Posted: 4/16/2015 5:13:53 PM EDT
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Hey Fellas,
I'm looking into buying a home built in 2001 in the Arlington Texas area ( Southeast area of Fort Worth). As of now we know the house has had some foundation work done on the North side. After having the foundation work done the seller had this planter installed along the whole North side of the house. 
The planter/ retaining wall looks very shady to say the least. I've asked my realtor to ask the seller if he was advised to have this planter put in to help remedy future foundation problems. After viewing the house I can tell the South side seems to have dropped down because the doors on that side of the house swing open by themselves and the floor seems to angle down while walking on it. Anyway, my questions are, do you guys think this planter would be good or bad for the foundation in the future? Second, why and the hell would it be built so close to the house where the planter/ retaining wall wouldn't allow the larger condensing unit to actual sit behind the planter/ retaining wall?? I'm pretty sure this was a poorly executed DIY job and just would like some second opinions before we start moving forward. So if anyone has any experience with foundation work or just general opinions on the planter/ retaining wall I'm all ears. Thanks, Kirch |
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Hey Fellas, I'm looking into buying a home built in 2001 in the Arlington Texas area ( Southeast area of Fort Worth). As of now we know the house has had some foundation work done on the North side. After having the foundation work done the seller had this planter installed along the whole North side of the house. <a href="http://s428.photobucket.com/user/stvnkrchnr/media/IMG_0459.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq9/stvnkrchnr/IMG_0459.jpg</a> The planter/ retaining wall looks very shady to say the least. I've asked my realtor to ask the seller if he was advised to have this planter put in to help remedy future foundation problems. After viewing the house I can tell the South side seems to have dropped down because the doors on that side of the house swing open by themselves and the floor seems to angle down while walking on it. Anyway, my questions are, do you guys think this planter would be good or bad for the foundation in the future? Second, why and the hell would it be built so close to the house where the planter/ retaining wall wouldn't allow the larger condensing unit to actual sit behind the planter/ retaining wall?? I'm pretty sure this was a poorly executed DIY job and just would like some second opinions before we start moving forward. So if anyone has any experience with foundation work or just general opinions on the planter/ retaining wall I'm all ears. Thanks, Kirch If the house foundation is sinking enough to cause problems with the doors and a sloping floor run away as fast as you can. The fact that you think the planter is shady is just another reason to run away from the house especially when it could be hiding some wrong . There are company's that jack up and stabilize foundations but I wouldn't buy a house that needed that kind of work. You have to ask your self what is wrong that the foundation is sinking in the first place. If you are really set on this house I would get a quote from a foundation company that specializes in stabilizing and jacking up foundations to repair the house and deduct that from the asking price. |
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The house foundation was likely not built correctly or a bad site prep. Move on, there has to be another house. This. The planter is also likely hiding more issues. My previous house had a planter just l ike this around the front & south sides of my house... There was also a hastily sheet-rocked wall put in down in the basement. Little did we know when the place was bought, they sheet rocked the basement wall to hide the fact that the foundation was caving in, and the planter beds outside were built to hide all the structural cracks visible from the exterior. The spring rain & thaw would push the entire foundation wall inward almost 1"! This caused water / flooding issues in the basement, and eventually the foundation would have failed completely, with a mudslide into the basement, and the house above falling into the basement. |
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Quoted: I would be extremely hesitant. I'd get a structural engineer to look at it. First hint of foundation problems I'm not just walking away, but running away. If you really want this house and there aren't any others, get a reputable foundation repair company to come take a look as there have been signs of differential settlement. |
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I'm a structural engineer. First hint of foundation problems I'm not just walking away, but running away. If you really want this house and there aren't any others, get a reputable foundation repair company to come take a look as there have been signs of differential settlement. Quoted:
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I would be extremely hesitant. I'd get a structural engineer to look at it. First hint of foundation problems I'm not just walking away, but running away. If you really want this house and there aren't any others, get a reputable foundation repair company to come take a look as there have been signs of differential settlement. Its nice to see a structural engineer say the same thing that I said. |
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I'm a structural engineer. First hint of foundation problems I'm not just walking away, but running away. If you really want this house and there aren't any others, get a reputable foundation repair company to come take a look as there have been signs of differential settlement. Quoted:
