There was a thread either here or on another board that mentioned something about foundation repair estimates. I believe the general thought was that an engineering firm would probably charge more. The poster said that the selling agent and engineering firm gave an estimate of $30k for the repairs. However, someone said that by using a company that’s not an engineering firm they saved thousands.
You may want to look into companies that specialize in foundation repair… Good luck.
House has shifted due to foundation settlement - Posted by Gerald-DC
Posted by Gerald-DC on October 22, 2003 at 09:37:59:
Guestimates to jack up a house, level the floors and fix and ancillary repairs caused by the house settling.
Saw a house yesterday in a great area and it is listed at a great price relative to the area. However, the property has settled and the floors now have a pronounced slope from the rear of the house to the front of the house.
The problem is readily apparent in the basement where the slope is not only pronounced but you can see the cracks in the wall and some areas of the basement floor look like mini vocanos have emerged.
From the outside front, you can’t really tell that the house has settled except by the garage where the garage door frame has been bent and a retaining wall that is now out of allignment with the wall to the main structure.
The house is otherwise in good shape. It’s a brick Cape Cod about 50 years old. Owner provided a engineer report that stated that property has likely finished settling and that any repairs made to structure would likely remain in tact.
Any comments, concerns and cost estimates are greatly appreciated.
Posted by Anne_ND on October 22, 2003 at 13:05:08:
is what I’ve paid to have a 3-story wooden house lifted up, a new basement dug (previous basement was not full-sized), a new wooden foundation with concrete floor put in and new sills all around and new plumbing under the floor. We were quoted the same price for a poured foundation. The footprint of the house is 1,100 sq ft.
A later contractor put in new supports for the house, sistered about 25% of the joists. A totally wild guess on the price of this later work (they did a bunch of other things too) is $8K.
a friend bought a house that had mine subsidence - Posted by David Krulac
Posted by David Krulac on October 22, 2003 at 12:37:51:
and it worked out pretty good for him. In the basement of his house the basement floor had dropped partially 4 feet. So there was this 4 foot step in the basement. He did some cosmetic repairs and didn’t try to correct the problem. It worked because he bought extremely cheap, owned the house for years and when it was time to sell he sold cheap (ER) than if there was no problem. In his house the settling had also stopped.
Get your own estimates. How can someone on this board who’s never seen the property be able to give you a rough guestimate? Get several estimates from engineering companies in the area and deduct that from his asking price minus a little wiggle room.
Re: House has shifted due to foundation settlement - Posted by Gerald-DC
Posted by Gerald-DC on October 22, 2003 at 10:18:02:
I think someone who has experince in this matter would be able to give ball park estimates and also mention any other details that I should look out for based upon their experience.
One of the primary purposes of this board is for the exchange of experinces and advice.