I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin


http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:
I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

On Feb 16, 6:35*pm, Jack wrote:
On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:

I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

95% houses in this region of Texas are on slab. the soil is just to
hard to dig. As far as termites..well decent termite treatment should
take care of the problem...

On Feb 16, 6:44 pm, wrote:
On Feb 16, 6:35 pm, Jack wrote:



On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:

I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

95% houses in this region of Texas are on slab. the soil is just to
hard to dig. As far as termites..well decent termite treatment should
take care of the problem...

I'd guess the slab was just built that way. 1 1/2" out is not that
uncommon with slabs, unfortunately, especially in older homes.

On Feb 16, 7:03*pm, marson wrote:
On Feb 16, 6:44 pm, wrote:





On Feb 16, 6:35 pm, Jack wrote:

On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:

I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

95% houses in this region of Texas are on slab. the soil is just to
hard to dig. As far as termites..well decent termite treatment should
take care of the problem...

I'd guess the slab was just built that way. *1 1/2" out is not that
uncommon with slabs, unfortunately, especially in older homes.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

well....the crack in the window is exactly in that corner of the house
where there is the highest movement ..1.5" ...I suspect slab moved a
little bit ..

Jack wrote:
On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:
I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

Only way I would ever build with a crawlspace was if it had a concrete
floor and was tall enough to stand up in. I hate working in
crawlspaces, hated it even when I was young and skinny. My other house
down in Louisiana is on a slab, and yeah, it is a pain, too, but nothing
like the houses on piers (open crawlspaces, basically) are. This place
has basement under the original house, and a (thankfully deep) crawl
under the addition, but they used a backwards-mounted standard basement
window for the outside access, so getting my fat gut in there is a MAJOR
chore.

'Ground is too hard' is nonsense- only valid excuse for not having a
basement, IMHO, is the water table being too high. If the lot consists
of 2 feet of dirt on top of rock ledge, build up the lot. If that isn't
an option, build elsewhere. If you simply MUST build on an undiggable
lot, build the first floor out of concrete.

aem sends...

On Feb 16, 8:57*pm, aemeijers wrote:
Jack wrote:
On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:
I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

Only way I would ever build with a crawlspace was if it had a concrete
floor and was tall enough to stand up in. I hate working in
crawlspaces, hated it even when I was young and skinny. My other house
down in Louisiana is on a slab, and yeah, it is a pain, too, but nothing
like the houses on piers (open crawlspaces, basically) are. This place
has basement under the original house, and a (thankfully deep) crawl
under the addition, but they used a backwards-mounted standard basement
window for the outside access, so getting my fat gut in there is a MAJOR
chore.

'Ground is too hard' is nonsense- only valid excuse for not having a
basement, IMHO, is the water table being too high. If the lot consists
of 2 feet of dirt on top of rock ledge, build up the lot. If that isn't
an option, build elsewhere. If you simply MUST build on an undiggable
lot, build the first floor out of concrete.

aem sends...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

well...I will invite you to hill country in Austin,TX then...if you
find a house with a basement I buy you dinner ..I asked around many
times ...why no crawl/basement...always the same answer .. it is going
to be too expensive to dig that extra 3 to 7 feet ...same story with
pools .. if you want to have a pool, buy a house with a pool ..never
built one urself ..as it is going to be a waste. project cost 10K,
value added maybe 4-5K

On Feb 16, 7:12 pm, wrote:
On Feb 16, 7:03 pm, marson wrote:



On Feb 16, 6:44 pm, wrote:

On Feb 16, 6:35 pm, Jack wrote:

On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:

I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

95% houses in this region of Texas are on slab. the soil is just to
hard to dig. As far as termites..well decent termite treatment should
take care of the problem...

I'd guess the slab was just built that way. 1 1/2" out is not that
uncommon with slabs, unfortunately, especially in older homes.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

well....the crack in the window is exactly in that corner of the house
where there is the highest movement ..1.5" ...I suspect slab moved a
little bit ..

Well, I'm not there so I really can't say. I can say that 1.5" out of
whack isn't that uncommon. Perhaps you should get another opinion.

Jack wrote:
Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter and
do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that reason
I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in Florida
for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab floor had a
termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good luck.

My experience is the exact opposite.

I grew up on a slab, and there was no trouble with termites. And as far as
I know there was no trouble in the surrounding homes which were also on
slabs.

When I was looking for a house to buy, many of the houses that were on
a crawlspace had obvious termite damage. Some was not repaired, others had
sistered joists. Every crawlspace I ever saw (and I probably have seen a
hundred or so) was a haven for spiders, crickets and just about any other
insect you could name. Not to mention in many cases standing water.

