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Message |
    
Mommasan
Citizen
Username: Mommasan
Post Number: 21
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 8:30 pm: | 
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We've lived in Maplewood for a couple of years now. Our house is nearly 100 years old, rests on a hill and has settled. Two ajoining rooms on the 2nd floor slope towards one another. The room on the first floor (the dining room) just below these two rooms slopes slightly the same way and has a bowed beam.
There is plywood covering the ceiling in the basement (the previous owners' idea of a partially finished basement) so I can't really inspect the joists. There are plenty of steel beams on that side of the house but none located where this settling seems to be.
Honestly, I don't think I have the stomach for another major issue right now. A couple of weeks ago I thought I was installing crown molding in the living room only to find that I've got to invest literally thousands of dollars in a new heating system (honestly you DON'T want to know how one is connected to the other but suffice it to say it happened)...and that was after the new roof and exterior painting and carpentry work.
Who do you call for something like this?
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Jgberkeley
Citizen
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 4626
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 9:46 pm: |
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Your new selling real estate broker. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4598
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 11:01 pm: |
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Has the settling changed in the last couple of years. I would expect a hundred year old house to be done settling, so if things have changed recently, then you need an engineer to evaluate the situation. I would think that Bob Mittermeier (sp?), the town building inspector, could suggest some people you could ask for help. |
Eire
Citizen
Username: Eire
Post Number: 242
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 10:02 am: |
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We had some issue about a joist that came up in our inspection - the guy who came in and identified it, and challenged the statement by the sellers that they had "dealt with" it, was Jim Kriney - 732-752-7291 - he was recommended by our broker - I'm confident that he handled the situation... |
george H
Citizen
Username: Georgieboy
Post Number: 266
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 10:23 am: |
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By steel beams,do you possibly mean lalley columns,which are adjustable posts with 4" sq. plates on the top and bottom? These would definitly be retrofitted at some point in time as possibly a response to a springy floor or even a settling issue.These can be installed to halt any dynamic that may be taking place but I was under the impression that in order to have a correct transfer of the load,it was important to pour a concrete footing under the floor plate rather than depend on a 4" slab to support the load.In any case,this sounds like something that needs to be evaluated to determine if its an ongoing problem getting worse,[unlikely],or a result of a 100 yr. old house,built on a hill that had issues with settling.[more than likely] |
Eire
Citizen
Username: Eire
Post Number: 244
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 12:26 pm: |
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lalley columns - that's what Jim Kriney did for us, and yes, he had to dig through the slab to put down cement for footing for the column... I'm tellin you, Mammasan, call him!  |
Mommasan
Citizen
Username: Mommasan
Post Number: 22
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2006 - 8:51 pm: |
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Gee I thought I posted a thank you to everyone this afternoon but it has seemed to disappear!
Yes, jgberkeley, I have questioned our purchase many times over! And it doesn't help to read these threads. I swear I have every single problem in the home-fix it section except unlike eire, I don't have any plants growing in my basement - well, not yet.
You know, it's interesting. The seller was required to remediate some settling on the other side of the house (fireplace had sagged, a typical problem my chimney expert told me) and a steel column was installed but I see no evidence that a concrete base was poured to support it.
And I can tell you that the other columns have no such concrete support either other than the basement floor (which will probably give way to the hydrostatic pressure!)
Eire, I will take your advice and call your expert! |
Case
Citizen
Username: Case
Post Number: 1868
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 8:36 am: |
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Kriney is a great guy - he won't overreact, and he'll do the right thing for you. (At a minimum, he won't suggest that you sell the house  ).
I had similar concerns when I first moved in here; I was all for 'leveling' the house, but three contractors in a row took turns convincing me that it just wasn't worth the effort.
I'm sure Jim can get you squared away. |
J L Bryant
Citizen
Username: Jeffbryant
Post Number: 33
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 9:32 am: |
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echoing other recent threads regarding garages settling & such, pls don't forget that 'things' (geologically, the earth, the soil..) are always moving. With certain structures or places, maybe not discernably in our lifetimes, but around here?? With clay-based soil, and sloping sites, and streams??? You can bet that structures will move. And shift. And crack.
Worry to the point of levelling a house??? No. Just get competent folks to evaluate and repair your concerns. It's a home, enjoy it.... |
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