- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
0
Posted on 4/29/19 at 2:35 pm to Ross
You have a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering, and you are seriously questioning this? 
Posted on 4/29/19 at 2:39 pm to Ross
Depends where you are to be honest. In Dallas/DFW most houses have foundation issues, some more that others. Those that do not, likley will at some point.
It's the same in New Orleans when houses were flooded, a non issue when almost every house in the area suffered the same fate.
If it's a commonality and it was fixed correctly, I would not be a afraid if it's the perfect home.
It's the same in New Orleans when houses were flooded, a non issue when almost every house in the area suffered the same fate.
If it's a commonality and it was fixed correctly, I would not be a afraid if it's the perfect home.
This post was edited on 4/29/19 at 4:57 pm
Posted on 4/29/19 at 2:42 pm to Breauxsif
quote:
You have a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering, and you are seriously questioning this?
fair dig, but never did boast I had a degree in Civil Engineering
Posted on 4/29/19 at 2:42 pm to Ross
Run...
Posted on 4/29/19 at 2:44 pm to Ross
All comes down to price bro. Don’t let something from the report scare you off immediately. Get the repair report and then reassess.
Just remember don’t get to invested one way or the other. If you feel the price is right then buy. If not walk away.
Just remember don’t get to invested one way or the other. If you feel the price is right then buy. If not walk away.
Posted on 4/29/19 at 2:50 pm to Ross
quote:
fair dig, but never did boast I had a degree in Civil Engineering
Anyone, with any kind of common sense would realize bailing on this house is the only logical solution. Civil engineer or not. You stated you were concerned about the long-term resale value of the property. You think structural damage is simply going to go away
Posted on 4/29/19 at 2:55 pm to Breauxsif
quote:
Anyone, with any kind of common sense would realize bailing on this house is the only logical solution. Civil engineer or not. You stated you were concerned about the long-term resale value of the property. You think structural damage is simply going to go away
Well I was being humorous with the civil engineering comment, thought that was fairly obvious.
quote:
You stated you were concerned about the long-term resale value of the property.
I said if we got this house my fears are all of the obvious fears: fear of not being able to sell a house with structural issues and fear of having to foot a crazy expensive bill in the future.
quote:
You think structural damage is simply going to go away
Obviously not, but that's why I have a structural engineer actually trained in this, for free, coming to give the final word post-inspection on how serious the crack is. And in the event that this person actually gives good news, I'll get a second opinion. If the issue truly is the foundation, I'm walking. Said it several times in this thread. Seller will be paying whatever the cost to repair anything is anyway or we were walking in the first place.
Frankly no need for the snarky attitude. This thread was my curiosity as to if this was as 100% a dealbreaker as I originally thought it was, or if people had different experiences and I was overblowing it. And frankly, I see you are an engineer, but unless you are a Civil or someone with a building science pedigree and can tell me the root cause of the failure mode evident in the photo shown in the OP and what failure mode you'd even call that, your engineering opinion doesn't matter one iota to me.
This post was edited on 4/29/19 at 3:27 pm
Posted on 4/29/19 at 2:55 pm to Ross
Get the recommendation of the structural guy before you start to panic. That photo doesn't necessarily mean trouble. A vertical crack like that could very well be a simple expansion/contraction crack.
Stair step crack would worry me more for differential settlement and horizontal crack would likely mean flexural failure in the wall most likely.
The house may have a problem but no need to run for the hills just yet.
Stair step crack would worry me more for differential settlement and horizontal crack would likely mean flexural failure in the wall most likely.
The house may have a problem but no need to run for the hills just yet.
Posted on 4/29/19 at 3:05 pm to Ross
Concrete cracks, wood bends twists & warps. It is something to check out but I wouldn't be scared of it based on the picture. What does it look like on the other side?
I live in a house that "settled" at some point over 20 years ago. I've lived in it for 18 of them and it hasn't gotten any worse.
I live in a house that "settled" at some point over 20 years ago. I've lived in it for 18 of them and it hasn't gotten any worse.
Posted on 4/29/19 at 3:10 pm to deltaland
quote:
Being only 9 years old and having that issue already tells me it was poorly built
Agreed. The house we bought had an issue a couple of years ago when drain pipe burst, but other than that it didn't have any other issues and it was about 40 years old.
Posted on 4/29/19 at 3:15 pm to Ross
Get them to take a chunk off asking price and if they do I would not let that small crack hold me up.
Posted on 4/29/19 at 3:30 pm to Ross
Yeah, not trying to sound insincere, I am an electrical engineer, not structural. However, as stated by a lot of other's here, bailing would from this would not be a bad option. Trouble may not happen one week, a month, or a year from now, but inevitably a costly problem will arise from this.
