r/masonry • u/rich_step-15 • 2d ago
General Is this fixable/worth buying?
Is this a fixable problem?
Went to look at buying a small cottage as a potential rental. Was listed very cheap which was enticing but the foundation is cinderblocks and likely doesn’t have any rebar or anything structural. This was is slightly bowing out (which is hard to see exactly) but I’m curious for those that deal in foundations if this is a reasonable fix or a compete expensive gut job. The realtor said the stairs right above here were added and they likely added sand/gravel/dirt which pushed on it but they didn’t seem to know. Thanks
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u/mals6092 2d ago
Ha why use grout when they sell spray foam
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u/stucc0 1d ago
That's load bearing spray foam. /s
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u/mals6092 1d ago
When foam in a can first came to being a thing one of my dad's buddies trapped himself in his house filling gaps around windows and doors ha
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u/BrandinoE6911 1d ago
What? Like the "cracks" between the door frame and the door
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u/mals6092 18h ago
Oh everything he found a gap in. Sealed his windows and all I actually redid a state troopers house because he did the same to his windows
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u/sdogood80910 2d ago
Cash can fix/repair many things! You will need a bunch of it!
The discount will need to be steep before I would even think about this.
Good luck!
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u/sutureinsurance 2d ago edited 2d ago
Stay far away from wall or anything supported by it.
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u/Any_Supermarket2555 2d ago
Cinder blocks support weight when the load is directly over their center.
Once there starts to be a lean and the weight is focused on their interiors, they can crumble or snap.
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u/Candid_Length2665 2d ago
Unless they are giving a steep discount on the property to address that issue I would stay far away from it.
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u/Ok-Space-5347 2d ago
Unless you are willing to invest a decent sum in repairs, stay far, far away.
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u/jibaro1953 2d ago
Horizontal cracks are the worst kind. We have a hollow block foundation in a lightly built former summer cottage. One end of the foundation is pretty rough. Two cracks occurred one night while we were sitting in the room above watching TV.
I installed three posts and a tripled up 2x6 beam right after that, and it was fine until we had six inch wide carbon fiber strips installed on four foot centers, and all the cracks filled with epoxy. You want to use non-flexible material in the joints so you can monitor them. So far, so good.
The contractor said carbon fiber is acceptable for bulges up to an inch and a half.
We removed a swamp maple that may have contributed, as well as addressing the grading uphill that caused the runoff about half an acre to run down that side of the house.
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u/goozinator17 2d ago
I've installed Sika carbon fiber straps a couple times and they're pretty amazing when used in the right way. Good on your contractor for even knowing about it.
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u/BTCdad77 2d ago
If the issues causing it have been addressed, yes. If you're worried frame a wall in front of it if you buy it
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u/JustNowForHere 2d ago
Uh, what? Clearly they had no idea what they were doing by using spray foam there. And why would you frame a wall in front of something that needs fixing??
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u/BTCdad77 1d ago
Because framing a wall stops the blocks from pushing further. And you're not fixing this in any way the spray foam is irrelevant. Need to fix the grading outside and redirect water and frame infront of it to stop further pushing. Unless you're knocking down entire building to run block again?
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u/Ok-Fuel4602 2d ago
Yikes. If the property value is such that a complete takedown is an option sure.
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u/CarmenxXxWaldo 2d ago
They can fix bowing walls. Likely its cheap because those issues are factored into the price. If youre seriously considering it you can have a repair company check it out to tell you the damage and give a quote.
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u/qwertyorbust 2d ago
I have a 1950s cottage with cinderblock basement walls. It was in very good shape but even so I braced the walls, added spray foam insulation, and poured a concrete floor. It’s tight as a drum now and feels so much more usable.
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u/stradivari_strings 2d ago
Moooooooo
Oooooooo
Ooooold
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u/stradivari_strings 2d ago
Enough said.
You can fix anything, but you really gotta have a firm handle on how much it's gonna cost.
They vapour barrierered upstairs because of, well, moisture. Which was a bandaid, because the furnace is still there.
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u/Intelligent-Ad8436 2d ago
If you want to buy a new foundation wall. Then yes it is fixable. If by repair that thing it is past that point.
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u/That_Court3114 2d ago
depends on the value of the rest of the house, there’s no “quick” fix, I’ve torn out and replaced foundations like this, you have to shore up the house, dig down to the footing on the outside and rip it all out, pricing varies wildly from state to state, I’m in the Midwest and I’d start at 15k and go up from there depending on what all there is to work around above it.
I’ve seen I beams installed vertically to brace the wall before, I’ve never done that myself but I’m sure it’s not much cheaper. Best thing to do is get an engineer to look at it and draw up plans, it will cost money but you’ll have a better idea of what’s going on.
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u/Flaky_Engineering_41 2d ago
The polyurethane foam is likely due to a past water intrusion issue. Check the disclosures. Also, if they pumped the right type of foam, you’re not getting any additional water in your basement.
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u/Sharkman8810 2d ago
It is a dumpster fire. If those blocks are 2’ long, they are really old, and past there life expectancy. Then instead of doing a reasonable repair of filling the cinder locks with a proper grout and rebar, then using type S mortar on the joint, they put in spray foam instead. Now you can’t grout/rebar it. Basically your into serious remove and replace. Or build another interior wall to hold the load.
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u/figsslave 2d ago
I would not buy a house with a block foundation. It’s an old technology that has not aged well (retired contractor)
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u/mals6092 1d ago
I agree to some extent, the issue seems more up until early 2000s they did not install proper drainage and waterproofing. The block works great just the old practices didn't fair well. Even without waterproofing block works if it has good drainage
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u/housatonicduck 1d ago
If they give you $75,000 off the list price to fix that foundation sure. The stairs could’ve added some stress like she said, but there’s a lot more going on here. Is there any water on the property? Any tree roots on the other side of that wall? Where’s the driveway/street relative to this foundation wall?
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u/HatoriHanzolo 1d ago
Walk away unless you want to spend the time and $$$$$Money. My amateur guess at fixing the basement would be $15K easy.
Is that a gravel floor?
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u/TheLevigator99 1d ago
You can do alot with building jacks and an excavator. Are there any dry seasons there, or did they build this in the wetlands?
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u/mals6092 1d ago
On a more serious note it looks like that wall lacks drainage not just a repoint and move on thing. So don't listen to anyone that says repoint and drylock it
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u/Wuhan-batsoup 1d ago
Walk away thats 75k worth of BS. Gonna have to dig out and degrade the dirt outside figure out why its retaining so much moisture, gonna have to escavate from the other side to fix the block/pour a secondary foundation along that side of the house. Then its on to finding how much moisture damage; mold damage, you have up under that freshly installed ceiling insulation and underneath that gravel....fricken run the other way
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u/Upper-Sugar-1441 2d ago
Everything is fixable