First Time Buyer Scared of Foundation issues

[James King]

I am looking into buying a rental property and just had it inspected by a local foundation repair contractor. I am showing roughly 2" in

deflection from left to right (20' Distance) and about 1" from front to back (60' Distance). I believe the cause is the high side has some

grading issues that need to be fixed to redirect the flow of water away from the foundation. The contractor said I needed 36 Piers and quoted me $19,600 for the repair and made sure that I knew that this did not include plumbing or electrical repairs. I am in San Antonio, TX. I have 3 days left in my option period and plan to go back to the sellers agent to discuss further.

My question is a 2 fold.
#1 should I be super scared of buying this house because of the foundation being out of tolerance? or would it be reasonable to expect the expansive clay to dry out over time after grading is corrected thus fixing the slab?

#2 Does the quote seem high in today's market?

Thanks in advance, this is the first rental property I have been able to win so I hate to let it go if there may be a reasonable solution.

[Costin I.]

@James King 

#1 Yes, you should be scared of getting into major renovations, if this is your first rehab project (see below the list of things that you need to account for). If you done other projects, then is just a matter of proper risk mitigation, and if enough meat on the bone.

No, the foundation and the problems are not going to be fixed after grading is corrected. The TX soil/clay will continue to work and shift. You need to find and correct the root cause anyway.

#2 Yes, the quote seem high - get more quotes. At such numbers, it's worth spending $250-400 and getting a good structural engineer to tell you exactly what the foundation contractor needs to do to fix the foundation.

Anyway, those are my 2¢, and here are some more:

1. If the foundation work was done properly and you get a warranty (make sure it's not only for original owner) from a reputable company (still active, not defunct), you probably are good.

2. I would not trust an email from the seller - get your own structural engineer there to check on things.

Just be aware, ​there is more to foundation repairs than just the foundation. Here is what I collected as "warnings" or lessons (from various sources and some experienced myself) about foundation problems and/or repairs:

1. If you have brick on the exterior, you might have to do tuckpointing. $$$

2. If you have tiles inside, the tiles will crack. And if they have to drill holes for interior piers, you pretty much will have to replace the entire flooring. $$$$

3. You'll have drywall cracks, so you should factor in drywall repairs and repainting. $$$

4. If the doors were adjusted to a crooked foundation, you might need to readjust or even buy new doors. $$$

5. A hydrostatic plumbing test is recommended to be performed by a licensed plumber post Foundation work. Plumbing leaks may void warranty. Old houses have cast iron pipers that will disintegrate (because of age and/or foundation shift). You'll have to replace all plumbing at that point. $$$$

6. Depending on how bad is the foundation state (how many inches you have to correct), is very possible the sewer line will disconnect/break in the horizontal portions. Repairing that requires tunneling, a repair that could be very expensive. $$$$

7. If the driveway- garage differential is big (for example, the driveway slab is sunken and you need to raise the house, you'll end up with an even bigger gap after repair) you might need to replace the driveway. $$$$

8. If you are dealing with an addition built on 12" beams (or if the original foundation is old and not built to current standards), the repair company might not be able to push the piers down to refusal depth or psi due to the beam not taking the load, thus leveling it, but not guaranteeing it will not continue to move in the future, thus not providing warranty.

9. The owner may be required to provide a structural engineers evaluation prior to warranty work.

10. Read the fine print in the foundation repair contract: Damages to the property, interior and exterior as a result of the foundation movement are not covered, during and after works completion. This usually includes but is not limited to PLUMBING, flooring, landscape, utility lines and masonry. The foundation repair does not cover any repairs that may be needed to the home during and after works completion. And you'll have new cracks in unexpected places, old cracks that will not close, but instead enlarge. My suggestion is to add at least 25% to the cost of the foundation repair as mitigation to the problems that will come from the foundation repair.

11. The foundation repair company salespeople (and even owners, in some case) of structure companies are not engineers and though they may be right most of the time, there will be gaps in their assumptions. Unless it's a small job with an obvious solution, get an engineer ($250+) to look at it and sketch up a scope of work for a contractor to do.

12. Many foundation problems have water as a root cause - be that infiltration in a crawl space, drainage around the site, cracked sewer line or water line. Before solving the foundation you might want to get to the root cause of the foundation issue and resolve it, otherwise you might repair the foundation for nothing.

13. If you repair the foundation on only select places, don't be surprised if the other sides will suddenly start "working". If the house is stabilized on one side, you might get cracks in the other side soon after. In other words, if you do a foundation repair, it's better to get the whole house stabilized and the warranty for the whole house.

If anyone has more experience with any of these, please correct me if mistaken.