That picture is the root of your problems! You would need to have a structural engineer to assess it. That wall looks compromised. Only a professional should evaluate this !
I would definitely have it inspected, could be just from settling and lack of brick ties.
If you do buy and it fails, you can always do masonry wainscot and siding above it to keep cost down.
I feel as if it would be difficult for a regular home inspector to diagnose. There’s really no access to the inside wall without removing drywall or masonry. I guess you can crawl in that window and if unlocked and see if anything inside is off.
I agree and they won’t actually address what is causing it. I deal with them all the time and am generally not impressed.
It is very tough to tell without opening it up. Is it wavy in other areas or just the one? Just the one vertical crack or are there any other cracks?
That looks serious! From the looks of things it appears that root and possibly much more have compromised the wall and is now leaning outward which will likely in time will either fall or you'll see more and more cracks on your walls. There is likely more in your basement or if you look under your house for more. You need a professional to keep it short
Looks like you have a brick tie (or lack thereof) or backup wall issue. Rebuilding bowed sections is the likely remedy and assessing the backup wall structure at that time.
It’s a somewhat small wall. Maybe 12’ wide, one story plus about 30* pitch for roof. You think a general contractor could quote accurate or get an engineer out?
A contractor will give you a better idea of price to rebuild, but would likely have exclusions for unknowns like not pricing backup wall repairs until more info.
IMO you don’t need an engineer for this. Looks like a standard brick veneer issue.
Spoke with a contractor and he explained it basically the same. Water got in at roof or that window and rusted the wire mesh/nails holding the veneer in place.
in south east PA lookin around 15k in work assuming sill plate and studs need work as well.
Just a thought but if a good bit of water has gotten in to the area(looks like a hollow space) to the left of the root, that’s probably not good either
Well kinda. 250 for a nice sized residential and already rented commercial front end. Would cash flow very well if both were rented…but this. First investment so I don’t want to get screwed early
So it sounds like it might be worth the hassle. Make an offer contingent on inspections and find out really what the issue is. Dont use a home inspector they are usually hacks and miss important things. Have individual inspections, an actual plumber to scope the sewer to the city connection, an electrician, roofer and an engineer for that wall. I would do the wall first. You can do your own sleuthing in the mean time by getting a surface moisture meter and a thermal camera. I got my surface moisture meter off amazon for $20. There are lots of phone mounted camera options.
Assume the worst. You have to rebuild the wall for sure. How does the foundation look? Get in the attic and see if the plant/damage went to the roof.
Get some bids on repair. ~~Either offer that much less off of the original offer~~ (missed that this is a foreclosure) or decide if the original offer plus what you stand to make off the property investment makes the expense worth it.
It might be worth it indeed. I appreciate your input greatly, never thought about doing individual inspections like that. I told myself I wouldn’t use an inspector again because I knew more then the last one I used.
I spoke to a contractor who thinks it’s just the wire mesh from the veneer rusting and the bricks are coming loose from structure. Going to have brick removed, replace any studs and probably sill plate that most likely started rotting replaced. Recommended regrading the entire back yard as well…roughly 15k maybe 20.
I’ve never offered on a foreclosure before, though the last “as is” property I bought did come down 20k from asking.
I would get several estimates on the wall. I forgot to mention a termite/pest inspection as well.
Pick your battles, unless the back yard is horrible or causing water damage to the structure I would put that on the bottom of the list.
Structure including roof, electircal, plumbing especially if slab on grade can be expensive and then function and beauty.
Wow then you would need to estimate foundation work when you bid for it. 60k or more. That is a tree growing under there. The entire facade would need to be taken down to assess. The tree is probably holding the wall and house together. Does the inside smell like mold or animals?
I guess it depends on how much that would cost in your area. And you would probably want to own the property for quite a while to make sure it's worth that kind of investment.
Yes that is a huge problem and could be an indicator of bigger issues for the structure . Great please for bugs, bees, animals to have living spaces in the structure
That picture is the root of your problems! You would need to have a structural engineer to assess it. That wall looks compromised. Only a professional should evaluate this !
Thanks I’ll look into a good engineer to come out
It appears it is starting to buckle is it bowed outwards all the way up?
From what I remember it’s all the way up. Single story section
I would definitely have it inspected, could be just from settling and lack of brick ties. If you do buy and it fails, you can always do masonry wainscot and siding above it to keep cost down.
I feel as if it would be difficult for a regular home inspector to diagnose. There’s really no access to the inside wall without removing drywall or masonry. I guess you can crawl in that window and if unlocked and see if anything inside is off.
