Buying a Home in shreveport with foundation problems. (rental, neighborhood)

[Lesliecc]

Hello everyone, i recently found the perfect house in a nice neighborhood, I am under contract and about 1 week aways from closing. The house did have a few noted issues after inspection. Heater needs to be replaced and Hvac may need servicing, however the main deal breaker is the foundation problem. The inspector advised that it is a common issue but it does need attention. Its 1500 Square ft,on a slab, externally on both sides of the house there are separations in the seems (even joining of the brick in the center on the sides) about 2 inches wide - no cracks in the brick itself, internally there are 2 cracks on the wall close to the ceiling about 12 inches long and less than a 1/4 of an inch wide. I've had one estimate don't for about 6k, which does not promise to fix the issue but to stabilize. My questions are, how likely are foundation issues to get worse after a stabilization has been done? How likely is it for additionally damage to be caused by the attempt to fix the existing one ? Eg more cracks, window damage etc and finally, How difficult would it be to sell a property that has had foundation work/repair/stabilization which most likely will also include a warranty on the work? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[urbanexplorer2009]

Originally Posted by Lesliecc

Hello everyone, i recently found the perfect house in a nice neighborhood, I am under contract and about 1 week aways from closing. The house did have a few noted issues after inspection. Heater needs to be replaced and Hvac may need servicing, however the main deal breaker is the foundation problem. The inspector advised that it is a common issue but it does need attention. Its 1500 Square ft,on a slab, externally on both sides of the house there are separations in the seems (even joining of the brick in the center on the sides) about 2 inches wide - no cracks in the brick itself, internally there are 2 cracks on the wall close to the ceiling about 12 inches long and less than a 1/4 of an inch wide. I've had one estimate don't for about 6k, which does not promise to fix the issue but to stabilize. My questions are, how likely are foundation issues to get worse after a stabilization has been done? How likely is it for additionally damage to be caused by the attempt to fix the existing one ? Eg more cracks, window damage etc and finally, How difficult would it be to sell a property that has had foundation work/repair/stabilization which most likely will also include a warranty on the work? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Oh goodness, I know it's probably a long shot, but please tell me this house isn't located in Northgate Estates next to Barksdale Air Force Base...

[BetaBeta]

Originally Posted by Lesliecc

Hello everyone, i recently found the perfect house in a nice neighborhood, I am under contract and about 1 week aways from closing. The house did have a few noted issues after inspection. Heater needs to be replaced and Hvac may need servicing, however the main deal breaker is the foundation problem. The inspector advised that it is a common issue but it does need attention. Its 1500 Square ft,on a slab, externally on both sides of the house there are separations in the seems (even joining of the brick in the center on the sides) about 2 inches wide - no cracks in the brick itself, internally there are 2 cracks on the wall close to the ceiling about 12 inches long and less than a 1/4 of an inch wide. I've had one estimate don't for about 6k, which does not promise to fix the issue but to stabilize. My questions are, how likely are foundation issues to get worse after a stabilization has been done? How likely is it for additionally damage to be caused by the attempt to fix the existing one ? Eg more cracks, window damage etc and finally, How difficult would it be to sell a property that has had foundation work/repair/stabilization which most likely will also include a warranty on the work? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Do you feel comfortable throwing a couple of thousand at it every five years or so? I purchased a house like that once and that is what life was like in it. Of course when they jack the house to fix the foundation you can (not always) run into pipe or sewer leaks also... it was a friggin headache. I used to call it the crack house because every few months a new crack would appear somewhere.

Good Luck with yours, I hope you won't have the same issue... oh and I hope piers (the metal rods the put under the foundation) are cheaper up there than they are down here. Last I checked a well know company was doing almost $900 a pier! At least when I had my crack house they were only $425 a pier. My heart goes out to anyone with foundation problems, addressed quickly they are okay, but if the previous owner let it go for years you could be in for a nightmare.

BTW, you want to make sure those exterior cracks aren't by the laundry, kitchen or bathroom as it could mean a water DRAIN leak from one of the pipes in the foundation. A home inspector can not tell you this as the only way to test it is to put a camerascope through the sewer cleanouts.

As a female, I know way more than I ever wanted to know about houses with bad foundations. When I moved her in 2006 I told my agent anything but a house with foundation problems. I even taught her how to look for the telltale signs. A few places she didn't believe me on so she had them checked out on her own and sure enough they had foundation problems. I told her when you have had to live with it for awhile you can spot it a mile away.

To answer some of your questions:
1)how likely are foundation issues to get worse after a stabilization has been done?

see what I wrote above

2)How likely is it for additionally damage to be caused by the attempt to fix the existing one ? Eg more cracks, window damage etc

It can happen, the foundation company will not guarantee that it won't . Window damage isn't as likely but what can happen is the stuff I described above about pipes etc. and putting stress on the unfixed part of the foundation and in a couple of years it starts to give you problems. I was told by an engineer the only way to avoid that is to reinforce all the way around which is way too costly... at least for me.

3)and finally, How difficult would it be to sell a property that has had foundation work/repair/stabilization which most likely will also include a warranty on the work?

Well you need to disclose it however when I was looking for houses in 2006/2007 I found numerous sellers that didn't until my agent asked or in one or two cases threatend to bring out a foundation company... then they fessed up. Having said that, I sold a house with foundation problems with no problem BUT it was to a friend who knew how badly I needed to get out of the crack house. He uses it as a rental property. He had all the piers fixed... guess what, I went by there a few months ago and the outside cracks were back again! There will always be the person that loves the location and layout of the house and will buy it anyway. There was one I passed on here that I fell in love with but couldn't go through that nightmare again. Someone else bought it about 4 weeks after I passed on it. So if its a nice house somebody will buy it.

[hank0604]

I hate to break it to you, but a LOT of homes in SB (as well as the rest of north LA) have foundation problems. The cause is essentially the same reason the roads fall apart so easily. There is very little natural topsoil; just 1 foot or so, then many, many feet of red clay, which holds water and causes settling.

Go to any neighborhood in an area where there are a lot of pine trees, and I'll bet you that of 10 houses you check, 6 will have cracks in the brick.

[BetaBeta]

Originally Posted by hank0604

I hate to break it to you, but a LOT of homes in SB (as well as the rest of north LA) have foundation problems. The cause is essentially the same reason the roads fall apart so easily. There is very little natural topsoil; just 1 foot or so, then many, many feet of red clay, which holds water and causes settling.

Go to any neighborhood in an area where there are a lot of pine trees, and I'll bet you that of 10 houses you check, 6 will have cracks in the brick.

I agree, which is why I searched so hard for one that hadn't started down the slippery slope this go round. This way when it does start to happen I can address it immediately. As I stated the longer you let it go the worst it will be in the long run, catch it on the front end (with the help of a structural engineer) you can save yourself a lot of future heartache and grief. THe home I ended up buying this time is on a street where I didn't see any exterior cracks on any of the homes (yes I walked around them and checked, LOL!!!) So I'm hoping I will get lucky and not have to face it at all. My mom's house is near by, she's been there since 1982 with no problem so we will see. Sticky doors, small cracking is one thing but having separation so large unti lyou can put your hand through or a squirrel can get between the walls from outside is something else.

[BetaBeta]

Forgot to mention this time I'm in South Louisiana so hopefully that will help too.