The spring inspection is a walk round every building after the snow melt or the rains, checking roof, walls, foundation and water system against a fixed list and logging each defect as urgent, plan for summer, or monitor. Look for ceiling stains inside, cracks wider than 3 mm or running vertically, ground that falls less than 2% away from the wall, and soft or damp straw bale at the wall base, which needs immediate attention.
Part of Building Maintenance Schedules
The spring inspection is the yearly damage assessment, done after winter has exposed every weakness, whose findings set the summer repair list.
Winter Shows Every Weakness, So Spring Is Damage Assessment
The maintenance guide gives the spring list in four parts. Roof: walk round and look up for missing thatch, lifted metal sheets and sagging; check interior ceilings for water stains, which show where leaks occurred even after the roof has dried; clear debris from roof surfaces and gutters; on thatch, check the ridge and look for thin areas (daylight visible from inside means too thin); on metal, check rust, lifted fasteners and flashing gaps; on earth roofs, check erosion, bare spots and standing water. Walls: look for cracks, flaking plaster, erosion at the base and rodent holes; repair any crack wider than 3 mm or running vertically; probe the base of straw bale walls for soft, damp areas; check that the ground falls away from the building at 2% or more. Foundation: French drains flowing freely, stem wall free of cracks and settlement, no standing water. Water systems: connections, tanks and pipes checked for freeze damage, the system flushed, intakes cleared.
Worked Example: Checking The Ground Fall
Inputs: a 2% minimum fall away from the wall, measured over the first 3 m; a string and line level or an A-frame level (A-Frame Level).
- Required drop = 3 m × 0.02 = 0.06 m, 6 cm.
- Stretch a string level from the wall base to a peg 3 m out. The ground under the string at the peg should be 6 cm lower than at the wall.
- If the drop is 3 cm, the fall is 3 ÷ 300 = 1%, half what is needed; regrade or add a drain.
For straw bale walls the moisture reading matters more than the look: the bale guide sets 20% as the limit, measured rather than guessed (Bale Moisture Monitoring). A screwdriver that slides in easily at the base, or a soft spot, is the symptom the checklist calls for immediate attention.
What You Need
- The checklist and the communal log
- A ladder, a long pointed probe or screwdriver, a pencil, a tape and a string with a line level
- Chalk to mark defects on the building
- A second person, since nobody inspects a roof alone
Method: Walk, Probe, Log
Step 1: Walk the outside of the building and look up at the roof edges, ridge, flashing and gutters.
Step 2: Go inside and look at ceilings and wall tops for stains and daylight.
Step 3: Walk the perimeter of the walls, noting cracks (mark the ends with a pencil and the date), flaking plaster and rodent holes.
Step 4: Probe the wall base where straw bale or earth meets the ground.
Step 5: Check the ground fall and drains with the string and by looking for standing water.
Step 6: Inspect the water system: taps, tank, pipes, intake.
Step 7: Log each defect with a severity of urgent, plan for summer or monitor, and a date.
Common Mistakes
- Looking only at the roof from the ground. Ceiling stains inside are the better evidence.
- Not marking cracks. A crack that was 2 mm in spring and is 4 mm in autumn is moving; without marks nobody knows.
- Ignoring small damp spots at the wall base. Rot hides behind sound-looking plaster.
- Filling cracks before finding the cause. The crack comes back.
Safety
Do not trust a wet roof, a ladder or a rotten sill
A roof wet from the melt is slippery and its timbers may be rotted. Look from the ground, from inside and from a footed ladder; step only on solid rafters; never go up alone. Test timber by probing, not by standing on it, and stay out of the collapse zone of any wall that leans (Roof Maintenance).
What’s Next
- Learn next: Roof Maintenance — fixing what the roof walk found
- Combine with: Plaster Crack Repair — the commonest summer job