Inspect old homes for bad foundation repairs and structural foundation damage
We seem to love the old homes, with their craftsman style and old world charm. When buying one of these older homes, look for a bear behind every tree, so to speak. Problems may be lurking under the cosmetics.
Inspect the foundation, inside and out for evidence of foundation damage, or foundation repairs that are needed, or have been badly undertaken.
When looking at the outside and inside of foundations and basements, look for changes in concrete color, texture, as well as cracks and holes in the foundation. Look for a white chalky substance called efforescense on the inside or outside of the concrete foundation. This white chalky substance is the lime that has been forced away from the concrete, which weakens the foundation. This is usually caused by age, and groundwater laying on, or running down the foundation walls.
When you see a smooth area that looks different than the surrounding area, tap on it with something solid, and listen for a hollow sound. Does the patch fall off? Are there areas surrounding that are falling away from the foundation wall or interior basement wall? If the concrete patch is loose, flakey, or sounds drum like, with a hollow feel, this is something that should tell you the foundation was in need of repair due to cracks and/or holes a long time ago, and was poorly repaired. This should also tell you that the foundation needs to be repaired correctly.
Bad masonry is very common in these older homes. Usually everything in the home has been fixed but the foundation.
Bad foundation repairs can allow groundwater into the basement or crawlspace, and should be repaired by a competent mason/drainage contractor that understands the problem.
These items of structural damage are seldom recognized by the home inspection industry. It will be up to you to do this analysis, or contact a licensed, bonded, and insured drainage contractor/mason to inspect the home prior to you purchasing it.
The money and time it takes to do an interior basement reconstruction, with cracks chiseled out, filled and skim coated, on the entire basement wall with a sponge trowel finish, is significant.
The end result is a better than new basement wall painted with drylock paint. If the exterior and interior foundation walls are showing serious damage, this can be a sign of poor structural strength. Don’t expect anything than more problems from groundwater entry by just painting over the bad areas in your basement.
It is also more expensive in the future to repair these painted over areas, as all the old paint must be chiseled off to get down to bare concrete that will hold the masonry adhesives required to bond the new skim coat layer to the existing concrete.
Love the old homes, enjoy fixing them up, but remember that the structural strength of the home should come before the cosmetics and floor finishing if you really intend to preserve your investment and have a healthy home free of mold and bad air, as well as a strong home that will have good resale value in the end.
Don’t forget to install hand excavated french drains to keep that groundwater away from the foundation and out of your basement or crawlspace, which will prevent the foundation damage caused by having no home drainage around your classic home. Old homes were seldom built with hand excavated french drains. That is the problem, and why so many old homes have foundation damage.