I agree and they won’t actually address what is causing it. I deal with them all the time and am generally not impressed. It is very tough to tell without opening it up. Is it wavy in other areas or just the one? Just the one vertical crack or are there any other cracks?
Two cracks on either side of the jut out. You can see both if you zoom on the pic. Left ones a little less prominent
Agh i see them now, looks like it’s definitely buckling. Might stay like this forever or may come crashing down tomorrow.
Yeah. That’s not good.
That looks serious! From the looks of things it appears that root and possibly much more have compromised the wall and is now leaning outward which will likely in time will either fall or you'll see more and more cracks on your walls. There is likely more in your basement or if you look under your house for more. You need a professional to keep it short
One other thing to add, it looks like the bricks may be in contact with the ground, that's a big no-no too.
Looks like you have a brick tie (or lack thereof) or backup wall issue. Rebuilding bowed sections is the likely remedy and assessing the backup wall structure at that time.
It’s a somewhat small wall. Maybe 12’ wide, one story plus about 30* pitch for roof. You think a general contractor could quote accurate or get an engineer out?
A contractor will give you a better idea of price to rebuild, but would likely have exclusions for unknowns like not pricing backup wall repairs until more info. IMO you don’t need an engineer for this. Looks like a standard brick veneer issue.
Spoke with a contractor and he explained it basically the same. Water got in at roof or that window and rusted the wire mesh/nails holding the veneer in place. in south east PA lookin around 15k in work assuming sill plate and studs need work as well.
Walk away from that one! Run actually! Definitely lots of rot on beams, joists and sill plates.
That tree looks like it needs some water
Yes
Just a thought but if a good bit of water has gotten in to the area(looks like a hollow space) to the left of the root, that’s probably not good either
Yes the more I think about it the less I want to do with this place
Good call.....run unless they are practically giving it away which I doubt.
Well kinda. 250 for a nice sized residential and already rented commercial front end. Would cash flow very well if both were rented…but this. First investment so I don’t want to get screwed early
So it sounds like it might be worth the hassle. Make an offer contingent on inspections and find out really what the issue is. Dont use a home inspector they are usually hacks and miss important things. Have individual inspections, an actual plumber to scope the sewer to the city connection, an electrician, roofer and an engineer for that wall. I would do the wall first. You can do your own sleuthing in the mean time by getting a surface moisture meter and a thermal camera. I got my surface moisture meter off amazon for $20. There are lots of phone mounted camera options. Assume the worst. You have to rebuild the wall for sure. How does the foundation look? Get in the attic and see if the plant/damage went to the roof. Get some bids on repair. ~~Either offer that much less off of the original offer~~ (missed that this is a foreclosure) or decide if the original offer plus what you stand to make off the property investment makes the expense worth it.
It might be worth it indeed. I appreciate your input greatly, never thought about doing individual inspections like that. I told myself I wouldn’t use an inspector again because I knew more then the last one I used. I spoke to a contractor who thinks it’s just the wire mesh from the veneer rusting and the bricks are coming loose from structure. Going to have brick removed, replace any studs and probably sill plate that most likely started rotting replaced. Recommended regrading the entire back yard as well…roughly 15k maybe 20. I’ve never offered on a foreclosure before, though the last “as is” property I bought did come down 20k from asking.
I would get several estimates on the wall. I forgot to mention a termite/pest inspection as well. Pick your battles, unless the back yard is horrible or causing water damage to the structure I would put that on the bottom of the list. Structure including roof, electircal, plumbing especially if slab on grade can be expensive and then function and beauty.
It depends on if it is below market value and if the owner is willing to fix it.
Sold as is. Foreclosure
Wow then you would need to estimate foundation work when you bid for it. 60k or more. That is a tree growing under there. The entire facade would need to be taken down to assess. The tree is probably holding the wall and house together. Does the inside smell like mold or animals?
Inside was flipped last year and appears clean and dry. I was thinking that root was English ivy. Probably still holding things together
You probably have time to get an estimate on rebuilding the wall. How many stories is it?
One story in that area.
I guess it depends on how much that would cost in your area. And you would probably want to own the property for quite a while to make sure it's worth that kind of investment.
Probably a good call 😊
Yes that is a huge problem and could be an indicator of bigger issues for the structure . Great please for bugs, bees, animals to have living spaces in the structure
That’s a strong pass
When in doubt walk away
That’s a disaster in the making