Poor Water Management
Another issue that
irks building inspectors is when builders don’t think about the exterior of
their houses and how they will handle rain, snow, and ice. This encompasses problems
ranging from lack of gutters and downspouts to improper or no window flashing,
and landscaping that doesn’t curtail rainwater runoff.
Minneapolis area building inspector Reuben Saltzman’s beef is inept water management at the exterior of homes. In this blog posting he talks about three different blunders that contribute to the issue: concentrating a lot of water to one location, an anti-gutter policy, and no consideration for gutters in the future. He urges his clients to plan for water management in new construction.
It makes sense: With a few dollars’ worth of materials, a home can be sealed from the elements—avoiding future callbacks and customer dissatisfaction. This BUILDER article details proper installation of gutters and downspouts, and click here to learn how to correctly and thoroughly flash a window from the experts at Green Building Advisor.
To manage stormwater
runoff, inspectors recommend that builders ask their landscapers to use
permeable hardscaping, paths, decks and driveways, which allow water to drain
into the soil. Here are some permeable paving ideas
from Houzz.
