Found a house we absolutely love but during the showing i noticed some cracks in the basement. Theres a horizontal one on one wall and a couple stair step cracks in the brick on the outside. Our realtor says its probably nothing but tbh i dont trust that because she just wants the sale lol. The house is from 1978. We're thinking about getting a structural engineer to look at it before we put in an offer but my husband thinks thats a waste of money since the general inspection would cover it. Would you spend the $400ish on a separate foundation inspection or just rely on the home inspector?
7 Comments
Spend the money. Full stop. A general home inspector is a generalist, they know a little about everything but they are NOT structural engineers. Ive seen home inspectors write "minor cracking observed" for issues that cost 20k+ to fix. A structural engineer will tell you exactly whats going on and what it will cost. $400 to potentially save yourself from a money pit is the best investment youll make.
thats what i was thinking. my husband keeps saying im overreacting but a horizontal crack seems like a big deal from everything ive been reading on here
youre not overreacting at all. horizontal cracks in a 1978 basement can mean the wall is under lateral pressure and bowing inward. thats one of the more serious types of foundation issues. your husband will thank you when you either get the all clear or dodge a bullet
i wish someone had told me this before we bought our house. relied on the general inspector who said the cracks were cosmetic. 14 months later our basement wall bowed in another inch and we needed $22k in wall anchors. the general inspector missed that the wall was already bowing 2 inches. a structural engineer would have caught that immediately. please just get the inspection
Realtor here and im gonna be honest with you. Your agent telling you "its probably nothing" without recommending an engineer is a red flag about your agent not necessarily about the house. Any decent realtor should be encouraging you to investigate foundation concerns not brushing them off. Get the engineer inspection AND use the report to negotiate. Ive helped buyers get 15-30k off asking price with a foundation engineer report.
wow ok that actually makes me feel better about spending the money. if we can use it to negotiate that basically pays for itself 100 times over
stair step cracks in brick plus a horizontal crack in basement on a 1978 house could be connected. the stair steps usually follow the mortar joints where the wall is weakest and the horizontal crack suggests soil pressure. doesnt mean the house is falling down but it means something is going on that a generalist wont fully understand. get the PE inspection and if they recommend repairs get 3 quotes from foundation companies. knowledge is power in a negotiation