Home Inspection Tip #5

14 Quick, Easy & Inexpensive Ways to Improve Your Home Inspection Report: Tip #5
Copyright by Tex-Pro Residential & Commercial Inspections PH: 713.876.2298 www.texproinspections.com

Splashblocks are found beneath the opening of the rain gutter downspout and direct the water away from the slab and into the yard. They are made out of concrete or fiberglass or even plastic, and they serve a very useful and vital function in protecting your home from foundation Downspout & Splashblock damage. The absence of a splashblock will result in a "In Need Of Repair" notation on your report.

If a downspout does not have a splashblock to protect the ground beneath it, the force of the water flowing from the downspout will create a depression, or perhaps even a hole, where water will accumulate and pond. Standing water, poor drainage and erosion of the soil are all items that the inspector will write up.

Far worse, however, is the expansion of the soil beneath that area, and that area only, of the slab. The standing water that will lie next to the slab will be absorbed and cause the soil in that particular area, next to the slab, to expand, actually lifting the slab. Overtime, with more and more rain, this expansion could cause severe foundation problems. Anytime water is allowed to pond next to the foundation of a house, this problem is a real possibility, and without splashblocks in place, it is almost inevitable.

Splashblocks can be purchased at most hardware stores and builders warehouse's for about $8.00. That is very inexpensive compared to the cost of repairing the foundation of your home, and don't forget that it removes at least one and possibly several notations from the home inspector's report.

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