suing a home inspection company

[judith621]

I live in NJ. I hired a Home Inspection Co. that specifically advertised itself as having only structural engineers prior to buying my house. The basement had floor-to- wall shelving against one wall, but could easily have been moved. Also, there was an area where first owner had used concrete "support" against the same wall. I asked the inspector to look at this and he said it was nothing, that the owner was trying to patch up a small crack, and not to worry.

After I had been in the home a year, I had the furnace replaced and we moved the shelves. to paint. A township inspector came out when I applied for the peprmit and told me "Your foundation is failing". I had a new structural engineer come out and he said, yes, i hasd a "horizontal hinge crack that ran from the east wall to the north wall. Another contractor said it would cost $3000 to fix w/ steel supports.

Neither the home inspector's report or the prior owners disclosure report mention the crack or any foundation problem.

Do I have a case against the inspection company? the owners are still in the neighborhod and I dont want to sue them and have gosspip running through the neighborhood.

 

[HomeGuru]

Please post to the real estate law board Att: faithandhope.

 

[Smithsonian]

As a professional structural engineer with extensive experience in this area, I have a few comments: 1) First, realize that the township inspector who came out to look at your furnace installation is not likely to have ANY credentials for stating that your foundation has failed. It's OK for him to suggest you have it looked at by a professional, but it's unlikely that he understands foundations well enough to make such a statement. 2) The other structural engineer that you had look at the damage said that you "had a horizontal hinge crack that ran from the east wall to the north wall." Did he also say if the wall is structurally stable at the present time? (this can be determined with on-site measurements). 3) This type of crack appears frequently in concrete block foundations when they buckle inward from soil pressure. If the wall is determined to be stable now, the width of the crack can be monitored by an engineer with an applied crack gage every 3-6 months, for a year or two, to see if the wall is moving. If it isn't, it probably never will (as long conditions outside the foundation remain stable). If the wall with the crack runs parallel to the basement ceiling joists, it is not load-bearing, and has less resistance to buckling inward. If the wall is perpendicular to the joists, it is load-bearing, and has greater resistance. If the last engineer that looked at the foundation didn't talk about these things, I recommend that you ask him, or have a foundation engineer come out and give you a complete assessment. Don't call contractors in for repair estimates until you determine from the engineer that you have a problem that needs to be corrected - it is in the contractor's best interest to recommend that work is needed.

 

[judith621]

Thanks, Smithsonian, for your advice. The second structural engineer did take measurements but said it would cost $75.00/hr for his report and $500 for his testimony in court and it was a package deal. I could not afford to give him the OK at the time so I never got a written report from him--but the 2 yr statute for this claim will run this June and I have to decide soon. the engineer did not inform me if the wall runs parallel to the ceiling joists, but did say the hinge crack had probably stabilized. The problem is, I want to build on (on top of) that side of the house--I don't know if the cinderblock (8 in.?)will hold it with the bowed wall. The wall was obviously bowed if my home inspector had bothered to move the shelving (and maybe the shelving was to hide the defect??) . An 80 year old neighbor who was around when my house was built said he thinks the wall collapsed when the house was built in 1964, and it may've had something to do with pressure/earth pushed against it. Too bad I didnt meet him 'til after I settled. I have also heard that the house has an underground stream under it--the whole street has had water problems--which may've had something to do with it? I did have a builder look at it & he said he didnt think it would be a problem to add on--but I am not convinced and I am afraid of NOT fixing the problem.