Home Inspection Interior Walls

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http://www.homeownerseries.com • • When you begin your inspection of the inside of a house, the condition of the interior walls will set the tone for the overall evaluation of the property. • In most residential homes, interior walls are constructed of a 2x4 stud frame, covered with a material called drywall. Drywall is a code, wall product, which offers some fire protection and soundproofing. Drywall is relatively easy to repair or install and has a low price point. The interior walls should be painted with quality paints and be free of actual damage. Paint color is an individual preference and can be changed easily. The majority of interior walls will not have custom trimming. Baseboards are generally not considered custom trimming and should be included on most interior walls. Walls with custom molding may be trimmed with casing, wainscot, chair rails, or crown molding. • Another wall covering is plaster and lath. This method was used a great deal, before drywall was developed. This type of wall is built on a normal wall frame. Wooden lath strips are placed horizontally very close together. Then plaster is applied into the spaces between the lath strips, and coated over the lath forming the walls surface. On a plaster and lath wall look for areas that are uneven or appear to be blemished, where the plaster is bulging or disintegrating. Rough or chipped areas of concern often can be repaired by using drywall mud to even out and improve the wall texture. • During your inspection of the interior walls you may find holes from doorknobs or where pictures were hung. Make sure you check the house thoroughly, especially behind doors and furniture. Holes can be easily fixed but the cost of multiple repairs will add up. • Settling of the home may cause hairline cracks to develop on the walls. Cracks may also form around the exposed corners of the wall loosening the casing material called corner bead. Here, you can see where this wooden support beam has dried out over time causing the height of the beam to shrink slightly. The outside drywall has bulged at the beam's joint and has chipped in some areas. Other actions can cause the house to settle also. For example minor earthquakes can cause the house to shake yet cause no real damage except for small hairline cracks and some chipping of stucco or drywall mud. • Examine walls carefully to see if they have been wallpapered. If wallpaper has been applied properly the paper can be removed easily. However, if the paper has not been applied properly a considerable amount of labor will be needed to remove it. In some cases wallpaper that has been painted over and is not easily detected. On this wall you can see how wallpaper appears to bubble up when it has been painted over. Painted wallpaper is extremely difficult to remove and can be very costly. A good way to check if a wall has been wallpapered is to evaluate the wall's texture and compared it to the rest of the house.

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