What does the home inspector look for on the exterior of the home?
Your At Home Inspections, Inc. professional looks for evidence of wood trim and wood siding rot and decay. Certain siding systems are prone to systemic failure – for example, some fiberboard siding products, and “panelized stucco systems” (EIFS – Exterior Insulated Finish Systems). The fiberboard siding products tend to fail as a function of a manufacturing defect, lack of proper maintenance, and/or defective installation. The panelized stucco systems tend to fail as a function of either leakage around improperly sealed/flashed openings in exterior walls and/or design defects that result in condensation and ventilation in exterior wall cavities. On houses that use no wood (aluminum, vinyl, vinyl clad aluminum or steel siding and trim), the inspector checks the siding system to see if the proper trim pieces have been used around doors and windows and at intersecting wall and roof joints. The trim/accessory pieces on manufactured siding systems (aluminum, vinyl, etc.) are necessary to pr
