From the outside, the brick exterior didn't look too bad. There were some cracks in the center of the wall where the dining room was located. The cracks weren't that wide, but when you eyed down the mortar joints, that's when you could see the house drop.
When you walked in the front door, you walked uphill through the living room and across the dining room to the back wall. Using a laser level, the elevation change was 3". When you walked into the master bedroom, the floors seemed to drop even more. The laser level showed the house went downhill from the back wall to the front SW corner of the home 5 1/2"! You can see the laser level measurements below.
The interior of the home had newer drywall repair done on the main floor and since it was completed, there were fresh structural cracks in the hallway, 2 bedrooms, and living room. The door jams were out of plum too. The basement was newly finished which at first made the house look great. After the laser level came out, I had to seriously wonder if the basement walls were covered over for concealment purposes rather than to increase the finished square feet of the home.
When the home inspection was complete, I had found that approximately 3/4 of the home had settled. If the homeowner were to lift the house back to being plum, a rough estimate would be $1,500.00 every 5'-6' using a piering system. On this size of a ranch home, the repairs would cost at least $25,500.00. And that didn't include anything else I found during the inspection.
Needless to say, my clients loved the location, still loved the house even after the inspection, but couldn't get the Seller to work with them on leveling the foundation. Now, they are off finding another one.
Below is the measurement of the back bedroom N exterior wall.
Below is the measurement of the front SW corner of the master bedroom.
For more home inspection issues we run across, check us out at: www.omaha-home-inspection.com
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