Ultimately, you have to make the call to hire a structural engineer, and whether you think it is wise to negotiate these costs into the final selling cost. Be prepared for the seller to tell you to pound sound as a high probability in a sellers market.
Ultimately, you have to make the call to hire a structural engineer, and whether you think it is wise to negotiate these costs into the final selling cost. Be prepared for the seller to tell you to pound sound as a high probability in a sellers market.
Posted on 4/29/19 at 3:39 pm to Breauxsif
quote:
Yeah, not trying to sound insincere, I am an electrical engineer, not structural. However, as stated by a lot of other's here, bailing would from this would not be a bad option. Trouble may not happen one week, a month, or a year from now, but inevitably a costly problem will arise from this.
Ultimately, you have to make the call to hire a structural engineer, and whether you think it is wise to negotiate these costs into the final selling cost. Be prepared for the seller to tell you to pound sound as a high probability in a sellers market.
Yeah, if they tell us to pound sand so be it, we'll have other options. And honestly the chances of the issue being purely cosmetic seem quite low to me, if I had to guess it's a thermal stress issue but I'm way out of my depth on that one. If it's anything other than an extremely minor problem that can be fixed and we can be given something close to a guarantee that it won't be recurring we are walking no matter what. Already got the next line of houses to be looked at Wednesday up and loaded
also as an aside, I currently work in radar modelling/design and hypersonic flow/ missile simulation in a job I just took, so by virtue of the radar part of that I'm the one ME in a sea of EEs
This post was edited on 4/29/19 at 3:41 pm
Posted on 4/29/19 at 3:41 pm to Ross
Has to be fixed at the expense of the current owner before the house can be sold. Certain counties will prevent the sale altogether.
Posted on 4/29/19 at 3:49 pm to Breauxsif
If the crack is determined to be insignificant from a structural standpoint, I'm not sure why bailing would "not be a bad option". And, inevitably a costly problem will arise? Based on what?
I am a structural engineer and I thought we were usually on the conservative side, but the knee jerk reactions to this small crack are surprising to me. OP said he was having an assessment, so he can base his decision on that.
It's been mentioned, but all concrete cracks, this includes concrete masonry, especially if expansion/contraction joints were not placed correctly. In my experience joints are usually not installed in residential walls such as this.
I am a structural engineer and I thought we were usually on the conservative side, but the knee jerk reactions to this small crack are surprising to me. OP said he was having an assessment, so he can base his decision on that.
It's been mentioned, but all concrete cracks, this includes concrete masonry, especially if expansion/contraction joints were not placed correctly. In my experience joints are usually not installed in residential walls such as this.
Posted on 4/29/19 at 3:58 pm to Ross
From one engineer to another, I am pulling for you. I hope it all works out for you in the long-run. If this is your first home buying experience congrats on this journey. It may seem daunting, but covering yourself from getting involved with a catastrophe is performing your due diligence the right way.
I worked on thermal testing, with the integrated air and missile defense systems sector out of Ketport, Wa with Lockheed Martin as my first job out of undergrad. That was fun
I worked on thermal testing, with the integrated air and missile defense systems sector out of Ketport, Wa with Lockheed Martin as my first job out of undergrad. That was fun
Posted on 4/29/19 at 4:06 pm to bamadzl
quote:
I am a structural engineer and I thought we were usually on the conservative side, but the knee jerk reactions to this small crack are surprising to me. OP said he was having an assessment, so he can base his decision on that.
What types of tests/analysis are pretty standard for this type of assessment? Previous poster suggested the footing under the foundation could have shifted causing the vertical crack and that the soil could be the problem. If that can be determined this assessment could help me eliminate the entire neighborhood as an option.
Posted on 4/29/19 at 4:09 pm to bamadzl
quote:
If the crack is determined to be insignificant from a structural standpoint, I'm not sure why bailing would "not be a bad option". And, inevitably a costly problem will arise? Based on what?
I am a structural engineer and I thought we were usually on the conservative side, but the knee jerk reactions to this small crack are surprising to me. OP said he was having an assessment, so he can base his decision on that.
This is basically what I've learned from 2 structural engineers evaluating my property. There was a crack inside over the door... had nothing to do with the foundation - the engineers said (I'm paraphrasing from memory) it's from the weight of the roof/rafter in that area, and a stronger/thicker board should have been used for better support on one side of the door, but not a big problem. The hairlines on one side of my house is where the most temperature variance occurs - coldest to hottest, causing the most expansion and contraction.
It's not always the foundation... sometimes it's the wall, roof, etc., that may not be a big deal. No house is 100% perfect.
But I would still get a structural engineer (or 2) to write reports for the OPs concern.
This post was edited on 4/29/19 at 4:16 pm
Page 4 of 6
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News