In alt.home.repair on Wed, 23 Feb 2005 01:54:51 -0500 Mike D
posted:

wrote:

I am considering the purchase of a house built in 1935. House has lots
of character, beautiful hardwood floors and fireplace. Here is the
catch, 2 previous sales have fallen through because each home inspector
has said "it cannot be fixed" The back corner of the house has sunk 8"
according to reports. This can be seen inside with a rise in the floor,
and on the outside with a diagonal line of bricks that have seperated
about a cm. I have photos- I need someone's opinion: can this be saved?

OK. If we look at this thru our alt.home.repair colored glasses then
nothing exists that cant be repaired. It may be hopless, it may not be.

I see your situation as a POTENTIAL opportunity. Since you know the
seller is in a jam 'cause the last two sales fell thru you are now
in the drivers seat. Call in a foundation contractor to quote the job
and have the seller finance the fix, or have the seller knock off
the cost of the job from his/her price PLUS a few grand for your
willingness to finance the problem. If a good contractor can fix it,
then his fees can get rolled into the sale and everyone leaves
happy, and you paid a few $ less

Mike D

The OP might be interested to know that all the buildings on the north
side of the Chicago River just east of where the Merchandise Mart is
now were sinking. Their solution was to raise the street a bit and
build new entrances to the buildings on the 2nd floor. This was about
1900 and they may have done something to stop the sinking also.

But then again, the buildings were built and someone owned them
already and they had to be fixed or torn down. The OP is thinking
about buying this problem.

Still I agree with you mike, except for one thing. Don't assume what
the contractor says is the price will be the final price. I don't
think he will guarantee that. He'll tell you what he is going to do,
and that he thinks it will work, and he will probably be honest about
that, but that doesn't mean it will work. So you have to ask him what
phase two will be and how much that will cost.

It depends on how soft that corner is and how far down the softness
goes.

I think the Chicago buildings stayed upright while they sank, didn't
tip. Of course Chicago means smelly garlic and Chicago was built on
a marsh. The tall buildings are built on basements that are basically
also sealed caissons that go down 5 or 10 stories iirc, or maybe more.


Meirman
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