60: That’s the number of home surveys that you – the faithful readers of our home capsule – have answered since the very first issue of our newsletter in April 2014. We asked you about a wide range of topics that are related to our field of interest, namely building. Stay tuned as we take a look at what has come out of your responses to our little surveys over the years.

Who are you?
Considering the nature of our business, it’s not surprising to see that 93% of you responded that you are a homeowner. One third of you consider yourself capable of doing some work on your building, one quarter considered yourself capable of doing all the necessary work, while at the other end of the spectrum, one quarter said they had no idea how to proceed. However, when faced with a problem, two thirds of you have as first reflex to contact an expert or a building inspector, which is very good.

Your attic
In 2017 you were 57% to visit your attic once a year in addition to doing a visual inspection of the entire building. In 2020, only 43% of you claimed to have taken a look in your attic in the past year… And in 2022? It was 58% of our respondents who had visited their attic in the past year. Still!

Your roof
And if we look outside instead, you were 63% observing icicles on your home or in your neighborhood in 2019, 86% in 2020 and in 2021 we were back to 66%. How do we explain this rise in 2020? Perhaps the pandemic has forced us to take more of a walk and so we’ve been more inclined to pay attention to these details that we otherwise sometimes miss…

Your indoor air quality
Speaking of the pandemic, more than 60% of you found yourself teleworking and 9% felt negative effects on your health. Moreover, 58% of you said you noticed a basement smell in your home after a long absence. 18% said they observed mold in their homes while 55% had no concerns about their indoor air quality in 2018. By 2021, 9% of you were concerned about mold in your home.

The inspection and you
When it comes to real estate transactions, no less than 86% of you were reluctant to buy a house that has been used for cannabis cultivation and 49% of you were reluctant to buy a real estate flip. A third of you have reason to fear legal action if you sell your home, but few of you are considering selling this year, less than 20%.

Thank you for reading and taking the time to complete our surveys. Although they are not scientific, we always find it interesting to have your opinion on a subject that is important to us, namely the building industry! You can find all the surveys on our website.