Shouldve never bought my house!

[clintard]

last October i bought my first house. It belonged to my grandmother before me. I'm having severe foundation problems. the whole east side of my foundation is sinking into the ground (its a block foundation) and the wood seal is exposed now. house was built in 1916 but the foundation was never this bad its gotten progressively worse since i bought the house.


long story short guys

the city redid the sewer line in the street about 4 years ago, and when they did so they didn't connect the house back up to the street right so it was leaking into the soil around the house. they had to pay for a contractor to come in and dig up the whole yard and redo the sewer. the sewer line runs right where my foundation has settled so badly. home owners insurance said they wouldn't help in any way.

do you think its possible the sewage leached into the ground disturbing the soil under my foundation causing it to rapidly sink?

how would you experienced guys handle this situation? should i start looking for a lawyer or am i just screwed any way i look at it?

 

[Jayhawk]

There are foundation repair companies that can possibly fix your problem. Living here in Texas, our soil is so bad the houses just sort of float on it, and if you don't keep your foundation watered with soaker hoses, you'll be spending money on foundation work sooner, or later.

I suspect that unless you can prove negligence on anyone's part, you're going to have to get your checkbook out.

Take it FWIW, as I'm no expert. Sorry.

 

[dannymax]

-Get hold of the contractor who did the work 4 years ago and see what sort of info he will provide. Keep in mind he may be a little wary, might see the possibility of an empending law suit.
-Could this be the same issue that caused the problem 4 yrs ago, wasn't repaired properly and is recurring, or a similar problem in the same spot?
-Any new houses built nearby recently? If so talk to the excavators to get a feel for the dynamics of the soil in the area.
-Don't be too anxious to get the lawyers involved. If you think there may be a case get a competent geotechnical engineer on board, in fact that might not be a bad place to start.

IMHO you need to do some digging, (investigating I mean, the digging will come later) get more info. If the info you come up with suggests the municipality might be at fault you stand a fairly good chance of recovering some $'s.

Good luck, keep us informed.

dan

 

[vmax1125]

i can understand what you are going though but take it from me (home builder) if you pursue a legal route it will be more cash for the sharks then it would take to fix the foundation . it sucks but trying to prove something like that from 4 years ago and on a 90 year old house lets just say you are better pissing in the wind. it is way to costly to try to fight the county they have deep pockets and lawyers on retainer not to mention it could be dragged though court for a few years. we had a suit drag on for 2 years with a cost of 210,000.00 out of pocket for legal fees until we came to a settlement and broke even.
the only people that win is the lawyers. its going to cost some fairly big money to fix your foundation no doubt but proceed carefully when getting into the legal end or you could be broke with a bad foundation.
this is my point of view take it with a grain of salt but we deal with city and county offices daily and when you leave them you are pulling up your pants.
Chris :bang head:

 

[maleko89]

Clint, sorry to hear about this. It seems just like yesterday when we were talking and you just bought it.

 

[clintard]

how much money would i be looking at hiring an engineer? i payed 32k for the house, when i bought it it appraised for 44. ill never be able to afford to pay to fix it, im single and 1 lousy income. really worried that i wont even be able to sell it to get out from under it, im seriously contemplating putting it for sale by owner asap. thanks for the support guys

 

[gleno]

Step 1: Do the math first. You may be better off fixing as the property will be devalued by the foundation flaw anyway. It depends whether the market value of the property is in the land or the building or both. Given the age of the building, the value may be in the land.

Get several written estimates for repairs. Then make a judgment on whether you fix or sell.

Step 2: If you want to recover the cost of repairs you can present a statement of claim to the municipality and see where you get. You may find that either the municipality or the contractor have insurance cover for this type of thing.

Therefore, you should seek an initial (free) consultation with several lawyers before you make a decision about retaining a lawyer which should be your last resort.

 

[dannymax]

how much money would i be looking at hiring an engineer? i payed 32k for the house, when i bought it it appraised for 44. ill never be able to afford to pay to fix it, im single and 1 lousy income. really worried that i wont even be able to sell it to get out from under it, im seriously contemplating putting it for sale by owner asap. thanks for the support guys

You would have to check around to get engineers rates in your area.

Gleno's suggestion is sound, get some repair cost estimates, there's a good chance the "unrepaired" foundation will devalue the house more than the cost to repair it.

Try to get a feel for the overall situation before making any major decisions, like putting your house on the market. It seems a little odd that a house that has stood for close to a century would suddenly develop catastrophic foundation failure, especially (if I understand correctly) shortly after extensive municipal sewer system repair located close by.

Keep in mind, the sewer line repair may not be, at all, related to the foundation issue and this might be your ball to carry, but take a logical, systematic approach, get all your facts lined up then make your decisions.

dan

 

[QuarterHorse]

I'm a self employed general contractor. You need to get some estimates from some people before you jump to conclusions. Start at the begining, breath deep, think things all the way through. Not sure if Anchored Wall Systems is in your area, but they'd be a start to check with. 99% of the time people will give free estimates, I know I do.

 

[clintard]

wow i never expected to get more than a few replies you guys are great.

I'm out of state working right now or i would take pictures to show you guys. It may have not been the sewer but like someone else said the thing has been there since 1916. The house has no guttering whatsoever and never has that i know of. Its really strange the town i live in (700 people) has maybe 4 or 5 houses in the whole damn thing that actually have gutters. wierd?

I havn't had any contractors come give me estimates yet but i will do so when i get a chance next time im home for more than a few days (damn job)

get some repair cost estimates, there's a good chance the "unrepaired" foundation will devalue the house more than the cost to repair it.

man that scares me!


so do you guys think the fact that i didnt own the house when the city fixed there screwup would hurt me any? my grandma and step grandpa are both dead now.

 

[dannymax]

Clintard, Maybe you misunderstood me, all I'm saying is it is probably to your advantage to repair the foundation, whether you stay or sell. But, you need some numbers before making any decisions along those lines.
As 1/4 Horse said estimates should be free and having some local contractors in for a look will give you a lot of useful information.
Don't get any lawyer involved yet, if ever. Remember, there are 2 kinds of time, normal time-as you and I know it, and legal time. The two have nothing in common, as soon as the legal folks get involved progress comes to a grinding halt, then resumes later on at a much slower pace. Anything a lawyer would do for you now, you can do yourself.
It's unlikely title will be an issue in this so previous ownership shouldn't matter.
BTW do you have homeowners ins? Might be something there.
It's tough being out of town with all this going on, again from 1/4 Horse-deep breath, maybe a beer or two, try and relax, it'll work out.

dan

 

[Max01red]

Hey Clintard, these guys have given you some great advise/information.....take it from me very few things are as bad as they first seem once you do some investigating and planning...I know that one of the scariest things you can hear as a home owner is "foundation problems" however the things they can deal with and fix on foundations these days are amazing...my only advise beyond what others have already told you would be to get the problem fixed as soon as you can, the longer it sits the more it will settle and cause other problems down the road....


Best of luck bro...

 

[Dreamster66]

My house was built in the 1890's and the back corner is settled (dropped actually) 3-4 inches.
Doesnt sound like much but it is...... been that way for 5 yrs.
Does it bother me? a little BUT the house survived 2 major floods and STILL stands sooooo..... if it aint fallen over yet, it'll last me my lifetime....lol