Here's one, it was a nice looking brick house, where I'd guess all the
bugs drowned:

http://tinyurl.com/2vv9a8

--
Tony Sivori

wrote:

I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin


http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

I wouldn't worry your little head about it. It sounds like you
have a high spot at the reference point and the rest of the house
is within tolerances for a home that old. We have repaired
houses that were out by 6" or more and one time a corner was down
by 12". If yours is 30 years old and within those tolerances,
you are good to go.

Trust your engineer, he probably knows what he is doing. Watch
for further movement, but if it is that close after this long, I
don't think it is going to move any further. It could have been
out that much when it was built.

And yes, I am familiar with homes in this area.

Another thing is this; We don't have homes with basements in
this area because we don't need them. There is no frost heave
worth talking about, and that is why most homes have basements.
It is easier to dig down below the frost line and leave it as a
room after pouring your foundation walls. Costs more to fill it
back up with dirt than it is to just leave it.

Here you only need about 36" of footer to support your home, so
we just trench it. I have dug enough in this country to know
that it is not too hard to dig, just unnecessary. I have done
plenty of homes out in the hill country and many have had septic
systems which we dug with back hoe (sometimes needing a hoe ram).

You CAN dig, just don't need to.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

aemeijers wrote:

Only way I would ever build with a crawlspace was if it had a concrete
floor and was tall enough to stand up in. I hate working in
crawlspaces, hated it even when I was young and skinny. My other house
down in Louisiana is on a slab, and yeah, it is a pain, too, but nothing
like the houses on piers (open crawlspaces, basically) are. This place
has basement under the original house, and a (thankfully deep) crawl
under the addition, but they used a backwards-mounted standard basement
window for the outside access, so getting my fat gut in there is a MAJOR
chore.

'Ground is too hard' is nonsense- only valid excuse for not having a
basement, IMHO, is the water table being too high. If the lot consists
of 2 feet of dirt on top of rock ledge, build up the lot. If that isn't
an option, build elsewhere. If you simply MUST build on an undiggable
lot, build the first floor out of concrete.

aem sends...

Neither reason is valid for not having basements in this area.
See my other response in this thread for the real reason. But it
boils down to this: You don't need one, so spend your money on
living space that costs less. If you want one, you can have one,
it will just cost you.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

wrote:

I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin


http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Almost forgot! Welcome to Austin!

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

On Feb 16, 10:47*pm, Robert Allison wrote:
wrote:
I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Almost forgot! *Welcome to Austin!

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

thanks Rob !! appreciate your comments !

wrote:

On Feb 16, 8:57 pm, aemeijers wrote:
Jack wrote:
On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:
I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

Only way I would ever build with a crawlspace was if it had a concrete
floor and was tall enough to stand up in. I hate working in
crawlspaces, hated it even when I was young and skinny. My other house
down in Louisiana is on a slab, and yeah, it is a pain, too, but nothing
like the houses on piers (open crawlspaces, basically) are. This place
has basement under the original house, and a (thankfully deep) crawl
under the addition, but they used a backwards-mounted standard basement
window for the outside access, so getting my fat gut in there is a MAJOR
chore.

'Ground is too hard' is nonsense- only valid excuse for not having a
basement, IMHO, is the water table being too high. If the lot consists
of 2 feet of dirt on top of rock ledge, build up the lot. If that isn't
an option, build elsewhere. If you simply MUST build on an undiggable
lot, build the first floor out of concrete.

aem sends...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

well...I will invite you to hill country in Austin,TX then...if you
find a house with a basement I buy you dinner ..I asked around many
times ...why no crawl/basement...always the same answer .. it is going
to be too expensive to dig that extra 3 to 7 feet ...same story with
pools .. if you want to have a pool, buy a house with a pool ..never
built one urself ..as it is going to be a waste. project cost 10K,
value added maybe 4-5K

The existence of crawl spaces and then basements generally follows the
decreasing winter temperatures since the foundation footings have to go
below the frost line which in the northern states is pretty deep. If you
have to dig that deep anyway, you build a basement. In TX the frost line
is what, 1"?

Robert Allison wrote:
aemeijers wrote:

(snip)
aem sends...

Neither reason is valid for not having basements in this area. See my
other response in this thread for the real reason. But it boils down to
this: You don't need one, so spend your money on living space that
costs less. If you want one, you can have one, it will just cost you.

