Home Foundation Advice

[Hopes]

Common enough but not the majority by any stretch of the imagination. Depends on where the house is built. You have to look for signs of how surface water will flow in a big storm. Even houses in high elevations will flood, but your best bet is to buy a house on higher ground---as in when you look around the property, the neighboring properties, and the immediate neighborhood overall, there isn't anything higher nearby for the surface water to run down through the yard. Take a walk through nearby woods to see if there is a creek. Chances are there is. Try to determine the flow of the creek in relation to the house.

But you couldn't tell from the location of my parent's house. Everything was flat right around it. It being in a valley on a high hill wasn't the problem. The problem was the housing development was built on top of a creek and a pond. There were sewers underground redirecting the creek, but when there was a storm to heavy for the sewer to handle the rain, the creek would resurface through the back yards of all the houses on the neighboring street and literally dump out into my parent's yard because the actual creek that came out of the sewers was behind our neighbor's house. There literally was a huge pond surrounding my childhood home a few times in my life. And we lived in an upscale neighborhood.

Don't buy property anywhere near a creek even a little creek on top of a hill. It's not just creeks though. Sometimes it rains so much that the ground becomes saturated with water and then there is nowhere for the water to go when it rains hard. Water will rush down hillsides, etc. It doesn't happen every year. More like every 10 years and not always in the same areas. You need to be aware that it can happen. Buy flood insurance. It's super cheap when a house isn't in a flood zone, and you'll be glad you did if anything ever happens.

[greg42]

Foundation repair is common enough around here to make Matthews at least at one time and maybe still to claim they were the largest company of their sort in the country. Still, that doesn't make it common in such a way that means 50% or even 25% of homes would have such work done. I think it doesn't take much to create the largest company if you do good work and you're in an area where a lot of houses are built on hills! I wonder if even 10% have repair? Maybe, but it might not be even that high. And it would still be "common" relatively here compared to many other areas.

What actually happens to foundations isn't all the same either. Or, well, maybe the result is often similar (bowing walls, cracks, water, etc.) but the cause can vary. We have some weird soil conditions in some places, hills that are going to create runoff issues, etc.

I saw the other thread too (but saw this one first last night). It's certainly fine to just forget that house. It's all in your comfort level. If there's any inkling of doubt, forget it. You can always find other houses, even if it seems like it's taking forever. There will always be more houses. Better to be patient and find the right one. Me, I didn't feel doubt here when I bought it. Of course, I've also since done drainage work in the yard (not because I was too concerned about the house but because over the years standing water became an issue). But I'm not finding myself particularly concerned about the foundation even now. There are a number of other things I need to do in here now after several years like paint, carpet/floor, etc.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by greg42

Me, I didn't feel doubt here when I bought it. Of course, I've also since done drainage work in the yard (not because I was too concerned about the house but because over the years standing water became an issue). But I'm not finding myself particularly concerned about the foundation even now. There are a number of other things I need to do in here now after several years like paint, carpet/floor, etc.

There's a big difference between your house and what is described in the other thread. That house is a mess. Clearly anchors weren't enough or it wouldn't have all of the other water prevention measures, which indicates the standing water outside is a problem for that foundation. And it's priced 250k below market value too. I have nothing against repaired and/or reinforced foundations. My parents' house never had a problem after the foundation was repaired. And water alone isn't an indication of foundation problems either. I have a little creek going through my basement but the foundation has proven to be solid for 110 years. In my experience, it's new construction you need to worry about the most because the foundations haven't had an opportunity to reveal the degrees of their strengths and weaknesses.