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Saturday, March 15, 1997
HOUSEWATCH
Tasks to Take Seriously
New-Home Maintenance Is the Duty of Owners
By Katherine Salant
We all know there's no free lunch. But how
about a no-maintenance house?
It doesn't exactly exist either, much to the
chagrin of many new-home buyers. Even when maintenance
requirements are acknowledged, many new-home buyers think the
builder's limited warranty covers this aspect of homeownership.
It's time for a reality check. Builders do not
maintain houses, homeowners do. And if they don't, new-home buyers
can lose the benefit of their builder's limited warranty, should
the cause of a structural defect be traced to inadequate
maintenance.
What are these maintenance chores-relatively
few in number-that many new homeowners regard as odious? In
interviews with local building officials and executives and
customer service managers of both large and small home-building
firms in the Washington area, there were several tasks that were
mentioned frequently.
Some of the required maintenance is
particularly applicable to new houses, such as those related to
ground settlement. In most instances, the ground around a house
settles during the first year. New soil must be added to ensure
positive drainage away from the house to prevent water from
seeping into the basement.
Usually only a relatively small amount of dirt
is required to correct this, but in some cases soil settles as
much as one foot, and several cubic yards must be added, according
to Randy Wyrick, the manager of Montgomery County's residential
inspection program. Most builders in the Washington area will
correct the slope around the house at the end of the first year.
After this, the homeowner must maintain it.
This is not as straightforward as it sounds.
The minimum 2 percent slope allowed in some area jurisdictions
looks essentially flat, and some homeowners may not realize that
there is any slope they are supposed to maintain, Wyrick said.
Erring on the side of caution and adding extra
dirt to create a definite and visible slope away from the house
would seem a reasonable approach, but this can make things worse.
If you don't leave at least eight inches of space between the
ground and the bottom of your siding, you can be inviting termite
problems, he said.
Homeowners who want to install an outdoor deck
must ensure that the proper slope is maintained underneath it,
noted Chip Devine, Vice President for Construction at Coscan
Homes.
Maintaining a proper grade further away from
the house also can affect whether a house stays dry. If your lot
has a swale - a shallow ditch - running through the side of the
backyard to carry surface runoff, it must be retained, not filled
in or used in some seemingly creative way. For example, regarding
the swale as a "natural irrigation system" and planting a
vegetable garden next to it will change the grade and can
rechannel the water into your basement.
Some buyers mistakenly think the builder will
nurture the initial grass seeding, but this is always a
homeowner's responsibility, as is regular mowing. If you use a
sprinkler to water your grass, make sure it doesn't hit the house;
this can also cause water problems inside.
Another maintenance chore for new homeowners
is recaulking. This will be an ongoing task through out the life
of the house, but in the first year more will be required because
of settlement, shrinkage of wood framing and trim, and natural
stress cracks. Many buyers see an interior trim price pull away
from the wall and think their house is falling apart, several
builders said.
Recaulking in the rooms with water - the
kitchen and bathrooms - is not cosmetic, however. It must be done
on a regular basis to prevent water from "roaming" and getting
into walls where it can cause structural damage.
Jim Kettler, President of The Kettler Brothers
building firm described water as "the number one enemy of your
house."
In the case of the bathtub, not only does the
shrinkage of the stud wall behind it affect the caulking, the
combined weight of the water and the occupant (as much as 700
pounds if the tub is full of water) also tends to pull the tub
away from the wall. In the bathroom, owners need to recaulk around
the tub, shower and sink areas where the backsplash meets the
wall, in the kitchen, buyers need to recaulk where the backsplash
meets the wall and around the sink.
Homeowners also must attend to recaulking on
the exterior of the house. The particulars here depend on the
materials used on your house, so you must check with your builder.
With brick siding, both windows and doors must be recaulked. With
vinyl or aluminum siding, vinyl or aluminum windows do not require
recaulking, but some builders recommend it anyway. The rim around
the roof and any ventilation pipes projecting out of the roof also
may require attention.
Most area homebuilders will recaulk once
during the first year, usually near the end of that time frame.
After this, the homeowner is responsible.
Inside the house, bathrooms and kitchens
should be checked at least annually. The frequency of the exterior
recaulking depends in part on exposure. Most severe weather in the
Washington area comes from the northwest, so caulking on walls
facing this direction requires more attention; caulking on walls
facing south tends to dry out faster. The severity of the weather
also can affect the recaulking schedule. When the temperature
fluctuates wildly and frequently, exterior materials such as vinyl
and aluminum expand and contract constantly and this often causes
caulking seals to crack sooner.
During the initial period of ground settlement
and material shrinkage, many nail pops will appear in the drywall.
At the end of the first year, most builders here will fix them,
but only once. After this, nail pops are the homeowner's
responsibility.
Another complaint heard from new homeowners is
about flaking driveway concrete. This invariably is a homeowner
maintenance problem however. In severe winter weather area highway
departments salt the roads; if you park in the driveway of your
home, the salt on your tires can cause the driveway surface to
flake. The telltale sign, one builder said, is four flaking spots
in the driveway where the owner always parks a car.
Parking your car on the concrete slab inside
the garage is less likely to damage the concrete because the slab
has a smoother, harder finish than the driveway and because owners
are more likely to shovel away slush so that it won't be tracked
inside. By code, builders are required to have a broom finish for
the driveway; this leaves tiny grooves where salt can collect
easily.
New homeowners also have to perform the same
maintenance that owners of older homes must do. Gutters should be
cleaned out at least once a year, usually in the spring.
Gutter screens (which few if any builders
routinely install or even offer as an option) will keep out bigger
leaves, but leaf fragments still can get into t he gutters,
causing them to clog and overflow. In the winter, this can cause
ice dams and roof leaks. Should this happen, even on your new
house, you will be responsible, not the builder.
Other routine exterior maintenance includes
draining the water out of the exterior faucets before cold weather
sets in each fall and periodic repainting of wood windows and
doors.
Routine interior homeowner maintenance
includes checking a wood-burning fireplace to make certain that it
draws properly, checking the damper function and closing the
damper when the fireplace is not in use.
Homeowners with gas fireplaces should have
them checked annually by a certified technician.
To protect the plumbing and prevent clogging,
homeowners should never put cooking grease down drains. Should the
pipes get clogged anyway, do not use powdered Drano or any other
crystallized drain cleaner. "It's like putting a teaspoon of
concrete down your pipes," said Pat Aveni, and executive with
Aveni Associates, a plumbing subcontracting firm in Woodbridge.
"It can adhere to the pipe lining and eventually cause a complete
blockage."
Aveni also advised homeowners not to put any
type of toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet tank because it will
eventually destroy the rubber components.
Another important chore is changing the air
filters in the fan unit of the heating and cooling system.
During the first four to five months, these
should be changed every two to three months.
To eliminate this chore, homeowners can get an
electronic air cleaner, but it too must be cleaned periodically.
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