Q&A for How to Research the History of Your House

Start with sinks and check under the sink cabinet, especially around the pipes. Now, run the water for a couple of minutes and feel for any moisture. It would also help to place a paper towel under the pipes; if there’s a slow drip, you’ll catch it quickly on the towel. For showers, look at the floor around the shower, the walls, and in the seams or grout lines. Sometimes, leaks come from gaps where caulking has worned out, so inspect those areas closely. Run the shower for a few minutes, and check the ceiling below the shower for any damp spots, molds, or discoloration. If you have time, you could also perform a “flood test”—fill the shower pan slightly with water and let it sit for 24 hours to see if any moisture leaks through to the floor below. This step is especially important if you suspect a larger issue or have had water stains show up in the past. If you’re still unsure where the leak might be, take a look at your water meter before and after a couple of hours of no water use in the house. If the meter reading changes, that’s a pretty good sign you’ve got a hidden leak somewhere, and it might be worth calling in a pro to narrow it down.

Learn about the area surrounding the house and see if any houses near yours have had this problem. If you can, find a professional to take a look.

Go to your town's courthouse and research the records there. It should all be there. If you're after a more personal view on the house's history, you can try to track down previous owners and talk to them. Their records of ownership should also be available at the courthouse.

Search on local news sites, or ask neighbors. They will possibly know if anything happened in the past.

Look for water spots or water damage. The most common place to find this damage is in the basement. If your basement is unfinished and used primarily as a storage place (cement flooring and open walls where you can see the supports), inspect the wood of the supports for any mold or wear from water and the insulation for any damage from water as well. If you don't find anything and still are suspicious about water damage, contact an expert and have him inspect the house.

You could tie a weight on a rope and lower it until it touches the bottom of the well. Make sure that the rope is tight. Mark the rope and measure the length from the bottom of the weight to the mark on the rope. That measurement should be how deep your well is.

Go to the courthouse and just ask for the blueprints and usually their name will be on there.

If the house/s were legally built on the land, then the houses would have been recorded in survey plans.

You can go to your courthouse and they will direct you to where you can locate all the information on all the past owners of the house. Or, you can search online. Many real estate sites host this information and it is publicly available.

Either it has gotten torn down for frame or safety reasons or it burned and had to be torn down. Ask nearby house owners what happened.