How Wood Rot Destroys Home Sale Values

21 Apr How Wood Rot Destroys Home Sale Values

Wood rot is a serious problem to be faced with if you are selling your home in Johnson County. If you’re in this boat, you’re not alone – approximately 20 billion board feet of timber are destroyed by wood rot in the United States each year– far more than is damaged annually by fire! Replacement wood used to repair damage caused by wood rot accounts for almost 10 percent of the annual wood production in the U.S. alone.

That’s a lot of wood. And often times a driver for finally getting wood rot replaced is the pending sale of a home. Wood rot scares buyers & wood rot destroys home sale values. It can be a sign of really bad things to come for the rest of a home’s exterior. A basic principle in real estate transactions is that the buyer is expected to perform their own due diligence. This would include having a property inspected. If the buyer’s inspection finds problems the buyer can terminate his purchase offer or try to negotiate with you to pay their repairs. By the time you’re at this stage, you don’t want to start over. You may even end up conceding far more than the cost of the repairs themselves just to keep the process moving or appease the buyer.

Wood rot isn’t just an issue for siding…a common source of dryrot is wood decks. Decks themselves should be made of either cedar, redwood, sunwood or pressure treated lumber which all resist dry rot and wood rot. The deck should have at least a 1/2″ air gap between it and the siding that allows water to run down between.  In Johnson County, code now is to have spacers installed between the ledger board and the siding which allows water to run off. Old decks have the ledger attached directly to the siding a lot of times and is a big place for wood rot. Older or DIY decks may not meet these standards, and buyers will take note. Windows and doors are also a prime location for dry rot due to improper flashing and caulking. They all should have drip flashing over the top edge and proper caulking around all edges. Where there is more than a 1/4″ gap, backer rod (flexible foam rope) should be laid into the gap and then sealed with a high quality silicon caulk. Wood rot is even becoming prevalent in homes built or remodeled in the past 20 years. A home’s price, location or type of siding doesn’t exempt it from damage. These are all things we take into account here at Neighborhood Painting when accessing your homes exterior surfaces, including decks, before prep work begins.

If you are in the process of prepping your home to sell, make sure you don’t have any lingering wood rot issues. Even the sign of wood rot can decimate your sale value. Remember, you only have a few seconds to make a first impression, and a well-maintained exterior is the type of curb appeal that can add big $$$ to your bottom line!