Buying a New Home? Here’s What to Know About Foundation Problems
When looking for the perfect new home, there are a number of things you’ll want to consider before making a purchase. While foundation problems may seem scary, they’re not always a deal breaker when it comes to buying a new property.
When you have found a home you like, you can personally inspect the property for signs of foundation problems. Should anything catch your eye, it’s important to have a foundation specialist check the property in order to provide you with the repair costs, which can help you negotiate the price down.
Signs of foundation damage to be on the look for:
- Sunken floors or foundation.
- Cracks on the outside of your home, especially diagonal ones. If they are small it may just be a cosmetic issue, but large cracks are often a sign of a more serious issue.
- Patios that have pulled away from the house.
- Doors and windows that don’t open and close properly.
- Gaps between the caulking on windows and doors.
- Sloping floors with a height difference of more than an inch over 15-20 feet.
- Wallpaper that has wrinkled or creased.
If you’ve noticed any of the above issues during your own inspection of the property, there’s no need to worry just yet. A lot of potential buyers are wary of foundation issues because they think it will be too costly and time consuming to fix – when that’s not necessarily the case.
Foundation problems, when caught early, are relatively easy and cost-efficient to repair. A home with foundation issues will also make the property harder to sell, which may motivate the seller to come down significantly on price.
Once you have had the property inspected by a foundation specialist or a structural engineer, you can take that report to various foundation companies to get different bids on the job. This will help you find he best deal for the work, and to negotiate the price of the home to cover the price of those repairs.
At Julian Construction, we’ll conduct a free home inspection for you complete with a quote for repair.
We have extensive experience serving our Los Angeles community and nearby regions. In fact, Julian Construction has inspected over 30,000 structures in the area!
Julian Construction was formed in 1994 and our focus has always been on building foundations, doing foundation repair and replacement, earthquake retrofitting, and house leveling.
When you work with Julian Construction, you get the principles of the company and the workers of Julian Construction under your home.
And in order to keep foundation repair affordable for our customers, we offer a price guarantee — because we know our quote for repair will represent your very best value.
Give us a call at call (323) 733-3377 to schedule your free inspection or complete the inspection request form.
