Geeesammy Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 Looking at some houses since I have recently relocated to Dayton, most homes that have peaked my interest are those that are older, mainly 1875-1920. Most have been somewhat updated as far as plumbing and electrical go, however a common trend I am noticing is that the floors tend to have a slope to them, usually the house has a high spot in or towards the middle, then going down towards the edges. Is this normal due to settling over the years, and if so, how safe? Can I reasonably expect to own this home for years to come with no or minimal issues as a result of this? I know the obvious signs of foundation issues, doors not shutting or shutting hard, windows as well, plasterboard cracked, etc. However when all of those seem fine yet the floor is sloped I am a touch worried. The most recent showing I went to this morning had an oddball set of issues I am somewhat baffled by. The main floor has the same aforementioned issue, however the upstairs has a bedroom that the middle is low, then the outer areas are high. The floor seems a bit "bouncy" to me when I'm walking so I'm a tad concerned with water damage, or worse. I went to the room below and found the ceiling seemed to follow the same trend, low in the middle, higher to the edges. Pics of house included, trying to explain as best I can. The wall for that bedroom is definitely this kitchen wall I have pictured. Hoping this all makes sense. Bedroom: You can see the carpet looking odd in the center, that is the low area Kitchen: The photo almost shows the bow but it is hard to tell if the lense and field of view or depth or whatever tomfoolery they do with the camera to make the bedroom look bigger is causing it. Any input is appreciated. Unless it is "Don't buy an old house, etc." I seem to have a knack for buying old shit, taking 5x as long to do a half ass job and then giving up (ever heard of my Supra? Yea...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewhop Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 My house was built in 59 and I still cuss at finding shit that was done "not up to code" Which essentially means they changed the way it was done to something newer and it is usually a pain in the ass to fix. I cant even imagine buying an older house unless it had been completely gutted and redone. Just my opinion. Many more that enjoy the old stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-O Posted October 21, 2017 Report Share Posted October 21, 2017 My house was built in 59 and I still cuss at finding shit that was done "not up to code" Which essentially means they changed the way it was done to something newer and it is usually a pain in the ass to fix. I cant even imagine buying an older house unless it had been completely gutted and redone. Just my opinion. Many more that enjoy the old stuff. This 100x unless it’s gutted and all redone it’s going to only be a nightmare between wiring, plumbing, new codes and everything else bound to slowly go wrong and the foundation is only going to become more of a issue between floors not being level and walls bowing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeesammy Posted October 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2017 My house was built in 59 and I still cuss at finding shit that was done "not up to code" Which essentially means they changed the way it was done to something newer and it is usually a pain in the ass to fix. I cant even imagine buying an older house unless it had been completely gutted and redone. Just my opinion. Many more that enjoy the old stuff. Most have had plumbing and electrical upadated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-O Posted October 22, 2017 Report Share Posted October 22, 2017 Most have had plumbing and electrical upadated If your looking into 50s homes do a full hard check aliuminum wiring is very bad news and sometimes it can appear it has been updated by looking at a outlet but all the other wiring in walls and through flooring might not have been removed and updated. People like to join old with new to make it seem it’s all gravy but really it’s a fire waiting to happen.. or mating new copper piping to old broken down pipes as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10phone2 Posted October 22, 2017 Report Share Posted October 22, 2017 I'm currently going through this process on my house. Bowing in drywalls isn't too far out of the ordinary on an older home. The best bet if you are worried, is to get a structural engineer to look at the home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallion Motorsports1647545491 Posted October 22, 2017 Report Share Posted October 22, 2017 The best bet if you are worried, is to get a structural engineer to look at the home This. Have a engineer look at anything you feel is major/structural. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10phone2 Posted October 22, 2017 Report Share Posted October 22, 2017 I forget to add before.... have the main sewer line video inspected. Trust me on that one. You never know if the main line has collapsed while it still allows water to drain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDHG940 Posted October 22, 2017 Report Share Posted October 22, 2017 I'm currently going through this process on my house. Bowing in drywalls isn't too far out of the ordinary on an older home. The best bet if you are worried, is to get a structural engineer to look at the home Had this done before. I had areas of concern, but the guy found other issues that were more concerning. Could have been really bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugen Posted October 23, 2017 Report Share Posted October 23, 2017 there can be many areas of concern in older homes, floor or ceiling joist can be bad or they may have cut into them, also just the foundation of old homes can be in poor condition, as well as walls that are out of square and a whole host of other concerns, feel free to pm me if you want a deeper conversation on it. I am a real estate agent and have been in real estate for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwashmycar Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 Bet you anything they are just 2X6's. Over time they have sagged. They are still holding the walls in and the ceiling up and likely will for another 100 years if the house is maintained. Only way to fix it would be to gut it and sister in better sized joists, new subfloor, and then re-sheetrock it all. Technically a 2X6 can span just over 9' as a floor joist. Granted if the house is old enough those joists are thicker and more like a full nominal 2"x6" so they are certainly better than todays crap pine. Likely will be fine, just don't put a pool table up there lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectragod Posted October 25, 2017 Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 As I have had the “experience “ of having to sue a prior homeowner for “mods” that he covered up, I will tell you to get your own inspectors, and do not use anyone that the realtor recommends, took me 3 years to square away my problems, in the end, the original owner got it back, mostly jammed up his ass. Good luck on your search, between houses that settle over time, it appears people who work on homes don’t have or know how to use levels, squares or plum bobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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