Building Report – Round Two

Well in my previous post I mentioned that the building report for our dream house and raised serious moisture issues.Today we went back to figure out the cause of the moisture – and the damage behind the gib (plaster board is maybe what American’s call it?) Anyway with a builder on hand – we said – cut a whole there – and he did.Behind the gib were, as expected, wooden joists, pink bats insulation and absolutely no damage! None of the feared mould and  rot that we feared.  Even the bats weren’t damaged – the damage easily when water is present.It’s a riddle how can the moisture meter be so high? It still is -even the joist is still showing a high reading. But no visible water damage?I admit I’d had a theory for a couple of days.  The agent had told me repeatedly how house-proud the vendor was, and how she was frequently washing down the house to get rid of salt spray on the windows.I know hosing can force water into windows and doors, that don’t leak under normal circumstances.  Also there was corrosion on the front windows –  they have been exposed to the wind, sun and salt for nearly 30 years!The updated building report agreed with me – if the water had been getting in for any period of time – even just a year or so – there would have been damage. Wet bats show damage very quickly.