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AR15.COM
11/7/2014 8:37:48 PM EDT
I am looking at a buying a property that has an issue with the garage slab.  The house is a monolithic pour, non-tension slab, ceramic tile floor with no visible cracks. The 2 car garage has a stem wall with a pour in the middle with a plus shaped control joint tooled in at the time of pour.  Either the stem wall has settled or the floor has heaved making a protruding upward V in the center of the floor and garage door with about 2-3" displacement.  



I need to figure this into the offer I make.   Many of the houses in the neighborhood have the same issue.  The Arizona soil underneath is caliche and is like concrete when compressed properly.




Should I have a structural engineer look at it or will a certified home inspector be sufficient in beating their balls off in the offer/counter offer?




How should this repair be addressed? I may end up doing the work myself.




Thanks.
11/8/2014 6:27:53 AM EDT
[#1]
i would have an engineer look at it. an inspector is going to say "yes. there is a crack in the floor". an engineer will tell you why its there and what it takes to fix it.

FYI, we walked away from our perfect house because of a crack and elevation drop in a garage floor.
11/8/2014 6:48:04 AM EDT
[#2]
As a rule, home inspectors can only note deficiencies. They can't tell you causes or remedies. Talk to an engineer to get a reliable answer.
11/8/2014 12:08:10 PM EDT
[#3]
Quoted:
I am looking at a buying a property that has an issue with the garage slab.  The house is a monolithic pour, non-tension slab, ceramic tile floor with no visible cracks. The 2 car garage has a stem wall with a pour in the middle with a plus shaped control joint tooled in at the time of pour.  Either the stem wall has settled or the floor has heaved making a protruding upward V in the center of the floor and garage door with about 2-3" displacement.  

I need to figure this into the offer I make.   Many of the houses in the neighborhood have the same issue.  The Arizona soil underneath is caliche and is like concrete when compressed properly.

Should I have a structural engineer look at it or will a certified home inspector be sufficient in beating their balls off in the offer/counter offer?

How should this repair be addressed? I may end up doing the work myself.


Thanks.
View Quote


If you don't have any concrete experience DO Not do it yourself concrete is labor intensive,  time sensitive and unforgiving if you screw it up it will never be right.