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Foundation Inspection


Dottleshead

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Well, more shi to deal with.  I am screwing myself playing it safe and putting all this shed stuff on hold.  I have a house foundation inspector coming out Friday -- and to be honest, I suspect they're going to find something.  I don't have time to get into it now but I could use some good thoughts. I have enough things to worry about w/o foundation repairs.  The good news is if they don't find anything, I can relax and make other, cheaper repairs.  But the bad news is that if what I suspect is true, then the repairs won't be cheap, and by law, I will be technically required to disclose to any future prospective buyer that there is a foundation problem . Ugh. So assuming there is, I would either need to fix it, try to sell it and omit the details, try to sell it and tell the truth and take a huge loss during price negotiations, or live in it for as long as I can and sell it for peanuts when I'm older. 

I suppose I could also cancel this appointment tomorrow and stick my head in the sand, or I can find out what the deal is now .Just like an early cancer screening, I feel like it's better to know about it now, than it is to wait, not deal with it later where I would , take a much bigger hit later. That's a lot of ifs.

Honestly, I could simply use some good news.

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Are you suspecting the same problem we are having here in CT with contaminated concrete causing foundations to crack apart and crumble?  There is currently an ongoing fight with the government, insurance companies and home owners to mitigate damages approaching 100K per house.

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We had some issues with drywall cracking. Had things inspected and the foundation was OK. However the wood just on top of the foundation was rotted out. Not termites. Had to have the house jacked up and new wood put in. The first company did a shitty job and basically ripped us off of about $20K. The second company did the job right. Settling plus water running into the wood cause the problem. Always make sure that you can see a couple of inches of foundation around the house.

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8 hours ago, Dottie said:

But the bad news is that if what I suspect is true, then the repairs won't be cheap, and by law, I will be technically required to disclose to any future prospective buyer that there is a foundation problem .

Can't you have someone who ISN'T the owner take care of dealing with the inspection and then you can claim no knowledge of the results?  Essentially, if it is an easy fix, they could tell you. If it is an expensive fix, they could keep quiet.

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How long ago did you buy this place?  Was a foundation inspection part of the pre purchase or post purchase process?  If so, what was revealed then.  If you can prove the previous owner knew of the issues you may have some recourse or relief, assuming there is a problem.

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2 years ago we bought this place. The floors squeaked then but I chalked it up to it being an older house. It got worse. Small cracks in the foundation on the back side, chimney cracks, etc. Other stuff that has me concerned including bad drainage that's feeding under the garage that doesn't have an inexpensive fix. We heard from 2 different neighbors that the previous owners just walked away from the house because of a split foundation. Others said there was mold in the house as water flooded the basement. I'm not concerned about the latter so much as long as we keep it dry. And you never know about neighbors. Other things though. I hope I am wrong. 

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5 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Are you suspecting the same problem we are having here in CT with contaminated concrete causing foundations to crack apart and crumble?  There is currently an ongoing fight with the government, insurance companies and home owners to mitigate damages approaching 100K per house.

That sounds like a nightmare. Good luck.

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2 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

There are hundreds of families in CT who can't sell their houses and can't afford to fix them.  Everyone is waiting for a government bailout that isn't going to happen.

The builder or concrete firm went out of business?  Insurance denies coverage?  Home inspectors and the county inspectors are unaccountable?

Yep - TOTAL NIGHTMARE.  I'm sure lots of folks lined their pockets and squirm free of any responsibility.

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2 minutes ago, smudge said:

Hopefully Dottie's foundation repair goes as well as mine...

Lift one back corner of the shed...

3107.jpg.8fed7e837cc8ed3aed9ffec5de675a47.jpg

Top off the edges with more gravel. Lower, then do the other side.

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Batta boom, batta bing.  Level floor.

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Fingers crossed for ya, Dottie!

He would need a Cat 336 in order to lift a corner of his platform

CM20180307-39554-01582?$cc-g$

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Just now, Longjohn said:

You could refinance for another thirty years and get the payments lowered.

In the end, it really doesn't matter does it?  Whether I owe $10000000 or I give $10000000 -- I'm dead.  And with no kids to pass on any debt -- errrr --- I mean fortunes to -- it's all about living in comfort until then. Amiright??

