Hi BP -Im finally back on U.S. soil from the middle east. 

We have foundation issues up here due to the clay/soil.  

The latest trustee auction purchase, a 3/2/2 in Hurst, TX from 1955.Always makes me happy when I pull up nasty, stinking carpet and find this underneath.

does anyone have experience with wood could dations in heavy clay soil?

We continue to find spiders and ants crawling throughout random areas of the house (probably because all the baseboards and door casing are 1/4 inch from being tight, and the fake wood floor that was put in was done in such a way that I can see dirt underneath certain spots where it is short from the wall/cabinets), but I try to deal with the spiders and ants on my own by just spraying some bug killer purchased at Target - I don't want to be that needy tenant.About a month into our lease, I am giving the apartment a deep clean, and I end up finding two dead roaches.  

It does not have wires (owner started rewiring but never finished), no electrical panels, plumbing damages, oil tank leak (potential soil contamination), and leak in gas pipe, AC has problem as well.

That's part of why I don't test - I just tell tenants to assume lead based paint is present somewhere underneath the top paint layer and to act accordingly (they have already been given the "Protect Your Family From Lead" brochure).

They do have like over a thousand clients so I'm sure once in a while, something slips underneath the cracks which is understandable. 

Right now cash reserves are my saving grace due to unforeseen repairs on my hoarder unit (hard to see underneath all of the junk!).

The Flint Michigan water crisis was created because of a change of water source (new source had lower ph and a higher chloride level both created a highly corrosive water that dissolved the pipes).External corrosion factors (these factors usually create a electrical charge difference between the pipe and the soil leading to corrosion caused by electrolysis) : Soil type: generally the more clay the higher the rate of corrosion, volcanic soils tend to be more corrosive, high water table, electrical lines.