Eh- different strokes for different folks, etc. I can understand why, if
you have a huge lot as is common in new construction down south, you
would want to put the square footage (aka money) above ground where it
shows. But aside from the frostline question, since you are digging
anyway, a basement can be the cheapest enclosed space you can add to a
house. I'm not a fan of finished basements, never have been. But I
really, really like having a bigass bare concrete room downstairs to
stack stuff and do messy projects. And it DOES make installing and
servicing all the mechanicals much less of a pain. My ideal would be a
walkout basement- best of both worlds.

Yeah, even up north here, the new house-of-many-gables 12-12 roofed
cookie-cutter subdivisions (several notches below McMansions) usually
skip the basements- they claim it doesn't add to the curb appeal, and
allows them to hit their price point for the same amount of finished
space. Personally, I'd rather skip all the superfluous gables and
such(and maybe the dedicated dining room and formal living room), and
build a slightly smaller 70s style ranch with a basement. Which is more
useful- a tall attic that can't even be used for storage, and is 120+ in
summer, or a deep cool dry basement?

But that is just me- YMMV, especially if your living depends on building
houses in the currently popular styles. (I do feel kind of sorry for the
people who were the first ones to move in to many of the recent
mid-range and McMansion subdivisions- those projects were the hardest
hit by the recent housing crunch, and it will be years, if ever, before
many of those subdivisions get built out, or the later phases and
connecting roads get built. A lot of those people have to be upside down
bigtime on resale value.)

Guess I really shouldn't rip on the currently popular styles- my 81 YO
father still makes a decent living in Louisiana, designing
Southern/'Cajun'/faux French style McMansions for the rich doctors. He
thinks they are silly, too, but that is what the well-off customers
want. :^/

aem sends...

aemeijers wrote:
Robert Allison wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

(snip)

aem sends...


Neither reason is valid for not having basements in this area. See my
other response in this thread for the real reason. But it boils down
to this: You don't need one, so spend your money on living space that
costs less. If you want one, you can have one, it will just cost you.

Eh- different strokes for different folks, etc. I can understand why, if
you have a huge lot as is common in new construction down south, you
would want to put the square footage (aka money) above ground where it
shows. But aside from the frostline question, since you are digging
anyway, a basement can be the cheapest enclosed space you can add to a
house. I'm not a fan of finished basements, never have been. But I
really, really like having a bigass bare concrete room downstairs to
stack stuff and do messy projects. And it DOES make installing and
servicing all the mechanicals much less of a pain. My ideal would be a
walkout basement- best of both worlds.

Down here, the digging just involves a trenching machine for
about a day. Then you run the plumbing and whatever electrical
and pour the slab. You only need about 3' deep footers or less
for that.

Digging for a basement would involve a backhoe, trucks to haul
off excess, most likely a hoe ram, several people to build forms,
pouring the foundation walls and waterproofing them, backfilling
and compacting exterior, pouring the basement floor, then
building the first floor, which would probably be framed.

The difference in cost is vast. Without a basement, the
foundation and floor costs about 7.00 sf (not including plumbing,
etc. which is involved with any kind of construction). The
basement would cost about about 30 dollars a sf to get to the
same point in construction.

Yeah, even up north here, the new house-of-many-gables 12-12 roofed
cookie-cutter subdivisions (several notches below McMansions) usually
skip the basements- they claim it doesn't add to the curb appeal, and
allows them to hit their price point for the same amount of finished
space. Personally, I'd rather skip all the superfluous gables and
such(and maybe the dedicated dining room and formal living room), and
build a slightly smaller 70s style ranch with a basement. Which is more
useful- a tall attic that can't even be used for storage, and is 120+ in
summer, or a deep cool dry basement?

But that is just me- YMMV, especially if your living depends on building
houses in the currently popular styles. (I do feel kind of sorry for the
people who were the first ones to move in to many of the recent
mid-range and McMansion subdivisions- those projects were the hardest
hit by the recent housing crunch, and it will be years, if ever, before
many of those subdivisions get built out, or the later phases and
connecting roads get built. A lot of those people have to be upside down
bigtime on resale value.)

Guess I really shouldn't rip on the currently popular styles- my 81 YO
father still makes a decent living in Louisiana, designing
Southern/'Cajun'/faux French style McMansions for the rich doctors. He
thinks they are silly, too, but that is what the well-off customers
want. :^/

aem sends...

For various reasons, I have only seen about 5 basements in my 35
years of construction in this area. They just don't make sense
down here. When someone has a basement, it is sort of a; Wow,
that is wild! kind of thing.

