gfield

I will keep all that in mind. This house was stripped to the studs and re-wired from the box-out and then sheet-rocked a few years ago.

Great point. Thanks!

I believe you are right about the piers. Possibly they were upgraded recently. This place was torn down to the studs a few years ago, so maybe they pulled up the floors at that time also? Or they were far skinnier than I am. Thanks.

Or maybe it's me? There are pier blocks supporting beams, but no foundation walls or footings (at least that I could find). Nailed-on skirting encloses the crawlspace. I see foundation walls on less than 1 pier home out of 20 here, though they usually always have a solid pad beneath every pier. Check for differential settlement or listing of the piers, otherwise it's fine. Marc Thank-you, sir. That is very helpful.

A little background that may help clarify my uncertainties, here: The buyer has lived in the house for 2+ years already and is totally comfortable with any drafts it has. Before she moved in as a renter, the house had been demoed to the studs and reworked, with new sheetrock, a 200-amp box and service, romex run, all outlets grounded, new water heater, new electric baseboard heat, insulation added throughout, windows replaced with dual-pane, crawlspace insulated and vapor barrier added, etc. All the work appears to have been quality work, with the possible exception of the insulation in the attic atop the semi-vaulted ceiling (there's another thread one that in the attics forum). I would not judge that the home has historical value, but it is a cute place to live, and she has a strong affinity for it. Also, this is in a neighborhood of Seattle where the norm is someone buying the house, blowing it down, and replacing it with four town homes or zero-lotline units. Though not yet the owner, she has been approached by developers who want to do just that, but she loves the house "as-is" and plans to live in it indefinitely. For the neighborhood, the price is very right, at $229k. She is only getting that price because she has lived there several years and is willing to take it without placing great demands for repairs by the current owner. It will need a roof. He knows that, and she knows that. She is handy with tools and fears almost nothing. I know her pretty well. So, in the context of all that, I need to decide how to report these findings accurately (as I must by law) but in a way that, I hope, will not jeopardize her financing. There is no worry that she will lose money on the property. She could flip it today and make money on the dirt. I live a block down the same street and know the local values quite well.

Thanks. I will hit all those points in the report.

Thanks, gentlemen.

Thank-you. I will check all of those things on my second visit tomorrow.

Or maybe it's me? There are pier blocks supporting beams, but no foundation walls or footings (at least that I could find). Nailed-on skirting encloses the crawlspace.

It has a flash, but it is very dark under there, and very tight. I was unable to get to all four corners, due to very tight spacing under many of the pipes and beams. I'll be going back in tomorrow and will try harder to get to all four. Any other tips on what to look for?

I guess that is the crux of the matter: my unfamiliarity leaves me with so many questions I do not know where to begin. Maybe this: "What do you look at most closely on such a foundation?" I feel like I need to go back and examine it again, and I am hoping for some guidance on what others look for and recommend when they inspect a foundation of this type. Thanks for your forbearance.

I inspected a 120-year-old house today with semi-vualted ceilings on the second story. Inspection of the attic revealed blown-in insulation packed in the vaulted portions of the ceilings and piled over the flat section of ceiling. There are no roof vents of any kind. This shows the insulation. At the edge of the flat section of ceiling, the insulation is packed into the rafters diagonally down along the vaulted portion of each ceiling. Yes, I see the knob-and-tube entering the insulation. It is reported by the owner as being disconnected. I'll recommend an electrician inspect it. This is the first situation like this I have seen. Is it recommended to pack insulation into a vaulted ceiling like this? What sort of venting would you recommend? Anything else you might suggest? THanks!

Inspected a 120-year-old house and found the first pier-and-post foundation I've ever inspected and feel like I'm out of my element in describing it. The work seemed far more recent than the house, and included a vapor barrier and insulation. Skirting was some type of fiberboard. This photo shows typical pier and shimming. This shows more, including more piers way in the background. More. I know that I am not giving you much to go on, but I am hoping some of you will give this relative newly some guidance on what you would say about this system, and what else I might look at in inspecting it, as the house is walking distance from my own and I know the owner, so I could go back. As always, thanks for any help you can offer.

Smoke in a can tests function of the photo-sensor.

Smoke in a can is what I use to test detectors. Smoke-in-a-can at Amazon