House Problems?

G

GimmeMy1985

Registered
I know, I know, strange question to ask.

But.... Do any of your houses like... SHAKE during heavy wind?

I mean... it is about 70M/Hour out there and the house is literally SHAKING.

~Lynch
 
I'll HUFF AND I'LL PUFF UNTIL I BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWN!! (sorry could not resist.)

Mine only shakes in earthquakes.
 
I think buildings are supposed to shake. If they are too stiff they'd break. So to speak, I don't know the technical terms.
 
What year was the house built? Unless you have a high excess of winds where your roof goes first in most cases, a house should not shake. I can't really diagnose your house, but how deep are your footings, have you checked for rot? Are your joists all secured? without a roof your house is structurally unsound. I would start with peeking in your attic to make sure all the trusts are secured.


There are many houses that have been neglected, weren't built to last long, this includes different building codes in your county and or state. California Building codes are very high and I still see a heap of ****ty houses built for cost effectiveness. If you could add some information I might be able to help a little bit.

Buildings flex with sky scrapers being at the highest point of flex, but a 1 or 2 story house should not be a feel able flex, unless your winds are devastating.
 
Technically there are calculations one can do for wind strain on a structure. Even still, unless built to stringent hurricane zone codes, most homes are built to local wind averages. The result can be that a very unsually strong wind may very well cause deflection and could possibly lead to damage. Usually the roof is the first to go especially if not up to code.

Years ago my home suffered severe damage from a freak March blizzard due to heavy wet snow on the roof. Much to my dismay I found the cieling joists overlaps not very well secured along with other structural deficiencies. Now the home has been rebuilt with engineered trusses, heavier plywood with hurricane straps and clips. It is useless as an attic but I rest easier now at night. LOL.
 
Funny you should mention the straps as back in 1992 when I had my house built there was a new county engineer on board at the building inspection office and he insisted that my contractor go around the building and attach "Hurricane Straps" at all the rafters, and then made my contractor double up on all 2X8 floor joice under any bedrooms.

This got my contractor all excited, but seeing as I was listed as the General I found out the rationale and learned that the engineer (just out of school at the time) figured that although the plans were more than adequate, that there was a big increase in the number of people loading their bed rooms with water beds and it was his position that this is what he was going to insist all load bearing bedroom floors be prepped for. The "Hurricane Clips" came out of a big concern the industry had that year because of a bunch of damage done in Florida due to hurricanes. Fortunately the cost was cheap by comparison ($300 + 1 man day for labor), and I can rest alot better when the wind blows as it does up here around the lakes, and if I ever get a water bed I know it will never fall thru to my lower living area. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with building something a little overkill.
 
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it is heavy problem sorry i am not a technical person I just suggest to you change your house or otherwise you contact any technical person architecture who help you

thanks for sharing your problem this forum
 
Hey guys, so happy to see responses.

The details on the house are:

It is a 2 story, basement is a 4-5 foot crawl. Windows are 1970s, other then the massive pictures on the front are most likely over 60 years old.

It does have joist issues! Most likely it was built as a 2 story one family, but maybe 70 years ago they extended the house, making it longer, and now the joists are running lengthwise, not even touching the foundation, and the back of the house is sitting on pure dirt. As a result, the house is sagging in the middle, but it has been like this for 80 years, occupied by the last family for over 20.

The foundation itself is good, only 15-20 years old, cement. It is just those damn Joists.

There really is little we can do in our price range to fix those joists. My plan is to anchor the house to the ground and perhaps put some posts in to ensure the house is stable, then just cosmetically repair to make things look straight (just would take drywall and new floors)

We had a quote to fix those joists for 40 thousand dollars, more then we paid for the friggen house.

The hardest part is finding a decent contractor in my city. They are all either: Drunks, or they want 90% of the money upfront or they want to condemn your house without even looking at it, or they want to do a cheap job, etc...

Currently we have one contractor that wants the job, he gave us a quote (for securing the house and making it look decent) for 25k, we are fine with that, BUT HE WANTS ALL THE MONEY UPFRONT. All of it! He could do anything! It puts us in such a vulnerable position. He does not want to sign any contracts, he has not put anything on paper, he just wants a verbal agreement and the money...

I want to bring in a contractor from up from somewhere, someone who is honest and pay for his accommodations and food and everything and then pay him for the work when he is done. I would have no issue with 25-30k for the whole job, but I cant find an honest contractor to save my ****in life here.

Any of you want to come down here and fix the damn house???

This house was our last chance to own, and at this point it looks like we cant keep up with all the shabby business happening here.


Anyway, what was this about? OH yeah. The wind.

Is it the windows perhaps?

Maybe it has no balancing weight to keep it solid?

~Lynch
 
There are a lot of factors for materials. Did he describe what he was going to do to fix the problem? if not then he has a presumption that the house needs more added to it and not replacements. For that much money my best friend might consider it and I could assist him. He works 5 days a week right now so let me talk to him. His dad flew to Texas to visit his wife's parents and he said there are almost no building codes compared to California.

The problem still arises that we aren't licensed in Texas, so it would be of course a trust on trust situation. If nothing else I will get you enough advice over the internet to not get fked.

We visited Oregon and his dad started his own company and it's booming just because we are used to such high standards here. Plus he wants us up there because most of the crews he can't keep. Crack heads, dishonest, or drunks.
 
Misanthropy said:
There are a lot of factors for materials. Did he describe what he was going to do to fix the problem? if not then he has a presumption that the house needs more added to it and not replacements. For that much money my best friend might consider it and I could assist him. He works 5 days a week right now so let me talk to him. His dad flew to Texas to visit his wife's parents and he said there are almost no building codes compared to California.

