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Fort Lauderdale area Broward County
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Old 09-05-2009, 05:00 AM
 
2 posts, read 6,788 times
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I am looking to buy a lovely house for 80K, fairly close to the beach. The trouble is it is a wood frame house built in 1953. There are no termites or cracks anywhere, no issues except the fact that the roof is warping a bit.

The inspector said this could indicate a stractural damage.

The engineer said there is a material called decker (I don't know if this is the proper spelling) used under the plywood on the roof and it is causing unnecessary weight to pull the wooden beams down. It is interesting however, that the east and west gable beams and the beam in the middle are fine - only the middle beams are warped as if they were not there.

The roofer said it could all be repaird and gave me a quote of 12K for shingle roof.

Does anyone know how serious is the roof problem?
Can the walls of a wood frame house be replaced with solid, brick walls?
I don't know anything about construction and I would appreciate all coments. Thanks you!
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Old 09-05-2009, 07:58 AM
 
Location: Broward County
2,517 posts, read 11,054,754 times
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joann..do yourself a favor and do not get emotionally attached to the house. I would stay away from wood frame if I were you....especially if your living near the beach. I almost bought a wood frame home last year and am glad I did not.

good luck
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Old 09-05-2009, 11:22 AM
 
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Joanne, I've lived in wood frame houses and they were no worse for wear after hurricanes (altho I did evacuate and carry good insurance). If this one has been there since 1953, it was probably well-built enough. How old is the current roof? Also shingle?
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Old 09-06-2009, 12:38 PM
 
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I've got a wood frame 3 miles from the beach. Made of Dade County Pine from the early 40s this puppy is solid. Excellent Florida house, raised off the ground by about 2-3 ft so is very easy to cool off in summer. A/C bills average just $100/year for about 1300 sq ft.

I'm not an engineer but I recently redid a different wood house from the 1950s with warped floor joists (for some odd reasone the previous owner lifted them up too high in the middle). Likely you will not be able to undo the warp but you could correct the rafter with a new one, put on new sheathing, final roofing material and you're good to go. As to adding the brick work, forget about that.
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Old 09-06-2009, 03:32 PM
 
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I ditto what housingcrashsurvivor just said, if you love the house, Id try to work with it...it's tough to find a house to love for only $80K down here.
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