Help me stay sane. I think I want an engineer.


  #1  
Old 06-07-05, 01:38 PM
TomBodet's Avatar
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 63
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Help me stay sane. I think I want an engineer.

I was taking a look at the front of my townhouse thinking about what pgtek told me in my previous thread (here: http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=216714) and I noticed two vertical patches in the outside front foundation from ground to frame. I also saw what looked like a fine crack in the concrete a foot or so away from these patches.

These are on the side of the house that the crack in my wall has shown up on. I double checked in the basement, and behind the dryer duct (I didn't see it, I wasn't thinking about it when I bought the place) is a two foot long 1 1/2 inch wide patch in the foundation from the top down in the same spot the fine crack is on the other side.

The patch looks old, as in it's very close to the same color as the original foundation where I believe newer cement will be a little darker...right?

I think for my sanity's sake I want to have an engineer come out and take a look at everything and make sure nothing is wrong. But before I do that, is an engineer what I want? Also, how do I choose a competent one? How much should such an inspection cost?

I had an home inspector go through the place prior to purchase and the only thing I recall him mentioning was the small horizontal crack along the back corner of the house. I have to go back through his report to see if there is any mention of it. Should he have mentioned a previous foundation repair?

This is officially keeping me up and worrying. Not that I think the place will fall apart next week, but that I just spent a large sum of money on a place that is going to end up needing a significant structural repair in the next year. I want to catch it before that happens or learn how to judge all these things better so I'm not completly freaking out constantly.

Any advice will be most welcome. If requested, I can shoot some pictures of the outside & inside. FYI, I'm in Stafford VA if anyone here is local or knows a guy that can help me.

Thanks very much.
 
  #2  
Old 06-07-05, 04:36 PM
B
Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: usa
Posts: 209
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
FYI, I'm in Stafford VA if anyone here is local or knows a guy that can help me.

LOL, Which townhouses do you live in (My guess would be Potomac Hills, I've seen alot of settling problems there.)
I live in Stafford too.
 
  #3  
Old 06-07-05, 04:45 PM
TomBodet's Avatar
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 63
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by bigmtk
LOL, Which townhouses do you live in (My guess would be Potomac Hills, I've seen alot of settling problems there.)
I live in Stafford too.
No, it's called Highpoint. It's off of Mine Road off of 610 by Lowes.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description: