The bear got shot

[SD Realtor]

I was being to kind to Christine. Chris you are correct, looking back at some notes I had she did not inform the sellers we were coming over when we did the physical inspection, both Chris, his wife and I got to witness the sellers husband and wife having a tiff right in front of us. I guess they were estranged and having them both in the same room at the same time was not a good idea. We were all at the home doing the inspection and the husband was there… The wife (or I guess ex-wife) came in asking what the heck we were all doing there. I had scheduled the inspection DIRECTLY with Christine and apparently Christine forgot to tell the wife so she blew in like a hurricane. Also there were a few things that I had to repeatedly ask here to remove from the property , which in all good times did get removed but I had to ask repeatedly.

Thanks for the correction Chris! I had forgot about all of that runaround.

Oh yeah, I also saw in my notes that the sellers disclosures were also not filled out 100% accurately. We had to send them back for a revision.

SD Realtor

[ibjames]

can someone elaborate on cracked slabs? I too would like to know why it is so bad. Is it because if the slab is cracked that means it could move more?

[ibjames]

can someone elaborate on cracked slabs? I too would like to know why it is so bad. Is it because if the slab is cracked that means it could move more?

[El Jefe]

A cracked slab in itself is not that bad and can be repaired, but the reason it cracked could mean a lot of headaches.

Most cracked slabs are the result of poor soil compaction when the big developers push the hilltops into the valleys to make it easier to grade their lots. This is bad as there is not much that can be done, and the soil will continue to compact for many years if the original compaction was really bad. This is mostly confined to the early mass developslums of the 80’s & 90’s… think early carmel valley/carlsbad/lacosta.

Other reasons could be expansive soil, under slab erosion(busted pipe), creeping hillsides, not enough steel in the slab, and many others… all with different solutions of varying effectiveness.

In the end it’s buyer beware.

[El Jefe]

A cracked slab in itself is not that bad and can be repaired, but the reason it cracked could mean a lot of headaches.

Most cracked slabs are the result of poor soil compaction when the big developers push the hilltops into the valleys to make it easier to grade their lots. This is bad as there is not much that can be done, and the soil will continue to compact for many years if the original compaction was really bad. This is mostly confined to the early mass developslums of the 80’s & 90’s… think early carmel valley/carlsbad/lacosta.

Other reasons could be expansive soil, under slab erosion(busted pipe), creeping hillsides, not enough steel in the slab, and many others… all with different solutions of varying effectiveness.

In the end it’s buyer beware.

[rube]

I am a general contractor. ALL concrete cracks, it is a matter of how large the cracks(side to side movement) are and whether there is deflection(up/down movement) or not. generally cracks smaller than 1/8″ are normal. Larger cracks or areas showing deflection can indicate potentially very costly repairs.

Most of the time the cause movement due to poor soil preparation(not enough compaction or not accounting for expansive soil) prior to slab placement, but it could also be an insufficient slab design for the structure(worst case), or heaving due to tree root intrusion.

I have done slab repairs – they aren’t for the do it yourselfer. If you are looking at a property with cracks in the foundation you should hire an engineer to get a look at the slab/soil.

[rube]

I am a general contractor. ALL concrete cracks, it is a matter of how large the cracks(side to side movement) are and whether there is deflection(up/down movement) or not. generally cracks smaller than 1/8″ are normal. Larger cracks or areas showing deflection can indicate potentially very costly repairs.

Most of the time the cause movement due to poor soil preparation(not enough compaction or not accounting for expansive soil) prior to slab placement, but it could also be an insufficient slab design for the structure(worst case), or heaving due to tree root intrusion.

I have done slab repairs – they aren’t for the do it yourselfer. If you are looking at a property with cracks in the foundation you should hire an engineer to get a look at the slab/soil.

[Author]

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