Put an offer on a house, Inspection Issues.

[TerryMathews]

Are you financing out paying outright? If you're financing, this might be a deal breaker depending on how it is written in the appraisal.

 

[weadjust]

Call olshan foundation repair. They will send out someone for free to give an estimate. They set up a laser level inside and can tell you if the floors are level through out the interior of the home. They are expensive. My neighbors chimney was leaning and they came out and set 7 piers under the chimney and end of house. Finished in one day and put back the shrubs. Cost was $3500 with lifetime transferable warranty.
http://www.olshanfoundation.com/

 

[OlafSicky]

looks bad you either the foundation is bad or a bad brick job either way $$$ to fix

 

[Imp]

Not a licensed engineer... But from a building science perspective, that crack may have let in a lot of water over time. If the wall can't breath, there may be water damage and/or mold.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Speaking of breathing, another thing to look for is weep holes. They are sections in brick normally near the bottom where there should be mortar but there is not. These are by design to allow the inside wall cavity to breathe. If there are none, that would be another red flag. It's common to put steel wool in those to keep bugs out.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

having 13 years experience as a general contractor, and a construction science degree, I would be very careful. That is much more than a typical settlement crack.

A big red flag ought to be that if it's been there long enough that someone tried to seal it with silicone and likely repaired the interior wall damage, that could be an indication THEY had it looked into, and it was too expensive to fix.

It shouldn't cost more than about $150-300 to have an engineer look at it and give you a report.

 

[Hecubus28]

So far it has been hard trying to find an engineer. I have only found two that will do a residential building and they want 100 dollars at a minimum of 5 to 10 hours to look at it.

The inspector did check the weep holes and they were there and not blocked.

 

[veri745]

That sounds about right to me on rates for an engineering to come look at the issue.

Pay now or gamble and pay later, I'd rather have confidence in the integrity of the house, but that part is totally up to you.

 

[Imp]

So far it has been hard trying to find an engineer. I have only found two that will do a residential building and they want 100 dollars at a minimum of 5 to 10 hours to look at it.

The inspector did check the weep holes and they were there and not blocked.

My "state's" licensing committee requires that licensed engineers charge "appropriately" (i.e. not low ball) in its Code of Ethics, so I wouldn't expect anything cheaper. The one structural engineer I know charges about $130/hour, so that sounds reasonable. Let's say 1 hour travel time, 1 to 2 hours on site to investigate, then document review at way more time, and that's at least 5 hours easy.

Don't want to pay, then find another house. Seriously that's a lot of trouble you're volunteering for.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

the hourly rate is reasonable, the 5 to 10 hours is not. An engineer should be able to conduct a site visit and give you an educated opinion in 2 to 3 hours max. You're not needing him to run calculations, just a site inspection.

 

[JEDI]

The house was built in 1987. The crack is pretty large, I could stick my finger in it, this is not just a hair line crack in the mortar but it has gone through the middle of quite a few cracks.

is the brick just a facade? ie: just wallpaper covering the real structual support behind it?

if facade, hire a structual enginner to take a look at the real.

if the brick is the support, WALK AWAY!

 

[Doppel]

My "state's" licensing committee requires that licensed engineers charge "appropriately" (i.e. not low ball) in its Code of Ethics, so I wouldn't expect anything cheaper. The one structural engineer I know charges about $130/hour, so that sounds reasonable. Let's say 1 hour travel time, 1 to 2 hours on site to investigate, then document review at way more time, and that's at least 5 hours easy.

Don't want to pay, then find another house. Seriously that's a lot of trouble you're volunteering for.

Honestly there's no way in the world a person should be charging 5 hours for that. A local engineer will pop by look outside/inside the house. Unless you're exploring further with some demolition or cameras there's just no way to spend 5 hours on this.

 

[Humpy]

Honestly there's no way in the world a person should be charging 5 hours for that. A local engineer will pop by look outside/inside the house. Unless you're exploring further with some demolition or cameras there's just no way to spend 5 hours on this.

And really, there is no point in paying an engineer to just have a quick look and give an opinion with out doing any real investigation.

What's he going to say? "Yep, looks like something settled on the ends or something is pushing up the middle. Send me a check." Even the best engineer can't tell exactly what failed and how to make the repair without digging a hole or tearing something apart and having a look. He can't tell if the movement has stopped. He can't tell the extent of water intrusion. He doesn't know anything about the foundation or brick ledge unless it's visible. For $300 all he can do is guess.

At least the guesses from internet forum "experts" are free, and worth as much.

 

[Hecubus28]

The brick is just a veneer not structual. We have an engineer coming out next week to look at the crack. Our realtor spoke with the listing agent and was told the crack was there when the current owners bought the house 7 years ago and was told it was cosmetic by there inspector. This could have been a bad inspector or they are flat out lying though.

 

[Hecubus28]

We had the foundation inspection done Monday. The engineer did find current issues with the foundation that needed to be addressed. He said it was mainly caused by drainage issues on the property.

To fix it he recommended 8 Piers to on the right side of the house and two french drains to divert water away on the left side of the house. Total cost would be about 9600 dollars. Expensive but I guess it could have been worse.

We are still interested in the house if the seller is willing to make the repairs, if not we will just find something else. Our agent is putting in our request and hopefully we find out something soon.

 

[Vdubchaos]

We had the foundation inspection done Monday. The engineer did find current issues with the foundation that needed to be addressed. He said it was mainly caused by drainage issues on the property.

To fix it he recommended 8 Piers to on the right side of the house and two french drains to divert water away on the left side of the house. Total cost would be about 9600 dollars. Expensive but I guess it could have been worse.

We are still interested in the house if the seller is willing to make the repairs, if not we will just find something else. Our agent is putting in our request and hopefully we find out something soon.

And seller would be STUPID not do fix it prior to sale.

Good job, you did the right thing hiring someone and looking into it. ALWAYS protect your investment (especially THE BIGGEST investment of your LIFE)

 

[Texashiker]

Has anyone had a home inspection on a new house they were looking at buying and the inspector find possible issues with the foundation?

If its a new home, shouldn't the builder be responsible for that?

The house was built in 1987.

Then its not a "new" home.

 

[MrDudeMan]

At least the guesses from internet forum "experts" are free, and worth as much.

And by that you mean licensed structural engineers?

He can't tell if the movement has stopped.
He can't tell the extent of water intrusion.
He doesn't know anything about the foundation or brick ledge unless it's visible.

Not true x 3.

You most certainly can tell if the foundation movement is still transient or if it has settled into a seasonal cycle by inspection. Your last point is ridiculous. That's like saying a doctor doesn't know anything about a medical issue unless he does a biopsy. It's obviously necessary sometimes, but to say he would know nothing without drilling samples or compression testing is flat out wrong.