Home with structural defect

[latenightsd]

Would like to get your expert input; a home we’re interested in has a settlement issue, showing cracks on the floor and siding, doors out of square. It’s built late 70’s, and according to the engineer report, it’s likely happened the first few years and the majority of it has taken place. The recommendation is either do nothing and just keep monitoring it, or to be conservative, support with series of grade beams. What do you think, should this be a big concern? How much percentage-wise should the house with this type of problem be discounted?

[sdrealtor]

3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510%

[svelte]

I see you like pi too.

I find myself thinking about pi all the time.

[bsrsharma]

I would suggest get a good professional structural engineer’s advice and act accordingly. Structural issues are too important to be decided subjectively.

(At least that is what I would do, though I do have a Civil engineering degree)

[latenightsd]

Thanks for the reply. You’re right, it could be very problematic, so I decided to stay away.

[zzz]

what type of engineer did the report, a soil engineer? what part of town and how bad are the cracks? is the house on a slope or canyon, and is the house in jeopardy? are certain parts of the house lower than others? if the house is built on expansive soil, and its in an neighborhood that has say clay, its going to be expensive to fix as you have to drill all the way down till you hit the hard stuff. if you hire a GC who doesn’t have experience with drilling far enough down, then you can install some really damn expensive beams, only to have those beams now moving in that clay.

for some homes that experience settlement, not on a canyon, and not in clay, its not necessarily a big deal and you can live in it for 20 years without worrying about it. it might have just been how that site got compacted, if a shoddy job was done, then the house settles more than most. other cases, you will end up with 1 foot cracks along the flooring and your doors don’t close. if its the latter, stay away. if its the former, you might be able to get a really good deal on the house.

you don’t need to start with a structural engineer, you need to find a soil engineer. because it all comes down to what kind of soil is this house built on and that will answer the question on how much more movement there will likely be.

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