Would you buy a house that had foundation issues which were repaired?

[Chaotic42]

I'm looking at a house I really like, but it's on a fairly steep hill. It had a fairly large amount of foundation damage due to some basement settling due to lateral deflection. The owners paid quite a bit of money to get it repaired and it had several threaded rods put into it to secure it. It seems like they did everything correctly, but I'm curious if this would give any of you any heartburn if you were looking to buy.

Other than this issue, it's a great house. Any thoughts?

 

[scannall]

I'm looking at a house I really like, but it's on a fairly steep hill. It had a fairly large amount of foundation damage due to some basement settling due to lateral deflection. The owners paid quite a bit of money to get it repaired and it had several threaded rods put into it to secure it. It seems like they did everything correctly, but I'm curious if this would give any of you any heartburn if you were looking to buy.

Other than this issue, it's a great house. Any thoughts?

In that setting? Hell no. That's a bandage at best.

 

[Chaotic42]

Looks like it was about 36K worth of work. I don't really know anything about this stuff. They attached a concrete grade beam to the foundation wall and secured it with those rods. Then they replaced the basement floor. I'm a flatlander, so I'm not used to dealing with things like hill erosion

 

[paperfist]

Watch some old Holmes on Homes shows and you'll get heartburn and run

No water issues involved?

 

[mxnerd]

Would't touch it. Life is more important than a beautiful house.

 

[Greenman]

Who designed the repair? Who did the work? Was it permitted and inspected? Answer those three questions and you'll be well on your way to making an informed decision.
If the repairs were what a contractor thought would work, walk away. If the repairs were designed by a structural engineer and inspected by that engineer as the work progressed, you should be fine. There should be plans and structural calculations that you can have reviewed by another engineer as well.

 

[mdram]

i would have to see the design, verify it was done/stamped by a professional engineer. then have it checked by another one

 

[Thebobo]

Pictures of collapsed house?

 

[purbeast0]

I bought a house that had an issue with the foundation that had been repaired over a year prior. I saw the plans and procedure that had been documented on paper before we purchased. I also talked to the company that did the work for like 15-20 minutes and he explained to me exactly what the issue was and what work was done. The company was licensed, insured, etc. The selling real estate agent was upfront about all of this which we appreciated. We've been in the house for 6 years now without any other issues.

 

[13Gigatons]

Walk away.

 

[Cozarkian]

Who designed the repair? Who did the work? Was it permitted and inspected? Answer those three questions and you'll be well on your way to making an informed decision.
If the repairs were what a contractor thought would work, walk away. If the repairs were designed by a structural engineer and inspected by that engineer as the work progressed, you should be fine. There should be plans and structural calculations that you can have reviewed by another engineer as well.

You need the repairs to have been designed by a structural engineer based on a report completed by a geotechnical engineer.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Yes, foundation issues such as the ones you describe would raise a big red flag for me. "Lateral deflection" suggests to me that the hillside itself might be slowly on the move, in which case I doubt that the foundation (no matter how strong) can stand against it. This land movement might be tied to abnormally heavy precipitation, and so not something that happens every year. I would certainly want to understand just how long ago the foundation repairs had been made; anything less than ten years (without more damage) would see me walking away.

You might want to see what information your county has on the property (Zillow usually provides a link); there might be mention of land movement issues and/or special foundation requirements.

I might also check with my mortgage lender to see if they are comfortable lending on the property.

 

[Greenman]

You need the repairs to have been designed by a structural engineer based on a report completed by a geotechnical engineer.

Not necessarily. Depends on the municipality and what issue is being corrected.

 

[Cozarkian]

to get back to the heart of the question, a house that has had proper repairs is not any riskier than a house that has not. The latter house might have a problem that hasn't been discovered yet.

 

[PowerEngineer]

to get back to the heart of the question, a house that has had proper repairs is not any riskier than a house that has not. The latter house might have a problem that hasn't been discovered yet.

While it certainly is possible for any house to develop a foundation problem sometime in the future, I think it is much more likely that a house that has had a foundation problem in the past will develop another one in the future. If the foundation requirements were misjudged originally then I would worry that the requirements for the "fix" could have also been misjudged. Maybe I am just a pessimist. But I wouldn't choose to buy a used car with a branded title or a refurbished hard drive either. For me, the risk isn't worth it.

 

[Micrornd]

While I agree engineered repairs can be done that fix the foundation adequately, you mentioned both lateral deflection and hill erosion.
What caused the lateral deflection, poor construction/engineering or earth movement? The first is permanently fixable, the second can reoccur.
Has anything been done to prevent the hill erosion you mentioned? Further erosion could stress the foundation's construction and stability from an angle not compensated for in the repairs.
Even fixing a foundation against all outside stresses doesn't prevent the house from tilting.
Just something I would want answered before I purchased.

 

[Chaotic42]

I'm not ignoring you folks, the house is being inspected as we speak. I'll provide some more info once I get it. The issue with where I live is that virtually every house will be on a hill of some sort. If it isn't, it's almost certainly in a flood plain.

 

[mindless1]

Is there any warranty on the work? Get an engineer in to inspect it, not just a gen-purpose home inspector.