Falling Slab, or a crappy pour?

[Ben H]

Yesterdays home was a head scratcher. Built in 89. Brick looked great, no patch work that was visible, no inside cracks on the walls besides a very minor one in the hall above the door. Attic looked fine.

However in all four corners of the house, you can feel like you are walking up/down hill depending on which way your are walking. Some rooms you can flat out see it. The kichen cabinet just happened to be missing a piece of trim and I was able to see the slab.

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Check out this gap! I'm gonna have to punt this one, without being able to see the concrete, it's hard to be able to get a real idea whats going on here. Any thoughts?

[Jim Morrison]

Sounds like a real problem that can't quite be figured out during a home inspection. That's 4th and wa-a-ay long. I'd punt.

[Jim Baird]

Is that carpet in the kitchen?

Wonder what it is covering up?

[Ben H]

Oh boy it gets better....Today I get a call from my client. She talked with the man who is selling the home (a builder by trade I was told) and asked about the floor.

His responce:

"The original owners had the floor poured that way in case of a flood, the water would run to the outer walls."[:-bigeyes

I can't make this stuff up, I simply not that creative.[:-dev3]

[Marc]

Made up? Maybe it's true. People do strange things.

Marc

[Greg Booth]

Marc is right! A few years ago, we installed a 16X80 single-wide on an owner-prepared site. Someone had told the owner (an electrician by trade) that he should pitch the slab slightly to "...help the drainage." Well, one-quarter inch per foot, in a run of 76 feet........ Could not believe my eyes when we arrived at the site--we had to chain the unit to both service trucks to keep it on the slab when we started to level it. LOL now, but it was far from funny at the time.

[Jim Morrison]

Chances are it wasn't intentional, but it could have been. I still say when you see something strange and potentially very bad that you can't figure out, punt.

[Ben H]

Seems to me if you were concerned about a flood in a home that is built in a area that has never flooded, would it not be a better idea to grade it to the center and install a drain?

Either way it's out of my hands now. Punted.

[Marc]

Seems to me if you were concerned about a flood in a home that is built in a area that has never flooded, would it not be a better idea to grade it to the center and install a drain?

Either way it's out of my hands now. Punted.

You gotta be kidding! You're better than that. If a buyer is worried about flooding, buy elsewhere, install a pad or elevate.

Marc

[Ben H]

You gotta be kidding! You're better than that. If a buyer is worried about flooding, buy elsewhere, install a pad or elevate.

Sorry Marc. I it sounded funnier to me while typing it. I was only joking[:-dev3]

[Steven Hockstein]

Yesterdays home was a head scratcher. Built in 89. Brick looked great, no patch work that was visible, no inside cracks on the walls besides a very minor one in the hall above the door. Attic looked fine.

However in all four corners of the house, you can feel like you are walking up/down hill depending on which way your are walking. Some rooms you can flat out see it. The kichen cabinet just happened to be missing a piece of trim and I was able to see the slab.

Click to Enlarge

42.62 KB

Check out this gap! I'm gonna have to punt this one, without being able to see the concrete, it's hard to be able to get a real idea whats going on here. Any thoughts?

Drunk Mason?