Buying an existing house

If you’re buying a home or an apartment, get a professional house inspection done by a qualified, experienced inspector.

Ask the inspector to look for signs of water damage or potential leaks and to note what they discover.

Also ask them to highlight the areas they could not check, such as behind the rotten timber cladding.

Most pre-purchase inspection reports will have a disclaimer on weathertightness for this reason – some of it is too difficult to check without removing linings or claddings. But a pre-purchase inspection is still recommended.

If the home you are buying has monolithic cladding or any other weathertightness risk factors you should ask your inspector to report specifically on these areas.

Rotten timber

See Property inspections for more information about professional house inspection services.

Have a close look at the property yourself.
For a checklist of what general things to look for, see Buying a house and for weathertightness issues see our leaky building checklist.