walls and ceilings: they could appear due to improper settling of the house.

Attic (attic)

Check for strength rafter system, pay attention to the insulation of the attic, the quality of the roofing materials, the integrity of the chimney - there should not be an abutment with wood. If the air in the attic is musty and the ceiling is damp, this indicates problems with the ventilation of the under-roof space. If the roof is leaking, you will see signs of water leakage.

Roof

Look at the roof from the outside; you can use binoculars for this. Roofing material should lie flat, there should be no grooves, dips, bends or other deviations. Pay attention to the edges of the roof: they must be hemmed, otherwise all possible precipitation will fall there, and birds will begin to build nests there. Another important point- chimney: there should be no traces of burning around it, the color of the wood inside and the outside of the roof at the point of contact with the chimney should not differ. Take a closer look at the evenness of the roof ridge: it should not sag where it rests on the gables.

As you can see, just the desire to buy a good wooden house is not enough: there are too many nuances that would be difficult for a non-professional to notice. Therefore, we recommend that you inspect all options for wooden houses before purchasing with an independent professional expert. In our practice, there was a case when the client did not know what to build new house or buy ready-made. Together with an expert, she examined 7 houses she liked - and simply estimating the amount of costs for modifications and alterations, she returned to us to build a new wooden house.

If you decide to buy a ready-made wooden house, rather than build a house from scratch, pay attention to the wall material: in our special. In this issue, we carefully studied this issue and honestly spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of this or that material.

*information is posted for informational purposes; to thank us, share the link to the page with your friends. You can send material interesting to our readers. We will be happy to answer all your questions and suggestions, as well as hear criticism and suggestions at [email protected]

You have the opportunity to build country house in the lap of nature. A little more and the dream will come true, but there is no time or desire to wait. Bye construction company will do the project while he starts work, this is not for you. Well, you have found a way out of this situation; you can buy a ready-made log house, which will significantly speed up construction and make your dream come true. As a supplement to the article, let us immediately draw your attention to the website http://moskva.sro-16.ru/, which offers to learn more about the admission of SROs in Moscow.

True, there are concerns that perhaps the log house does not fully correspond to everyone technical requirements and in the future, problems may arise that require rework and additional costs. How to check that everything is in order and there will be no problems. Of course, you can use the services of a specialist to be sure that everything is in order, or you can try to solve this problem yourself. So, let's try to figure out how we can determine the quality of the purchased log house ourselves.

We start checking with appearance logs Logs must be free of cracks, smooth and free of smudges. If there are small holes in the logs, then perhaps they are infected with bark beetle, so it is necessary to check each log; one log infected with bark beetle will infect the rest of the logs after some time. It is almost impossible to get rid of the bark beetle, so it is decided to refuse to buy such a log house, even if the price is very attractive.

Pay attention to another sign that this log house has low-quality wood - this is the blue color appearing on the logs. Such blueness is a sign of the beginning of rotting of the tree.

Another option for quality control is the so-called “log audition”. For this you will need an assistant. The method is as follows: you press your ear to the end of the log, and your assistant hits the other end with a metal object. Normal wood conducts sound perfectly and even a slight blow will be clearly heard. If you do not hear, then this means that the log is rotting from the inside.

When purchasing a log house in winter, it is possible to check the quality using ordinary iodine. Lubricate the cut of the log with a small amount of iodine and see the result if, in the direction of the radial rays, the tree is colored in purple- wood is in good condition. Wood staining yellow indicates that the frame was made of wet wood. Such a log house will deteriorate quite quickly. You should refrain from purchasing such a log house.

Next, we carefully check the lower crowns. According to all the rules, all lower logs must be impregnated with an antiseptic, since during operation they come into contact with moisture, soil and external weather conditions. Carefully check the condition of the frame from the inside, make sure that there are no traces of mold in the corners, that window frames are not warped and hold tightly.

Another important sign of the condition of a log house may be its price. Please note the price good log house costs good money and if you are offered quite low price, this is another sign that you need to carefully check everything down to the smallest detail.