Looking to buy a house that has some foundation issues. The inspection found a few horizontal cracks in the basement and the wall is bowing inward about 1.5 inches. Got a quote from a foundation company for $15,000 to install carbon fiber straps and fill the cracks. This seems really high to me but i have nothing to compare it to. Anyone have experience with this type of repair? Is this a fair price or should i get more quotes?
13 Comments
Always get at least 3 quotes for foundation work. Prices can vary wildly. That said 15k for carbon fiber straps on a bowing wall isnt crazy depending on how many straps and how long the wall is. What length wall are we talking?
its the long side of the basement so probably 40 feet? the quote says 8 carbon fiber straps
8 straps at roughly $1500-2000 each installed is pretty standard. factor in the crack repair and prep work, 15k is on the higher end but not outrageous. id still get more quotes though
1.5 inches of bow is significant - thats past the point where most engineers would recommend just monitoring. The carbon fiber should stop it from getting worse but it wont push the wall back. If youre buying the house, factor in that you might need additional work down the road if it continues moving.
wait it wont actually fix the bow? i thought that was the whole point
carbon fiber straps are designed to prevent further movement, not reverse existing damage. if you want to actually straighten the wall you need wall anchors or push piers which is way more expensive. for most cases the straps are enough if the bow isnt too severe.
We bought a house with similar issues last year. Original quote was 18k, ended up finding a company that did it for 11k. The big companies tend to charge more for their name. Look for smaller local foundation specialists with good reviews.
Pro tip: use that repair estimate to negotiate the house price down. Sellers often accept a price reduction rather than deal with foundation issues themselves. I've seen buyers get 20-30k knocked off for foundation problems that cost half that to fix.
did exactly this last month. got three quotes ranging from 11k to 19k for similar work. showed the seller the 19k quote and got 15k off the purchase price. ended up using the 11k company with good reviews. basically made 4k on the deal plus got the repairs done right
just want to add that some sellers will offer to do the repair themselves before closing. i'd be careful with that - you want to control which company does the work and make sure it's done right. better to take the price reduction and handle it yourself imo
whatever you do make sure you understand what warranty they're offering. some companies give 25 year transferable warranties that add value to the home. others give 5 year warranties that dont transfer if you sell. a good warranty can actually help resale value and partially offset the repair cost. ask specifically about warranty transferability before signing
just want to chime in here because i was in a similar spot last summer. first company quoted me $14,500 for carbon fiber straps and i almost just went with it because i was stressed and wanted it fixed. my brother in law talked me into getting more quotes and the second company came back at $7,800 for the same scope of work. same number of straps same warranty same everything. i ended up going with company #2 and the work was great. please please get at least 3 quotes, the price differences in this industry are honestly insane. some of these companies are banking on you being scared and not shopping around
OP did you end up buying the house? im in a really similar situation right now, house i want has a bowing wall and the seller is offering a $10k credit but the quotes ive gotten are between 12 and 16k. trying to figure out if its even worth the headache or if i should just walk away. the house is priced well for the area tho so its hard to let it go. also want to add that my realtor said to make sure whatever company you use can get the work permitted and inspected, some of the cheaper guys dont pull permits which can bite you later when you try to sell