What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts
I purchased a home with my wife in June 2012. We recently began looking into refinishing our first floor floors and began uncovering the seriousness of an issue that we believe should have been identified during the home inspection. In simplest terms, the rear 12 feet of my entire house drops 4 inches to the back wall.
During the home inspection, the inspector identified that there is sloping to some floors, cracks in foundation, and cracks in a few spots of drywall. None of these highlighted findings suggest that we consult a structural engineer. During the inspection, I brought up the floor feeling out of level and the inspector mentioned that all homes have varying degrees of the floors being out of level. He also mentioned that the cracks on the foundation are unsubstantial hairline cracks. We received our report from our inspector, read through it, and went ahead with the purchase thinking that our home is safe from having any large issues.
Recently, I pulled back the insulation from the floor joists in the basement and discovered a very strange flaw in the construction. It appears as if the original builder poured the foundation and it quickly settled and cracked. I suspect this because the floor joists under my first floor sub-floor are shimmed about 2 inches over a span of 12 feet (center of house to rear wall). Additionally, the sub-floor is cut just before the sill and rear wall. In turn, the rear wall of the house is not shimmed. It appears that since the construction of the house 12 years ago, the foundation has settled 2 additional inches. This brings my house to up to 4 inches out of level in spots. Throughout the house, all door frames, windows, cabinets, and tubs are installed level. The result is a ceiling line that appears to diminish as it runs to the back of the house. Even if I pay to have the house restored to level, I'm not even sure if the structure is safe enough to lift at this point. The rear of the house is basically separated from the floor joists and is resting a thing 2 inch strip of plywood on top of the sill. It makes very little, if any in some spots, contact with the floor joists.
I had a licensed contractor come out last week that told me he has never seen something like this in his 40 years. He recommended that I contact a structural engineer and attorney immediately. I have a structural engineer coming out to take a look at my house tomorrow to determine the severity of the issue. At the very least, the rear of the foundation has currently sunk to a level of 4 inches lower than the center of the house. Should my home inspector have identified a potential issue to me and recommended that I speak with a structural engineer prior to purchasing the home? In my opinion, the fact that there is a noticeable slope when walking in the basement, combined with numerous vertical cracks to the foundation walls, cracks to the foundation floor, unlevel floors, cabinets and door frames hung level, as well as drywall cracks, should have indicated that there may be a potential problem. Does this sound like something that I should speak to a litigation attorney about?
I purchased a home with my wife in June 2012. We recently began looking into refinishing our first floor floors and began uncovering the seriousness of an issue that we believe should have been identified during the home inspection. In simplest terms, the rear 12 feet of my entire house drops 4 inches to the back wall.
During the home inspection, the inspector identified that there is sloping to some floors, cracks in foundation, and cracks in a few spots of drywall. None of these highlighted findings suggest that we consult a structural engineer. During the inspection, I brought up the floor feeling out of level and the inspector mentioned that all homes have varying degrees of the floors being out of level. He also mentioned that the cracks on the foundation are unsubstantial hairline cracks. We received our report from our inspector, read through it, and went ahead with the purchase thinking that our home is safe from having any large issues.
Recently, I pulled back the insulation from the floor joists in the basement and discovered a very strange flaw in the construction. It appears as if the original builder poured the foundation and it quickly settled and cracked. I suspect this because the floor joists under my first floor sub-floor are shimmed about 2 inches over a span of 12 feet (center of house to rear wall). Additionally, the sub-floor is cut just before the sill and rear wall. In turn, the rear wall of the house is not shimmed. It appears that since the construction of the house 12 years ago, the foundation has settled 2 additional inches. This brings my house to up to 4 inches out of level in spots. Throughout the house, all door frames, windows, cabinets, and tubs are installed level. The result is a ceiling line that appears to diminish as it runs to the back of the house. Even if I pay to have the house restored to level, I'm not even sure if the structure is safe enough to lift at this point. The rear of the house is basically separated from the floor joists and is resting a thing 2 inch strip of plywood on top of the sill. It makes very little, if any in some spots, contact with the floor joists.
I had a licensed contractor come out last week that told me he has never seen something like this in his 40 years. He recommended that I contact a structural engineer and attorney immediately. I have a structural engineer coming out to take a look at my house tomorrow to determine the severity of the issue. At the very least, the rear of the foundation has currently sunk to a level of 4 inches lower than the center of the house. Should my home inspector have identified a potential issue to me and recommended that I speak with a structural engineer prior to purchasing the home? In my opinion, the fact that there is a noticeable slope when walking in the basement, combined with numerous vertical cracks to the foundation walls, cracks to the foundation floor, unlevel floors, cabinets and door frames hung level, as well as drywall cracks, should have indicated that there may be a potential problem. Does this sound like something that I should speak to a litigation attorney about?
