Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

The wife and I are looking at new homes, and we found an oddity for the Southern states, a home with a full basement. The house is a large home, and the basement is HUGE. We typically never see homes with basements in this part of the country, apparently the previous owner was from the North and wanted one.

We inspected the house today, and I noticed at the bottom of one of the basement walls where it meets the floor it was a little wet. Not a puddle or anything, but some seepage. Also, one of the back walls had a crack diagonal across it.

How common are you basement owners seeing cracks or water seepage? I'm trying to understand if this is normal, or if it spells future doom. The house is only a couple years old, everything still appears brand new.

Here is the house I'm interested in, if you click the photo gallery there are pics of the basement. It is 4,261 sq-ft and on 1 acre of land.

http://search.har.com/engine/dispSea...?mlnum=3325073

Thanks for any info!
Tony

black_z

iTrader: (4)

Almost all homes up here have basements and water seepage/flooding is pretty common, mostly on older homes at lower elevations. It is not a good problem to have. It can be remedied with landscaping, gutter/spout changes and tile though.

Rare99Z

iTrader: (35)

we had a crack in our foudation that was causing water seepage in our basement last year. My parents went to menards and bought this stuff to fix and cure the crack. It worked great.


btw that house looks gorgeous and its pretty cheap for the size. Good luck with it

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

mvr 155 (Mike K.) is an appraiser and inspector, maybe shoot him an email.

Asmodeus

I work for Eagle Concrete up here. I repair all the stuff you're talking about for all the major builders in Northern Illinois.. Montalbano, Centex, Lennar, William Ryan, Wiesman Hughes, Kensington, Kimball Hill, Pasquinelli, Neuman... etc.

It's common out here to see foundation cracks 1/8th of an inch or smaller that break the damp-proofing spray on the exterior. Especially around basement windows and along form seams. As long as the crack is not 1/4" or larger, and there is no deflection in the wall (where one side is falling away or falling in) then it is not of structural concern. If it is, then the wall needs to be reset and pinned with reinforcement bar. (kinda like stitches).

The most common way to seal these is with an injection process. Probably like rare99z did, bought an epoxy injection kit (the one up here is called LCR made by polygem in west chicago) and filled the crack with a liquid epoxy. The epoxy in the kit cures harder than the concrete, and it seeps into the concrete on each side about 1/16th of an inch, since concrete is porous, and "welds" it back together. This has been done for a long time and works very well if there is not more settling. If there is, then there is a chance that a crack will happen next to the repair, or break away from the epoxy.

Newer construction where this tends to happen more, or where the ground has an excess amount of clay and does not settle evenly, I use a urethane to fill the crack. It's easier to get all the way through the wall, and adds some flexibility without breaking. It will also fill a crack that runs through a pipe sleeve, or fills a beam pocket.

I charge 25$ per linear foot, and the warranty is lifetime. Once they are injected correctly, that's it, they don't leak.

The only thing that concerns me is you mention a diagonal crack. I usually see those when an excavator has pushed the wall when backfilling. Those are typically accompanied by not just the diagonal one you see.. but a diagonal one you DON'T see crossing the one you can like an X inside the wall. If it's like a 45 degree diagonal like I'm thinking, I'm guessing the one you can see starts about 10-12 feet to the side of a corner and tails off by the floor at the corner. If it is, look outside at that corner and you should see the top of other one on the outside. Then that crack willhave to be drilled from the inside and filled, or it will bleed through the wall. If it's not that extreme of a diagonal, don't worry about it, it's a standard crack.

