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Updated over 3 years ago on . Most recent reply
Caving foundation on 1950´S ranch
Hi! Working on buying a vacation rental in Western MA. The market here is HOT. Somehow got our hands on a cute little ranch to rent out near ski slopes, but the inspection revealed a slightly caving foundation in one corner of the house. The inspector couldn’t fit into the crawl space to assess the damage properly, so based on the condition of the floors and windows, he told us this: There is a problem, but it’s not urgent, so put 10K away for when you’re ready to address it. Trying to find a mason in the next 5 days before the contingency date is going to be hard. Anybody have experience with cinder block foundations caving in slightly, and crawl spaces to access them? Thanks!!
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It doesn't sound that serious and as @Paul Sandhu stated, it can be done by you if you're somewhat handy. It's apparent that Paul hasn't been in a Home Depot lately though, lol.
I wouldn't walk away from the deal because of it. If you're local, can you get under there with a bright light and take a look? Probably a skirting wall is getting pushed in. Most houses on crawls have multiple piers supporting the structure. If you ensure the house is properly supported the caved wall can be repaired as required to keep it from getting pushed in further. (very possibly a water control issue such as getting rain water away from the house.)