House Inspection and support woes. Help.

So had a few things I need to run down and figure out for my new house sooner than later. Currently under contract on a house and it's 99% immaculate/perfect. Up front I'll say I need help from real men as I'm an academic brainiac that is not that handy.

Issues I need to find a member who does that kind of work or can provide advice for.

#1 is I have a 210g tank with 75g sump. (Really is only about 240g total water volume, 200lbs rock and like 600-800 lb tank/stand) It's a 6 foot by 2 foot foot print. The room I'd like to put it in is a few inches to like a foot on the leading edge from the steel girder. (Parallel) It then would sit perpendicular over the engineered I beams. I need to find the span information. Ancedotal info from other people with a 240g was it was fine when they had it over same joist type without the girder. First home inspector thought it was ok (2 houses same model) 2nd one though is a bit gunshy of the idea. (Both were kinda engineer types like my dad who are 110% by the book and like things to be over engineered 125%.

So I was looking if anyone knows a qualified person that could come give some advice/measure for a cheap price? I was told not to just put the vertical supports and that I should add I beams? From saltwater forums there was this article which was helpful but maybe a bit past my understanding. http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html

#2 Looks like in construction they were cheap on glue and the pipe running to the street just in the front lawn beyond the rocks 10 foot down have become offset. The water flows fine but at the area just above it has where the water rises up a few inches rather than being a straight run out. The water itself is of course going down the pipe as well as through gap into the earth around it which while not bad now long term will be an issue. Inspector spitballed 1k to dig the hole and re glue the suckers. I'll have the video on a disk. Pretty big hole to make 10 foot but I figured this one might be something easier to do if "I knew someone" and could borrow equipment/manpower to do. This will be put as an objection in the inspection but I was open to trying to working things out casually with owners.

#3 I don't remember some of the phrasing but theres a big deck in back. It for the most part appears to have no support under it and is affixed to the house? He said that the areas adjacent to the bump out and where it attaches to the bump out should have been doubled up or something? One of my suggestions he said could work of putting supports in under the deck and then he said some sort of frame from that to the wall? He said it's not against code but "isn't the way things are done". Decks been there 10 years with no issues, I kinda want to call it not ideal for sure but apparently not an issue either.

#4, attic above garage, he said theres some kind of hanger? that is absent from some of the joists or somesuch. He said it was a simple/easy fix? Didnt mention cost.

1 find out what the load rating is on the beams. Need specifics. Tji?

2 what kind of pipe? Whats it for? Your only solution is to dig it up. Rent a track hoe mini ex to get close. Then hand dig the rest.

3. No code violation. No issue. Offer to remove the deck if they balk.

4. Find mysterious hanger. Buy hanger. Swing hammer.

1. Standard load rating in the us is 40 lb/ft^2. You have about 3000 pounds. Is the foot print 73 ft^2? (ie 5' x 15'). If not, you are over rated. You can build a platform that increases the footprint in most cases.

2. I would make the seller fix that. You don't want water going where it should not. Check the downspouts while you are at it. 5 foot to fall away minimum.

3. If there is not a code violation, there is not an issue. Just don't think you are going to plop a hot tub on it.

4. Would be pretty surprised if rough framing passed inspection missing hangers. You can call the building inspector for the local AHJ and ask him to make a determination if you need a permit to install hangers. That should get him out to take a look, and then you will know. :)

House inspectors are mostly scam artists (there are a few really good ones too), so don't get too carried away.

TJI?

It's the sewer line running out of the house to the street line. Wondered about something like that to keep cost down, then maybe someone specialized to actually glue it.

I'm the buyer not the seller, so if they balk I just have to deal.

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Originally Posted by Wulf202

1 find out what the load rating is on the beams. Need specifics. Tji?

2 what kind of pipe? Whats it for? Your only solution is to dig it up. Rent a track hoe mini ex to get close. Then hand dig the rest.

3. No code violation. No issue. Offer to remove the deck if they balk.

4. Find mysterious hanger. Buy hanger. Swing hammer.

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I dig ditches for a living. I would suggest to you that you make the homeowner fix the broken sewer pipe, or get an estimate from a repair company. I may be able to rent something or bring something home from work and help, but it still going to be significantly more than $1000. I would expect $3000 to be a cheap good buddy price if it's 10 feet deep. The 3000 would probably cover the repair assuming that the offset can be repaired at the point where it is broken, often times the deflection is because the pipe would backflow if you put it back together at that point without exposing more. If you leave it in the condition it's in, or if it is repaired with backflow, it will end up backing up sanitary into your basement eventually. Outside of the $3000 estimate, you also would need to consider repairing your landscaping after it has been dug up and your yard is destroyed.

