One of the first tasks all of us are coached to do when getting into the driver’s seat of a car for the first time is to adjust all of the mirrors. The reason for that is that it is not advisable, and even possibly dangerous, to move ahead until you feel confident and comfortable that you are able to see in several directions besides just out the front windshield. We all worry about the things we can see but it is often what we don’t see coming that can create some of the biggest problems. Homeownership can be like this. There are those big obvious items that we know to look for, but something like stucco upkeep can be that seemingly hidden issue that sneaks into our blind spot and creates costly problems. Here are some quick thoughts on checking your “home” mirrors, based on observations we have made after working with countless stucco homeowners.
Establishing a Baseline: The worst thing that a driver can do with their mirrors is to leave them alone, pointing in directions that tell them nothing, and pretend that because they see nothing, there must not be a problem. Adjusting each of those mirrors into the right spot first offers a driver a safe place from which to feel good about move forward. Any obstacles can be accounted for early before any damage occurs. The same is the case for stucco homes. We work with the best stucco inspectors in Houston and insist on an invasive stucco inspection as a starting point. That report, along with our resulting work, provides a starting point.
Being in Control: “Control Freak” does not always carry a positive inference, but there is a case to be made for the value of being thoughtfully proactive. When driving, it is not ideal to have to swerve to avoid something that appears last minute in one of our mirrors, but it is an entirely different and more serious moment when we make contact with something we never saw and it causes an accident. In the world of stucco, we see one of two scenarios tend to play out. The first is the homeowner, who takes ownership of their stucco and does all of the necessary work to get it into the best shape possible. Whenever they decide to sell, they are able to give buyers confidence that they are ahead of potential problems and signal that the home is ready to receive them as new owners. The second is the homeowner who either knowingly or unknowingly opts to “see what happens” when they sell. It could end without incident, but we often observe the other outcome where a buyer gets an inspection and our proposal and discovers a trail of problems that have quietly grown over years. This often either ends the sale or greatly reduces the asking price to account for the necessary or potential repairs.
Identifying other problems: Every once in a while when you glance at your mirror while driving, you might notice something like smoke coming out of your car. The mirrors in fact didn’t just alert you to something external but to something internal. Stucco is the same. While it is nothing anyone wants to see or hear, at times damaged stucco wall systems are an indicator of damage to areas like roofs or windows. It is our work that can help solve for something else going on in a home.
Isn’t it interesting that of all parts of a vehicle that have evolved and advanced with today’s technology, old-fashioned mirrors persist, and we are all still in the habit of adjusting mirrors when we get into a new vehicle for the first time. Mirrors by themselves won’t eliminate the risk of accidents, but adjusting them and using them appropriately will certainly mitigate the risk.