How to find out if House is “safe”

[LittleStarfish]

Hello all, This is my first post here. My husband and I are looking to jumpp in to the market after returning to the area after several years overseas (military family)

Recently, we were show a home about 11-12 years old in a nice area. The bank has agreed to what seems a fair price given the size, neighborhood, and condition of the home.

We noticed something on the walk-thru that concerns me. At one point there appears to have been a downstairs bedroom that the home owner removed (taking out at least two walls) to expand the main living/family room. We guess this is the case because of the size of the room, bean running across ceiling, walk-in closet off the living room, and the fact that the restroom on the first floor is a full bath vs. a powder room.

I’m very leery because the homeowner did several other “projects’ and did a very poor slip-shod job on them. None of these other projects are structural in nature but include a very crooked self install of a french doors, a small half wall, slapdash painting job of rooms, poor job/materials used to install lighting under kitchen counters, etc…

I’m really worried that they did the teraing out of the two walls themselves and these may possibiliy be loadbearing walls???? Clearly this would be a deal breaker for us, is there a way to find this information out prior to paying the $250-300 for the home inspection?

TIA
LittleStarfish

[peterb]

County records should have the house lay-out and foot print available. I think you can even call them to ask about it.

[peterb]

County records should have the house lay-out and foot print available. I think you can even call them to ask about it.

[peterb]

County records should have the house lay-out and foot print available. I think you can even call them to ask about it.

[peterb]

County records should have the house lay-out and foot print available. I think you can even call them to ask about it.

[peterb]

County records should have the house lay-out and foot print available. I think you can even call them to ask about it.

[sdduuuude]

If you have friend who is an architect, they may be able to help.

[sdduuuude]

If you have friend who is an architect, they may be able to help.

[sdduuuude]

If you have friend who is an architect, they may be able to help.

[sdduuuude]

If you have friend who is an architect, they may be able to help.

[sdduuuude]

If you have friend who is an architect, they may be able to help.

[NotCranky]

The beam is there for the load bearing purposes andmight be enough.The wall below that may have been superficial or not.The beam should definately be continuous. A standard wood beam should be approximately 1″ per foot of length of the opening.If it is a beam of some kind of engineered lumber product it could be a little less. You could take some drywall off and look at the material to find out what it is and then check span tables accordingly.It definately matters what is on top of the beam, structurally speaking. If you have somebody look at it that should be taken into consideration.

Even if the beam is of appropriate type and size,
there is a possibilty that previous owners removed a sheer wall below the beam . It is a little harder to determine if one should be there or not. You probably know, sheer walls resist racking in an earthquake. A good contractor or structual engineer could try to determine this for you.It might require taking some drywall and flooring out, if good prints can’t be found. Maybe you could get repair suggestions in writing and negotiate a credit to resolve the problems.

There are other possibilities involved, of course, so just take this as food for thought.Check permit history ,maybe, but not likely, permits were pulled for the modifications. Be careful even if you find permits because people are known to play tricks on inspectors. They will do a lot of the work before or after the inspectors involvement.Do a complete forensic study.

[NotCranky]

The beam is there for the load bearing purposes andmight be enough.The wall below that may have been superficial or not.The beam should definately be continuous. A standard wood beam should be approximately 1″ per foot of length of the opening.If it is a beam of some kind of engineered lumber product it could be a little less. You could take some drywall off and look at the material to find out what it is and then check span tables accordingly.It definately matters what is on top of the beam, structurally speaking. If you have somebody look at it that should be taken into consideration.

Even if the beam is of appropriate type and size,
there is a possibilty that previous owners removed a sheer wall below the beam . It is a little harder to determine if one should be there or not. You probably know, sheer walls resist racking in an earthquake. A good contractor or structual engineer could try to determine this for you.It might require taking some drywall and flooring out, if good prints can’t be found. Maybe you could get repair suggestions in writing and negotiate a credit to resolve the problems.

There are other possibilities involved, of course, so just take this as food for thought.Check permit history ,maybe, but not likely, permits were pulled for the modifications. Be careful even if you find permits because people are known to play tricks on inspectors. They will do a lot of the work before or after the inspectors involvement.Do a complete forensic study.

[NotCranky]

The beam is there for the load bearing purposes andmight be enough.The wall below that may have been superficial or not.The beam should definately be continuous. A standard wood beam should be approximately 1″ per foot of length of the opening.If it is a beam of some kind of engineered lumber product it could be a little less. You could take some drywall off and look at the material to find out what it is and then check span tables accordingly.It definately matters what is on top of the beam, structurally speaking. If you have somebody look at it that should be taken into consideration.

Even if the beam is of appropriate type and size,
there is a possibilty that previous owners removed a sheer wall below the beam . It is a little harder to determine if one should be there or not. You probably know, sheer walls resist racking in an earthquake. A good contractor or structual engineer could try to determine this for you.It might require taking some drywall and flooring out, if good prints can’t be found. Maybe you could get repair suggestions in writing and negotiate a credit to resolve the problems.

There are other possibilities involved, of course, so just take this as food for thought.Check permit history ,maybe, but not likely, permits were pulled for the modifications. Be careful even if you find permits because people are known to play tricks on inspectors. They will do a lot of the work before or after the inspectors involvement.Do a complete forensic study.

[NotCranky]

The beam is there for the load bearing purposes andmight be enough.The wall below that may have been superficial or not.The beam should definately be continuous. A standard wood beam should be approximately 1″ per foot of length of the opening.If it is a beam of some kind of engineered lumber product it could be a little less. You could take some drywall off and look at the material to find out what it is and then check span tables accordingly.It definately matters what is on top of the beam, structurally speaking. If you have somebody look at it that should be taken into consideration.

Even if the beam is of appropriate type and size,
there is a possibilty that previous owners removed a sheer wall below the beam . It is a little harder to determine if one should be there or not. You probably know, sheer walls resist racking in an earthquake. A good contractor or structual engineer could try to determine this for you.It might require taking some drywall and flooring out, if good prints can’t be found. Maybe you could get repair suggestions in writing and negotiate a credit to resolve the problems.

There are other possibilities involved, of course, so just take this as food for thought.Check permit history ,maybe, but not likely, permits were pulled for the modifications. Be careful even if you find permits because people are known to play tricks on inspectors. They will do a lot of the work before or after the inspectors involvement.Do a complete forensic study.

[Author]

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