Every House Has a Story
The Hissing in the Wall
One of the questions people ask me all the time is:
"What do you actually do during a Home Watch visit?"
Most people expect me to say I check the air conditioner, look under the sinks, test the toilets, or walk around the outside of the house.
I do all of those things.
But not first.
The first thing I do is unlock the front door, step inside, close the door behind me, and stand there for a few seconds.
I don't touch anything.
I don't start opening cabinets.
I don't walk from room to room.
I simply listen.
I smell the air.
I pay attention to the temperature and humidity.
After a house has been closed up for a week, the air tells you almost everything.
It's like reading the newspaper.
You just have to know how to read it.
After walking into hundreds of homes over the years, you begin to recognize what normal sounds and feels like.
Sometimes the house tells me everything is fine.
Sometimes it whispers that something isn't quite right.
Maybe the air feels a little more humid than it should.
Maybe there is a smell that wasn't there during my last visit.
Sometimes I can even hear when it is time to change the air-conditioning filter.
Not because I have super hearing.
After listening to hundreds of air handlers over the years, you begin to recognize when the airflow changes.
A dirty filter gives the system a different sound.
It is subtle, and most homeowners would never notice it.
That is completely normal.
They do not spend every week walking into vacant homes.
I do.
One visit, I heard the faintest hissing sound.
Not loud.
Just enough to make me stop.
I walked through the house.
Nothing.
I walked back.
Still there.
I knew it was coming from the side of the house where the main water line entered through the concrete block wall.
I had a pretty good idea what I was dealing with, but first I had to call the homeowner.
That is never a phone call you enjoy making.
The plumber confirmed it.
A tiny pinhole leak in the main water line inside the block wall.
To repair it, the plumber had to open the exterior block wall to reach the pipe.
Opening a block wall is not cheap, but it usually does not break the bank.
This homeowner was lucky.
The water stayed outside the house.
No drywall damage.
No ruined flooring.
No mold behind the walls.
Water damage inside a home can become very expensive, very quickly.
This time, the owner got lucky.
The next one was different.
But that is a story for another beer.
People often think Home Watch is about checking boxes on a list.
For me, it is about noticing the little things.
The things a house quietly tells you before they become expensive problems.
Most visits are uneventful.
That is exactly how I like them.
But every now and then, the house whispers.
And if you are listening, you catch the problem before it starts shouting.
There's Always Another Story
I've walked into a lot of homes over the years.
Every one of them has taught me something.
This is just one of them.
– Carsten