The problem still arises that we aren't licensed in Texas, so it would be of course a trust on trust situation. If nothing else I will get you enough advice over the internet to not get fked.

We visited Oregon and his dad started his own company and it's booming just because we are used to such high standards here. Plus he wants us up there because most of the crews he can't keep. Crack heads, dishonest, or drunks.
Click to expand...

Yes, he told us what he would do exactly.

He was going to put up 3 retaining walls (cement) in the basement. As there are only 3 places they can rest, the back is all dirt and settled.

He was (in the bottom suit) going to: Redrywall, Put in cheap carpet (the cheapest you can get), Make the floors look straight. He was going to do this in some rooms by simply putting down wood board, in the kitchen the floor needs to be ripped out and put back down, again, cheap lino. The bathroom was probably the biggest problem, it is a really small bathroom, but it has sunk the most, so he was going to take out the sink and the toilet and tub and lay new flooring and then put them back on top, the tub would be tossed and replaced with a shower stall.

He was actually going to move the bathroom altogether and make it bigger, so that slashes a huge cost.

And there is a massive area where a bedroom used to be, but there is just no wall, there is electricity and everything, but it needs a wall, so you would be building a wall too.

And then just make it look clean, white paint, cheap baseboards, etc...

He said the retaining walls alone were 10k.... We know this because we had previously gotten a quote from him JUST for the retaining walls.

But he was also going to come up into our apartment and do one or two small things, one bedroom floor needs to be totally ripped and redone, and the rest is pretty good other then he was going to put down pine flooring, just that plank pine flooring in the kitchen.

And that was it. Really, other then supporting the basement (which does not necessarily have to be done in cement retaining walls, it can be done in posts, etc..) it is all cosmetic.


Well, we would have gone with him,... but he is so shady.. SO shady. The way people do business here is like.. ¨I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy..¨ type thing. We are not used to it.

But yeah. The financial stuff is VERY secure, if I may say so. It would guarantee that you got your money and that we got the work done.

Because the bank would reassess and mortgage this place when the work was done, the house would be reappraised after you did it and the bank would give you the money directly. The bank could also give you a letter stating that we had the money waiting for the house to be reassessed for you so you know.

That ensures that you do the work, because the bank will not release the money until it has been reassessed, and it ensures that you get the money, because the bank is paying you, not me.

No permits or anything would have to be taken out because: 1) It is interior work, 2) You are not touching plumbing or electrical.

~Anna
 
I prefer the concept of progress payments with pre established mile stones of completion, and always leaving out 20% for the final sign off at completion. I found that this can help keep some of the markup down due to cost of money on the contractor's side. It also gives you the ability to put a stop on very quickly if things aren't going right. As always finding a good contractor can be intense.
 
driller said:
No contractor worth hiring should need money up front, let alone 100%.
Click to expand...

absolutley correct.
The fact that he wants ALL the money up front and will sign no contracts...
RUN VERY FAST from this potential thief.

25K is alot of money just to "hand to some guy" with nothing to fall back on like a contract.

EVEN IF he signed a contract at "this point" I would still be VERY VERY leary about paying him.

The MOST I would pay is "material costs" and I would only pay the material costs to the actual company that delivers the materials. I would NOT give the material money to the contractor.

Dont let the fact that "he's the only one willing" to work on it.. let you talk yourself into getting ripped off.
IF a repuatable contractor wont touch it.. there is a good reason.

It really sounds like this guy is planning on ripping you off.....
 
But there ARE NO reputable contractors.

NONE. I do not lie. I went through EVERY ONE in the phone book, alphabetically. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

99% Did not even come, the last slim bit either wanted it condemned without even seeing it, or they wanted the money before they even came, or they wrote it off, etc..

You don't know how hard it is to find a tradesman in Saint John. I thought it was a joke at first.. I did not know this was the way it is.

We are in such a vulnerable position because of the ¨i know a guy who knows a guy¨ way this city is set up, no one is reputable, everyone is like a freakin VULTURE scavenging for themselves, ripping you off any way they can.

It sounds like he wanted the house for himself, and is trying to set us up to take it away. He has a long history with this place. And WE got it.
 
Get a written contract. He can claim the money paid him was for "advice" on fixing your house and do nothing. Verbal agreement, your word against his. If he's a good buddy of the local judge, you might be in an expensive legal battle.

Make sure he's bonded. He can get injured working on your house and make a claim for thousands against your homeowners insurance.

Check with your local building inspector, if you have one. He can make recommendations. If he's willing, he can sign off on the work done on a daily basis. He can issue a stop work order if not up to spec.

Check with your nearest Lowes, Home Depot, etc., they have bonded contractor's. One of the clerks will likely give you a name.

If your house is sagging in the middle, you do need to raise the sag back to as level as possible. With the addition, some of the sag may now be built in to the structure, and you maybe limited in what you can do. Don't "repair" anything until the sag is fixed as best possible. Considering the age of your house, the outside corners of your house will very likely have integrated diagonal lumber bracing so all the settling over the years is usually focused at the center of the house. After raising the sag and fixing the foundation, I would add a large "x" brace inside the wall, at the sag. Another fix would be sheathing with four ply plywood as a brace.
 
I'm not saying it's a good idea, but i've had work done with no contract. we aggreed that He would be paid weekly for time and materials. Every Friday he would give me an invoice with hours and receipts. Worked out OK. I gave him no money up front.
 
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