From: marks@ssdevo.enet.dec.com (Randy Marks)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Foundation pier question
Date: 13 Apr 92 14:53:11 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp. - Colorado Springs


In article <11248@borg.cs.unc.edu>, marshall@marshall.cs.unc.edu (Jonathan Marshall) writes...
>PROBLEM 1.  Our inspector discovered some possibly serious problems with
>three or four of the piers: they are "dry-stacked," with no mortar between
>the blocks.  (Some other piers under the house are mortared.)  He says
>that the building code requires the blocks in all the piers to be
>mortared.  How serious is this problem?  
Get a bid or 2 to fix it and find out BEFORE you close on the house.

>Is this in fact a building code
>violation?  
I'd believe the inspector - he has no reason to lie to you, does he?

>If so, why exactly does the code require that the blocks be mortared?
Who cares?  The upshot is that you don't want to be buying a house that
doesn't meet the building code.  Especially for something as
fundamental as the foundation.


>The sellers of the house say that they have talked to a builder who
>suggests that simply plastering the outside of each pier with stucco or
>concrete would be OK.  They are proposing to do that instead of rebuilding
>the piers.  Would this remedy satisfy the building code?  Is it safe to do
>that?
Call your regional building dept. and find out for yourself.
The seller may be trying to cut corners to save money and get the
problem in your lap.  You've got to take the initiative to figure out
what is truly required to get it to code.

>I also noticed that two piers (ones against the outside wall) were covered
>by a thin layer of concrete.  Is it possible that these are also faulty
>piers?
Clearly.

>PROBLEM 2.  The second problem that our inspector found involves the
>wooden spacer boards on top of each pier, underneath the beams.  The
>spacers for each pier are a different thickness, to compensate for the
>slightly different heights of each pier, so that the house rests levelly.
>The inspector says that the building code requires each spacer board to be
>a solid piece, running the full width of the beam and the length of the
>pier.  However, in our case several of the spacers do not meet this
>requirement.  Some are just small wooden blocks arranged next to each
>other.  On one pier, the full weight of the house is supported on a couple
>of wooden shims less than an inch wide.  Of course, these shims look
>pretty squashed.
Again, get somebody down there who does that sort of work.
GET BIDS.  Otherwise, you are just guessing.  Get it in writing.
Iron out who is paying for what BEFORE you close.
Beware!  Real estate agents are notorious for trying to brush off things
like this to avoid it becoming an obstacle to closing.


	Randy Marks
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