Evaluate the Home Interior

The Floor Plan

Find out how many rooms the house has and whether or not the number will meet your family’s needs. In particular, think about how many bedrooms and bathrooms there are. Is the layout awkward? The house on more than one level? Don’t estimate the room sizes in your head, actually measure their dimensions. Note whether the rooms are bright or dark. If you’d consider expanding the current living space, make sure first that there are no restrictions.

Bathrooms and Kitchens

We can probably all agree that these are the key rooms in the house. Look closely, whether you’re examining how much counterspace there is in the kitchen or if the bathroom has a shower or bath. Check the water pressure throughout the house. Look under the sinks in the bathrooms and in the kitchen for signs of former leaks.

Walls, Ceilings, and Floors

Here’s what you’re looking for: cracks, stains (which will tip you off to past leaks), and peeling paint. This is not the time to be shy—look under rugs to assess the condition of the floors and look in back of paintings to make sure they’re not covering up issues you’re not supposed to see.

Doors

Windows and doors get a lot of use in the home.  See if they fit as they should—if they don’t, they’ll get caught and be the worse for wear. Wooden windows and doors expand in the summer and contract in the winter. While this is taken into account during construction, if the house has “gone out of square” or if the condition of the hardware is compromised, the issue will remain. Doors in older houses tend to be too tight or susceptible to drafts. Entrance doors that don’t work properly will be expensive to fix. As for patio doors, problems include streaking and frosting; while newer models use more appropriate materials and succeed better at keeping the heat out during summer and the cold out in the winter, their installation is expensive.

Windows

Windows these days are much more advanced than they were in the past. The windows in most old houses don’t work that well. The use of weighted sash cords meant that there were slots in the window frames, which let the winter air in. Not surprisingly, this didn’t help homeowners conserve energy. If you’re trying to tackle leaky windows in an old home, you can cover them with aluminum storm and screen windows. This can look out of place and is expensive but is the best functional approach.

Tip: Beware of steel casement windows. You’re unlikely to come across them but if you do, be forewarned that they’ll cause you trouble, rarely closing tightly, conducting the cold, and condensing moisture. They’re also difficult to find replacement parts for. It’s not a reason to walk away from a house that you’re considering, but know what you’ll be in for.