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I would be extremely hesitant. I'd get a structural engineer to look at it. First hint of foundation problems I'm not just walking away, but running away. If you really want this house and there aren't any others, get a reputable foundation repair company to come take a look as there have been signs of differential settlement. Thanks for the advice lol. In regards to the shady retaining wall, the foundation work was done after it was built and had to be broke in places to accomplish the foundation work. Explains why it looks pieced together and shady now. There is drainage built into the retaining wall and drain pipes to keep the water run off from the gutters away from and out of the retaining wall. As of now the inspector stated foundation problems. He dug around the North side of the house looking for cracks below the ground and we couldn't find any. No cracks in the mortar around the house neither. All windows open and close and don't stick but most doors in the house aren't plumed and swing open or close freely. There is three repair spots inside to the drywall where there was some cracking and separating. What the inspector told me is there is tell tell signs of foundation problems but weird we couldn't find anything outside. I was there and watched and help dig holes looking for cracks and searched every square inch of the brick for cracks also We have asked the sellers to pay for a structural engineer to check out the house and asses the prior work that was done to the foundation. I have also contacted the foundation company that did the work and they were very up front. Set a copy of the warranty info, explained how to transfer it, and then their engineer called me back and explained what was done and sent over the his notes to include his drawls. The sellers only paid $2,970 to have 7 peers drove in, I was surprised by that. The foundation company is going to come back out and asses their work and current state of the foundation. What I find weird is after the work was done the company nor the seller had another engineer assessment done. So the foundation company could have lifted the North side to high resulting in the south side being down hill. Not sure way the current home owner would have paid 2,970 bucks to have work done and still have doors out of plum. The 3rd party structural engineer I spoke with is from the area and knows the soil, plus has done evaluation in this neighbor before. So I'm hoping with the structural engineer evaluation and having the original company come out I can get a piece of mind whats really going on. Just a side note the foundation company that did the work has great reviews in the area, with a 4.5 star customer rating. So their not some low rent fly by night company I'm dealing with. Worse case scenario, I run away from the deal and am only out $600 bucks. Thanks for the advice and I'll keep you guys posted. |
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Thanks for the advice lol. In regards to the shady retaining wall, the foundation work was done after it's was built and had to be broke in places to accomplish the foundation work. Explains why it looks pieced together and shady now. There is drainage built into the retaining wall and drain pipes to keep the water run off from the gutters away from and out of the retaining wall. As of now the inspector stated foundation problems. He dug around the North side of the house looking for cracks below the ground and we couldn't find any. No cracks in the mortar around the house neither. All windows open and close and don't stick but most doors in the house aren't plumed and swing open or close freely. There is three repair spots inside to the drywall where there was some cracking and separating. What the inspector told me is there is tell tell signs of foundation problems but weird we couldn't find anything outside. I was there and watched and help dig holes looking for cracks and searched every square inch of the brick for cracks also We have asked the sellers to pay for a structural engineer to check out the house and asses the prior work that was done to the foundation. I have also contacted the foundation company that did the work and they were very up front. Set a copy of the warranty info, explained how to transfer it, and then their engineer called me back and explained what was done and sent over the his notes to include his drawls. The sellers only paid $2,970 to have 7 peers drove in, I was surprised by that. The foundation company is going to come back out and asses their work and current state of the foundation. What I find weird is after the work was done the company nor the seller had another engineer assessment done. So the foundation company could have lifted the North side to high resulting in the south side being down hill. Not sure way the current home owner would have paid 2,970 bucks to have work done and still have doors out of plum. The 3rd party structural engineer I spoke with is from the area and knows the soil, plus has done evaluation in this neighbor before. So I'm hoping with the structural engineer evaluation and having the original company come out I can get a piece of mind whats really going on. Just a side note the foundation company that did the work has great reviews in the area, with a 4.5 star customer rating. So their not some low rent fly by night company I'm dealing with. Worse case scenario, I run away from the deal and am only out $600 bucks. Thanks for the advice and I'll keep you guys posted. Quoted:
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I would be extremely hesitant. I'd get a structural engineer to look at it. First hint of foundation problems I'm not just walking away, but running away. If you really want this house and there aren't any others, get a reputable foundation repair company to come take a look as there have been signs of differential settlement. Thanks for the advice lol. In regards to the shady retaining wall, the foundation work was done after it's was built and had to be broke in places to accomplish the foundation work. Explains why it looks pieced together and shady now. There is drainage built into the retaining wall and drain pipes to keep the water run off from the gutters away from and out of the retaining wall. As of now the inspector stated foundation problems. He dug around the North side of the house looking for cracks below the ground and we couldn't find any. No cracks in the mortar around the house neither. All windows open and close and don't stick but most doors in the house aren't plumed and swing open or close freely. There is three repair spots inside to the drywall where there was some cracking and separating. What the inspector told me is there is tell tell signs of foundation problems but weird we couldn't find anything outside. I was there