All Forum Posts by: Mike Hasson

Uneven floors are relatively common in my area, especially for older homes. I see a lot of suggestions here to add height from the top, but that isn't where I'd start. 

What's it look like underneath the floor? Do you have a crawlspace or basement to take a look? What are the dimensions of the joists? Are they fully attached to the sill plate? Are fasteners coming loose? Are joists bending or breaking? How's the foundation walls look? Is there moisture problems? What is the span of the joists? How far apart are they? 

Answering these questions first will help you to find a suitable solution. 

Post pictures and measurements if you have them.

Looks like you already got your answer, but I just wanted to share a recent experience inspecting a tenant occupied property.

Messes, mice, bedbugs, and lease violations aside, there was a water leak in the bathroom that was left so long, the floors had deteriorated to the point where someone could have fallen through the floor.

Nobody thought to tell the landlord? Maybe that would have exposed their violations? Idk, but THAT is the kind of thing you should be looking for.

A good question and I commend your decision to learn how to estimate budgets. It will be invaluable in your investing journey. You'll get better with experience but here's a few suggestions to get you started. 

A) The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs by J Scott. This book break down costs to labor, materials, finishing levels and more. It really is a great start as a baseline for estimating costs.

B) RepairPricer.com - If you have an inspection report, you can upload the report to this website and they will use AI to give price estimates for everything in the report, with impressive accuracy. 

Even if you do hire a contractor, I still recommend to learn as much as you can, as not all contractors are the same, and there are multiple ways to do just about everything. Learning the language and the lingo, and having a solid understanding of EXACTLY what you want to accomplish will help you be successful. 

For example, will your project be fine with off-the-shelf cabinets from home depot, or do you need a custom solution? The custom builder pricing and handyman pricing are going to be wildly different, so when you do call on contractors, just make sure you know what you're asking for, and are comparing apples to apples when price shopping. 

Everything should be SMOOTH or you WILL get clogs. 

If it was me, I'd be asking myself the following:

"do I want to get this repaired now and not deal with sewage comin up through my drains?" 

Or 

"do I want to wait until there's sewage coming up my drains and then get it repaired"

If the cast and clay were in good condition, they'd probably still have plenty of life left in them, but sounds like they are far from in good condition and will likely be a money pit and constant headache. If it were me, I'd budget for that and get it done as soon as possible, and at the same, solve the root (pun very much intended) causes to ensure it doesn't happen again with your new pipes.

Oh that's good that there's no water! 

It did just occur to me also, that I've also seen tree roots cause that kind of movement. Hard to tell from the pictures, but it doesn't seem like that's what's going on here. If there are any bare spots in the planter id move the surface dirt to check for old stumps. Maybe not the cause here, but more for your own FYI. 

Good luck! Let us know how it works out!

First thing I'd check before closing is to make sure it's insurable. And it's hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like if the grading is corrected that may put the basement windows below grade, therefore window wells would need to be installed, otherwise water will just work it's way back in through the windows.

But this damage wouldn't scare me, in fact, my last purchase had an arguably worse foundation that this. With mine, first thing I noticed was there was water control issues. IU had terrible negative grading basically around the entire house, the backyard didnt even have gutters, and the neighbors downspout was also pointed right at my property, so i started by solving these 3 issues. Installed gutters, raised the grading, and installed a french drain to diver the neighbors runoff. I'll get to the wall straightening eventually, but getting that water under control  was paramount. At closing there was about 2" of water in the basement, and today it's dry, so that step is complete.

If you have contractors coming to look at it, I'd be wary of any remedies that don't FIRST address the causes; drainage, grading, runoff, etc. Straightening the wall without addressing that water, will essentially be a waste.

Slightly related, I just inspected a home that had water coming through the basement walls. They had just painted it with that waterproof basement paint, and the water just popped some holes in the paint and continued to run through. Hydrostatic pressure carries some serious weight, and if paint was enough to stop it, then we'd just make our houses out of paint lol. Just please be cautious of the way products are marketed.

I did just write a brief article about basement waterproofing. Though it doesn't address repairing the foundation damage, it may give some insight into managing basement moisture in general:

Fair enough! I think it can happen to anyone but I think the difference would be finding out before you move in, or after, what the defects are. 

Take an example where an upstairs bathroom drain wasn't properly connected, and will drain right through the ceiling into the kitchen below. Would you rather find out about this before you move in, or when you're taking your first shower as you're getting ready for work?

A lot of seemingly major oversights like this can be found in new construction, I think because, in this bathtub example for instance, nobody had ever used it before you, so there's only one way to find out.

Both answers so far are valid, so I'll answer your question with another - How much do you know about and understand homes, and their potential defects in general?

Would you be able to spot a a defect without the help of an inspector? 

Do you know how to tell if your HVAC system is operating correctly? (Why is this one room way colder than others? Is that normal?) Which includes ventilation - are vents terminated in the attic? Do you have enough clearance from your windows where dangerous gases are vented or is coming right back inside?

or your electrical system (are your circuits safe? do you have AFCI and GFCI protection where you and your family need it?)

or if the flashing on the roof is installed correctly - or even installed at all?!? You might not find out until it rains.

Or how your plumbing system is supposed to work? (is pipes banging when I turn the water on normal? Should I be losing pressure when the sink and shower run at the same time? Should I shrug off when my shower gets super hot when a toilet flushes?) 

If know the answer to all or most of these questions, then you probably don't need a home inspection. If not, then an inspection will not just help you spot defects (yes, even new homes have them; ALL homes have them), but can also serve as an educational experience that may prove valuable in your investing journey.

My last purchase, the insurance inspection had me cut my trees that were touching the house. Fair enough. That also pointed out some rotted wood on the window sills, but I had already scheduled to have that repaired and just showed them the quote, and followed up a few months later with the pictures showing it was done. But this was the most detailed report I've ever seen them do. As @Alex L. said, usually its just a drive by and they take some pictures. 

And if the home does need a new roof, hopefully you worked that into your plan?

In any case, I wouldn't worry  too much about it. Let is know what they say.

Quote from @Diana Nolan:

@Mike Hasson Hi Mike, thanks so much for your valuable insight - that is a really good point. It sounds like it definitely makes sense to have a third-party inspection. Regarding paying contractors for a bid, what is usually a reasonable amount? In the past, contractors I've used don't charge for a bid, but that was for a specific project and not for analyzing the property as a whole. I understand that is a much more involved process that warrants payment.

Good question, I think it couldn't hurt to ask the contractor, as everyone's going to value that differently. But my average home inspection is around $400 and I spend  a good 2-3 hours looking around, testing things, etc. 

Another thing you can do, is check out the Bigger Pockets book on Estimating Rehab Costs. It breaks eveything down into parts, labor, etc. Then you can compare your assumptions with actuals, and negin to develope an intuitive sense for how much things cost. Always add 20% to that though lol