SIGNIFICANT DETAILS
There are many significant details to notice when you go through a house. The following are the basic ones.
Electrical outlets. Note their number and location. Think about where you might need them. Is there an outlet on the wall where you want to put the TV and the stereo? Are there fixtures in place for lighting? Are they adequate? Will you need new lamps?
Closets and storage space. No one ever has enough. If you have to bring in a freestanding closet, it can cost you ten square feet of floor space.
Skylights. These do wonders for the decor and provide a tremendous amount of light. But the sun that streams in will also create heat. This is fine in the winter but can be a disadvantage in the summer. Also, cheap skylights — that is, made without insulating glass — tend to leak, not just through faulty sealing or bad casework, which can be remedied fairly easily, but through natural condensation, which cannot. I understand the appeal and the purpose of skylights, but in my experience they’re almost always trouble. If a house you’re looking at has one, or if you’re thinking of installing one, make sure that the skylight unit itself is top-of-the-line equipment.
Fireplaces and heating stoves. These can have a certain charm, but they can also be hazardous. Find out when the chimney was last swept and consider having it inspected to be sure that there are no cracks through which flames might reach a flammable surface. If a stove that bums coal or wood is plugged into the chimney, make sure the connections comply with the local fire-safety code.
Bulkheads and cellar entrances. It can be a real convenience to have access to the cellar from the yard, but exterior cellar doors can cause a lot of problems, too. In older houses they are generally made of wood, so they are heavy to lift and doomed to inevitable rot. Replacement units are available, but in our security-conscious age they are made of steel (and therefore costly), and it’s just a matter of luck as to whether one of the standard sizes will fit your door. You might have to replace the cheek walls, too. And in the case of a bulkhead that has been leaking for many years, the water will undoubtedly have penetrated to the stairs below, causing them to rot as well. Finally, because it is nearly impossible to get a good seal between the cellar walls and the bulkhead opening, you had better plan on springing for some kind of field-designed-and-built doorway and door to shut out the cold from the bulkhead.