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Posted by Art on September 2, 2008, 11:20 pm
You can buy a flexible sheetrock repair material that you spray on. It is
made to hide cracks. I bought a bottle to test out and it is like spraying
latex. Whether it will work I don't know but for problem sheetrock areas it
is an interesting concept.
> In Texas, these "settling" problems are commmon. Every house that I have
> owned (three) has had some cracks in the concrete foundation and a crack
> here and there in the sheetrock. I usually retape the sheetrock and paint
> over it which will last for a year or two..
>
> In this situation, I am uncomfortable because the house has had previous
> repairs and the cracks that are popping up are numerous. I've covered
> several of them with and they have reappeared very quickly. The previous
> owner did disclose this info and I have lifetime warranties from the
> foundation company although I do not believe that they would admit fault
> with their earlier repairs. I suspect that they will suggest additional
> expensive repairs.
>
> I would prefer to fix these cracks in the most permanent way possible and
> sell the home (with full disclosure of course). We had bought this home
> with the expectation of living here only 2-3 years and we will be there
> soon. I want to repair and cover these problems and feel that I have some
> obligation to ensure that they are not getting worse.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Joe
>
>>>
>>>
>> Shudder. Piers are a quick'n'dirty way to repair a heaved or bowed
>> foundation wall, but they don't have a lot of lateral strength. Proper
>> repair is usually to support that side of the house on jacks and
>> cribbing, dig out the whole wall down to the footer, and build back with
>> proper sealing and drainage.
>>
>> Step one is to get an engineer in there for a site survey, and give him
>> as much of the previous history as you are aware of. I suspect you are
>> in for a whole lot of repairs. No point doing anything upstairs till the
>> downstairs has a clean bill of health. If the foundation repairs were
>> listed on the disclosure forms when you bought, you are probably SOL on
>> recovering anything from previous owner. Maybe your insurance will cover
>> part of it. 2 separate attempts to repair are not a good sign- competent
>> companies usually get it right the first time.
>>
>> I ran across a couple houses like that when I was house shopping. One had
>> it carefully hidden behind paneling. Bowing was right below a
>> frost-heaved front patio that had multiple layers of caulk and tar at the
>> foundation joint that obviously ponded every time it rained. I gave the
>> real estate agent a tour of that one, explaining what was going on, in
>> case they had any ethics. A hint for others reading this- when going to
>> open houses, always start in the basement. Any problems, usually best to
>> walk away before you fall in love with the place. IMHO, Life Is Too Short
>> to deal with the problems OP is probably facing.
>>
>> --
>> aem sends...
>
>
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