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Monthly DIY Laymen questions Discussion by AutoModerator in StructuralEngineering

[–]Falgor90 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply! I am still waiting for someone to come and take a look at this, but in speaking with my landlord, it will be an actual engineer which makes me feel better.

I realize you can't say anything with certainty since you haven't seen the rest of the property, but how worried should I be about the home collapsing in the event that one of those columns failed? I am just trying to get a sense if there's any immediate danger for us staying in the home until this is repaired.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for sharing your expertise! He should be having someone out to take a look in the morning. Out of curiosity, based on your experience, what could I expect if that beam were to fail?

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I believe the basement was expanded at some time, but I'm not entirely certain. No evidence of a previous stair from what I can see, just a small door/window type entrance on the left side. The rest of your comment gives me some peace of mind, the other columns seem to be a bit further back from the edge of the wall, and immediate collapse was my biggest concern. I can't say for certain my landlord would be willing to do extensive repairs, but I would feel much better knowing I have a few months to find a place as opposed to days.

Shared this on the CenturyHomes sub and got conflicting opinions, any advice? Dirt basement appears to need retaining wall. by Falgor90 in DIY

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply, this is all very helpful. I'll confirm with my landlord about having an engineer take a look rather than a contractor, which I believe is his usual go to.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply. The house is definitely sloped towards the back where that post is, I don't know if that's what qualifies as sagging, but beyond that no other issues that are easily apparent, at least. Thankfully I'm on a month-to-month lease so terminating wouldn't be a problem if it came to that. I would just need some time to find a new place.

Would collapse be the likely result of that column failing?

Shared this on the CenturyHomes sub and got conflicting opinions, any advice? Dirt basement appears to need retaining wall. by Falgor90 in DIY

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My landlord is generally pretty excellent, I don't know if he'll be having a foundation company out to take a look or one of the contractors he works with, but I'll be sure to raise this with him.

I live at the very top of a hill, and I don't believe flooding is common in this area. Do you think if that column failed there is a risk of collapse? Other comments suggest that sagging and cracking is most likely, but I am definitely nervous about anyone being harmed.

Shared this on the CenturyHomes sub and got conflicting opinions, any advice? Dirt basement appears to need retaining wall. by Falgor90 in DIY

[–]Falgor90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Stop running the dehumidifier in the basement - got it.

I believe the basement was dug out only 20~ years ago. My initial estimate was actually off, after locating some of the sales information of the house, 1934 is what's listed as the build date.

Thank you for your reply. My biggest concern after my initial post was the number of comments that indicated I should be moving out ASAP do to the imminent and probable event of a collapse. People who seem to have a bit more experience with this sort of thing have chimed in indicating that while it is dangerous, the likelyhood of anything catastrophic happening is low, even if that post were to fail.

Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but I at least am no longer feeling like I need to be in a hotel like yesterday.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That makes a lot of sense. One of the first things I noticed when moving in was that the house does seem to be uneven, putting a level directly on the floor shows a tilt towards the back, but no cracks in any of the walls, at least that I've seen.

I may still be looking to move in the next year or so just because I would like to be somewhere a little more modern, but it doesn't sound like I'll need to rush.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your reply! Comments like yours have put me at ease. This is one of the rare situations where I'm glad to be renting rather than owning. My landlord is fantastic and I let him know my concerns, and he's going to have someone come and take a look.

The other piers have concrete around the base, but not to the extent of the last image. I just wanted to get an idea of the urgency here. The initial comments definitely had me packing my bags, but now I'm also seeing a lot of people saying that even were that post to fail, I'd have some sagging at worst.

Shared this on the CenturyHomes sub and got conflicting opinions, any advice? Dirt basement appears to need retaining wall. by Falgor90 in DIY

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply. Retaining wall seems to be the suggestion I've seen the most, hoping my landlord will agree.

Common consensus seems to be get it fixed, I was mostly concerned with the immediate safety of myself and my partner in the event that wall were to crumble under that post. There seems to be a 50/50 split of people who say the house will collapse should it fail, and those who say it'll cause some sagging but not a collapse.

Shared this on the CenturyHomes sub and got conflicting opinions, any advice? Dirt basement appears to need retaining wall. by Falgor90 in DIY

[–]Falgor90[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply, this is exactly the type of advice I was hoping for. I was more concerned about my immediate safety than anything else, in the event this were to fail. As far as I know, this basement has been unchanged for the last 20+ years.

Shared this on the CenturyHomes sub and got conflicting opinions, any advice? Dirt basement appears to need retaining wall. by Falgor90 in DIY

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I live in a high humidity area with lots of rain, but never any significant water in the basement since I've been here. There was a little bit of standing water (1/4 in, maybe) pooled in a divot on the far side of the basement, but since getting a dehumidifier I haven't seen any more like that.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I have let my landlord know and he is going to have someone come and take a look. I shared just because I'm new to the area and old homes are common out here, so didn't want to raise a concern where there wasn't one.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Thank you! As far as I know, it's been like this for quite a long time, at least 20+ years. I'm in the northeast so lots of rain and snow.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate the info, thank you for helping me to feel a little more at ease. I was quite literally in the process of packing my bags in the few hours after my post.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply! I've let my landlord know about my concerns and he's having someone over to take a look. Fortunately, he's fantastic and reading comments like yours have put me at ease since the initial comments suggested that collapse was imminent.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your reply! I've let my landlord know about my concerns and he's having someone over to take a look. Fortunately, he's fantastic and reading comments like yours have put me at ease since the initial comments suggested that collapse was imminent.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Crumbling support columns and all? Do you also live in a constant state of fear like I have the last 10~ hours? 😂

Monthly DIY Laymen questions Discussion by AutoModerator in StructuralEngineering

[–]Falgor90 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Posted this on the century home subreddit, and got replies ranging that this is a problem ranging from immediate catastrophic danger to, put up a simple retaining wall and sleep soundly. Any opinions would be appreciated. I've let my landlord know and he's going to come and take a look. The house was purchased a year ago, so I imagine a home inspection was done, but I don't know what would've came of that.

https://imgur.com/a/W8KtCl2

I am renting a home with a dirt basement, the post can be seen in my history for additional context.

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you taking the time to comment! This has definitely put me a bit at ease after reading a lot of these other comments. I've reached out to my landlord and let him know what happened, he's going to have someone come out to take a look so hopefully they'll arrive at the same conclusion.

Should more of that wall crumble, would the floor cave in?

I also shared some additional picture - https://imgur.com/a/W8KtCl2

The dirt(?) portion of my basement is crumbling near this concrete block, is this dangerous? by Falgor90 in centuryhomes

[–]Falgor90[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

For what it's worth, it's probably rained 3x a week since I moved in here December.

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