September 20, 2025 • 16 mins
Trust your instincts and never skip the inspection - this crucial advice could have saved one Ohio family significant headaches with their new manufactured home. Their story begins with excitement about upgrading to a newer home on land they already owned, but quickly turns troubling when the installation company prevents them from viewing the construction process.
What seemed like minor ceiling cracks revealed a much deeper problem during our inspection. The site preparation - the critical foundation work that supports the entire structure - was fundamentally flawed. The ground sloped toward the home rather than away, directing water straight at the support piers. Most alarmingly, several piers weren't even making contact with the steel frame, while others used varying numbers of regular (not pressure-treated) wooden shims that were already developing mold. A level survey confirmed the severity - points 1.2 inches out of level across short distances, far exceeding acceptable tolerances.
Manufactured homes offer excellent value and quality construction when properly installed. Built in controlled factory environments on rigid steel frames, these homes can provide decades of trouble-free living. However, they remain entirely dependent on proper site preparation and foundation work. This case demonstrates how cutting corners on this critical phase creates cascading problems that undermine the home's structural integrity. The strange discovery of drywall stacks propping up the furnace further highlighted the questionable workmanship throughout.
The takeaway is clear: regardless of whether you're buying new construction, a manufactured home, or an existing property, professional inspection remains essential. Red flags like builders restricting access during construction should never be ignored. Have you encountered similar issues with your home purchase? Share your experience and remember to subscribe for more real-world inspection insights that could save you thousands.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Three-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey everybody, it's Jim and I have Laura here.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hello everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
All right, so.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Interesting week.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yeah, we had a lot of stuff going on this week.
Good things we had a mastermindmeeting that we ran.
We hosted it this time, and socompanies from Ohio, Michigan.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Wisconsin and Indiana .
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And Indiana all were here participating in that,
which is nice.
So I encourage everybody to bepart of a mastermind group or
set your own up, if you can.
But for, as home inspections go, we had an adventure for one
home buyer, which they alreadyowned a house.
For what?
Two weeks?
Well, okay, okay, they owned ahouse.
(00:44):
They had a manufactured homeRight, which are typically those
are built within a factory, ina warehouse.
They're built nice, rigidspecifics and specifications, to
say, and they are solidly built.
They're on a steel frame.
Maybe they come in two halvesand put the steel frame sections
together do they get welded onsite, then typically they get
(01:07):
connected.
Yes, they get connected, okayand I've seen them where they're
wooden frame and I put togetherand I've seen it on where
they're metal frame I would likethe frame better yes, either
way, they are built in a factoryso nothing's getting rained on,
getting warped from the weather.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So so in theory, that should be good.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
They are solid, yes, sometimes a little less
expensive, but they're solidRight.
There's really nothing wrongwith these houses.
The wiring is usually reallygood.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Almost always.
The only thing that we've evertypically really had to do with
the manufactured home is makingsure that the tie downs were
done correctly yes, depending onthe loan.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yes, we can get that for engineering, but they need a
professional engineercertification to verify that it
is a permanent foundation.
That's tied down well and wecould do that for a certain loan
.
So if you need that, we can getthat.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But we didn't need to do that for this one this was
this was an inspection becauseshe was concerned about some
things that she was seeing right, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
So here's how they.
They owned a house, they ownedthe land already, so they they
want to move from that house tothis one, a newer one, okay
makes sense so they paid acompany, the company to do the
site prep.
Site prep, which could be awhole article on itself, is you
(02:28):
level it out.
You maybe do the slab thatyou're doing or, in this case,
piers to hold the house up forthe foundation.
That's how you do it.
Manufacturers could be in abasement, they could be in a
crawl space, they could be onraised piers.
They have a skirting like thisone.
So they pay for the site prepand then their new house got
(02:49):
delivered.
And didn't it almost fall offthe truck at one point they saw
she said when they were bringingit up it was tipping, okay, but
they caught it somehow, or itdidn't tip all the way over, I
don't know.
To me that could possibly twistsome things, but this has steel
frame on the bottom, so it's notreally going to not too much
(03:12):
overall damage is going tohappen, I imagine.
So anyway, they live in thehouse.
