First time home buyer looking for structual engineering advise (or anyone's two cents will do too) (buying)

[co_enginerd]

Hello,

I'm new to the home buying process and I've been looking for a house for the past month+ and I finally decided to put an offer in on a new home build. I had an inspector come out and take a look at the house a few days ago, and he expressed some concern regarding one of the support beams in the basement. It appears as though it is not properly isolated from the slab since there is no circular fracture in the concrete around the beam, like all the others have. Also, taking a closer look at the beam's attachment to the floor, it also appears as though the support pier (the concrete mass that the beam sits on) is under the slab, or worse there is no support pier. You can deduce this by looking at the picture I've attached. The beam on the right you can see the pier is isolated from the slab because there is a circular fracture. Also, the beam on the right you can see that the slab's contraction joint (the line in the concrete) stops when it approaches the support pier. Except for the beam in question, all other beams show similar characteristics. But, the beam on the left shows none of those characteristics.

The builder, without showing any sign of concern, told me right away they would isolate the beam by cutting a circle in the concrete surrounding the beam. But he didn't have a good answer for why it appeared the pier was under the slab, and he said they won't cut out part of the slab to show me the pier is present. I was just reassured that the house has to be approved by both the engineering company that designed the structure, the builders themselves, and the county who checks that the building is up to code.

I'm a bit conflicted by the whole thing. Being a first time home buyer, I'm new to the process, but hearing that the problem is not such a big deal conflicts with my engineering background (not structural) that tells me something isn't quite right. Anyway, I'm left wondering how to proceed. I'm glad the building is checked by 3 different eyes, but people make mistakes, so however improbable it is I am hesitant to close on the house.

Thoughts?

http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...26-support.jpg

[airventure]

This is WELL beyond my area of expertise...

However, I grew up in a house with a basement that had several beams like this supporting a large two story home. None of the beams where isolated from the basement foundation (the right beam). They were simply bolted to the concrete (the left beam). Those two beams being so close together seems more odd than anything. Personally I wouldn't have a problem with it. Make sure to try to get as much documentation as you can in regards to building sign-offs and checks.

[co_enginerd]

Thanks @airventure. Yeah, I am new to CO as well as being a first time home buyer, so I wasn't even aware the beams were suppose to be isolated -- probably a new-ish building code. I don't have it pictured, but the beams are supporting some metal posts, parallel to each other, but running in opposite directions. You would think it would be one post spanning the length of the building, but its not...

[beezle1]

I went down and looked at my basement (20 year old house). Mine are all isolated from the slab. You could have a structural engineer come and take a look and offer advice.

[otterprods]

Since your new potential home (and all associated cash) is involved, it seems worth the cost to pay an expert to go over and look at it. I'm sure your inspector and refer someone. Make your final decision based on their recommendations, vs what some CDF users think.