OTOH, plenty of storm cellars.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

It is sheer laziness and cheapness on the part of builders. Unless it is
solid granite, dirt can be dug. To say it would cost $10,000.00 to build a
basement, is an excuse. Here in the north, foundations have to go down 4 to
5 feet, so just about every house builder creates a basement, and yes, it
can cost $10,000.00 and nobody considers it too much.

Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their pocket.

wrote in message
...
On Feb 16, 8:57 pm, aemeijers wrote:
Jack wrote:
On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:
I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

Only way I would ever build with a crawlspace was if it had a concrete
floor and was tall enough to stand up in. I hate working in
crawlspaces, hated it even when I was young and skinny. My other house
down in Louisiana is on a slab, and yeah, it is a pain, too, but nothing
like the houses on piers (open crawlspaces, basically) are. This place
has basement under the original house, and a (thankfully deep) crawl
under the addition, but they used a backwards-mounted standard basement
window for the outside access, so getting my fat gut in there is a MAJOR
chore.

'Ground is too hard' is nonsense- only valid excuse for not having a
basement, IMHO, is the water table being too high. If the lot consists
of 2 feet of dirt on top of rock ledge, build up the lot. If that isn't
an option, build elsewhere. If you simply MUST build on an undiggable
lot, build the first floor out of concrete.

aem sends...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

well...I will invite you to hill country in Austin,TX then...if you
find a house with a basement I buy you dinner ..I asked around many
times ...why no crawl/basement...always the same answer .. it is going
to be too expensive to dig that extra 3 to 7 feet ...same story with
pools .. if you want to have a pool, buy a house with a pool ..never
built one urself ..as it is going to be a waste. project cost 10K,
value added maybe 4-5K

On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:33:49 -0500, EXT wrote:

It is sheer laziness and cheapness on the part of builders. Unless it is
solid granite, dirt can be dug. To say it would cost $10,000.00 to build a
basement, is an excuse. Here in the north, foundations have to go down 4 to
5 feet, so just about every house builder creates a basement, and yes, it
can cost $10,000.00 and nobody considers it too much.


Nobody with money to burn. You can go ahead and spend the money if you
want.

Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their

Lousy thinking. The builder who spends an extra $10,000 to fight with jack
hammers and explosives to build a basement may not get that extra $10,000
in selling price. Only an idiot will spend $10,000 to get back $3,000.
Send me your $10,000 and I will give you $3,000 for it.

wrote in message
...
On Feb 16, 8:57 pm, aemeijers wrote:
Jack wrote:
On Feb 16, 5:40 pm, wrote:
I am planning to buy a house. Hill country, Austin TX. The house was
built in 1978, 3BR, 1800 sq feet, 2 stories. The soil is rather
"rocky" there. As I saw a couple of diagonal crack coming from the
windows I contracted a foundation inspector to check up the slab
underneath the house. He came over and took measurements (he used some
powered device with an antenna). The outcome of the measurements is in
the attached link. Do you think that 1.5" difference within 40 feet is
in tolerance ? He recommended that no foundation repair is needed. I
am a little concerned though so I seek a second opinion. Pls let me
know - thanks so much
Martin

http://www.newhouse.com-a.googlepage...Untitled-1.jpg

Not a foundation expert, but doesn't sound critical to me. My main
concern with a slab foundation is they are prone for termite invasion.
Crack usualy will open beneath a wall unseen and termites can enter
and do extensive damage before you realize they are around. For that
reason I would never be sucker enough to buy a slab house. I lived in
Florida for 40 years and in my subdivision every house with a slab
floor had a termite problem. Those with crawl spaced were spared. Good
luck.

Only way I would ever build with a crawlspace was if it had a concrete
floor and was tall enough to stand up in. I hate working in
crawlspaces, hated it even when I was young and skinny. My other house
down in Louisiana is on a slab, and yeah, it is a pain, too, but nothing
like the houses on piers (open crawlspaces, basically) are. This place
has basement under the original house, and a (thankfully deep) crawl
under the addition, but they used a backwards-mounted standard basement
window for the outside access, so getting my fat gut in there is a MAJOR
chore.

