Broken Foundations

Broken Foundations

Foundation on a rental was cracked when I bought it, I should have paid attention. Walls are cracking at doorways, should have paid attention again. Now after owning for 7 years, the walls are coming away from the floor. There is a lot of rain where it is, and unstable ground. I have gotten estimates everywhere from $22,000 to might need need any repair at all. House was built in the 50's. Anyone know a bit about foundations?

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Substructure Repair

First off, how did you not have a inspection contingency on your original offer?? Contingencies for inspection and finance are almost universal everywhere.

There are basically two types of substructures. Shallow and deep. Shallow foundations are simply foundations on stable undisturbed soil that consist of the footings, side walls, and the wall footings. The load of the superstructure is transmitted to the soil beneath through the footings and walls. Joists supported by a girder beam is the usual sub-floor system. Shallow foundations are usually raised with a minimum crawl space of 18", although foundations in some eastern cities might have taller walls which some consider as basements. Another form of shallow foundation is the slab on grade. This one is basically a concrete slab poured on the soil minus the crawl space and joists. The slab itself acts as the sub-floor. Another consideration is depth related to frost line.

The deep foundation system is more complex and costly. They're normally used in down or up slope conditions. Here, caissons or piles are used to transmit the load to the bedrock. Since the soil directly beneath the superstructure is usually unstable, concrete grade beams are used to transmit the weight of the superstructure's load bearing walls to the caissons. Strap beams are also used to tie the varies grade beams together. Retaining walls may also be used to counter the effects of surcharge pressure.

Concrete repairs can be very costly. In addition, the superstructure most likely will require repairs because of differential settling over the years.

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P.S. - Everything else is immaterial, irrelevant, and unnecessary.


Brenda

I would contact a structural engineer and have him/her do an inspection. Then you will know what needs to be done. Some engineers will give a cost estimate or work with/for the company that does the repairs. Sometimes you will have to get a structural repair company to give you an estimate based on the engineers report.

Michael

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Foundation issue

Thank you for all that info. The house was bank-owned, sold as-is. I knew about the crack but did not realize the ground would shift and break apart the house - should have known but one of those learned the hard way lessons. The only option is to move on from here.

I will be looking into just exactly what kind of foundation I have there. I know my own home is just a slab on dirt, nothing underneath, but where I live in Arizona, the ground is rock hard and does not move. The rental with the foundation issue is in Texas where it rains a lot on top of having unstable ground. I know a lot of the plumbing is in the attic, oddly. I went into the place not educating myself enough, for sure. I did have it checked to make sure underneath plumbing is still in tact. Next I'll find out what kind of foundation it is out there, then what to do with that type of foundation. I got 2 estimates that I admit I do not understand. All I do know is that for $22K they will guarantee the repair for life. However, the house is not worth more than $55K totally fixed, and I do not have $22K.


Sinking Ship

If the house is only worth $55,000 I would not invest the equivalent of 40% of its value to repair it. It might also get red tagged by the city once brought to their attention. It would be best to sell it to an investor with full disclosure about the problem. Most likely, you've already recouped most of your investment within the past seven years. It's time to leave the sinking ship behind.

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P.S. - Everything else is immaterial, irrelevant, and unnecessary.


crack

Mybe a tear down and rebuild would be a better answer or sell the land.Never ever buy a home or a building with out looking close at the foundation, if its not solid you will have some type of issue thats where the structor starts so it has to right or you have nothing.A good builder will tell you its so important to get that part right from the start, it must be right!!!!!!!!Much success, sincerely, Jim

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jbischoff


Sinking Ship

I have thought of this and do like the option. I would not recoup the investment, I would have to hang on for a while and collect more income for the repair to be worth it. As-is to an investor would be worth around $30K. I have since been told though that $20K was quoted by a rip off artist and it should be closer to $10K. Also that foundation work could not be performed during winter, and that the gap can be covered up in the meantime. I did already tell a realtor that if he knows any investors who might be interested in an as-is to bring them by. It does have good solid tenants in it that do not want to move.