When you buy a home, you want it to be nice and pleasant forever. You put in the work to take care of it, and you hope that your work will be rewarded. Sometimes, however, disaster strikes, and it can happen to even the most diligent homeowners. These are some of the most expensive problems that can strike a home. None of them are enjoyable.
Sewage
Plumbing, in general, can be expensive, but sewage is the worst. Environmental and safety concerns make the work more expensive and specialized to do. Also, sewage lines tend to be larger, and when things go wrong, the problems are bigger and harder to manage.
On top of all of that, sewage problems are water problems. Water damage is already one of the scariest things to happen to a home. When you add the health and safety concerns of raw sewage to that mix, you’re dealing with a monumental problem.
Water Damage
Speaking of water damage, it really is one of the worst. Water can completely destroy sheetrock. It can get into the foundation and weaken the very ground on which your home rests. It can compromise critical structural components.
Water can ruin aspects of your house and encourage mold growth. Fixing any one of these problems is expensive, but water damage usually comes with the total package. You don’t get a single issue — you get all of them. That’s what makes water damage so intimidating and expensive. On the bright side, water damage doesn’t typically cause sewage problems. That’s nice, right?
Wiring
To be fair, wiring issues don’t have to be crazy expensive. But if you need to add a high-power outlet for an appliance or adjust your fuse box, you’re probably looking at spending hundreds of dollars. It feels like a lot of money for the amount of work being done, but electrical work has to be certified, and that raises the price.
The problem with wiring issues is that they have a tendency to reveal bigger problems. This is especially true of older homes that weren’t kept up to code. One small job shows that major sections of the internal wiring need to be redone. Now you’re suddenly looking at demoing walls, replacing wire, spending tons on specialized electrician work, and then repairing it all. It adds up fast.
The biggest problem is that you can’t ignore electrical issues. If you know about a wiring problem and it causes a fire, your insurance might not cover the damage that results.
Termites
Considering that most houses are still built on wooden frames, you can see why termites are scary. This fact also makes them an expensive problem. Any time that load-bearing components have to be repaired or replaced, you’re looking at a big job, and it can only be done by certified pros. This will include serious demo, heavy-duty specialized equipment, and repairing everything that is torn apart to get to the critical internal structure.
All of that comes on top of the cost of removing the termite pests, and that’s not exactly cheap either.
Smoke
The idea of your house catching fire is downright chilling. In a major fire, you’re usually looking at a complete rebuild. That’s daunting, but insurance is usually involved to at least help you through it.
What’s potentially more daunting is when a fire burns near your house. The structure of the home will be fine, but smoke can get through even the tightest seals, and it can ruin every superficial surface in the home. Carpets, flooring, walls, ceilings, and much more are all susceptible to smoke damage. When that damage is pervasive, you’re looking at gutting and restoring the house to get it back into living condition, even though no flames ever touched it.
Bouncing back from any of these repairs can be difficult. There are cases where it makes more sense to sell the house, even in bad condition, and move into a new place. If that’s what you’re considering, then selling to a property investor might be your best recourse. When you work with We Buy Memphis Houses, you can get a guaranteed quote and sale, and the entire process is simplified to help you get money for your damaged house to get you into a new home. Contact us today to get started.