TJI is a brand name, but used as a general descriptor of manufactured joists. The have a top and bottom cord and a OSB web. A fabricated wood I beam in essence. If you look on the labeling, you can actually get the ratings as Wulf202 suggested, but those are irrelevant because if you don't know the load of the structure the beams are supporting, you can't reasonably use the rating as the additional load you can apply.

Sewer pipe...yep make them fix it. Jamnanc is even being a bit generous. I have bid those repairs between $4k and $12K and usually hit about right.

Had the exact same issue with the sewer line in my house. Told the homeowner the only resolution was to fix it, or we walked. They fixed it. Plus after you show them the DVD they legally have to include it on the disclosures to a potential new buyer. They will probably have to fix it either way.

We made the sellers provide receipts from a licensed plumber and a new scope DVD proving it was fixed. The bill was just shy of $8K. Though mine had to go down a bit more than 16ft, and because the earth settling that caused the separation was a bit large, almost 10ft of pipe had to be replaced to keep it from bowing and creating a low spot. As an FYI, if the line ends up under a sidewalk, walkway or driveway your bill can easily make it it 15K, with breaking out concrete, and repouring. Plus my county had an absurd bond ($10-$20K) that you have to pay if you rip out the sidewalk. It gets refunded when you prove you replaced it to acceptable standards, but thats a big chunk of change to be out for a while.

$3,000=cost for someone from church who needs my help. Mark is right, it also depends on whether there is any sort of Hardscape or trees that would need removed or replaced and if there are other utilities buried in that location, access, soil type...,

Friends don't let friends let plumbers work outside buildings. Plumber+deep trench=OSHA violation.

First house out due to meth. Most other decent houses going in 48 hours right now. Got this one from a mailing as they are building a house/upsizing out west of there main reason we found it. Now that's kinda depressing news. They do have a bidder from a year ago who coulda done 255 asking and we bid it to 260 and they couldnt match. (Were straining to hit the 255) Problem is with current market I think they can find another buyer including those people easy. Only thing I guess that helps is that it becomes a disclosure item.

The house search has been about the most frustrating thing I've ever dealt with.

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Originally Posted by fitz19d

First house out due to meth. Most other decent houses going in 48 hours right now. Got this one from a mailing as they are building a house/upsizing out west of there main reason we found it. Now that's kinda depressing news. They do have a bidder from a year ago who coulda done 255 asking and we bid it to 260 and they couldnt match. (Were straining to hit the 255) Problem is with current market I think they can find another buyer including those people easy. Only thing I guess that helps is that it becomes a disclosure item.

The house search has been about the most frustrating thing I've ever dealt with.

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Walk away. DO NOT be in a hurry, BECAUSE HOUSES ARE GOING FAST. You sign on the dotted line, it's your problem. Either the seller repair, with receipts, OR they deduct that amount + 10% off sale price.

This is your first house, wait till you're on number 3-4. By then you know what you're looking at, for and better grip on repair cost.

Issue is it's already been 2 months, prices/interest are rising enough that by end of year we could easily be priced out of nice houses/area.

Trying to change jobs at same time as homebuying is tough and I already transfered to Lafayette, so got the added problem of paying out the nose commuting. Now I was already ready to not be moving in till June on this one behind schedule, but something at the end of the year will not be tenable.

Good advice right there. Another thing to think about, will you have the cash to make that repair yourself if it decides to plug up and stop working 2 weeks after you close? That was the deal breaker for us, we dropped most of our cash on the down payment, and another $5K-$15K just a short time later wouldn't have been feasible, we wouldn't have been able to afford it an our house would be unlivable.

Yeah, the woman wouldnt let me, but I wasn't planning on buying it unfixed. I'm open to some repairs being on me, but something outside of easy DIY or a reasonable cost is deal breaker. Just again ready to kick holes in things because the market is so ridiculous.

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Originally Posted by fitz19d

Yeah, the woman wouldnt let me, but I wasn't planning on buying it unfixed. I'm open to some repairs being on me, but something outside of easy DIY or a reasonable cost is deal breaker. Just again ready to kick holes in things because the market is so ridiculous.

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Don't be in a rush to do any DIY repairs, shortly after you move into a house something will come up. :-D

6 months after buying my house I have not had a weekend to myself.

