1859 Farmhouse - Potential Flip - Foundation Questions

[Becca Knowles]

Hello! I'm fairly new to BP, been lurking for a few months. My husband and I are looking to get started in the real estate world by flipping a house. We'd eventually like to move into buy and hold properties but thought we would be more comfortable flipping a house or 2 first. Little background on our location, we located in central Maine, not a hot market by any means but fixer upper properties are priced very low. Our current home was an old farmhouse that we have been fixing up as we go, it was a lot of work but it's given us confidence that we can handle similar properties. 

The place we're currently looking at has about 12 acres of land, mostly cleared. It's situated on a hill and has river frontage. The house is very old (1859) but it does have a lot of potential. But it will need a LOT of work, insulation, updated wiring, new roof, heating system, and potentially a foundation. Not to mention the cosmetics.

The foundation is probably our biggest concern right now. There's been a lot of rain and moisture coming in from where the 2 basement window openings are. Other than that, the rest looks good (for what it is) no bowing or any signs of flooding. 

Anyone have experience with old stone foundations? We're wondering if we should budget for an entire new foundation or if this is repairable in any way? (I've also included a picture of the base of one of the chimneys that is splitting.)

[Christopher Phillips]

@Becca Knowles

Welcome to BP...

Stone foundations are fine. They do need a little maintenance from time to time. Unlike poured foundations or brick/cement-block foundations, the stones aren't very uniform, so there is a little art to replacing individual stones.

Sometimes you have to repoint the mortar in between the stones. It's just a matter of removing the old mortar material, cleaning out the opening, and then applying new mortar in the space. It's suggested to not use modern types of mortar mix. The Portland mixes won't breathe and wick away moisture. That will crack the stones over time. Older style mixes with some added sand works best.

Outside of that, if you really needed to, you could replace sections with cement block or poured cement.

As long as the walls are true and not leaning or bulging, then it's just a matter of maintenance on the mortar from time to time.