Carry A Golf Ball With You When House Hunting For One Unexpected Reason
The countless details involved in house hunting can quickly inject overwhelm into an otherwise exciting endeavor. From tape measures and clipboards to a simple running note in a smartphone, every house hunter has their own set of must-have tools as they tour possible new homes. There's one more unexpected tool to help answer key house-hunting questions: a golf ball. Carrying a golf ball will allow you to easily test the grading in and around your potential home.
The grade, or slope, of the land against your home will determine which way the water will drain when it rains or when snow melts from your roof. It's essential that the grading of a lot slopes steadily away from the home itself. Proper grading protects a home's foundation from water damage and long-term moisture problems. Inside of a home, floors in most rooms shouldn't have much of a slope. In bathrooms, mud rooms, or laundry rooms, look for a slight slope toward the drains.
How to measure grade with a golf ball
Measuring grading with a golf ball is not an exact science and won't get you precise numbers, but it's a great preliminary step as you tour various homes. This trick doesn't replace the need for a professional inspection once you're under contract for a home. Rather, use it as a way to help you narrow down your buying options and become aware of potential concerns to ask about later on.
Simply place a golf ball on the ground anywhere you want to better understand the slope, and watch which way and how fast it rolls. On the exterior of a home, pay special attention to areas underneath drainage spouts where lots of moisture could accumulate on high-precipitation days. You're looking for the golf ball to roll decidedly away from the house. On the inside of the house, check that the floor of any room with a drain slopes consistently toward that drain. This will ensure that you won't get random puddles of water in odd shower divots or corners of your laundry room.
In the basement or crawlspace, the golf ball trick can help make you aware of any rolling or uneven floors. In some cases, uneven basement concrete can be evidence of a sinking foundation or other foundational issues. If your golf ball reveals a gradual slope, this is likely normal, but divots or a rolling slope might point to something more concerning.
Tips, limitations, and additional uses
If golf isn't already a part of your life, there's no need to rush out to purchase a golf ball before your next home showing. A marble or any other small, truly spherical object will work just as well. In addition to checking the grading of the flooring throughout your potential new home, you can also use your golf ball to evaluate whether countertops and built-in shelves within the house are truly level. These details can help you understand the level of artisanship and attention to detail in the home. At the same time, this trick has its limitations in terms of where it will work. While it's dependable on surfaces like concrete or stone, it won't tell you much about the slope where landscaping rocks or fluffy carpets interfere with the ball's path.
What you do with the information revealed through this trick is up to you, but keep in mind that not all grading issues are catastrophic or even expensive to fix. For example, if you notice that the grading isn't up to par on one section of a home's exterior, that doesn't mean you should immediately strike the house from your list of potential options. Rather, this might be a prompt to investigate closely for water damage and to include re-grading in your inspection objection, should you decide to move forward with purchasing that home.