Actually, when they werebuilding they weren't allowed to
see it while they wereconstructing.
The company would not allowthem to oh heck no.
Which is that's a red flag in myhead.
They moved in.
There's all kinds of cracks anddamage on mostly the ceiling.
There's some cracks which arecosmetic.
(03:36):
At this point I understand it'sa new house.
You expect perfection, but itwas.
Yeah, you want it betterlooking than that.
They did not do a good job andthere was a raised area in the
center of the house.
So here's what I did I.
They called me when they want awhole house inspection.
Well, you told them they shouldget a whole house inspection,
just know what all is going on.
(03:56):
Good thing they did, becausejust look at the cracks in the
roof, the ceiling of the place,no big deal, it's cosmetic,
right, but what causes that?
So during the inspection foundout that when they put up the
site prep, the site prep, theground is not level.
Outside the base, the footprintof the house, the ground slopes
(04:20):
toward this house, toward thetoward, which is basically a
crawl space, flows toward that.
Water is directed right at thepiers, which you don't want to
undermine or wash away the soilunderneath your support piers.
That would be bad.
And judging by the variouslevels of wood shims that they
used on top of the concrete,used on top of the concrete
(04:43):
masonry piers so it would meetthe bottom of the frame of the
house.
The number of shims and two bywhatever they put in there
varies.
Even if they're only like sixfeet apart, they vary in the
number of shims.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
That's not good.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So the piers, none of those were level.
They're not all the same height.
In fact, I found two, ActuallyI found three support piers that
are not making either anycontact with the house itself or
it's so loose I can scoot itout by just my hand pulling it
out that's not good which is why.
(05:25):
Which is why they're havingsome issues.
How?
Because all things are going tosettle.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Everything's going to eventually like sag down a
little bit eventually habitationinvestigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in ohio.
Trusted, licensed homeinspectors for your needs.
From radon to mold towarranties for a great home
(05:54):
inspection, you really can't gowrong.
Visit HomeInspectionsInOhiocom.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
But this house.
I did a level survey.
I got a tool that measures theelevation of the rooms, the
floors, so I took that All right, not a huge structure.
I got my zero.
I set that right at the frontdoor.
Then I went to the four cornersof the house, okay, and then
(06:24):
one in the center.
Actually I have the survey I.
I mapped that out.
The center was only about 14feet away from the uh location
of the device.
The zero is 1.2 inches higher,which is way outside the
tolerance, because nothing'sgoing to be perfectly level.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
But this is outside the scope and we have other
things that are just barely atthe level for tolerance.
And then the corner where ithad the piers not touching that
one is down.
Oh, so that was already startingto well, there's nothing
supporting it, so it's right, soit's going to sink it's a steel
(07:06):
frame so it's not going to movethat much.
But it has no support, so theas it moves you you will get
more cracking in the roof.
I mean the ceilings, and theroof also has some issues.
It's a manufactured home.
It has some issues that need tobe done and actually in front
(07:28):
of the house it leaned outslightly.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Oh, I remember that in the picture.
So here's the long and theshort of it.
If you've got a new build, forwhatever reason, if it's a
manufactured home, if it is withanother one of the large
builders in one of theircommunities, make sure you get
it inspected, because the housesare going up fast, they're at
(07:53):
the mercy of theirsubcontractors and who they can
get and how much of theirknowledge base they actually
have, how much much you know.
Whatever the case may be, youneed somebody in your corner for
you?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
yeah, well, the specters, typically they're.
We're, we're working for theclient right, but overall we're
neutral to the whole processright, we don't get anything if
it sells or if it doesn't.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
We're there to just state this is the condition of
the house at this time, on thisday, during this inspection.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Well, the safest thing for a home inspector is to
be factual and accurate.
That's the safest thing forthem.
If they lie or misrepresenteither side going toward the
seller or leaning toward thebuyer they lose credibility.
And inspections don't.
Nobody wants to get sued.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah right.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Actually, in the state of Ohio the lawsuit is
limited to the fee of the homeinspection.
By law it's limited to that.
Unless you've got really grossnegligence and you willfully
decide you're going to lieinstead of just making a mistake
.
