I want to buy a house and need a structual engineer

EL XJ

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Location
Charlotte NC
that doesn't look too bad.

A structural engineer won't help...

You need someone that does foundation repair. There are tools that you can set at multiple points inside the building and tell you how far out of level each room or part of a room is. A specialist that deals in this work (if they are good) will have this equipment.

Get a good foundation guy to take a look at it. Its not nearly as bad looking as I've seen before.
 
Im no SE but that pipe should be coming through the wall and siding only well above the brick line.

Given soil condition around here I wouldd say you are dealing with regular old fashioned soil settle.
 
the issue looks like the corner of the building is peeling away from the house or just slightly sagging. The foundation may be erroded. I wouldn't attribute it to the hose bib but more to the down spout. However, I'm just guessing based on the pictures.

It appears to be a home from the late 70s maybe early 80s. This type of settle is typical and may not be an issue. Some of these homes use brick as a sheething rather than a structural member. Look under the house and see if there is a CMU pier at the corners. If there is, then the brick is just for looks and usually has a poor foundation and will sag and crack in older homes.
 
rockcity said:
the issue looks like the corner of the building is peeling away from the house or just slightly sagging. The foundation may be erroded. I wouldn't attribute it to the hose bib but more to the down spout. However, I'm just guessing based on the pictures.
It appears to be a home from the late 70s maybe early 80s. This type of settle is typical and may not be an issue. Some of these homes use brick as a sheething rather than a structural member. Look under the house and see if there is a CMU pier at the corners. If there is, then the brick is just for looks and usually has a poor foundation and will sag and crack in older homes.
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yep it was built in 89, that is brick veneer. I was under the gun to put in an offer today, and i might have lost the deal. But if I can get an expert to look at this and tell me its not to costly to fix, than I will try to put in a higher offer.
 
if you lost it; it was not meant to be...dont let yourself be pressured to act rash
 
SkyHiK5 said:
if you lost it; it was not meant to be...dont let yourself be pressured to act rash
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I hear you, but i feel that this house is perfect for me, And I hope that i can find out how bad it is, i can still try to put an offer monday.
 
put in your offer contingent upon a home inspection and no significant costly repair to the foundation (name a $$$ value)

that will def. turn up in a home inspection and an estimate for repairs will be sought by the owner and your realtor. You will then have the option to negotiate the home price and repair price. If you don't like it you can still walk away without fear of loosing your good faith $$$ (usually)
 
The best thing to do is to get into the crawl space and get a good look at the inside.You need to see the bandsill and the floor joists.Check the wood if its rotten and falling apart that will cause your brick to separate like that.If the hose bib is leaking it usually causes that.not to hard to fix or to bad with the wallet.where is the house located.
 
rockcity said:
put in your offer contingent upon a home inspection and no significant costly repair to the foundation (name a $$$ value)
that will def. turn up in a home inspection and an estimate for repairs will be sought by the owner and your realtor. You will then have the option to negotiate the home price and repair price. If you don't like it you can still walk away without fear of loosing your good faith $$$ (usually)
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I got a home inspection report but it says that there is a crack in the foundation that implicates possible foundation issue, and I should have a qualified engineer or contractor do an inspection, 1st whats the sense of getting an inspection if cant tell me, now im sh!t scared to go thru with it.

BTW the house is a foreclouser buy as is


big4x4blazr The best thing to do is to get into the crawl space and get a good look at the inside.You need to see the bandsill and the floor joists.Check the wood if its rotten and falling apart that will cause your brick to separate like that.If the hose bib is leaking it usually causes that.not to hard to fix or to bad with the wallet.where is the house located.
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the house is on a slab no crawl space, its in charlotte on a bit of a hill
 
Its fine. I've seen waaay worse. If this is your only consern. It can be fixed. It will more than likely never make any difference.
 
csudman said:
Its fine. I've seen waaay worse. If this is your only consern. It can be fixed. It will more than likely never make any difference.
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thats what im hoping for, but the banks inspection is what im worried about passing. and hopefully the structure is good enough to last 30+ years
 
if its a foreclosure, expect them to NOT fix anything

if its a slab, you should be fine. get an estimate from a foundation repair contractor. its part of the process and don't let it scare you
 
personally, stay away from slab homes. You don't have a foundation problem, because there is no foundation. you have a poured floor that is thicker on the edges than in the middle (monolithic pour?) you should be able to pull up the carpet/flooring in that corner of the house and see the slab and tell if the slab is cracked or just the brick veneer is bad. Remember, the floors will never rot or sag, but your floor covering options are limited (btw, I am a hardwood man!) and all of your plumbing is either burried in concrete or in the walls.
 
GotWood said:
personally, stay away from slab homes. You don't have a foundation problem, because there is no foundation. you have a poured floor that is thicker on the edges than in the middle (monolithic pour?) you should be able to pull up the carpet/flooring in that corner of the house and see the slab and tell if the slab is cracked or just the brick veneer is bad. Remember, the floors will never rot or sag, but your floor covering options are limited (btw, I am a hardwood man!) and all of your plumbing is either burried in concrete or in the walls.
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its hardwood, and it looked fine. Someone from here said they will tr to help out with a second opinion, plus i will hopefully get an estimate for repair incase there is damage. I really like the house and im willing to do some work on it. I also found out i need a 203k loan, so here goes another hurdle.
 
It's an engineered of some kind, you can't put solids down on a slab. I ain't hating, I just always push hardwood floors. I would suggest them in you next rock crawler!!
 
Im no expert, but are you 100% sure?

One of my rental properties is a slab house and has hardwoods in 90% of it. And they are solids cuz I have sanded and refinished them.

Is there a vapor barrier of some sort that could be at work?

or have I just been lucky to date?

FWIW they were in the house when I bought it.
 
SkyHiK5 said:
Im no expert, but are you 100% sure?
One of my rental properties is a slab house and has hardwoods in 90% of it. And they are solids cuz I have sanded and refinished them.
Is there a vapor barrier of some sort that could be at work?
or have I just been lucky to date?
FWIW they were in the house when I bought it.
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It won't be solid 3/4 hardwood cause there is no way to nail it. There are many good engineered floors that can be sanded (done it a million times). It's really a personal preference I guess. I wouldn't own one, but then again I wouldn't own a yota either!!
 
That's not bad....I'd run it till I could fix it as long as the wood that is sitting on it doesn't look rotten...even if it is, it isn't that bad to fix.
 
No SE here but does stormwater drain "away" from the house... or is that a place where water has the potential to sit?

Having lived in a house on a slab... Never again!

How does that section of wall look inside?

Oh yeah... $203,000 foreclosure.. that better be one huge house or in Myers Park or something... And as for your Home Inspector... I would ask for my money back.. If you want the name of a compitent inspector in Charlotte let me know and i'll get you a name.
 
uncc civilengineer said:
No SE here but does stormwater drain "away" from the house... or is that a place where water has the potential to sit?
Having lived in a house on a slab... Never again!
How does that section of wall look inside?
Oh yeah... $203,000 foreclosure.. that better be one huge house or in Myers Park or something... And as for your Home Inspector... I would ask for my money back.. If you want the name of a compitent inspector in Charlotte let me know and i'll get you a name.
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the house does not cost 203,000. the type of loan is called a 203k.

No sure how water holds in that area, will check tomorrow.

why would you not buy a house on a slab?
whats the average life span of a house on a slab?
 
if they are telling you that you need a 203k loan, i would avoid it. that means that they are expecting you to need somewhere between $5,000-35,000 worth of repair right off the bat.

and i believe you have a deadline to complete these repairs.
 
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