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Is my house at danger?

Did you forget to mention that hurricane Wilma was in your neighborhood?

Reply to
maradcliff
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"And, as a practical matter, it's worth knowing that no future buyer can prove or disprove the results of a construction engineer's findings or your knowledge or lack thereof. "

How about if the new owner happens to later call the same engineer and the engineer says, "Oh, I remember looking at this house last year and giving the owner a report!" Doh! Or how about if the new owner sues the seller and the seller has to give a deposition? Now would you advise the seller to lie under oath, and risk perjury charges, to try to maintain the coverup?

Granted, it's not highly likely that a future owner can prove what you knew about a problem, but it certainly isn't a sure thing.

Reply to
trader4

That was the whole foundation? Or a part of it?

But, yes, that's the answer. I went the route of getting an engineer's inspection and recommendations, documented these, and followed them, and documented that. One need only worry about disclosure to the next buyer if one doesn't FIX the problem.

Banty

Reply to
Banty

Yes, they did. But not my immediately previous owner. My immediately previous owner only lived at this house for about 18 months. The owner before them did a quick patch-and paint on cracked walls before selling the house.

Reply to
Kim

Reply to
redhatnooblet

As others have said, a lot of the things you mentioned - hairline cracks in the corners, popping sounds - are just things that some houses do. The house we built in 1985 did all that stuff, but it's fine.

The "floor tilting" that you feel when walking, could be a lot of things, the subfloor is warped or delaminated, or some other problem. Foundation settling is not the only possible cause. For that matter, the tilting is not necessarily a serious problem. My current house is old and has various tilts and uneven places in the floors, but they don't mean it's falling down.

Have you looked at the foundation itself? Are there cracks in it?

If there are nasty looking cracks in the foundation, or if your peace of mind is at stake, certainly consider getting a home inspector to examine the particular things that worry you. It's hard to say without seeing it, of course, but my sense from your original post is that you may be worrying about it a little too much.

Reply to
Heathcliff

Oh, should of course note that construction costs will vary widely depending on your area and what contractors you use -- we had bids up to $60,000 for the same job.

Definitely get the names of past customers before picking a contractor, and check their complaints history, bond payouts, etc.

Reply to
Joshua Putnam

Oh - my foundation job is done already. Went well. Possibly might have been cheaper, but this was the contractor whom I could trust. Mostly, I'm just curious.

Banty

Reply to
Banty

yes, there are 2-3 cracks near a vent window of the foundation wall. About 1/8 inch wide.

Reply to
Kim

May or may not mean anything.

Rather than worrying, hire an engineer to look at these issues.

Banty

Reply to
Banty

I have personal experience w/a house w/foundation failure, so will add another voice to those saying "get an engineer." And, get a GOOD one. Either you'll find out what you need to know, (possibly for your own safety), or you'll be able to put your mind at ease. In my area such an inspection costs about three to four hundred bucks. More if they have to do any testing. Though it's not guaranteed, a good engineer can often spot signs that someone did an inadequate repair or concealed a defect altogether.

This may or may not be anyone's fault. But if there is a problem it doesn't say much about the builder if his houses only last 12 yrs. The history of ownership and of any court records or complaints filed w/re to that property or the builder or owners might be very telling. Do your neighbors know if there were past problems? Depending on how small a community you're in, a house that's had problems can be known by quite a few people, like real estate agents, repair companies, etc.

Good luck...i hope it turns out to be nothing, but IMO it's worth a few hundred to have some peace of mind.

Reply to
frippletoot

"Figure out" or PROVE (to an extent useable in a legal action)?

Can you find a previous engineer or inspector who gave him a report indicating there was a problem? (And who will TELL YOU or ADMIT TO YOU that they did?)

Actually, do you even KNOW there is a problem? Before you start trying to "figure out" if the previous owner knew there was a problem, maybe YOU better ACTUALLY FIND OUT if there is one. (It would be pretty hard for the previous guy to know about something that is all in YOUR imagination.)

Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

Reply to
v

You can always call the Real Estate commission for advice. I am going to assume that there were no structural problems indicated on the Residential Property Disclosure form when you bought the house and that there were no problems found when you had the house inspected before purchase. If you or your home inspector didn't catch it the first time chances are that the problem was hidden and that the seller didn't know about it. Agents and the seller are obligated to inform purchasers of all material facts related to the purchase of property.

Reply to
redhatnooblet

Home inspectors really work for the realty agent and not for you the buyer.

Reply to
homeowner

Bullshit.

They work for whoever hired them. If you let the agent hire the inspector, you're a fool.

Click here every day to feed an animal that needs you today !!!

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Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me 'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.' 'With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine.' HVAC/R program for Palm PDA's Free demo now available online
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Reply to
..p.jm

You're very naive if you believe that.

Reply to
homeowner

You're an idiot if you don't understand it.

If you're smart enough to go HIRE YOUR OWN INSPECTOR - AND PAY THEM - , then THEY WORK FOR YOU, THEY REPORT TO YOU, period.

If you're dumb enough to simply accept 'the inspection that comes bundled with the deal' from your agent, then you get what you get - THEIR INSPECTOR.

Click here every day to feed an animal that needs you today !!!

formatting link
Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me 'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.' 'With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine.' HVAC/R program for Palm PDA's Free demo now available online
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Reply to
..p.jm

::sigh:::

This from large-hole/small-sink.

It's simple.

If YOU YOU YOU hire an inspector they'll report to YOU YOU YOU.

What are you suggesting, they the inspector will, um, make a lot of calls, seek out the seller's agent, call the seller's agent, and find out what they want them to say to the person who hired them??

Newsflash: The Whole World *isn't* really Out To Get You.

Truly!

Banty

Reply to
Banty

You're very naive.

Reply to
homeowner

Haha! I'm sure that's what my problem is with getting a straight cut. Well - even if it's not I'm gonna use it as an excuse

-- wallybbo

Reply to
wallybbo

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