I'm on a house hunt and am clueless about everything related to building and construction, so I hope to get some help here. I'm interested in a house built in '78. I'll break it down into two questions.
1) In the inspection report, it reads: "The foundation consists of a concrete slab on the ground with a Platonmat, foam, chipboard, and surface layer. There is also a negative pressure ventilation installed in the construction."
I know the issues with slab on grade, but I haven't seen a report before where it mentions Platonmat. Is this a good thing to have included? Does it look like an okay foundation?
2) Moisture content was at 9-10%, which is good, but I know that in some other houses in the neighborhood (built the same year) there are pressure-treated sills. I emailed the inspector to ask if the sills in this house are pressure-treated but got the response that during the inspection, he couldn’t tell if they were. He didn’t feel any odor indicating they were. I'm still worried about this as it seems likely since several other nearby houses have it.
Now I'm wondering - is there a way for me to find out if the sill is treated? Do I have to book and pay for my own inspector? It should reasonably be part of the initial inspection to know this, right?
For me, it affects the price and consideration of whether I should even bid, even though the house is otherwise very interesting.
1) In the inspection report, it reads: "The foundation consists of a concrete slab on the ground with a Platonmat, foam, chipboard, and surface layer. There is also a negative pressure ventilation installed in the construction."
I know the issues with slab on grade, but I haven't seen a report before where it mentions Platonmat. Is this a good thing to have included? Does it look like an okay foundation?
2) Moisture content was at 9-10%, which is good, but I know that in some other houses in the neighborhood (built the same year) there are pressure-treated sills. I emailed the inspector to ask if the sills in this house are pressure-treated but got the response that during the inspection, he couldn’t tell if they were. He didn’t feel any odor indicating they were. I'm still worried about this as it seems likely since several other nearby houses have it.
Now I'm wondering - is there a way for me to find out if the sill is treated? Do I have to book and pay for my own inspector? It should reasonably be part of the initial inspection to know this, right?
For me, it affects the price and consideration of whether I should even bid, even though the house is otherwise very interesting.
A Platon mat and negative pressure ventilation suggest that the house has indeed been addressed in recent years. If there are still any pressure-treated sills, the negative pressure ventilation effectively removes any potential odor that may arise from below, and moisture that could cause problems is ventilated away. However, it is essential to occasionally check that the negative pressure ventilation is functioning as it should.