Browse Forums DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair 1 Jul 06, 2012 12:37 pm Hi all, So I just moved into the hellmouth, pretty sure if I scratch around the garden it would reveal the start of the river Styx. It would be nice if the expensive building inspection report would have said "major structural damage like missing/rotted out/wood borer eaten stumps which has resulted in house slumping" & "half of the foundation is just wooden boards laid directly onto dirt which looks to be a few inches from possible water table"... but instead I got a report saying no structural issues at all. So here I am, I've purchased a money pit and it's up to me to slowly fix this place as I'm now stuck with it. I have two questions today, one is about jacking a house and if it disturbs the outter sheeting of a house and the second is about slab drainage. My house was built in the 1940s, two storey in the streamliner art deco style but it's clad in asbestosis (can't afford to rip it down right now but it's on the plans.) This house has slumped (in some corners it's as bad as 210ml) due to the missing/lack of foundation posts and jacking looks to be the go in these spots for levelling the floors (we're also ripping up all flooring on both levels and laying yellow tongue to help with the levelling.) My question is since the house is clad in asbestosis will jacking disturb it? Right now it's stable but when the jacking starts will that disturb it? (I've jacked a weather board place before and the plaster inside cracked but the outside was firm, but I'm unsure if that's just because it was weather board.) Secondly after I've pulled up the wooden foundation (there has been 4 extensions over it's life and in one of it's last extensions, in a small section, instead of a slab being poured they have literally just laid some untreated beams on the dirt and then laid floorboard over that, I should now mention I'm up in the bush... yeah ) I've noticed in rain a natural river flows through this part of the house and the empty holes (where posts used to be but are now long gone) are full of clear water all the time. If I was to slab it I'm thinking this will cause more problems with the water backing up somewhere else. My issue, a part from the whole house lol, is surrounding this section there are concert, unpipped, slabs where this water has carved a tiny crevice under the slab which allows the water to flow freely. Would my best bet be to lay gravel and a agi-pipe in the section of the natural mini river and then slab on top? There is no physical way I can get pipes into these other slabs to redirect the water flow elsewhere. I don't want to just lay something down in this spot only for it to force the water up or somewhere else so I'm unsure if excavating a fair portion of the dirt then filling it with gravel, then pipe, more gravel and then pour the slab on that will be my best solution. Here is a pretty pic of part of this area (the dark section on the far wall [left] is where the stream flows, in the middle is one of the wood borer rotten out beam, the holes are where posts used to be but have rotted/been eaten out and a hole has been left as well as the large hole filled with clear water [top right] is the suspected water table, having someone to come out and test it.) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Just wondering how you would approach laying a slab in this section . Thanks for any advice "nuking the place" isn't an option nor is "take the building inspector to court" because the only funds I have are now being sunk in this nightmare and buying both explosives and lawyer are not in my budget - juzzie Re: Need advice on repairing foundation flooding + house jac 2Jul 06, 2012 10:09 pm Regardless whether you have funds, the building inspector should be held accountable. He will have professional liability insurance. I would think that a letter of demand to him that he made a false or grossly inaccurate report, and that should his report have been accurate, you would not have purchased the house, and he is now liable for the repairs. It will certainly make him think about what has happened and may be open to offers without any legal action. If not the legal process is not that hard if his report is totally inaccurate. Perhaps "Building-Expert" may be able to help in regards to this. He is always against disreputable building trades/persons. Settlement 1/2/12 New Shed 23/3/12 Slab poured 27/3/12 Frame complete 4/5/12 Roof complete 1/6/12 LOCKUP 29/6/12 Our new build blog http://kareenhillsownerbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: Need advice on repairing foundation flooding + house jac 3Jul 08, 2012 8:08 pm Hey delatite13, Thanks for this advice, a letter is cheap and at least it gets the ball rolling. We just got a report back from a engineer who had a look at the place and there is some serious issues so we have to do something. I'm not hopeful however because on his last visit the building inspector pretty much said 'oh well it still falls into buyer beware, it's a old house anyway what did you expect'.... and didn't that just cheese me right off hearing it too Re: Need advice on repairing foundation flooding + house jac 4Jul 08, 2012 10:41 pm In regards to your property inspector, has he got professional indemnity insurance? It should be on the report. Building and timber pest reports are in excess of 35 pages. A reputable insurer will have a serious look at your claim and may offer compensation without you incurring further legal bills. If he doesn't have the insurance, you are probably whistling Dixie. The way he has treated you is deplorable. In regards to the repairs to your house it is unlikely that you will get all of the practical and cost effective advice from your engineer or from this forum. As good as engineers are at structures and drainage they are simply not builders and many of them don't have building surveying qualifications. Whilst you can pick up some excellent advice from this forum on single issue problems, you seem to have many interlocking issues. It is unlikely that you will get the right balance of answers. You should get expert advice, it could save you thousands. Choosing right property inspector requires careful selection and there are at least three blogs on my web site that deal with this matter. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog The bottom of the downpipe has been taped (see the black tape) to seal the necessary gap between the downpipe and the adaptor that would normally prevent the downpipe… 3 9238 Until you find the cause of the flooding you need to take action to mitigate potential damage to your home. Get automatic float pump and dig a pit then connect to power… 2 4855 Levelling compound Ardit is the best but buy a bag of sand and make sand dam to protect your wood floor 2 15257 |