All Forum Posts by: Kevin Martin

Honestly if this is an isolated area of the house you shouldn't have much concern; I've seen much worse. Drain the water away and keep an eye on it. 

If this foundation/slab is on clay your biggest enemy is water. Keep it away from your house the best you can. If you get problems after you have done your best to keep the water away then it's either a deeper compressible soil layer or the house was built half *** (usually this is the case).

The engineer in me says "based on the pictures and information provided it appears that normal shifting and/or settlement of the foundation has occurred in the area of concern and further remediation/monitoring is required to reduce the potential of further subsidence" ect. ect... The contractor in me says "that's normal, I'll caulk that right up and it will look brand new" 

Hopefully this paints a good picture of my thoughts but at the end of the day no one on here including me knows for sure if there is an issue or not without seeing the whole picture. Good Luck!

@John Hodson

Are these the only areas with cracking? If so, then it doesn't seem like a very wide spread issue that would be a major problem but no one can say for sure without being there. The picture with the crack through the block is concerning but this could just be an isolated area. 

If it was me I would just make sure there are gutters on the house and make sure to have proper drainage away from your foundations. Keep an eye on it and if it gets worse then hire an engineer. 

We are roofing contractors here in Jax. Send me your information and hopefully we can help.

Thanks,

Kevin

@John Hodson

Do you have any pictures of the foundation and the cracks?

Austin,

I don’t know much about geothermal but I know it can be very pricey and solar is now more affordable but would still be a lot upfront based on your numbers and what your trying to do. I would be careful with trying to take over the electric bills as power usage is highly variable based on your tenants even if you use conservative numbers.

Start with the lower cost energy efficiency upgrades first and work your way up to the higher cost technology. There are numerous design and building practices that can be implemented to maximize your energy efficiency while keeping your costs low.  

Hey Marc,

Do you have the RE#?

Hey John,

Feel free to drop me a PM anytime. I would be glad to help. 

Thanks!

@Karen Margrave

Everything starts with the power usage especially if you are trying to go net zero and make all your own power. There is a great online tool (pv watts) and it will give you a very close estimate on how your system will perform after its sized. There are many factors that go into sizing a system but it usually starts with past usage, goals, application, budget, etc.

We built a 1,600 sqft home a year ago with a 5kw system and a solar hot water heater and the owners had an $18 electric bill in July. We got the house tested and it came out to a HERS score of 9; maybe another kw or 2 would of put them over the edge for a net zero house but it really depends on usage. Also, keep in mind this was new construction with some other energy efficient building materials/practices.

Based on your info I would say maybe a 7-10kw system should get you close to making 90-100% of your own power but like I said above there is alot that goes into this. Either way, the cost of electricity in California is way high and its more than worth it no matter how much power you make. 

Gabriel,

I know exactly what you are talking about. I've been a project engineer for 4 years now and I just made a big career change. I'm going from doing mostly design and PM to building and selling houses. I'm sure you have already figured out what you learned in school has very little to do with what you do as a practicing engineer but it does teach you about yourself. 

I think the best thing you can do is learn as much as you can and get your PE as quickly as possible. Once you have your PE your potential goes through the roof but you need to make sure you are competent in your field of study.  

If I could pass along a word of advice to myself a few years ago in my engineering career it would be this: you should always be able to make a comfortable living as an engineer but real estate is your avenue to finacial freedom (even if you have to bust your *** for a few years). Feel free to PM me or anything...it's always nice to hear from others further down the rabbit hole. Good luck!

 Ok sounds solid pretty solid. What would you say is the most difficult part of this process? Getting the cash, finding the deal, getting a loan (refi), ect....