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18 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

Maybe................................ Maybe not.

Dead is dead and I'm not too worried about debt collectors. And as we just found out -- it turns out having no money to receive long term Medicaid benefits actually works in your favor if you are broke or in debt.

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40 minutes ago, 2Far said:

The house in MS backed right up to a hill. The builder was inept.

I ended up burying 4" corrugated black pipe along the foundation & routed the downspouts directly into the pipe. Worked like a charm.

first house had a natural spring in the back yard. Put in some flex pipe to drain the yard routed to hard pipe to the curb.Also a sump pump on the corner of the house. Also routed to the curb. Worked like a charm

Cost about $200-300  with the pump & concrete enclosure. A bit of digging

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42 minutes ago, 2Far said:

The house in MS backed right up to a hill. The builder was inept.

I ended up burying 4" corrugated black pipe along the foundation & routed the downspouts directly into the pipe. Worked like a charm.

Yeah, I would have to do something similar -- drop a pipe below the surface and go under the sidewalk and into the yard but another 30 yards to get it out of the lawn and past the shed platform.  Lot's of work and I'm not sure I'm paying for that.

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59 minutes ago, Dottie said:

Phew!  Good news indeed.  The guy echoed the same thing Thaddeus recommended sometime back as the only thing that needs to be improved.  This house has such poor water drainage that it has become problematic in a couple sides of the house.  I'll probably spend about $2K on a new water/trench system and about $50 at Home Depot to get the water even further away from the foundation.  But I knew about the trench and appreciate the feedback on the gutter extensions -- even if it's going to look ugly as hell in the back.  I don't care.

 

REALLY HAPPY there were no surprises.  Now I can sleep well at night.  Also, super glad my intuition in this case was wrong.

 

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7 minutes ago, Dottie said:

it turns out having no money to receive long term Medicaid benefits actually works in your favor if you are broke or in debt.

That's just a bit short-sighted unless you expect our wife to proceed you in death and then you live off the state.  It gets tough if you expect to live off the state and she expects to not eat dog food while you wither away in a substandard care facility.

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7 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

That's just a bit short-sighted unless you expect our wife to proceed you in death and then you live off the state.  It gets tough if you expect to live off the state and she expects to not eat dog food while you wither away in a substandard care facility.

I did not know you two  were in some sort of joint marriage and shared a wife.  That poor woman has my deepest sympathies.   I would not blame her for wanting to proceed you in death though.

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12 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

That's just a bit short-sighted unless you expect our wife to proceed you in death and then you live off the state.  It gets tough if you expect to live off the state and she expects to not eat dog food while you wither away in a substandard care facility.

There is a plan.  I'd like to think though that I'd be the one adjusting to eating the dog food.  You're mean Kazie.

Anyway, you need about $6K a month to live in an adult family home here -- and the ability to privately pay for 2 years -- so about $140K before Medicaid kicks in. ADF aren't bad.  In fact, I wish my father sees the light sooner than later. Going home and paying for outsourced care can be expensive and when the funds are all gone -- you go to a substandard care facility.

All things considering, ADFs are gold mines considering a substandard care facility... which is basically a hospital bed. At least that's how it works in this state.  We seem to encourage ADFs.  But each state is different.

So if you live in the state of WA, then you need about $150K per person to get into a private ADF. Obviously having more is going to sweeten the experience.

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1 hour ago, Further said:

Yes. I used to rent one for 40.00 for 4 hrs. The rental place knew me well.

That thing could dig more ditch in 3 hours than I could in 2 days.

I may actually go with that option Further.  Probably not this summer but might be a project for next year.  Thanks for the recommendation.

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2 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

Seems like anymore, one can rent most anything, except peace of mind.:whistle:

Peace of mind is such a rare thing that I struggle to reply.

I was going to make a joke about beer being my peace of mind, and that beer ain't a purchase, it's a rental.

Instead I'll post a song

 

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11 hours ago, Dottie said:

Holy crap!  Thank you 2Far!  I appreciate the link.  I probably should have thought about a machine doing the work but ones digging trenches did not cross my mind.

Pro tip. Call Locate services (811?) before you dig. Don't ask me how I know this. And this was before Fiber and other 'spensive stuff

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