Large Bulge In Floor

[hal380]

I did an inspection yesterday. Single mother trying to refinance to avoid foreclosure. The house was OK, Some items of deferred maintenance.
Probably $1500 -$2000 cost to cure. You could see owners attempt to improve the house. Part of the hardwood floor had been sanded and new urethane applied.

BIG PROBLEM There is a large bulge in the floor in the area between the living room and kitchen. the Bulge occurs in the area of a 4' arch which allows passage between the kitchen and living room. The bulge is approx. 4-5 feet diameter and at least 4 inches high. I asked the lady, What's this. She said Oh that was there when I bought this house. All the houses in the area have a problem because the city says there is a river underground and the houses settle.
She said she has to keep patching the walls. She paid $110,000 about 3 yrs ago.
I would not give her more than 50K for it now. The sales in the close proximity during the past 6 months sold in the $160K to 170k range. I don't know how anyone connected with this transaction can sleep at night.

I have to work for my client and not become an advocate for this victim. But I am tempted to request of my client to be able to speak with the home owner. I am not an attorney, but I would like to advise her to seek professional advise. And I would like to contact her mortgagee and advise them of the threat to their security. I would then offer to do a review of the appraisal.

The appraiser, Realtor and home inspector should be horse whipped.




Regards

Hal

 

[Carnivore]

Hal,

This is a very interesting situation. You issue is that you now have knowledge of a potentially serious problem and are obligated to describe in great detail the problem and recommend a course of action. This is not an AS-IS. This is strictly a 'Subject To' the engineers report. I can just hear the howls and sounds of knashing teeth.

If you feel a moral obligation, then suggest a polyester attorney to the lady and walk away.

 

[Bill_FL]

A bulge, to me would mean that the floor rises. IS the rest of the house settling aruond that one spot? Seems pretty strange that a 4 or 5 foot area would be the only plavein the house to remain the same height while the rest of the house settles evenly around it.

Perhaps you have something else going on here. Did you see any evidence of settling elsewhere? That much settling, there would be obvious signs. Heck, that much settling, the house should not have squared off when you measured it.

So, the place has hardwood floors. Could it be that in that door way an adequate gap for expansion was not left and the wood floors have bowed up because of it? That is pretty common.

 

[Ray Miller]

Dose the house have a basement or crawspace. If so what did they show?

I would really question the story about the underground river.

Sounds like you need a little more research.

 

[Dan Leggett]

FWIW: I saw a large oak tree (grand-daddy aged) 40'+ from a house sprout a wild root and create a similar bulge in a slab foundation. The cure was cut & pull the root out with a dozier winch, patch the slab, restretch the carpet, and wait for the next wild root.

 

[Karl]

When a lot is "Cleared" many time they bury the Stumps & Roots . Then Builds a house on top of burial grounds. Add underwater source the area you describe presto the Roots & stumps come back to "Haunt" you. A very common "Lawsuit" for General Contractors". This is why the good ones PAY to have debris removed from site instead of burying it. Have her contact her Homeowners insurance, before she gets a lawyer.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

The last time I saw such a bulge it was because the cheap construction was made from particle board as a substitute for real subflooring. Just before it got a roof on it, it rained. The rain swelled the particle board. Because they had placed the sheets so tight together, the board buckled up. They finished it anyway. It was probably 2" or less high but very noticable to walk over. Was in the entry from living to kitchen...a high traffic area.

 

[Dave Fitch]

Sounds to me like it is more a flooring problem, than a settling problem. Have repaired two of these in different houses over the years in properties I still own, and the problem has still not returned. One needs to relieve the pressure of the hardwood buckling by 1) using a power saw and either slitting only the hardwood layer with the grain of the boards and then screwing it and construction gluing it back down tight to the sub-floor, and then wood putty and stain the hardwood area back to match again, or 2)using a power saw cut-out the entire area of only the hardwood flooring layer, down to, but not including the sub-floor layer, and filling-in this void with the right thickness of plywood to match the surrounding hardwood, and carpet over the area or entire room (maybe only needs a throw rug over the repair). Either way, it does not have to be a large repair expense. Why not just call for a contractor inspection to decide if this is a major or only a minor problem with the house? We've all probably inspected homes with much larger problems and never recognized their signs.

 

[Randy Beigh]

Hal

I do not think an appraiser should get to involved and making it sound like the homeowner is a "victim" is just that.

I think the appraisal should be done "Subject to" an inspection by a licensed contractor to identify, then correct the problem. But, the appraiser should stay unbiased and not get personally involved.

None of us know what that problem is, although a few guesses have been added in this thread. I would guess there are several options that could cause the problem, some serious and some not so serious.

Hope you took pictures as that will help you tell your story.

I'm also disturbed by this sentence "I would not give her more than 50K for it now." When did that determination become part of your job? You should be appraising to market value, not your personal feelings.

 

[Ben Vukicevich SRA]

Hal,

I'm betting on a frost heave..

I've only seen it once and that was when a home was left unheated during the winter. The lally columns heaved upward and buckled the floor.

Any lally columns below the area you mentioned?

Ben