We home inspectors have a number of fancy tools, moisture meters, circuit analyzers, boroscopes, maybe thermal imaging equipment. But, as often as not, our most important observations are made while using simple tools -- our eyes, our ears, ladders, a rot probe.
First, I am going to give examples of some pretty obvious problems that were apparent in a crawl space. Then, after that, I am going to show you a video of a very simple tool that had telegraphed to me, from up above on the main floor, that I should expect something odd in the substructure crawl space.
Whenever the inspector sees this kind of workmanship, right after going into the crawl space, he or she knows that other surprises will soon be on the horizon.
This means of shimming was, obviously, very effective. Here is a post that really took to the technique quite nicely.
When a post has tipped over and is leaning on the foundation wall, now that is something you don't see too often. This is an extreme example but our soil is such that it is not unusual to find settling, to various degrees, in Bellingham and Whatcom County. This crawl space needs to be repaired and cleaned up by a professional who understands sound building techniques.
I had stated that I had a clue, before entering the crawl space, that all was not well. Fact is, I thought the floor seemed to be sloped above so I got out the trusty giant marble. Now this marble is almost as big as a golf ball. It will not roll across the floor and get wedged under the refrigerator.....been there, done that. The trusty marble is so much easier to use and easier to carry than a large level. It is a handy tool that I suggest potential buyers might want to have in their pockets if they are looking at older houses.
A little bit of slope is one thing, but this is extreme. The marble works best on smooth surfaces, not carpet.
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