and watched and help dig holes looking for cracks and searched every square inch of the brick for cracks also We have asked the sellers to pay for a structural engineer to check out the house and asses the prior work that was done to the foundation. I have also contacted the foundation company that did the work and they were very up front. Set a copy of the warranty info, explained how to transfer it, and then their engineer called me back and explained what was done and sent over the his notes to include his drawls. The sellers only paid $2,970 to have 7 peers drove in, I was surprised by that. The foundation company is going to come back out and asses their work and current state of the foundation. What I find weird is after the work was done the company nor the seller had another engineer assessment done. So the foundation company could have lifted the North side to high resulting in the south side being down hill. Not sure way the current home owner would have paid 2,970 bucks to have work done and still have doors out of plum. The 3rd party structural engineer I spoke with is from the area and knows the soil, plus has done evaluation in this neighbor before. So I'm hoping with the structural engineer evaluation and having the original company come out I can get a piece of mind whats really going on. Just a side note the foundation company that did the work has great reviews in the area, with a 4.5 star customer rating. So their not some low rent fly by night company I'm dealing with. Worse case scenario, I run away from the deal and am only out $600 bucks. Thanks for the advice and I'll keep you guys posted. So this house has had prior foundation repair and it still screwed up. Let me repeat what has already been said two times Run away from this house that is going to be money pit |
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So this house has had prior foundation repair and it still screwed up. Let me repeat what has already been said two times Run away from this house that is going to be money pit Quoted:
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I would be extremely hesitant. I'd get a structural engineer to look at it. First hint of foundation problems I'm not just walking away, but running away. If you really want this house and there aren't any others, get a reputable foundation repair company to come take a look as there have been signs of differential settlement. -snip- Thanks for the advice and I'll keep you guys posted. So this house has had prior foundation repair and it still screwed up. Let me repeat what has already been said two times Run away from this house that is going to be money pit Remember, you'll have to go through this all over again when YOU go to sell. Do you really want to lose potential buyers or take a price cut to sell? There are a lot of houses out there without these issues. |
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Did you get some additional info from the foundation company and/or 3rd party ? What happened ? Quoted:
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RUNNING AWAY!!!! Thanks for the help Fellas. Did you get some additional info from the foundation company and/or 3rd party ? What happened ? We found out that after the work was completed on the foundation the seller decided to not have a post engineers assessment done. It would have cost an additional $200 to be preformed through the company that did the work in the first place. That was hit number 1 between the seller and I. The second hit was the seller refused to pay for a 3rd party structural engineer to come out and give an assessment. Even tho the inspection states "have foundation evaluated by structural engineer". Basically the seller is full of shit and is either hiding something or to cheap to properly have the work done. I know a great deal about foundations and the soil in my area after all this, and what I have came to find out. DONT PAY A HOUSE WITH PRIOR FOUNDATION DAMAGE lol lol Thanks again guys for the help!!!! You all probably just saved me thousands of dollars, headaches and the risk of being stuck in a house for life. |
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We found out that after the work was completed on the foundation the seller decided to not have a post engineers assessment done. It would have cost an additional $200 to be preformed through the company that did the work in the first place. That was hit number 1 between the seller and I. The second hit was the seller refused to pay for a 3rd party structural engineer to come out and give an assessment. Even tho the inspection states "have foundation evaluated by structural engineer". Basically the seller is full of shit and is either hiding something or to cheap to properly have the work done. I know a great deal about foundations and the soil in my area after all this, and what I have came to find out. DONT PAY A HOUSE WITH PRIOR FOUNDATION DAMAGE lol lol Thanks again guys for the help!!!! You all probably just saved me thousands of dollars, headaches and the risk of being stuck in a house for life. Quoted:
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RUNNING AWAY!!!! Thanks for the help Fellas. Did you get some additional info from the foundation company and/or 3rd party ? What happened ? We found out that after the work was completed on the foundation the seller decided to not have a post engineers assessment done. It would have cost an additional $200 to be preformed through the company that did the work in the first place. That was hit number 1 between the seller and I. The second hit was the seller refused to pay for a 3rd party structural engineer to come out and give an assessment. Even tho the inspection states "have foundation evaluated by structural engineer". Basically the seller is full of shit and is either hiding something or to cheap to properly have the work done. I know a great deal about foundations and the soil in my area after all this, and what I have came to find out. DONT PAY A HOUSE WITH PRIOR FOUNDATION DAMAGE lol lol Thanks again guys for the help!!!! You all probably just saved me thousands of dollars, headaches and the risk of being stuck in a house for life. I don't think he is cheap I think he knows something is wrong and trying to hide it and he knows that another inspection will show this. Be careful not to trip and fall as you run away. |