The water at the floor/wall joint may or may not be related to a crack. If it's under one, then yeah, obvious. If not, and it's by a seam, check around the wall ties, which are the metal rods that run through the wall. Those can also leak. If there nothing suspect, check the ejector and sump pumps for proper operation, you could be getting hydrostatic pressure under the slab if they aren't working correctly. It could also be humidity if the basement seems damp when you walk it. If it's new construction, concrete takes time to cure. Hell, the Hoover Dam is STILL curing.

minty

if my eyes serve me right, the best thing you have going is that the basement isn't finished. So any problems you might have will be easier fixed now, than having to take down drywall later. Don't they do home inspections there on homes being bought? See what they think if you are really serious about buying it. Also, that house here would be 1-1.3 Million.....

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

1.3 mil in the middle of nowhere, and 3 mil within 30 miles of downtown chicago.

Nine Ball

iTrader: (38)

That is why Houston rocks

This house is only about 30 miles from downtown Houston, and only 15 minutes from my job. If you want to be sad about real estate pricing, go to www.har.com (listings in the Houston area) and search around based on price. You can get HUGE brand new homes here for less than $400K no prob.

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

Yeah Houston is one of the few big city markets where you can find an acre and a 4000 square foot house for < $500K. Even markets like Atlanta and Charlotte are more like Chicago.

Back to your prospect. You will want to get a concrete firm out to check what's going on, and you might end up adding some sort of rider to the purchase should you buy the house. The leek or seepage could be one small spot, all it takes. Our townhouse had a leak from our rooftop door, it was a 10 minute fix of the flashing.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

In the near-north 'burbs of Chicago, $400k will get you a 1,200 sqft. home that was built in 1947 with the last significant remodel being in 1972.

I want to move to TX.

SilverGhost

iTrader: (53)

Greg I would imagine Tony is trying to determine if he wants to get to the point of a home inspection, I paid $350 to have my 2500 square foot house inspected after we made the offer on it, I wouldn't do that before I was sure I wanted to buy the place.

JUICED96Z

iTrader: (2)

Tony, did YOU inspect the house or an inspector? My mother is a realator and I would send an inspector to look the house over. People do some shady stuff that most people would not see till right away.

Also make sure having a basement down there will not hurt resale.

Most basements ARE damp, mine is finished and does not have ANY wet spots but we do run a de-humidifier. Mines in the $225k range to give you an idea.

Id honestly get an inspector if you are serious about the house. Its well worth the money, if its not just a small minor crack that can be filled it can get $$$.

If the do find something you can put an offer on the house but in the contract have them fix it or any other issues before closing.

My mother did this on our house and the agreement was that if this one item was not fixed in so many weaks they would saud the entire back yard. Well the deadline came and went and we got a sauded backyard

99DWPTA

iTrader: (10)

Thats one sexy house for that price. that would go for 6-800k in my area.

2002z28

iTrader: (1)

besides the crack, another minus to the basement is that it is only eight foot tall. once you add a drop celing, that will cover all the hvac plumbing, the height will be around 6.5-7 foot tall. we are building a home right now and our basement will be dug nine foot deep. if you are a taller person you might not like the basement after you finish it.

winger4800

iTrader: (12)

HOLY SH*T thats cheap....if only the market in Chicago was that good.....sad cause I paid near 200K for a townhouse up here while my dad bought a house in Texas 2 years ago and only paid 90K....

winger4800

iTrader: (12)

o yeah and I just bought my car from The Woodlands just a few months ago....From XtremeBBQ....

seems like a very nice area too...

Jakes Dad

Your water in the basement shouldn't be an issue. The rains you had recently just didn't have anywhere to go. Check the down spouts. Make sure they go further into the yard. More than likely they dump right at the side of the house and the water has nowhere to go once the ground gets full of water. No sump?

milow68

I was going to say the same thing as Jakesdad about the downspouts and make sure the yard is pitched away from the house. Sometimes crack happen when they are loading up the forms from inside the basement and lift them out and bump the soft wall which sometimes doesn't come out for a few months or sometimes years.
You guys in Shytown don't have to go south you can get some good size houses in the Fox Valley up north about three or so hours. Mine is cheap $242k with three plus garage (1150sq ft) with in floor heat but not 4200sq ft.