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We recently purchased a house - closing next week. Home inspection only detected minor items. The structural problem is a crack in the basement which he suggests to monitor it.
The house is 6 years old (brick front and vinyl on the side) (basement, main floor, and second floor). My husband keeps on feeling uneven floors on the second floor when he walks on them. Since the second floor is carpeted. We do not know how to check if the floor is really tilted or not. Can someone help us in ways to test if the floor is tilted or not? How series it might be?
The inspector said that he does not see any signs of settlement on the outside of the house. He said that if we are worried, we should ask for an engineer. Do we need to hire an engineer?
Are you sure it's not just uneven carpeting? It's easy to check with a simple levelor and laying it on the floor. Plus it does not sound like it's the whole structure since it's apparently only detected on the second floor.
We recently purchased a house - closing next week. Home inspection only detected minor items. The structural problem is a crack in the basement which he suggests to monitor it.
The house is 6 years old (brick front and vinyl on the side) (basement, main floor, and second floor). My husband keeps on feeling uneven floors on the second floor when he walks on them. Since the second floor is carpeted. We do not know how to check if the floor is really tilted or not. Can someone help us in ways to test if the floor is tilted or not? How series it might be?
The inspector said that he does not see any signs of settlement on the outside of the house. He said that if we are worried, we should ask for an engineer. Do we need to hire an engineer?
Thanks.
Sonya
The Home Inspector told you to monitor a crack. Wow he is a professional.........hack. We have a resident Home Inspector who is a regular on here named Barking Spider. Lets see what he says.
If there is an uneven floor, that means something settled. If something settled evidence would not just show up on a floor. You would see evidence over each interior door and window opening first. On each interior door and window, look above on each side of them. Are there cracks? A Home Inspector should be trained to look at this as part of any home inspection so I have to assume he did and saw nothing.
Chances are your husbands equilibrium is playing tricks on him and there is nothing wrong at all.
If you feel that strongly about it then tear up the rug and buy a cheap but not Chinese made cheap 4' level. Lay that level on the floor and position it everywhere in every position. You might not even need to look at the bubble. You want to look for bumps and humps that make the level rock. These bumps and humps will not be isolated ones areas. They will be
continuous in long lengths. This will tell you if you have any serious settling before you spend a thousand dollars on an Engineer.
Chances are if the house was truly unlevel from settlement, you would not be able to perceive that by merely walking on it. Given the age of this home (fairly new), what your husband is likely feeling is some swelling in joints of the combined floor sheathing/subfloor. A little bit of this swelling is not terribly uncommon and not really a concern (it is ususally the result of the sheathing/subfloor geting wet during construction.
The Home Inspector told you to monitor a crack. Wow he is a professional.........hack.
..This will tell you if you have any serious settling before you spend a thousand dollars on an Engineer.
BTW, it's likely that a professional engineer will say the same thing in his assessment. Monitor, etc. I've seen plenty of engineers reports following up on an inspector's recommendation. They can be just as vague as any inspector.
The Home Inspector told you to monitor a crack. Wow he is a professional.........hack.
There's nothing wrong with that statement. For liability reasons, they cannot write down anything else.
Narfcake- An inspector can write anything he wants if he feels confident in his assessment.
The inspector said that he does not see any signs of settlement on the outside of the house.
Well, you're not going to see the settlement on the exterior of the house(He's already identified the foundation crack). The support columns in the basement will settle, girders and joists deflect. Most likely, that's where the movement has occured.
Finding level can be done a few ways. The first (and more tedious) is to set up a transit and take measurements. The second is a simple device called a water level. Buy a flexible clear plastic tube about 1/2" or more in diameter. attach two sticks by taping the last three feet of the tube ends to 5' sticks, so that the tube can make an upright U shape. Place one end of the tube in a fixed central position in the house. Fill the tube with water so that the water comes up to a measured 4' above floor level. Walk around with the other end of the tube and note how high the water comes up at various spots in the house. Anything above or below the measured 4' is the amount that area is off. You'll have to be patient as the water can slosh up and down before it settles to the end height.
We recently purchased a house - closing next week. Home inspection only detected minor items. The structural problem is a crack in the basement which he suggests to monitor it.
The house is 6 years old (brick front and vinyl on the side) (basement, main floor, and second floor). My husband keeps on feeling uneven floors on the second floor when he walks on them. Since the second floor is carpeted. We do not know how to check if the floor is really tilted or not. Can someone help us in ways to test if the floor is tilted or not? How series it might be?
The inspector said that he does not see any signs of settlement on the outside of the house. He said that if we are worried, we should ask for an engineer. Do we need to hire an engineer?
Thanks.
Sonya
Did you contact the inspector about the feel of the floor being tilted and ask questions about that specific concern?
I second or third getting a level and seeing for yourself if the floor is level.
I live in a rented one story house with horrible wavy floors but it's had numerous additions so nothing is quite right. I did own a house (smaller one story) with a foundation (basement) in need or serious repair that felt perfectly even walking through it. I also recently sold another house that will need a full foundation redo but the first floor felt pretty even until you got up to the second floor and then it felt a little off. These were 80 to 100 + year old houses though.
Even if you don't get an engineer out there, what about a reputable foundation guy to come out and let you know his expert opinion on the foundation because it does have the crack.
Ok ok so everyone attacked me for saying the Home Inspector is a hack job. So if all of you pay good money for advice do you want vague answers or difinitive answers? If I was ever in an inferior position of knowledge which the only time I can think of is if I am in a doctors office, I want to know exactly the problem. Not a vague answer so the doctor can protect his azz in case he guesses wrong.
What good is a Home Inspectors advice if they can not be honest by providing vague answers? If liability is of such a concern then redesign the contract. Such as: "The following is this professionals honest opinion of visable defects. If ever further investigation finds any new problems or diagnoses of old defects missed by me, I shall NOT be held liable". I would rather pay that man then the one who is vague in his answers just to protect himself.
If I was ever in an inferior position of knowledge which the only time I can think of is if I am in a doctors office, I want to know exactly the problem. Not a vague answer so the doctor can protect his azz in case he guesses wrong.
Did you ever go to a doctor and they told you that they think they know what the problem is but you have to see a specialist for more testing and to find a definitive answer?
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