There are certain things you hope never happen in your home. They can be everyday things. When they happen to someone else, you just can’t look away. In honor of Halloween, here are some of the top house horrors you might enjoy the thrill of hearing about, but you NEVER want to experience for yourself. They’ll guarantee a slight chill up your spine.
Flooding in a Home!
One couple who’d just purchased a house quickly found their “finished” basement entirely flooded because their sump pump failed. This kind of flooding usually means several inches of standing water which can ruin flooring and drywall as well as cause mold to grow. This couple was told a new sump pump had been installed and tested just before the house was sold. Lies such as these about the condition of a home can be a horror all their own. And no one wants to swim through flood water to get across their basement.
Mold in a Home!
Mold can remain hidden and undetected for some time in a structure. Whether it was a result of flooding, a leak, or something else, mold can be lethal! The appearance of mold gives us the heebie jeebies. But some of our friends and family have become severely ill for reasons they did not understand at first, only later to find out it was because of mold. The average person can have a reaction to mold with symptoms like sneezing, coughing, rash, and a runny nose. But some people experience flu-like symptoms for several days after exposure to mold. Best advice: Don’t put up with mold!
The same couple that experienced the bad sump pump and flooded basement also discovered there wasn’t any caulking around the windows of their new home. The purpose of caulking is to keep out moisture. This bad news meant having to tear down walls and tear out windows and flooring. And you can imagine what they found behind all of them– lots of mold!
Termites in a Home!
Speaking of heebie jeebies, another annoyance of a different kind is termites! These insects are so small they might go undetected for a while. The damage they can do to a house can be irreversible. This happens because they eat wood and paper products and reproduce quickly. Just because you don’t see damage to outer walls or the trim of your house doesn’t mean they aren’t inside the walls.
There are simple ways to prevent termites in a house. One, keep firewood, lumber, and paper away from crawl spaces and the foundation. Also, prevent excess moisture with good seals around your entry points, repairing any leaks, and keeping downspouts, gutters, and vents as clear as possible. High humidity levels are the right breeding conditions for termites.
Bad Home History
You can’t really control who had a house before you. But what do you do when a previous owner’s activities in the home were less than reputable? What if the house was used as a Meth lab? Some bad decisions you can leave in the past but for one couple, finding out this fact about their house gave them the answer they needed for sudden, serious health issues.
They bought a test kit which showed a high level of Meth residue. As soon as they vacated the house, their health problems cleared up. But the houses illegal history cost them a lot of money. Most of their furniture became contaminated. The estimated cost for decontaminating the structure is between $5000 to $10000. Testing for methamphetamine is not required to sell a home, but buyers can request it if they want to be sure to avoid this serious, real-life nightmare.
Bad Home Design
We’ve probably all made significant changes to a house after moving in. According to a report last year, more people are renovating their homes than in the last 10 years. Bathrooms and kitchens are a common area to update. But you may want to make changes throughout the house– and quickly– if all the walls are painted black or covered with carpet. We’ve seriously seen it before. Great interior design has a direct impact on the experience of a home; therefore weird –or just plain bad– design choices can be unbearable.
Crazy Foreclosure Behavior
What about when a home’s interior is blatantly destroyed by a previous owner? This often happens with foreclosures. Still, we’d all be shocked to enter a home where all the doors and windows are taken off their hinges. It makes for an awkward-looking house. Some people put graffiti on the walls, giving us a little too much insight into their thoughts. You might find this article interesting about real stories of the wild ways people destroyed their homes because of foreclosure.
Warning!
If you choose to research any of these horrors, we advise you to look at your own risk! If you’re looking to build or buy a home, we also want to warn you that if you don’t have enough knowledge about your builder or seller, you are at a greater risk of these home horrors.
However, if you choose to build a home with P.L. Lyons Architectural Builders, it’s our highest aim that your experience with your home is as wonderful as possible. We want all our owners to avoid these horrors. We want to hear exactly what you’re looking for. We want you to understand all the elements of your home so that you feel equipped, secure, and happy as a homeowner.
