Structural engineer recommendations
cramer said:
Anybody know a good structural engineer in the area? It's not for us, but for someone who is buying a house in Westfield.
TIA
I think Ernie Borsellino should be able to help with the entire home inspection process. Local guy. His company is All Pro Inspections, I know he used to advertise on MOL for years. (973) 868-4979.
Jaytee said:
cramer said:
Anybody know a good structural engineer in the area? It's not for us, but for someone who is buying a house in Westfield.
TIA
I think Ernie Borsellino should be able to help with the entire home inspection process. Local guy. His company is All Pro Inspections, I know he used to advertise on MOL for years. (973) 868-4979.
They've already had a home inspection and the home has had substantial waterproofing done. The inspector said there is evidence of water in the walls. The seller is going to have the waterproofing person who did the job do an inspection to see if there is a problem. Of course, since he's working for the seller, he's going to say there is no problem. There is a warranty and the buyer wants to make sure that the warranty goes with the house.The buyer is thinking that an engineer should take a look to make sure there isn't any structural damage.
All-Pro still advertises on MOL.Best home inspector I know in these parts.
M E consulting engineers
excellent. Worked with them a number of years ago now (10ish years ago I think) and they were excellent. Helped us identify major structural issues which we have corrected.
A while back, I saw this firm recommend for structural stuff here on MOL.
MacAuliffe Contracting
Regards,
RCH
John MacAuliffe has always been excellent when it comes to structural. Hope he hasn't retired. His phone number was 908-245-9131.
cramer said:
They've already had a home inspection and the home has had substantial waterproofing done. The inspector said there is evidence of water in the walls. The seller is going to have the waterproofing person who did the job do an inspection to see if there is a problem. Of course, since he's working for the seller, he's going to say there is no problem. There is a warranty and the buyer wants to make sure that the warranty goes with the house.The buyer is thinking that an engineer should take a look to make sure there isn't any structural damage.
Hi Cramer,
I’m curious about a few things. Was the waterproofing done from the outside or the inside? When you say “water in the walls”, do you mean in the cells of a block foundation wall or something above grade? If below grade, was the interior wall repainted after the waterproofing?
jimmurphy said:
cramer said:
They've already had a home inspection and the home has had substantial waterproofing done. The inspector said there is evidence of water in the walls. The seller is going to have the waterproofing person who did the job do an inspection to see if there is a problem. Of course, since he's working for the seller, he's going to say there is no problem. There is a warranty and the buyer wants to make sure that the warranty goes with the house.The buyer is thinking that an engineer should take a look to make sure there isn't any structural damage.
Hi Cramer,
I’m curious about a few things. Was the waterproofing done from the outside or the inside? When you say “water in the walls”, do you mean in the cells of a block foundation wall or something above grade? If below grade, was the interior wall repainted after the waterproofing?
The waterproofing was done inside with French drains and two sump pumps. The concrete blocks were covered with dry wall so it wasn't possible to see what is going on. There was a closet that had a coating over the concrete blocks and the inspector was able to rap his knuckles against to check for dampness. When he did this the coating fell off, which the inspector said was an indication that there was wetness in the walls. There was also plastic covering on the walls. This seemed to indicate there was (or is) a pretty big problem. The realtor said she has plastic covering on her walls which was done when she had waterproofing done. Is that something that is common? I had French drains installed and two sumps but no plastic covering.
The waterproofing was done in 2007. The seller's disclosure form said that the basement was flooded in Hurricanes Irene and Sandy. The buyer is checking with the seller to see if there were back-up sump pumps, which may have been the problem since there was no electricty to run the pumps. There was a back-up pump installed but it wasn't working. That's one of the things that the buyer is going to ask for. (I put in water-powered back-up pumps after Irene and Sandy to replace the battery operated pumps that I had.)
It’s pretty common for the cells in a block wall to fill with water, which can cause the de-lamination of interior coatings like Drylock. Unless the waterproofing is done from the outside of course.
Pretty sure we have water in ours. As concrete block and water coexist pretty well, I don’t lose sleep over it. It’s when it leaks a lot into the interior that I’d be concerned.
For interior waterproofing, I’ve seen details where they put holes in the bottom course of block and run small tubes from the hole to the interior perimeter drain.
Will see if I can find an example.
ETA:
No tubes on this one but same idea where the holes drain to the perimeter French drain.https://pin.it/2Jb6hHh
jimmurphy said:
It’s pretty common for the cells in a block wall to fill with water, which can cause the de-lamination of interior coatings like Drylock. Unless the waterproofing is done from the outside of course.
Pretty sure we have water in ours. As concrete block and water coexist pretty well, I don’t lose sleep over it. It’s when it leaks a lot into the interior that I’d be concerned.
For interior waterproofing, I’ve seen details where they put holes in the bottom course of block and run small tubes from the hole to the interior perimeter drain.
Will see if I can find an example.
I have holes in the bottom layer of blocks. It’s how they do it to drain the cinder blocks.
Honestly I don’t think you need a structural engineer for this. The plastic sheeting is to catch water seeping through the upper blocks and dripping it down to the French drain. They need to drill the holes. It’s a pretty common issue with cinder block foundations in older homes where they didn’t seal it up from the outside before back filling the dirt.
jimmurphy - There are holes drilled in the block. They're covered with some type of grating.
There is a warranty from the waterproofing company which says it's valid as long the the seller remains in the house. The buyer is asking the seller to get the waterproofing co. to extend the warranty to him (the buyer.) Of course, if the waterproofing co. goes out of business the warranty is worthless.
As I said. I've never heard of plastic sheathing put over the walls.
The seller's buyer has the inspection report which details the problem. The seller is having the waterproofing co. do an inspection and give the buyer a report. The buyer will have to see what the report says.
cramer said:
jimmurphy - There are holes drilled in the block. They're covered with some type of grating.
There is a warranty from the waterproofing company which says it's valid as long the the seller remains in the house. The buyer is asking the seller to get the waterproofing co. to extend the warranty to him (the buyer.) Of course, if the waterproofing co. goes out of business the warranty is worthless.
As I said. I've never heard of plastic sheathing put over the walls.
The seller's buyer has the inspection report which details the problem. The seller is having the waterproofing co. do an inspection and give the buyer a report. The buyer will have to see what the report says.
WRT the plastic sheeting, I’ve also seen details where the “sheeting” has a thickness to it to (think of corrugated cardboard without one layer) to provide a vertical channel to take any water that comes through the wall and direct it to the perimeter drain.
Gotta say that this doesn’t worry me based on the description. Pics would help.
ETA: the detail I posted above actually shows it. “A drainage layer is sometimes added…”
jimmurphy, jaytee and all - Good old MOL - it's a great resource. I've conveyed your advice to the buyer (our son) and he thanks you all.
Nothing wrong with due-diligence. If he can wrangle a warranty for a small fee from the contractor (or a credit from the seller), all the better!
Hope it works out!
Most professional, helpful engineer you could imagine. Helped navigate some very tricky issues with foundation and framing
Sean Kennedy (862) 377-4234
Our son had Gregory waterproofing inspect the basement yesterday and Gregory said there are no weep holes, as mentioned by jimmurphy and jaytee. That's why the walls are damp. Gregory said it's not a big job and they can drill through the dry wall.
Our son is glad he had Gregory do an inspection. I know they do a lot of work in SOMA.
Thank you all.
eta - He'll deduct the cost from the sales price.
Anybody know a good structural engineer in the area? It's not for us, but for someone who is buying a house in Westfield.
TIA