Proactively Look for Construction or Remodeling Defects

Although a lot of my work is in Los Gatos, Cambrian Park, Saratoga, and Almaden Valley, I do have buyer and seller clients all over San Jose and Silicon Valley. One of my buyers is interested in neighborhoods close to downtown San Jose such as Japantown, the Vendome area, and Naglee Park.

This week we saw a classic, historic Spanish style home that offered a lot of "old San Jose" charm.  It was partially updated and remodeled but there were a few red flags and odd things about the home.

One of the oddities involved the roof, downspouts and gutters.  Here's a view of the back end of that home.  Please note the downspout in the center of the photo (it meanders around the window with a large catch-basin at the top). 

Do you see anything amiss?  If not, have a look again with my annotated version:

The home was re-roofed a number of years ago, with permits and finals - but without gutters.

Do gutters and downspouts matter all that much? You bet they do. For more information on that topic, please read "Cracked Foundations, Adobe Clay Soils and Water in Silicon Valley" on my ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com blog.

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to
say except that I like the way you have shown the defects.  I will keep visiting this blog very often.

RE: Proactively Look for Construction or Remodeling Defects

Thanks so much for the kind words, Paul!  I have another blog and sometimes write similar posts there, too. You can find it at
http://www.SanJoseRealEstateLosGatosHomes.com.  Two recent posts I did with similar types of information are these:

Cracked Foundations, Adobe Clay Soils and Water in Silicon Valley

What’s on your chimney?

Historic Homes, Willow Glen, Foundations and Red Flags

As with this blog, I also give information on the real estate market, but while this blog is 99% Los Gatos (and Monte Sereno), the other one focuses on a broader area, including Cambrian Park, Almaden Valley, Saratoga, Campbell, etc.

Thanks again for visiting the blog and for commenting, I really appreciate it!

Mary