I WAS RECENTLY TALKING WITH MY WIFE about a termite report on an old Victorian home. The report came back with over $50,000 in needed repairs to the property. Her first reaction was to ask if the home was going to have to be tented and fumigated. This is a common misconception that many homeowners have about termite reports. This old Victorian does not have termites, but it has suffered from neglect and the result is that it will now require thousands of dollars in repairs simply because the home was not maintained and the ravages of water has taken a toll over time.

When a home is sold it is routine for most buyers to obtain a “termite report.” But while this is its common name, it is really a report of known infestations or conditions that might lead to infestations around a home. And when we refer to infestations, we are not just talking about bugs like termites — in fact, in my experience looking at “termite reports” over the years, the most costly findings have been from water-related damage, specifically fungus, dry rot and mold.

So what can you do to protect your home so it does not suffer the same fate as that old Victorian?

For starters, take a look around. A good walk around a property will reveal problem areas. Start with the gutters and downspouts. They are systems intended to divert water away from a property. But if they are poorly designed or not maintained they can actually cause problems and lead to damage.

Gutters that are not cleaned on a regular basis just don’t work as they are intended. If you notice waterfalls off your roof during heavy rains, that is not a good sign. At best, the gutters are clogged with debris and a simple cleaning will cure the problem. At worst — as was the case with the Victorian — they were not properly installed, so water coming off the roof is not flowing into the gutters as intended.

Downspouts are another hidden issue that are often overlooked. On many older homes the downspouts simply end at the side of the building, allowing the water to pool close to the foundation. This can lead to flooded crawl spaces that will allow moisture to creep into the wood framing under a home. This moisture can lead to all kinds of issues, such as mold, rot and, yes, mud-borne termites.

Ideally, drain lines should be connected to downspouts and diverted away from the structure. At the very least, splash pans should be installed at the base of downspouts to distribute water away from the foundation.

A friend of mine was having issues with water coming into her home during heavy rains. She couldn’t figure out where it was coming from because it seemed it was rising up through the walls from the base of her slab foundation.

I took a quick look and could see that there were actually two issues — the first being a downspout on that corner of the home that was simply dumping water at the corner of the home. The second issue was the grading in that area of her property. Over time the soil had eroded and created a slight inward slope toward the home. The water coming out of the downspout was flowing toward the foundation, creating the seepage issue.

As re-grading the property was a bigger task than she wanted to take on, the easy fix was to install a temporary drain pipe from the downspout to divert the water from her roof to a safer place on her property. This $20 fix solved the problem and likely saved her thousands in repair bills later.

Another area that is often overlooked is leaky plumbing. A slow drip of water left unattended is not only wasting water, it could be causing serious damage. Replacing that leaky faucet or tightening up a drain line that is slowly leaking will save you untold headaches and repair bills later. Take a peek under your sinks. If you see white streaks around fittings or on piping, this is a telltale sign of calcium deposits from a leaky pipe.

With just a little bit of effort and not too much money, you can insure that you are not incurring costly damages leading to hefty repair bills later when that “termite report” is being written.

Guy Benjamin (CAL BRE License #01014834, NMLS 887909) writes a weekly column for The Herald, offering general information on real estate matters. As it is impossible to address all possibilities and variations, he will try to answer individual questions by readers who contact him at 707-246-0949 or guyb@fairwaymc.com.height=”150″ />

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