'Ground is too hard' is nonsense- only valid excuse for not having a
basement, IMHO, is the water table being too high. If the lot consists
of 2 feet of dirt on top of rock ledge, build up the lot. If that isn't
an option, build elsewhere. If you simply MUST build on an undiggable
lot, build the first floor out of concrete.

aem sends...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

well...I will invite you to hill country in Austin,TX then...if you
find a house with a basement I buy you dinner ..I asked around many
times ...why no crawl/basement...always the same answer .. it is going
to be too expensive to dig that extra 3 to 7 feet ...same story with
pools .. if you want to have a pool, buy a house with a pool ..never
built one urself ..as it is going to be a waste. project cost 10K,
value added maybe 4-5K

Robert Allison wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
Robert Allison wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

(educational personal knowledge snipped)

For various reasons, I have only seen about 5 basements in my 35 years
of construction in this area. They just don't make sense down here.
When someone has a basement, it is sort of a; Wow, that is wild! kind of
thing.

OTOH, plenty of storm cellars.

30 bucks per square foot sounds like real cheap space to me. Doesn't
above-grade finish space still run upwards of 120 per square foot? Even
if you cut that in half and call it 'semi-finished storage', the hole in
the ground looks like a winner.

Oh, I believe you that No Basement is the 'usual and customary' in your
area. And in Louisiana, even in the first solid land one parish back
from the Gulf, the water table is too damn high for basements, unless
you build a hill on the lot.

But where are people supposed to keep all their STUFF? (Tools, kid crap,
off-season decorations, workbenches, etc.) In Lake Charles, everyone has
a storage shed (Called a Louisiana basement)in the back end of their
carport, and it is always filled like Fibber McGee's closet. How do they
do it over in Texas? Up here in Michigan, the folks without proper
basements end up with multiple prefab backyard sheds, or put up pole
barns if they are rich enough. (In summer, they fill the garage, but you
have to park inside in winter up here unless you are a masochist- it SNOWS.)

Or do people building new houses simply swear off being packrats?

aem sends...

Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call
it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their

Lousy thinking. The builder who spends an extra $10,000 to fight with
jack
hammers and explosives to build a basement may not get that extra $10,000
in selling price. Only an idiot will spend $10,000 to get back $3,000.
Send me your $10,000 and I will give you $3,000 for it.

You are very opinionated and don't seem to think very deeply. Yes, solid
rock may be a major deterent, but hard pan clay and other soils should not.
In this region, houses without a basement have problems selling. That extra
$10,000.00 can double your square footage, great for hobbies, storage and
other uses. The cost per square foot is quite small. Only your idiot would
be too cheap to turn down doubling your square footage for a small price.

"EXT" wrote in message
anews.com...


Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call
it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their

Lousy thinking. The builder who spends an extra $10,000 to fight with
jack
hammers and explosives to build a basement may not get that extra $10,000
in selling price. Only an idiot will spend $10,000 to get back $3,000.
Send me your $10,000 and I will give you $3,000 for it.

You are very opinionated and don't seem to think very deeply. Yes, solid
rock may be a major deterent, but hard pan clay and other soils should
not. In this region, houses without a basement have problems selling. That
extra $10,000.00 can double your square footage, great for hobbies,
storage and other uses. The cost per square foot is quite small. Only your
idiot would be too cheap to turn down doubling your square footage for a
small price.


Several years ago I was able to afford another house. I wanted to build
one, but could not find any land like I wanted to build on . I had to look
around for a while to find a house with a basement that I could afford in an
area I wanted to be in. This is in the South. I would not have a house
that did not have a basement. It may add $ 10,000 to the building price,
but to live in , the sqft is worth it. There are very few houses being
built with basements in the area. Sometimes it is hard to build the
basement like I want. That is one that you can walk out of without having
to climb steps.

The kind of house I absolutly would not have is the slab houses. Especially
if there is any plumbing or wiring under the slab.

aemeijers wrote:
Robert Allison wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

Robert Allison wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

(educational personal knowledge snipped)


For various reasons, I have only seen about 5 basements in my 35 years
of construction in this area. They just don't make sense down here.
When someone has a basement, it is sort of a; Wow, that is wild! kind
of thing.

OTOH, plenty of storm cellars.

30 bucks per square foot sounds like real cheap space to me. Doesn't
above-grade finish space still run upwards of 120 per square foot? Even
if you cut that in half and call it 'semi-finished storage', the hole in
the ground looks like a winner.

Oh, I believe you that No Basement is the 'usual and customary' in your
area. And in Louisiana, even in the first solid land one parish back
from the Gulf, the water table is too damn high for basements, unless
you build a hill on the lot.