So actually it's probably saferbeing a home inspector now than
it was 10 years ago, because bylaw I'm like nope, how much you
(09:09):
paid, that's all you're goingto get.
So, anyway, this adventure forthese people, it was they're not
happy, but it was a red flagfor me when the builder would
not let them in until they werecompletely done with the house
Because they were covering stuffup Right.
Oh, and the same house, theback of the furnace, had like
(09:32):
stacks of drywall between thefurnace and the wall.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Oh, that's right to keep it up.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Or to keep it from rocking back and forth, I don't
know definitely not the standardway of doing it.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I'm saying the only thing is tip over, that's not
normal though no, in 23 yearsthat we've been doing this, have
you ever seen drywall used tohold up a furnace to keep it
from like moving or makingexcessive noise or anything?
No okay, so there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I think I've seen wood shoved behind one, before
which I understand one thingstable right but man, but it was
like stacks of like four sheetsof drywall, just the smaller
squares just showed back there,so I'm not even certain how
they're.
If you move that, friends areall going to fall the floor,
look like we didn't move it tosee if they're secure in any way
.
I think they're just wedged inthere.
(10:22):
But always get it inspected.
If a site prep this well, thiswhole house, as far as I know it
would have been near perfect.
Except for the roof they did.
Whoever did the shingles,little errors up there, but
they're easily fixable.
Other than there's noventilation is not right, but
anyway, all the other issues arereally like pretty minor
(10:45):
overall, but the site prepdidn't get that thing level.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
That's the issue so how can they do that now?
Do they have to go back out andjack up that house and redo
that site prep like would thatbe the best way to do that then?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
that would probably be the absolute best way is to
raise the house and then redothe the site prep and the site
prep, yeah but would that?
Speaker 2 (11:08):
have caused permanent damage to that yet, or no,
maybe what?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
here's the thing they didn't do a good job on the
site prep, so how do we knowthey did a good job with the
footers?
right as far as I know, the, thefooters are just no, they're
not big enough, they're notwhite enough.
I have no way of knowing,because you can see evidence
where and we're standing waterin there.
But I can see where water hastrickled from the outside across
(11:33):
the footers, where the would beand and uh, slowly eroding
everything away, at leastsaturating the ground where it's
soft, where the footers couldsoak down.
Now, the best thing for them todo right now, if they can't get
this, let's assume the footersare good, they want to, okay
let's, let's, let's give them alittle boost.
(11:54):
Let's assume they're okayfooters are good, absolutely
need to go, and there's nogutters on the house either that
was.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
That was an upgrade.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
That was an upgrade to add to the house.
I'm like and I told him youabsolutely need to get gutters
on here Is direct the water andgrade the dirt in the back.
It's back house was based onthis one.
Grade it so no water runsunderneath the place.
Okay, if you do that, thefooters, once they all dry out,
(12:24):
will stay in place.
You don't have to worry aboutthem settling, assuming the
ground is all nice and solidlike undisturbed soil when they
build on it.
Okay, they gotta control thewater and then, after they know
that's all done, then they couldgo up underneath there and add
metal shims.
(12:47):
Your shims between your piersand your structure should not be
wood.
I mean, if they're pressuretreated wood, okay, that's
better, but these are just plainuntreated wood.
They're all going to rot.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Oh yeah, they're already moldy.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I'm looking at the pictures right now someone has
some mold growth on them already, but they should be metal shims
.
But I would 100, I would wantto go back underneath there, get
the that would.
You almost have to bring alittle jack to raise it up
slightly.
So you pull out the wooden ones, put in metal, metal or in some
cases I think you probablycould fit some brick in there
(13:26):
and re-support that stuff.
And then you've got to figureout where's level at on this
thing.
So you almost have to raise upthe house, get the piers all
level with new concrete blocksor whatever, and then lower it
back down.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Sounds like a lot of work.
They'd have just done it rightin the first place.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah, to me that would have been a red flag.
The builder or contractordoesn't want you showing up to
take a look at their work.
That's iffy.
That is very iffy to me.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
So anyway, well, we build our house and we were here
every week like easily, yeah me.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
so anyway, we build our house and we were here every
week like easily, yeah, and wetrusted our guy, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Then they're taking a look.
