How to find Foundation Issues with No Tools - Updated

signs that your structure that you're looking at purchasing has had foundation issues or prior repair and needs to continue to be further evaluated let's go check it out first signs that your prospect property has had foundation issues and been repaired in the past is these squares on the outside these squares are and especially the bright color of these squares where the concrete has been cut through and repaired what they do is they cut through your concrete or your driveway go underneath the structure add in piers and level out the structure so this is a sign that there has been prior work done to your structure second sign that you might have had foundation repair done in the past is whenever you see this lightly colored mortar so you can see this is fresh and this is not so they have repointed a lot of the mortar around the structure showing that they may have done repairs in the past next sign is whenever you see these trenches all the way around the structure so you can see right here whenever you see these trenches a little bit wider and it's freshly disturbed means that they probably have lifted the structure or have done foundation work in the past and then right here you can see the freshly pouring pointed mortar again so let's move on to why there might be continued issues to this structure first sign when walking up to the structure you can see how this wall looks like it's leaning or shifting and to make sure that it is not a trick of the eye what you can do is look at the base here and you can see how the wall is it's you have a smaller space in between the the brick and the mortar than over here showing that the wall has kind of shifted from one side to the other then moving up you can see that there is a gap in between the freeze board and the gap and you can see how it's pushed the freeze board out a little bit so this wall has continued to shift on the side of the structure i know whenever you repair foundations nothing can be completely perfect but you can see right here at the bottom where the exterior veneer is closer together and it is wider at the top right here so you can see it's separated and it's separated about an inch and a half on this wall so showing that the structure has shifted a little bit more than normal on this side the next stage is they probably didn't do new repairs on this side of the structure you can see how old these patches are and so they may have not have touched this area showing that they only repaired everywhere else but right here where the wall is shifted the most another sign that there has been previous foundation issues or there are currently issues as you can see this in between the veneer and the window you can see that the in between the veneer and the window it's smaller at the bottom and then wider at the top and the caulking has been pulled apart and the window is cracked we also have a pretty significant step crack or a deflection crack below the window so another sign that there is possible foundation issues still continuing with the structure like i've said in the past several times i like to look down the brick line and this is the perfect case you can see down the brick line right here where the strut the brick line actually sits about an inch and a half higher on this side of the wall and as it goes down you can see that it drops down and then shoots straight again so most of the foundation issues or the continued foundation issues are on this side of the structure one of the main causes of foundation issues is a lot to do with your compact soil and grading and drainage around your structure so you can see a lot of the structure has been eroded away or they did not refill the structure after they added in uh the the pure supports so right here you can see freshly painted passion painted mortar and then you can still see that there is a slight separation in the window right here this side is definitely not as bad as the front of the property but it is an area that needs to be repaired and concerned obviously the ac is getting pretty close to the end of his life or if not already there so on this side of the structure you can kind of see that the window between the window and the exterior veneer is pretty consistent it's the same size from top to bottom but they did reseal it they didn't remove the old caulking and then they use like in a bathroom caulking on the exterior so that is not the proper exterior sealant you want an elastomeric caulking and it will last longer so here's the brick line so you can compare on the other side of the structure and you can see it is pretty flat all the way across and this side of the wall of the structure is probably okay and whenever they added in the prior repairs you can see how the soil is freshly disturbed they also have new plumbing lines over here too as well so you can see it's freshly disturbed and so they probably appeared on the side of the structure too another sign that you might have had foundation work in the past is whenever you have different colored tiles in square patterns they probably cut through the slab here and added in piers too as well so this is another area that you may have had had foundation issues another sign you might have foundation issues is if you turn this knob right here and flip this switch and nothing happens your structure has probably failed another sign you might have foundation issues if you have a really concerned dog in the backyard that would be a sign that you might have foundation issues so in this part of the video i wanted to show you a different structure showing you that most foundation issues come from grading and drainage so you can see here a lot of the drainage is pointed towards the structure and they've had prior repair in the past whenever you have prior repair in the past like this just because you repair the foundation doesn't mean it's going to stay put you need to fix the grating and drainage because the grating and drainage was the primary reason why the slab moved in the first place has the structure failed again no but over a long period of time it will fail again and i'm glad you know you just really want to spend your time and take your time going through a crawl space and you can see right here where a beam has fallen off the piers here it doesn't look like it caused any structural issues but it's obviously supposed to be there so we're going to write this up to be repaired pretty easy repair in my opinion it shouldn't cost too much so with this expansion joint you can see how two of my fingers can fit in there really easy at the top and as you come down you can see it's shrinking down and then only one of my finger fits in the bottom so it's smaller at the bottom and wider at the top and this is showing you that the wall is starting to shift also here at the base you have a crack through the slab some people might get nervous about this but this is spalling this this is going to be on some of your foundations this is just water getting in behind the concrete and popping it off we're actually more worried about the crack coming through the slab and the separation in the veneer we're on the other side of the property and one of the next signs is you always see separation between the brick veneer and the windows easy spot for foundation movement so here you go you can see that it's it's wider at the top there here you can see it's wider at the top and as you come down come come down and it's it's flush with the brick so right there and then as i come down here you can see there's another crack to the through the slab too as well this one's a smaller crack so that's kind of iffy but but that being said you have signs on this side of the property and you have signs on that side of the property so this is some indicators here be like hey here's some red flags we also have floors on level inside doors sticking so and then we have a a cracked window so several things showing that this structure is moving beyond normal tolerances and we need this structural engineer here to come out and give his final opinion okay here's the last clip so you can see here this window looks really good it's flush with the brick the brick line looks straight but here on the side the soil is a little dry you want to make sure you water your soil too because this can cause your structure to settle more than normal some basic facts about foundation repair so your property has had foundation repair in the past after the foundation has been repaired it can take another six months for the house to settle back into place so what does that mean that means that your exterior veneer can crack some more that also means that your cracks above your doors and windows and doors might not close properly you'll have to adjust this over time over the next six months so what we see here is actually excessive movement whenever you see the excessive movement of in between the windows and the exterior veneer and the walls leaning out of place the foundation repair may have not even been completed well enough to begin with so what we do is we recommend for it to be further evaluated by a structural engineer or re-contact that foundation company to make sure that there is some sort of warranty involved so they can come back out and fix it also with the foundation companies you got to figure out they have a structural engineer on staff a licensed structural engineer because you actually require no license at all to work on foundations in texas there is no body that regulates it so you yourself can move to texas right now with no experience at all and open up a foundation company so that's why you end up getting work like this sometimes so what we're going to do is recommend it for to be further evaluated get a structural engineer out here and see if the house meets deflection tolerances so with that being said that's chris with day action if you have any home inspection questions please leave it in the comments below and please like and subscribe the videos and catch us on the next one thanks guys bye [Music] [Music] you

Channel: A-Action Home Inspection Houston

Views: 16,514

Keywords: home inspection training video, Home Inspection, Home Inspector Real Estate Home Inspection Checklist, First time home Buyer, building inspector, building inspector fail, chris murphy, home inspection, home inspection checklist, home inspection cost, home inspection tips for buyers, home inspector, house inspection, house inspection checklist, inspection services, property inspector, what do home inspectors do, what do home inspectors look for

Id: FQQNIBKlad8

Length: 10min 23sec (623 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 19 2020