Opportunities and Potential

One of the many services DBD provides is to assess inherent potential in a home or site. Beyond the property value or technical assessment by other professionals, DBD assists clients by reviewing opportunities for future development. DBD works with your other advisors (realtor, home inspector, etc.) to round out your understanding of a property before you make an offer to purchase.

For a purchaser, knowing which conditions indicate normal wear; which will likely incur future cost and which are critical, requiring immediate attention. These can be crucial decisions and can affect your purchasing decision.

Thermal Image courtesy of Absolute Home Inspections Inc.

In a building we observe existing conditions and determine renovation potential. Can I remove this wall? Will that stain come out? Can these floors be re-sanded? Is that crack something to be worried about? These are all typical of the questions buyers may not find answers to themselves in the limited time they have to preview a property.

On the site consider the existing building in its surroundings. DBD looks at both building code and land use requirements.

Are there unsafe conditions in the building? Is there work which no longer meets build and safety codes that will need to be addressed? Does the site zoneing allow you to put on a future addition or has the property already maximized the buildable capacity?

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On a vacant site (my favorite starting place) we ask what could this become? Access, views, exposure, privacy and sun angles are all creative elements that affect the long term enjoyment of a design.

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This property recently reviewed looked promising on the surface until the cracks began to appear. The image below shows mortar rupturing on one of several stone columns supporting a large deck. While splitting could be caused by a foundation settling, in this case a series of failed construction details have led to water penetration behind the stone.

As in nature, water wants to find a way out of confined spaces and will freeze and thaw, expand and contract, evaporate and condense over and over until a path is opened up. Once opened, direct exposure to the weather will accelerate damage until the deficiency becomes a structural failure. 

Image courtesy of Absolute Home Inspections Inc.

Water is a powerful force in nature, splitting mountains and carving out deep caverns. In buildings, and especially in our climate of chinooks where the freezing point is crossed more than 75 times annually, we must take special care in design to avoid long term failures.

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At the same house, another natural condition appears. The home was built with rich walnut flooring. A beautiful feature indeed!  But beauty as they say, is transitory… In addition to being a very soft wood and susceptible to scratching and damage, walnut is highly vulnerable to fading. This first image shows a room exposed to direct sunlight.

We can see 4 distinct color transitions as furniture and rugs were relocated over different periods. The darker ocher color at the top is closest to the original wood and was covered for the longest period of time.

In a second room fading is also dramatic but here, the window is small and north facing.

This demonstrates that direct sunlight exposure (UV) is not the only factor causing floors to discolor. Visible light, infra-red light and exposure to air causing oxidization are also culprits. What can be done? Be sure your floor finish has a UV protective component for starters and limit direct sunlight exposure. You can also passively limit UV and Infra-red light exposure with window films or factory applied coatings available at the time of purchase. Floors with pigment based stains will also be more colorfast.

Walnut is not the only wood selectable to discoloration, Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) will shift from red to brown. Pine tends to darken while unstained red oak, hickory and maple will lighten naturally. Changes in patina are natural and in some cases we’ll try to replicate aging to achieve a certain visual effect.

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There is no way to prevent color change of hardwood floors, they are a natural product and will change as they age like everything else. What you can do is limit damaging elements for a longer life.

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When looking to purchase a property contact DBD for consultation on development and renovation potential.