Doing my own main line sewer replacement cost me nearly 2k and I did all the labor.

Dont get in a hurry.

I rushed into my second place and regret it most days.

With a layout and knowing the products you could make a resonable judgement call on the beams and tank. Having someone look at it professionally would be between 200 and 1000. Dont use schmid in loveland.

Sounds like the inspector is a former framer. Alot of them are tradesmen and know one area real well but lack in the rest.

I wouldn't buy it with sewer issues unless I was getting a great deal. I've had structural engineering done on different properties about weight loads. I was told that if your fridge won't fall through the floor your usually fine since per sq/ft they usually have the most load.


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If you buy it with the sewer problem rest easy, you can pay me in guns and ammo. But it would be you pulling the permit and self performing the work with my assistance.

Maybe contact Pipeline Industries for the sewer repair estimate. Pretty sure it will exceed that amount by a long shot. As mentioned with OSHA, etc, you have to step the trenches out at every 4 feet down, or use a trench box set up. The first requires removing a LOT of dirt. IIRC, they charge $1000 just for having to use the trench box.

Yep, mine had a trench box. And looking down that hole I can't blame them. When they need an extension ladder to get down to the bottom, thats a death trap without one.

New fun. Anyone know about the trustability of Radon sensors and need for calibration?

My house that was a wash due to meth had 2.7 on the radon. It's like 5 houses west of the current one. It was an unfinished basement. New house same model but finished with the crawlspace door in a basement bedroom. Believe meter was left in this bedroom with basement door shut for the few days it was there largely.

It came back as 4.8 with 4.0 being EPA cutoff for remediation required? Possible bad/off sensor? Caused by just less airflow the way the basement is? (Inspector got 0 co results with 10-20 in the flue which was fine but was unhappy with the seemingly smaller/missing or hidden behind furnace combustion air vent or whatever.)

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Originally Posted by fitz19d

New fun. Anyone know about the trustability of Radon sensors and need for calibration?

My house that was a wash due to meth had 2.7 on the radon. It's like 5 houses west of the current one. It was an unfinished basement. New house same model but finished with the crawlspace door in a basement bedroom. Believe meter was left in this bedroom with basement door shut for the few days it was there largely.

It came back as 4.8 with 4.0 being EPA cutoff for remediation required? Possible bad/off sensor? Caused by just less airflow the way the basement is? (Inspector got 0 co results with 10-20 in the flue which was fine but was unhappy with the seemingly smaller/missing or hidden behind furnace combustion air vent or whatever.)

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I had put in the contract that the owner would have a professionally installed mitigation system in at their expense. MY DIY kits came back at over 12. The owners had the system put in ... easy peasy.

They do need to be calibrated, but they are pretty accurate. There is a prescribed test methodology that has to be followed. Radon remediation is ALL about airflow. All the systems do is pump air out. Readings will change over time due to many factors, including water table. If you don't have a slab on grade, the remediation system should be around $1k.

Believe it is slab on grade....

I have inspection report if I can attach pdf here somehow? Also can upload my terrible phone video to youtube.

All of these expensive hints, you should ask your agent to look outside the neighborhood.

We've been looking all over, that's part of why I was saying who market is crazy shit now. Just happened to come up with this one nearby to the other house. (9/10 houses that were new listed in the last week that were possiblities are all under contract in under 48 hours.)

I think I could get a great house if she'd look at Milliken/Jtown, but is a very far drive and there is no way I'd want to transfer back up to the retard site that was my old location.

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Originally Posted by fitz19d

We've been looking all over, that's part of why I was saying who market is crazy shit now. Just happened to come up with this one nearby to the other house. (9/10 houses that were new listed in the last week that were possiblities are all under contract in under 48 hours.)

I think I could get a great house if she'd look at Milliken/Jtown, but is a very far drive and there is no way I'd want to transfer back up to the retard site that was my old location.

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Yes, thats the pre spring rush. I have 8 home buyers floating around trying to get under contract currently. My advice to them is to be patience. Once the weather get warmer, more sellers will list their homes, market will stabilize a bit. We had a pretty long winter this year, many of my sellers are delaying listing their homes.. because lets face it, who wants to move in the snow. Furthemore, there is not much REO currently, because most banks won't foreclose during the holidays. We should see more foreclosure listings starting this month.

