‘It doesn’t look serious to us’

Q. We are buying a house and got an engineer’s report that said there are several problems, including the worst, a crack in the foundation wall. It is parallel to the floor of the basement, but there’s no crack on the outside, either because the outside wall was painted or because the crack is below ground. The engineer made it sound very serious, but it doesn’t look serious to us, just concerning. Do we get another engineer or architect — is there a difference? What should we do to decide if the house is worth the hassle? We really want the house, and made a commitment, since there are several offers and ours is the highest — above the asking price.

A. I have dealt with this problem more lately than at any other time in my career, because it’s being used a lot as a bargaining tool, since house prices are in the stratosphere. In most cases, the wording from the home inspector makes it sound extremely dire.
I make two observations when reading these reports or hearing about the problem: 1) The report wording or buyer’s explanation is often not specific, but recommends a structural engineer, not an architect, and 2) the problem, when I review it, is most often not as serious as it is made out to be. By that I mean that except for about one out of every thousand cases, the wall is not imminently going to fail, and the person who wrote the report is not a licensed engineer or architect. They generally lack the structural training and testing, and therefore the credentials, to represent themselves as qualified to make specific recommendations, only to bring the condition to your attention, although you may already have noticed it.
As for whether you choose an architect or engineer, they both have training and credentials in this area of expertise. The engineer, if he or she is specifically a “structural” engineer, is more qualified for much more specialized and sophisticated structural design, but an architect must have formal structural training and testing in order to be licensed and registered. You can verify the licensure by searching the office of professions at op.nysed.gov and inserting their name and the field of practice. I often do this for clients, and have discovered that many home inspectors aren’t “engineers,” but do have home inspection credentials.
Again, in most cases, whether in or out of a flood zone, I have seen this condition, and the repair is often, but not always, to remove broken or exposed areas around the cracking and to inject structural repair epoxy specifically formulated for masonry or concrete repair. You most definitely should get qualified licensed professionals to look at the wall, since anyone else could not legally call themselves licensed to take responsibility for carrying out the work or its lasting result, and could be held liable for costs if a failure occurs, and you certainly want to avoid failure. Good luck!

© 2024 Monte Leeper. Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.