Investor 路 Clarendon Hills, IL 路 Member since 2015 路 89 posts 路 7 votes
Looking at a potential foreclosure property, backyard of house is on a slight decline, as is all the other 5 houses in a row. There are several cracks throughout the exterior of the house, some have even been tuck pointed?.... And cracks still appeared. Any insight on this matter would be great! Structural engineer? soil samples? Should I run the other way?
Flipper Mostly 路 Redwood City, CA 路 Member since 2012 路 107 posts 路 26 votes
11y
I've bought em like this, fixed the foundation myself and made lots of money, don't run just yet... I'm no structural engineer but I can get a good crew to dig under, setup heavy bottle jacks, raise it and fix it... big thing to look for is if its red tagged by the city, then I would run...
Flipper Mostly 路 Redwood City, CA 路 Member since 2012 路 107 posts 路 26 votes
11y
I've bought em like this, fixed the foundation myself and made lots of money, don't run just yet... I'm no structural engineer but I can get a good crew to dig under, setup heavy bottle jacks, raise it and fix it... big thing to look for is if its red tagged by the city, then I would run...
Coppell, TX 路 Member since 2014 路 188 posts 路 125 votes
11y
If you can get in the house to look, take a very long level and check level on the floors and top of door casings. Also, get a feel for the foundation by looking at trees close to property and water drainage as that can give you better indication of how well the soil is. Too wet or too dry over long periods can cause foundation problems.
Looking at a potential foreclosure property, backyard of house is on a slight decline, as is all the other 5 houses in a row. There are several cracks throughout the exterior of the house, some have even been tuck pointed?.... And cracks still appeared. Any insight on this matter would be great! Structural engineer? soil samples? Should I run the other way?
House has been on the market for 5 months.
I am having my Virginia Town home tuck pointed. Note that my foundation is good -- but I can speak to tuck pointing. Basically what is happening for my house is that I have cracks similar to the ones you are looking at. I just had the contractor here this morning and got a quote.
There are two types of Tuck Pointing -- Full or partial. So what he told me they will do - is a partial (around the windows where the grout has separated from the brick & a major crack I have down a wall) where they will grind out mortar and replace it. For my crack they will do the same; however, where bricks are cracked and they do not need replacing - they will grind the brick down and put in a mortar joint. So think of a cracked brick being made into two smaller bricks with a mortar joint to strengthen.
Note that the quote took less than 30 min and was free. So if you can make some time, it may help you with estimates.
Investor 路 Clarendon Hills, IL 路 Member since 2015 路 89 posts 路 7 votes
11y
@Michael R. thank you for the input, didn't know there were different a types of tuck pointing, I will have to look closer to see if it's partial or full. Hopefully just partial 馃憣
Flipper/Rehabber 路 Toms River, NJ 路 Member since 2014 路 378 posts 路 154 votes
11y
Good thing to look for is if the windows and doors near that side of the house are opening easily or if you see any stress cracking in the Sheetrock. This would indicate some form of differential settlement; for these kinds of fixes, it's good to use those carbon fiber wall repair straps but I have yet to repair brick. Keep looking, and good luck!
Investor 路 Colorado Springs CO 路 Member since 2014 路 535 posts 路 253 votes
11y
Diagonal cracks like that are shear cracks. What you need to determine is what is causing the shear crack. It could be thermal expansion/contraction (as explained in the link provided by Bill Forrest), differential settlement and/or expansive soils, significant wind or seismic loading on the structure, etc. As others above mentioned, you'll want to investigate the interior to see if there are cracks in drywall/plaster, doors and/or windows that don't open/close properly, uneven floors, etc. I'm a structural engineer, but I'm not very familiar with brick construction (we don't really do that in CA), and I can't see what the rest of the building is framed with, so I'm just providing some basic points that I can think of based on my knowledge of masonry. If you're unsure what's going on with the building, you can hire an engineer to come take a look and provide you a report based on his/her findings.
Diagonal cracks like that are shear cracks. What you need to determine is what is causing the shear crack. It could be thermal expansion/contraction (as explained in the link provided by Bill Forrest), differential settlement and/or expansive soils, significant wind or seismic loading on the structure, etc. As others above mentioned, you'll want to investigate the interior to see if there are cracks in drywall/plaster, doors and/or windows that don't open/close properly, uneven floors, etc. I'm a structural engineer, but I'm not very familiar with brick construction (we don't really do that in CA), and I can't see what the rest of the building is framed with, so I'm just providing some basic points that I can think of based on my knowledge of masonry. If you're unsure what's going on with the building, you can hire an engineer to come take a look and provide you a report based on his/her findings.
If it turns out that a full tuck pointing was already performed, and the cracks re-appeared. What is the next step? Piers?
