Today we’re walking you through the inspection of a detached house in Guadalajara. During the visit, we uncovered several serious problems that weren’t visible to the naked eye, and the buyer was able to make a decision with all the facts in hand.
This is the first instalment of a new section of the blog where we’ll be sharing real inspections carried out all across Spain. In this case, on the edge of the province of Guadalajara, very close to Madrid.
Problems detected during the inspection
There were two major problems in this house. The first: in one of the bedrooms, we found structural cracks in a load-bearing wall. From their shape and direction, we could tell they were caused by differential settlement of the property, meaning part of the building had sunk relative to the rest.
On top of that, we noticed that someone had tried to patch these cracks from the outside, which made them easy for an untrained eye to miss.
The second problem was damp caused by roof leaks. It had spread across several ceilings and ran down the walls, the result of poor re-tiling and waterproofing of the roof.
Extract from the inspection report
Because of these and other defects, here is an extract of the conclusions we included in the report delivered to the clients:
The property inspected on 3 January 2023 requires an upgrade of its installations. It shows structural pathologies, which the visual inspection found to be inactive, caused by differential settlement. The layout of the building suggests that the section extended in the past is the one that has settled unevenly. The damp in the living room, in the upper part of the exterior wall, is presumed to be caused by a crack through which water filters in from the roof, which is in poor condition.
Do you need to inspect the home you’re about to buy?
If you want to buy with confidence, a professional inspection gives you objective, detailed information about the property’s real condition. We answer all your questions and guide you through the whole process.