But where are people supposed to keep all their STUFF? (Tools, kid crap,
off-season decorations, workbenches, etc.) In Lake Charles, everyone has
a storage shed (Called a Louisiana basement)in the back end of their
carport, and it is always filled like Fibber McGee's closet. How do they
do it over in Texas? Up here in Michigan, the folks without proper
basements end up with multiple prefab backyard sheds, or put up pole
barns if they are rich enough. (In summer, they fill the garage, but you
have to park inside in winter up here unless you are a masochist- it
SNOWS.)

Or do people building new houses simply swear off being packrats?

aem sends...

I have a shop. 32'x 26' But most people have attics and they
use them. Alot of portable buildings go up.

Just for the hell of it, I did a quick estimate and for a 1600 sf
house, square, with nothing fancy, the basement cost is going to
be about 50,000, conservatively. That is pretty close to my
original 30.00 sf. Since most homes of that size with nothing
fancy around here are going for about 150,000, you have just
increased the cost of the house by 33%. And you still don't even
have a floor yet.

I will wait to see if the basement phenomenae ever takes off
here, but I doubt it.

The closest thing that I have been involved with are these
interior storm cellars, but they are only about 10'x10' and stay
flooded alot of the time, just from ground water.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

"Robert Allison" wrote in message
news:eA1uj.8284$k_4.1047@trnddc04...
For various reasons, I have only seen about 5 basements in my 35
years of construction in this area. They just don't make sense down here.
When someone has a basement, it is sort of a; Wow, that is wild! kind of
thing.

OTOH, plenty of storm cellars.

You are building houses to sell and not to live in. Many people like to
have a big impressive house above ground to show off.

If I lived in some parts of the country, I think it would have the bedrooms
under ground. Call that the storm celler.

On Feb 17, 6:24 pm, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
"EXT" wrote in message

anews.com...



Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call
it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their

Lousy thinking. The builder who spends an extra $10,000 to fight with
jack
hammers and explosives to build a basement may not get that extra $10,000
in selling price. Only an idiot will spend $10,000 to get back $3,000.
Send me your $10,000 and I will give you $3,000 for it.

You are very opinionated and don't seem to think very deeply. Yes, solid
rock may be a major deterent, but hard pan clay and other soils should
not. In this region, houses without a basement have problems selling. That
extra $10,000.00 can double your square footage, great for hobbies,
storage and other uses. The cost per square foot is quite small. Only your
idiot would be too cheap to turn down doubling your square footage for a
small price.

Several years ago I was able to afford another house. I wanted to build
one, but could not find any land like I wanted to build on . I had to look
around for a while to find a house with a basement that I could afford in an
area I wanted to be in. This is in the South. I would not have a house
that did not have a basement. It may add $ 10,000 to the building price,
but to live in , the sqft is worth it. There are very few houses being
built with basements in the area. Sometimes it is hard to build the
basement like I want. That is one that you can walk out of without having
to climb steps.

The kind of house I absolutly would not have is the slab houses. Especially
if there is any plumbing or wiring under the slab.

$10,000 for a basement? That's dreaming. Last project I did with a
basement, the excavation and masonry for the basement (basically 20 x
50 with a 36x32 attached garage) was $70,000. Granted, it was ICF
which is more expensive than block, but still, 10,000?

On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:33:49 -0500, "EXT"
wrote:

It is sheer laziness and cheapness on the part of builders. Unless it is
solid granite, dirt can be dug. To say it would cost $10,000.00 to build a
basement, is an excuse. Here in the north, foundations have to go down 4 to
5 feet, so just about every house builder creates a basement, and yes, it
can cost $10,000.00 and nobody considers it too much.

Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their pocket.

Actually, there are several granite quarries in the Hill Country of
Texas. Water wells are seldom cased because they are solid rock, top
to bottom.

Fact is folks just don't have to burrow into the ground down here.

I agree southern builders are allowed to skip a lot of UNNECESSARY
expenses. It is called standard practice because... it is standard.

I would not live in a place that sells insulated coveralls in August
but not lawn chairs.

--Andy Asberry--
------Texas-----

On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:17:51 -0500, EXT wrote:


Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call
it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their

Lousy thinking. The builder who spends an extra $10,000 to fight with
jack
hammers and explosives to build a basement may not get that extra $10,000
in selling price. Only an idiot will spend $10,000 to get back $3,000.
Send me your $10,000 and I will give you $3,000 for it.

You are very opinionated and don't seem to think very deeply. Yes, solid
rock may be a major deterent, but hard pan clay and other soils should not.
In this region, houses without a basement have problems selling. That extra
$10,000.00 can double your square footage, great for hobbies, storage and
other uses. The cost per square foot is quite small. Only your idiot would
be too cheap to turn down doubling your square footage for a small price.

