Have These Five Things Checked Before Buying A House In The Caribbean · Common Faults & Problems
Most homes on the Riviera Maya and the Yucatan Peninsula are built of concrete and cinder block, for three good reasons: hurricanes, humidity and termites.
With proper design and execution a concrete/cinder block house can give you many years of trouble free service. However, the opposite is also quite possible!
If capillarity is not stopped between footings and walls you’ll have to deal with efflorescence (whitish powder on walls) and the aesthetics of it will be the least of your problems... In time, the water moving upwards displaces concrete salts, seriously debilitating the structural integrity of your load bearing walls.
Strong concrete plus the right size and quantity of rebar are a guarantee for minimal settlement once the house is finished, but cement and rebar are not cheap and many home builders choose to cut corners because we’re not in an active seismic area. This will also limit your future development plans as it will be difficult to add another story if your load bearing structure is weaker than it was meant to be.
Nowadays the use of a vapor barrier beneath concrete slabs is common practice for a good contractor but 10 or 15 years ago this was mostly ignored. Without a vapor barrier, the relative humidity in the slab just below the surface can often be 100%. Since the air is never that humid, moisture is going to move from the slab into the air, drawing more moisture up from the bottom. You will best see this in the grouts of ground floor tiles when the rainy season starts: they will turn dark, or, in extreme cases, you’ll notice drops of water on the floor that seem to appear out of thin air. The relative humidity in the rainy season gets to be so high that water cannot evaporate and starts gathering, thus the drops of water on your floor.
Another check point on a home inspection is the grounding and electrical installation. The most common method for grounding is the classical rod driven into the ground. This works reasonably well under normal circumstances but, remember, the Yucatan Peninsula is made up of hollow rock with underground rivers crossing it from one end to the other. It is very difficult to find a spot with a depth of 3 meters without hitting the rock bed. Why is that important? The deeper the grounding rod is driven, the higher the moisture content, thus better conductivity for the grounding system. Grounding rods are generally made of iron and covered with a 0.025 thick layer of copper to protect it against corrosion, but it will most likely be scratched in the process of driving it into the ground which will promote corrosion and render your ground ineffective in a couple of years. Periodically checking your ground impedance (the lower, the better) will tell whether you still have an effective grounding of the electrical system.
Most electrical installations in the area don’t use wiring caps for pig tailing, but electrical tape. In time the tape will dry out and become brittle allowing bare copper to be exposed.
Most times, a thinner cable gauge will be used instead of a thicker one, leading to undersized branch circuits.
All reasons for having your electrical installation checked, making sure everything is working as it should!
Wood is a precious addition for all interior or exterior designs but beware of termites as the Mexican Caribbean is a termite prone area. Wood that has not been treated will quickly be attacked by various wood loving insects and/or mold. This could pose a serious problem if we are talking about structural elements made of wood. Find out how to get rid of them by natural methods.
Gabled roofs are extremely rare in this area due to the hurricanes that could sweep the area every year between June and November. Most roofs are flat and made of concrete. They are very resistant should a hurricane hit us but are prone to water infiltration due to their inherent flat design. The use of a waterproofing membrane is recommended as bare concrete will not provide a safe water barrier, especially if you take concrete settlement into account. There’s always the possibility of thin, almost invisible cracks, caused by the house settling or concrete curing that can leak in case of a serious downpour.
The rainy season will bring very high relative humidity, ideal for allowing mold to grow. Running the air conditioner 24/7 is not always a reasonable option so making sure you own a sane house that is not prone to humidity infiltration and is properly waterproofed and ventilated will be of great help.
With proper design and execution a concrete/cinder block house can give you many years of trouble free service. However, the opposite is also quite possible!
Rising Damp Can Affect The Structural Integrity Of A House
If capillarity is not stopped between footings and walls you’ll have to deal with efflorescence (whitish powder on walls) and the aesthetics of it will be the least of your problems... In time, the water moving upwards displaces concrete salts, seriously debilitating the structural integrity of your load bearing walls.
Strong concrete plus the right size and quantity of rebar are a guarantee for minimal settlement once the house is finished, but cement and rebar are not cheap and many home builders choose to cut corners because we’re not in an active seismic area. This will also limit your future development plans as it will be difficult to add another story if your load bearing structure is weaker than it was meant to be.
Nowadays the use of a vapor barrier beneath concrete slabs is common practice for a good contractor but 10 or 15 years ago this was mostly ignored. Without a vapor barrier, the relative humidity in the slab just below the surface can often be 100%. Since the air is never that humid, moisture is going to move from the slab into the air, drawing more moisture up from the bottom. You will best see this in the grouts of ground floor tiles when the rainy season starts: they will turn dark, or, in extreme cases, you’ll notice drops of water on the floor that seem to appear out of thin air. The relative humidity in the rainy season gets to be so high that water cannot evaporate and starts gathering, thus the drops of water on your floor.
Grounding System and Electrical Installation
Another check point on a home inspection is the grounding and electrical installation. The most common method for grounding is the classical rod driven into the ground. This works reasonably well under normal circumstances but, remember, the Yucatan Peninsula is made up of hollow rock with underground rivers crossing it from one end to the other. It is very difficult to find a spot with a depth of 3 meters without hitting the rock bed. Why is that important? The deeper the grounding rod is driven, the higher the moisture content, thus better conductivity for the grounding system. Grounding rods are generally made of iron and covered with a 0.025 thick layer of copper to protect it against corrosion, but it will most likely be scratched in the process of driving it into the ground which will promote corrosion and render your ground ineffective in a couple of years. Periodically checking your ground impedance (the lower, the better) will tell whether you still have an effective grounding of the electrical system.
Most electrical installations in the area don’t use wiring caps for pig tailing, but electrical tape. In time the tape will dry out and become brittle allowing bare copper to be exposed.
Most times, a thinner cable gauge will be used instead of a thicker one, leading to undersized branch circuits.
All reasons for having your electrical installation checked, making sure everything is working as it should!
Termites
Wood is a precious addition for all interior or exterior designs but beware of termites as the Mexican Caribbean is a termite prone area. Wood that has not been treated will quickly be attacked by various wood loving insects and/or mold. This could pose a serious problem if we are talking about structural elements made of wood. Find out how to get rid of them by natural methods.
Water Infiltration Through Concrete Roofs
Gabled roofs are extremely rare in this area due to the hurricanes that could sweep the area every year between June and November. Most roofs are flat and made of concrete. They are very resistant should a hurricane hit us but are prone to water infiltration due to their inherent flat design. The use of a waterproofing membrane is recommended as bare concrete will not provide a safe water barrier, especially if you take concrete settlement into account. There’s always the possibility of thin, almost invisible cracks, caused by the house settling or concrete curing that can leak in case of a serious downpour.
House Mold
The rainy season will bring very high relative humidity, ideal for allowing mold to grow. Running the air conditioner 24/7 is not always a reasonable option so making sure you own a sane house that is not prone to humidity infiltration and is properly waterproofed and ventilated will be of great help.
A close view of mold on a piece of furniture in a Tulúm house:
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