I have a problem house and really need help. First, it is built halfway down a hill, has a walkout basement. When we first moved here some years ago, we had flooding issues in the basement. There is a concrete patio against the house on the hill side of the house. Out from the patio we dug trenches, put in drain pipes, etc. and that seemed to stop the flooding. Our house has horrible wood siding on the top half of the house and old reclaimed brick on the bottom. Now the brick is starting to come away from the house on the opposite side of the house from the flood side. Last year we had a gas leak in the pipes outside our house and our ac which is in the attic got to where it wouldn't drain and had to be hand drained every few weeks. Now I'm wondering if it isn't all related, maybe the house is shifting off the foundation. I am terrified because already this house sucks, obviously we don't have pots of $ and I don't know who to call, what to do, how to handle it affordably. My husband thinks I should be the person to do EVERYTHING and I don't have the knowledge to know what to do. As a matter of fact, he REFUSES to deal with any of it. Please HELP, advice, what ever, you can offer would be appreciated. I am so stressed. I have had the flu the past 2 weeks and I think the stress on me is keeping me from recovering. Any ideas what I should do to save our house and not go bankrupt, insane or die of stress? Thanks!

 

Hello, LaChase,
How long ago did you buy this house? Did you have a property inspection when you bought it?

I would start by going to the local government inspection office. There will be an engineer who can assist you. In our county, this service is free if you feel the property is structurally unsound, and you are in need.

Once you get a professional opinion you will be able to determine the course of action to take.

I hope this will help you get started in the right direction. I do want to tell you that no matter how bad it seems, most problems can be fixed.

Connie

 

I appreciate that you are trying to help. We have had this house for some years so we are the dummies that bought a boondoggle and the person who inspected it was obviously dumb as well. I think we've lived here long enough that we are on our own now. I would never try to pass off a house with significant issues to some other naive purchaser like I think the former owners did to us. I hope we can get it in adequate shape without going bankrupt. I hate that my husband has put the whole thing on my shoulders and won't help. Maybe lots of women deal with construction issues but I feel overwhelmed because I don't have experience, dont' have any support, and want to find help that I can trust. I will try to line up someone to inspect and see how bad it is. Thanks so much for replying; I appreciate your input. It makes me feel a little less being alone with this problem.

 

Oh, you make me sad! You don't need experience, and many people here will offer you their very good opinions and advice, so you do have help.

The first step in any problem is to identify the problem, so, you see, you are already on the way- you HAVE identified the problem.

Next, is to determine a course of action. After an inspection, you will be ready to do that. Ask the building inspector for his recommendation. Most are quite willing to give you advice.

 

Can you post a picture of your "brick" problem to one of the free hosting sits and link it here?

 

are there any cracks in the joints between the bricks themselves or just between the brickwork and the house?
if the cracks are in the joints it could be the foundation shifting like you said. If it is the whole venier moving they might not have properly tied it to the rest of the house. In which case it probably will have to come off and be relaid or replaced with sideing or some other wall covering. some pics would help a lot.