Exterior and Interior Finishes
Exterior Finishes - The main purpose of exterior finished is to provide a weather tight skin for the building and to also provide an attractive appearance. They must stand up to wind, snow, ice, rain, hot and cold weather. The more popular exterior finishes are those that will absorb minor abuses and require little or no maintenance. Some of the more popular finishes include:
Most problems involving exterior finishes usually involve water penetration. This is where your Home Inspector who has building experience and building code knowledge is the most helpful, as he knows how the structure should have been built so can usually identify problems and causes. You can always expect your home inspection report to contain some references to cracked or missing caulking. Caulking should be applied to any joints of dissimilar materials where water penetration will be a factor. Caulking is not a long lasting product, as the weather quickly hardens and causes cracks in most products. The old caulking should then be removed and replaced with new. This is an ongoing maintenace issue and will have to be done every three to five years for most homes.
Most cladding materials should be located about 8 inches above grade. Masonry products should be about 6 inches above grade. Whenever I see masonry products located close to grade level, I always recommend that the brick in close contact with soil be treated with waterproofing material to prevent future spalling.
Efflorescence is a salt deposit on masonry that is associated with water moving through the walls. Continuing appearanc of efflorescence indicates a moisture problem and should be further investigated to determine source.
Spalling - this is more commonly seen as the face flaking off masonry brick and concrete. This usually occurs where there is a water or moisture problem.
Mortar - Cracked mortar is usually a cosmetic issue. This could also indicate a more serious problem like a structural defect which caused the crack. This is where having an experienced home inspector earns his bacon, his experience and expertise can often lead him to source of crack and thereby whether or not fixing will be expensive or just a minor maintenace issue.
Weeping holes are required in masonry walls to let the water out. Ontario Building Code of Ontario every 800 mm or 2 ft 7 inches.