There's more than a few things to do when you're looking to get settled down into that new home in New York and if you've put down a fair amount of money on the purchase, you'll need to include a home inspection in Manhattan as one of the costs. It only makes sense to want to know if there's anything that you should know about concerning the new place, and a thorough home inspection will be able to provide you with an overview that should put your mind at ease.
And if you find the right inspector for your home inspection in Manhattan, you should be able to tag along and pick up a few tips on the kinds of things that you should be looking for, particularly if you're a first time buyer. One of the things that it's good to get to know a bit about is the metal flashing that you find on the roof and around the pipes and chimneys in your home.
This flashing usually comes in a bright aluminum flexible sheet. It comes in a variety of styles and colors, and it's best to buy the flashing in the width that is as close as possible to the width that you need to cover. The reason for this is simple. Although all flashing can be cut to size, it's usually quite hard to cut it to width. As well, there are different types of materials that flashing is available in beyond the standard aluminum.
Copper flashing comes in rolls of different gauges, but more often than not it is 12 inches wide. While it is generally much more expensive than aluminum, copper is the material that is quite often used to match up decor. For this reason, it is sometimes used on older homes although in most cases the aluminum will do. Generally, flashing is most often used in roofs to seal gaps between the roofing materials and other materials. One of the problems that you'll encounter with flashing is the rust.
When this happens and water has over time been allowed to rust and damage the flashing material, water will get a free passage to the interior of the home. When you spot any rust, use a good wire brush to get rid of it and then a metal paint to inhibit its return. If the rust has already eaten its way through the flashing, you should be able to patch the spot up with roofing cement that you can get at most home renovation stores. Regardless of the repair product that you use, the important thing is to make sure that the water cannot leak in and under the patch.
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