Its starting to sound like I will be using a structural engineer before I commit to this purchase. Typical hourly rate is $200-300... Is that about right? And roughly 4hrs? Any advice or webpages on finding a reputable engineer?
Diagonal cracks like that are shear cracks. What you need to determine is what is causing the shear crack. It could be thermal expansion/contraction (as explained in the link provided by Bill Forrest), differential settlement and/or expansive soils, significant wind or seismic loading on the structure, etc. As others above mentioned, you'll want to investigate the interior to see if there are cracks in drywall/plaster, doors and/or windows that don't open/close properly, uneven floors, etc. I'm a structural engineer, but I'm not very familiar with brick construction (we don't really do that in CA), and I can't see what the rest of the building is framed with, so I'm just providing some basic points that I can think of based on my knowledge of masonry. If you're unsure what's going on with the building, you can hire an engineer to come take a look and provide you a report based on his/her findings.
If it turns out that a full tuck pointing was already performed, and the cracks re-appeared. What is the next step? Piers?
Its starting to sound like I will be using a structural engineer before I commit to this purchase. Typical hourly rate is $200-300... Is that about right? And roughly 4hrs? Any advice or webpages on finding a reputable engineer?
Well, the next step depends on what is causing the cracks. If it is thermal expansion/contraction, you need to find a way to allow the bricks to expand/contract so they don't keep cracking (filling the cracks in the mortar with more mortar isn't helping anything). To be honest, I'm not sure exactly how you'd do that with a brick house, but I'm sure there are engineers/contractors in your area who know. Somehow you need to add expansion joints, if that's the problem. Of course, if the cracks are due to settlement, then the next step is going to be addressing what's causing the settlement, whatever that may be - soft soils under part of the foundation, slope starting to slide down the hill away from the home (think of it kind of like a 'very slow landslide' as the side of the hill is slowly moving downward), etc.
I don't know your area, but here, hourly rates are around $100-$200. You can probably find one to come look at this place and give you a report for something like $500 or so (maybe more, maybe less). I'd just google structural engineers in your area and call a few companies. I wouldn't bother calling large companies, they won't be interested in that, but there should be some local small companies/individuals who'd do it. My parents live in a small-ish town in AZ and had a local engineer come look at some cracks in a wall about 8 years ago, and i think he did it for around $400.
Investor 路 Clarendon Hills, IL 路 Member since 2015 路 89 posts 路 7 votes
11y
@Kimberly T. thank you for answering all my questions, I threw a lot at you! And the area I am in was largly built on marsh land so I'm guessing from your description that it's the settlement.
Rental Property Investor 路 Woodbridge, VA 路 Member since 2014 路 249 posts 路 81 votes
11y
@John Yanko verdict is in for me -- do NOT seal your brick. I will follow up in my post. But your situation is well beyond my experience. I will follow this thread. It looks like you've got some solid advice. With that said -- one of the podcasts (late in the 40's) mentioned that everyone follows someone -- so that if you want to know who a good drywall hanger is -- ask a painter.
So, who follows the brick layer or mason? Call a few of those companies or trades and ask them who the good masons are in your area. I know you are looking for engineers at this point, but thought it may be worth mentioning.
Investor 路 Clarendon Hills, IL 路 Member since 2015 路 89 posts 路 7 votes
11y
@Michael R. Thank you for getting back to me on your decision, lol I was beginning to think, greatttt here is another job I'm going to have to get done. But what you mentioned about everyone follows someone, I'm currently on a new construction job in Elk Grove Village, it has every trade you can think of involved. And couple days ago I thought about asking the company that is pouring concrete, but I never did馃槕, I may have to reconsider.....
Investor 路 west seneca, NY 路 Member since 2014 路 376 posts 路 211 votes
11y
hi john. first things first, here. what i see are two things. number one, i see a foundation that has been repaired before. it looks as if the problem has returned which means the cause of the problem was NOT corrected. what i see here is a gutter downspout that appears to be draining right next to the foundation. thats a big no no. water intrusion is your biggest enemy on a foundation. first, get that water AWAY FROM THE HOUSE. second, look at which way the wall is leaning. is it leaning toward the inside of the house or the outside. whichever way it is leaning, you need to brace that up and stop the movement. the second thing i see here is a window right above the damaged area. water is probably seeping in behind the brick from this window area. follow the crack going up. where does it lead to??? wherever it starts, is where your issue is. fix that as well. it doesn't look like it is crumbling down, so i would say that all hope is NOT lost. please ask further if you need further assistance.
Investor 路 Clarendon Hills, IL 路 Member since 2015 路 89 posts 路 7 votes
11y
@Mark Elliott thank you for the comment, did not even think to look where that downspout was draining. Here is another picture of the patio in the back and front steps, I almost completely walked when I saw this, but is it safe to say that maybe it was made with a poor subbase?