Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2014 · 113 posts · 43 votes
I have a house I'm rehabbing that is slightly leaning to one side. It's only noticeable from the outside. The inside is fine. But when standing in front of the house you can see it leaning to the left. Is there anything I can do to hide this? I'm thinking about planting some mid size trees in the front yard to hide it.
I can't jack it because I was told that it is too heavy and will likely crush the stone foundation and cause more problems than it will solve.
Investor · LaGrange GA · Member since 2014 · 121 posts · 55 votes
10y
I would use landscaping to change the visuals from the curb. I would be using some large shrubbery close to the house, or build some raised flower beds there with a few large bushes to help disguise the lean. If you're seeing the flat earth and then the house, the lean will be fairly noticeable, however if you add a middle transitional layer, you will do a much better job blending it all together.
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2016 · 314 posts · 153 votes
10y
Is it worth trying to hide? Any competent home inspector is going to notice the lean, and at that point you'll be under contract with a buyer who wants a discount or wants to back out because of potential foundational issues.
Rental Property Investor · Chappaqua, NY · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 947 votes
10y
John Skaggs I agree with Wes Brand
If was doing a flip last year with a partner. I saw an inward lean on the front porch. Parter said nope. I said ok. Months later after we were almost finished the broker says can you fix the bow in the front porch. Seems a few buyers agents noticed it and we're asking if we planned to fix it. Lesson learned fix the structural stuff first. Do it now because when we fixed the porch....which took a house jack and 1/2 hour we had to redo all th trim work because we had cheated everything to account for the lean.
Btw I am not suggesting you jack the house up if don't know what your doing. But it's not too hard to find guys who do know what they are doing. B
Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2014 · 113 posts · 43 votes
10y
The property is a 100+ year old 4 family. Everything is flat and straight on the inside, but the outside is leaning to the left. I've had two people in the business of jacking up houses say that they don't recommend it because the weight of the house will crumble the stone foundation and it will likely damage the bricks.
The property is three stories tall and about 4000 sqft so I'm not sure shrubs and a flower bed will do it. I'm thinking more like small trees, but perhaps a landscaper may have some tricks up their sleeve to break up the ground transition like Matt said.
Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2014 · 113 posts · 43 votes
10y
I've got letters from the jacking companies saying that they do not recommend jacking up the house and I'm getting an engineer to write a letter saying that the building is structurally sound and not sinking anymore. But I don't want a buyer to pull up, see it lean, and drive off without going inside.
The seller took me in through the back door when I first looked at it and when I went out front I only went in the front yard and could not tell it was leaning. About a week before closing I looked at it from across the street and saw that it was leaning. Now every time I look at it, it looks like it leans more each day.
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2016 · 314 posts · 153 votes
10y
@Account Closed I see. A picture might help if you can post one -- people may be able to give you some tips to improve the curb appeal. Whatever you do I'd recommend disclosing it up front with a structural engineer's report saying "this is structurally sound". That way buyers aren't surprised when the inspection comes back and says it's leaning. You might get less interest, but it's better than getting under contract and having buyers walk because of it.
Investor · Coeur d'Alene, ID · Member since 2016 · 551 posts · 218 votes
10y
Do you already own this? What did your inspection report say about the lean? Are the walls inside plumb? You usually don't get a wall that leans without it taking something else with it!
Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2014 · 113 posts · 43 votes
10y
It's strange that all the windows and doors and interior walls were straight. Of course we demoed all that anyway. The floor was about 1-2 inches off though on the left side and we fixed that. Now I just need to hide the lean on the outside.
That phone pole in front is leaning way to the right too, which doesn't help.
Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2016 · 214 posts · 58 votes
10y
Could be the angle of the photo, but it looks like the street/ground is at a slight downgrade and that could be causing the "lean." It does look like everything left of the door is slightly off though.
Investor · Jackson, OH · Member since 2014 · 64 posts · 20 votes
10y
Great suggestion @Dawn Anastasi. (-: I am a firm believer in doing it right. If there is no profit available after budgeting for necessary and appropriate repairs, the deal is not the right deal.