wrote:

Can anyone help with this. Water is seeping into the house we just
bought. There is no sign of visible water on the ceiling or wall area.
No window or door on the wall. It comes in on the floor area under the
base boards every time there is a hard rain. This is a wood frame
house, built in 1990, had a new roof 2years ago, but we don't know who
put in on. We caulked all visible cracks outside in the stucco, and
the expansion joint. Sprayed the hose at the ground area where the
water first appears and soaked the ground, but still no water came in
during the test. We had an inspection before we bought it, that
included a roof inspection, they did not report anything wrong. Of
course they didn't report a lot of problems we later uncovered. We
don't know what to do to find where this water is coming from.

This is our first home, and its turned into a nightmare.


I checked the photos and web page you posted. First of all, I would
take down the web page
and get off the back of the home inspector........****ing them off won't
help your cause.

The ants aren't difficult to get rid of.........everyone in Florida gets
termiets or ants at some point.
For most ants, getting rid of their food and water is key. Univ. of
Florida has loads of good info.
Here is a link to page about ants......should read it in it's entirety:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG080

Household pests in general:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_GUIDE...d_Pests_of_Man

Termites ... READ IT ALL:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG097

Your website says that the inspector stated that the site was not graded
properly!!! Hell, why
are you posting on newsgroup? It looks, also, as if the home had long
term neglect. Hard to
tell from the photo whether the broken stucco is on concrete block or on
lath. When stucco
goes below grade, it is a perfect entry for subterranean termites. The
cracks and holes
in the stucco are another. The patch job on stucco is a mess...looks
like crap. There are
latex stucco patch compounds at the big box store, sanded and unsanded
(for texture) Easy
to apply and with a little practice will closely match the existing texture.

Difficult to tell from the picture of the porch roof whether it is level
or slopes. If it is level or
slopes toward the house, fix it right away or take it down. Pine
needles accumulate pretty
quickly, and can clog gutters. Clean the gutters.

Ants like starch, just like mildew. If the carpet is not in good shape,
rip it out and clean the floor.
Even without a leak, if the home was closed up for a while, expect
mildew. It takes about 5
minutes in Florida for anything to grow mildew without AC. Don't worry
about ants
outdoors - that is where they are SUPPOSED to be, just like trees,
grass, rain, sunshine, etc.

Noisy AC? How old? Sales contract should state the age.

Get a reputable plumber and a reputable roofer to look for your leak.
Between the two,
you should get it identified. Gaps in fascia, uncaulked gaps around
doors and windows,
cracks in stucco can let in water, and, as another poster stated, water
can travel quite far
on rafters, wiring, pipes, etc., before it finds an exit. After seeing
the pix, my guess would
be clogged gutters, broken shingle, or running from porch roof if sloped
wrong or anchored
through wall.

The wood around garage door is no big deal .. end grain of wood sitting
on the ground will
suck up water and rot. I will be amazed if the home doesn't have
termites. Get another
inspection.

A couple of books on simple home maintenance tasks should help a lot.