Before you complete the process of buying your first house, take a good look around and assess its structural integrity and foundation. Find out whether you are buying into expensive repairs, even if it means hiring someone beyond your home inspector for a professional evaluation.
Many foundation problems are caused by excessive settlement of the foundation or water seepage. Settlement during the first year after construction typically is minimal and does not result in physical changes.
Settlement over the next decade, however, may cause the foundation to move, in turn causing the walls to shift and resulting in noticeable irregularities, said Alex Dean, founder of the Alexander Group Inc. in Kensington, Md.
If the house is built on a hill; on alluvial soil; on clay, which is soft, porous and absorbs water easily; or on fill soil, which was dumped by the builder, the poor soil may not stay in place and the foundation will settle.
Signs of structural problems outside include small, stepped, diagonal cracks in brick walls; sagging brick lines; separation of concrete from the foundation in a driveway, patio or sidewalk; and tilting of landscaping.
Inside the house, look for ceiling and wall cracks, diagonal cracks above doors and windows, bowing walls, separation of wall and floor, doors and windows that stick or don’t close, uneven flooring, and cracked floor tiles and concrete.
If a house backs up to a stream, a stream is close by, a high groundwater table makes the lawn wet or sidewalk spill-off runs toward the house, water may seep in. Signs of groundwater problems include wet walls and water marks on basement ceilings or walls that are white with a muddy effervescence.
Water is more of the culprit in metropolitan Washington, Dean said. “Less than 5 percent of homes I go into have structural settlement problems, but about 10 percent have some water issue.”
Older homes built between 1945 and 1980 have porous concrete block foundations, and water is more likely to get in than it would with poured concrete foundations, which became prevalent in the past 25 years, said John Spinello, an inspector with ACS Home Inspections in Springfield.
Solutions vary in scope, complexity and cost. “Prescribing medicine without careful investigation and diagnosis is malpractice,” he said, “so it would be irresponsible for me or any contractor to suggest an estimate without analysis.”
But “beware of basement waterproofing companies that want to charge thousands when all that’s necessary is to turn downspouts away from the house,” Spinello said.
No matter what the problem, get it fixed, Dean said. “Slapping a coat of waterproof paint over a wet spot won’t stop water from coming in.”