Here in southern Missouri we have a lot of rock and the expense of building
a basement is much more than the value of a basement. If the problem is
only hard clay then the extra costs of putting in a basement is minimal,
but again, will the builder be able to recover all the cost? It seems to
be that if houses without basements are that much harder to sell then you
live around a bunch of fools. Again, the question would be can I recover
the full cost of the basement. If not, only a fool would put one in. That
question needs to be decided by the individual builder.

I buy, fix, and resell real estate. The ONLY way the value of the house
doubles with a basement is if the basement is fully finished. Even here
where basements are rare I have had to turn down rare houses with basements
because other factors negate the sole benefit of having a basement as the
houses would still be difficult to sell.

On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:29:42 -0800 (PST), marson wrote:

On Feb 17, 6:24 pm, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
"EXT" wrote in message

anews.com...



Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call
it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their

Lousy thinking. The builder who spends an extra $10,000 to fight with
jack
hammers and explosives to build a basement may not get that extra $10,000
in selling price. Only an idiot will spend $10,000 to get back $3,000.
Send me your $10,000 and I will give you $3,000 for it.

You are very opinionated and don't seem to think very deeply. Yes, solid
rock may be a major deterent, but hard pan clay and other soils should
not. In this region, houses without a basement have problems selling. That
extra $10,000.00 can double your square footage, great for hobbies,
storage and other uses. The cost per square foot is quite small. Only your
idiot would be too cheap to turn down doubling your square footage for a
small price.

Several years ago I was able to afford another house. I wanted to build
one, but could not find any land like I wanted to build on . I had to look
around for a while to find a house with a basement that I could afford in an
area I wanted to be in. This is in the South. I would not have a house
that did not have a basement. It may add $ 10,000 to the building price,
but to live in , the sqft is worth it. There are very few houses being
built with basements in the area. Sometimes it is hard to build the
basement like I want. That is one that you can walk out of without having
to climb steps.

The kind of house I absolutly would not have is the slab houses. Especially
if there is any plumbing or wiring under the slab.

$10,000 for a basement? That's dreaming. Last project I did with a
basement, the excavation and masonry for the basement (basically 20 x
50 with a 36x32 attached garage) was $70,000. Granted, it was ICF
which is more expensive than block, but still, 10,000?

It can easily cost an *extra* $10,000 over a simple footing and crawl space
in areas with lots of rock to build a basement.

Mike Dobony wrote:
On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:29:42 -0800 (PST), marson wrote:

On Feb 17, 6:24 pm, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
"EXT" wrote in message

anews.com...



Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call
it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their
Lousy thinking. The builder who spends an extra $10,000 to fight with
jack
hammers and explosives to build a basement may not get that extra $10,000
in selling price. Only an idiot will spend $10,000 to get back $3,000.
Send me your $10,000 and I will give you $3,000 for it.
You are very opinionated and don't seem to think very deeply. Yes, solid
rock may be a major deterent, but hard pan clay and other soils should
not. In this region, houses without a basement have problems selling. That
extra $10,000.00 can double your square footage, great for hobbies,
storage and other uses. The cost per square foot is quite small. Only your
idiot would be too cheap to turn down doubling your square footage for a
small price.
Several years ago I was able to afford another house. I wanted to build
one, but could not find any land like I wanted to build on . I had to look
around for a while to find a house with a basement that I could afford in an
area I wanted to be in. This is in the South. I would not have a house
that did not have a basement. It may add $ 10,000 to the building price,
but to live in , the sqft is worth it. There are very few houses being
built with basements in the area. Sometimes it is hard to build the
basement like I want. That is one that you can walk out of without having
to climb steps.

The kind of house I absolutly would not have is the slab houses. Especially
if there is any plumbing or wiring under the slab.
$10,000 for a basement? That's dreaming. Last project I did with a
basement, the excavation and masonry for the basement (basically 20 x
50 with a 36x32 attached garage) was $70,000. Granted, it was ICF
which is more expensive than block, but still, 10,000?

It can easily cost an *extra* $10,000 over a simple footing and crawl space
in areas with lots of rock to build a basement.

I understand what you builders are saying- as a seller of spec houses,
you have to put the bucks into what brings the customers in. However,
'no basement' also turns a certain percentage of customers off. I
probably looked at 100 houses before I settled for this one (because
interest rates were about to spike bigtime). Any houses without
basements were scratched off immediately, even if they had a tall
floored attic or barn out back. There just wasn't enough storage space
that wasn't subject to freezing or superheating like happens with sheds
and attics. And like I said in a previous post, I hate working on
mechanicals in a crawlspace. (I grew up in the business- I know the
trades hate crawlspaces, too.)