Nevertheless, as far as volume, we are still way DOWN compare to pre 2008. Rate isn't going anywhere either. i just closed one yesterday at 3.9% 30 year fixed FHA. If time is on your side, you'll most likely will get a good deal. Dont buy just because there is no 'other' option in the market.

Best of luck to you.

Firestone or Frederick? Have you looked at the new construction at candelas?

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Originally Posted by fitz19d

We've been looking all over, that's part of why I was saying who market is crazy shit now. Just happened to come up with this one nearby to the other house. (9/10 houses that were new listed in the last week that were possiblities are all under contract in under 48 hours.)

I think I could get a great house if she'd look at Milliken/Jtown, but is a very far drive and there is no way I'd want to transfer back up to the retard site that was my old location.

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Ok, time to deal with the issues at hand. This is not the 1st time you have mentioned "banging heads" so to speak with your spouse. You need to sit down with her and discuss the realities of house hunting, expectations, pros / cons, of certain areas. Cost of housing vs. cost and time of commute. You are not the only one who commutes a distance every day 25 , 70 , 76 can confirm that.
The number of concerns with this house say, Walk Away. Take the time to look on your own instead of a realtor doing the leg work. Realtors, good, bad, indifferent tend to steer folks towards certain areas. It seems everything is being done based off what your spouse wants, instead of what both of you can compromise on.

Damn old wise men talking truth...enough to piss you off, especially when you ignore them. :)

There will be enough "very close" homes to get you what you want. We lived in an apartment for 3 years, shopping weekends for almost 2 of those. Our first house, we skipped it the first time we looked at it. Too many issues. We looked another 6 months, then bought that same house for less money after they had taken it off the market and fixed the issues. Still had about $4k in seller paid fixes before we closed. It was not a money pit and served us well for 10 years. We spent 2 years looking for our current house and given it is in the Metro, we could not be happier. Patience is profit.

Isn't Radon a scam that was legalized? Definitely have the owners take caee of remediation so you don't have to when you sell.

Its like the California regs about chemicals. Causes cancer in rats if you make em breath it constantly.

radon has become a big deal in our industry (real estate) if the next buyer blows a 4.8 you might wind up installing anyway. honestly though if it is that close I might not wory about it. testing again in a month might give you a clear test.

The acceptable european level are ten times higher than here. 40 per is considered safe everywhere but in the us.

Radon was between 4 and 5 in my house as discovered by the inspector during the buying process. We ended up getting 1200 bucks to install the mitigation system once we took possession. I really didn't plan on actually installing the system because I'm the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" guy, until my wife and I experienced an abnormal amount of mild headaches in the first couple of months. We had the radon mitigation system installed($900) and now we are back to "normal". It's worth the money IMHO.

Don't buy what doesn't fulfill your family's requirements, you have those written down right? We lived in our motorhome for 15 months at Johnsons Corner before we found our house. I'd be damned to move here(1200 miles) and buy something we wouldn't be happy with or get screwed with hidden discrepencies not found until you're in the house just because the frenzy makes you feel unnecessary pressure. Become methodical and logical in your search. Good luck!

I have been dealing with radon for nearly 25 years in the property management, contracting and real estate side of things, I have never heard anyone say radon would give you headaches.

The radon system pulls the affected air out of the houese prior to it getting into the living space. thsi will also cause some air exchange in the home as it creates negative pressure in the house causing outside air to be exhanged with indoor air. I believe you have inadvertently cured a different problem


The only known health effect of radon is an increased risk of lung cancer. Radon does not cause any warning symptoms (like headaches, nausea, fatigue, or skin rashes), and if you are suffering from those symptoms or other physical ailments, you should consult your physician.

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Originally Posted by SSPA117

Radon was between 4 and 5 in my house as discovered by the inspector during the buying process. We ended up getting 1200 bucks to install the mitigation system once we took possession. I really didn't plan on actually installing the system because I'm the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" guy, until my wife and I experienced an abnormal amount of mild headaches in the first couple of months. We had the radon mitigation system installed($900) and now we are back to "normal". It's worth the money IMHO.

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Did you check for Carbon Monoxide ??

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Originally Posted by eneranch

Did you check for Carbon Monoxide ??

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Woah, yeah headaches are a side effect of CO. The mitigation system may have masked the issue since it creates a mild negative pressure in your house. Or at least that is how it works in my untrained mind. Hopefully you have detectors.

Radon is a scam. Also Asbestos and lead concerns.

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Originally Posted by CO Hugh

Radon is a scam. Also Asbestos and lead concerns.

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Not if you're going VA or FHA.