The Proper Ways To Determine The Age Of A House

If you're the owner of your own house, then knowing the age of your property might seem very obvious (unless someone else constructed it). However, sometimes, that may not be the case at all. It's easy to know the age of new construction, but when it comes to older properties, things are not too straightforward. But, the good news is that - home inspectors can help you know the correct age of a house with all their professional experience and educational background.

One of the major reasons why it’s essential to know the age of a home (or at least have a good idea about the same) is because various types of health & safety hazards exist in older homes which are impossible to find in new homes. So, how can you correctly learn the actual age of a property? Let’s find out.

The Ideal Ways To Know The Age Of A House

• Presence Of Square Nails Imply Age

According to a professional home inspector in Northern Utah, a newly built home can't have square nails in its construction. Square nails were usually the norm back in the 1800s. That means that they are becoming increasingly rare as the day passes by.

Before the 1800s, nails used to have a rough appearance from one end to another. But, during the late 1700s to the mid-1800s, square nails were introduced. In today's market, you'll only see nails that are rounded in shape and are quite uniform in their appearance. So, by any chance your home inspector or yourself find a square nail inside the building's structure, there should be no doubt that it's old and is from the pre-20th century era.

• Presence Of Aluminium Wiring

Back in the early days, aluminium wiring was pretty popular to be used as electrical wiring inside homes. This is because during that time copper was expensive and therefore the existence of copper-made electrical wires was pretty rare. However, in recent years, aluminium is no longer used for making electrical wires and that's because of the following two reasons:

• Low conductivity when compared to copper
• Extreme fire hazard when compared to copper

Moreover, as copper became more readily available, it became cheap to use and thereby was utilised to create copper electrical wires for the mass market.

Apart from the wiring, it should also be remembered that if any house has knob & tube wiring, then that house was mostly constructed during the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

So, any presence of aluminium wiring along with knob & tube wiring means that the house was built in the 20th century and is quite old.

Presence Of Non-Grounded Electrical Outlets

In case you’re looking for the most obvious signs that will tell you that a house is old, then you have to look for the electrical outlets present inside the house. If the electrical outlets are not grounded, then you can be sure that the property is old. This is because most newly built homes come with a grounding facility in the electrical outlets.

It should be realised that non-grounded electrical outlets are more susceptible to shocks than grounded ones. Furthermore, home appliances are much safer when operated using a grounded electrical outlet.

Presence Of Old Architectural Elements

Over the years, the architectural structures of homes have gone through a complete overhaul. The style of architecture that was popular back in the day has become extinct because the modern-day is all about clean lines and minimalism.

Therefore, when you look at the architectural design of a home, you can be sure that it's from a different generation. For example, older homes used to have taller ceilings, while new homes have comparatively shallower ceilings.

And that brings us to the end of our extensive guide. We hope you enjoyed our insights and suggestions.