Probably why I'll never buy a prebuilt new house, if I ever get that
rich. The gingerbread and frou-frou that sells houses these days means
nothing to me. A full basement, to me, is worth more than the fancy
rooflines, granite counters, etc, that are the current fashion. If I
can't afford a custom house built like I want it, I'll make do with
the closest existing house I can find, at a lower price point.

Just sayin'.

aem sends...

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:55:11 GMT, aemeijers wrote:

Mike Dobony wrote:
On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:29:42 -0800 (PST), marson wrote:

On Feb 17, 6:24 pm, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
"EXT" wrote in message

anews.com...



Southern climates allow the builders to skip a lot of expenses, and call
it
standard practice, which keeps more money in their
Lousy thinking. The builder who spends an extra $10,000 to fight with
jack
hammers and explosives to build a basement may not get that extra $10,000
in selling price. Only an idiot will spend $10,000 to get back $3,000.
Send me your $10,000 and I will give you $3,000 for it.
You are very opinionated and don't seem to think very deeply. Yes, solid
rock may be a major deterent, but hard pan clay and other soils should
not. In this region, houses without a basement have problems selling. That
extra $10,000.00 can double your square footage, great for hobbies,
storage and other uses. The cost per square foot is quite small. Only your
idiot would be too cheap to turn down doubling your square footage for a
small price.
Several years ago I was able to afford another house. I wanted to build
one, but could not find any land like I wanted to build on . I had to look
around for a while to find a house with a basement that I could afford in an
area I wanted to be in. This is in the South. I would not have a house
that did not have a basement. It may add $ 10,000 to the building price,
but to live in , the sqft is worth it. There are very few houses being
built with basements in the area. Sometimes it is hard to build the
basement like I want. That is one that you can walk out of without having
to climb steps.

The kind of house I absolutly would not have is the slab houses. Especially
if there is any plumbing or wiring under the slab.
$10,000 for a basement? That's dreaming. Last project I did with a
basement, the excavation and masonry for the basement (basically 20 x
50 with a 36x32 attached garage) was $70,000. Granted, it was ICF
which is more expensive than block, but still, 10,000?

It can easily cost an *extra* $10,000 over a simple footing and crawl space
in areas with lots of rock to build a basement.

I understand what you builders are saying- as a seller of spec houses,
you have to put the bucks into what brings the customers in.

And a point you seem to miss, what will recover the cost. I would never
put several thousand$ into something that will not get more than that back
in sales price. I agree that a house with a basement will sell faster than
an identical house without a basement. The question is whether or not it
will sell for more than the cost to put one in. In areas where boulders or
solid rock are a problem a builder will not likely recover that cost. He
sells the house faster, but at a lower profit margin. Not good business
practice.

However,
'no basement' also turns a certain percentage of customers off. I
probably looked at 100 houses before I settled for this one (because
interest rates were about to spike bigtime). Any houses without
basements were scratched off immediately, even if they had a tall
floored attic or barn out back. There just wasn't enough storage space
that wasn't subject to freezing or superheating like happens with sheds
and attics. And like I said in a previous post, I hate working on
mechanicals in a crawlspace. (I grew up in the business- I know the
trades hate crawlspaces, too.)


I just got done doing a full summer and fall hanging drywall in mostly new
construction and some of the crawl spaces were not at all bad to work in, a
minimum of about 3' of headroom. The house I am fixing up now in one area
has enough crawl space for my 2 and 3 yo grandsons to crawl in. If only I
could teach them quickly to do plumbing . . . I understand your preference
for purchasing a house with a basement. I agree with your preference.
What I disagree with is the statement that it is statement that builders as
skimping on not putting in basements in the south. I simply am making the
claim that many times it is simply not a feature that will increase the
selling price of the house by the extra $$$ needed to put in the basement.
It is often a simple business decision to not waste money on something that
will not recover the cost of the additional feature.

Probably why I'll never buy a prebuilt new house, if I ever get that
rich. The gingerbread and frou-frou that sells houses these days means
nothing to me. A full basement, to me, is worth more than the fancy
rooflines, granite counters, etc, that are the current fashion. If I
can't afford a custom house built like I want it, I'll make do with
the closest existing house I can find, at a lower price point.


And when you are rich and can afford to throw away money you can certainly
do that. Until then . . .

Just sayin'.

aem sends...