Yeah, like we still just camehere to hang out and and take a
look and do stuff.
So you know that that's anotherthing too.
Like I've been hearing a lot ofpeople that have had problems
with builders in the past monthor so and everyone has told me
that there were red flags thatthey saw, that they ignored and
that they wish they hadn't.
If you see something and it'sgot your little spidey senses
(14:28):
tingling and if you're not sureabout it, don't hesitate, follow
your instinct either get aninspection or walk from the deal
.
You know this is going to bethe largest purchase basically
for your life at this point intime.
Like, you may upgrade and moveup to another larger one down
the road, but to this point intime, this is your largest
(14:50):
purchase.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
We kept an eye on our place and there's one piece of
wood that our builder put up.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
It it, it as it dried out it split, so I hate this
thing split Done the next dayand he, he, so I hate this thing
, split, Done the next day andhe switched it out, which I mean
.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Our builder's name was Dean.
He was doing a great job.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
But mentioning that toward the beginning, he knows
we're keeping an eye oneverything.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
So that kind of sets the tone.
So if you're hiring a builderman, not nitpick, but call
something out early on.
They'll go.
Oh okay, then they'll take careof it.
Now that would that split wouldhave supported forever.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I don't know, probably probably it was the
whole way through, but it wassplit the whole day.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I'm like, no, probably, not probably better
safe a little split, like Istill might, would have called
out a little less than I stillwould have called it out.
If it split a little less thanthat, I still would have called
it out.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Follow your instincts and hire an inspector.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yep, double check the stuff.
But anyway, never go without ahome inspection.
Now, this place heremanufactured home.
I think it was the model homethat they had, so maybe they
sold it as is, but even then youshould do it.
(16:09):
That they had, so maybe theysold it as is if they did, if
they bought it, as is, thatdoesn't mean the site prep can
be shit right in order to wreckthe house.
So they need to go afterwhoever did the site prep, which
I don't know.
That was that same company, orthey subcontracted that out,
that I do not know.
But either way, way, it needsfixed.
Biggest thing they can do rightnow is control the water.
Do not let water flowunderneath there anymore.
(16:30):
That will at least slow downany progression of issues.
Minimum.
Do that.
All right, laura.
Any other thoughts?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
All right, thank you everybody, bye, bye-bye.
Hey everybody, it's Jim and I have Laura here.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hello everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
All right, so.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Interesting week.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yeah, we had a lot of stuff going on this week.
Good things we had a mastermindmeeting that we ran.
We hosted it this time, and socompanies from Ohio, Michigan.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Wisconsin and Indiana .
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And Indiana all were here participating in that,
which is nice.
So I encourage everybody to bepart of a mastermind group or
set your own up, if you can.
But for, as home inspections go, we had an adventure for one
home buyer, which they alreadyowned a house.
For what?
Two weeks?
Well, okay, okay, they owned ahouse.
(00:44):
They had a manufactured homeRight, which are typically those
are built within a factory, ina warehouse.
They're built nice, rigidspecifics and specifications, to
say, and they are solidly built.
They're on a steel frame.
Maybe they come in two halvesand put the steel frame sections
together do they get welded onsite, then typically they get
(01:07):
connected.
Yes, they get connected, okayand I've seen them where they're
wooden frame and I put togetherand I've seen it on where
they're metal frame I would likethe frame better yes, either
way, they are built in a factoryso nothing's getting rained on,
getting warped from the weather.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So so in theory, that should be good.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
They are solid, yes, sometimes a little less
expensive, but they're solidRight.
There's really nothing wrongwith these houses.
The wiring is usually reallygood.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Almost always.
The only thing that we've evertypically really had to do with
the manufactured home is makingsure that the tie downs were
done correctly yes, depending onthe loan.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yes, we can get that for engineering, but they need a
professional engineercertification to verify that it
is a permanent foundation.
That's tied down well and wecould do that for a certain loan
.
So if you need that, we can getthat.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But we didn't need to do that for this one this was
this was an inspection becauseshe was concerned about some
things that she was seeing right, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
So here's how they.
They owned a house, they ownedthe land already, so they they
want to move from that house tothis one, a newer one, okay
makes sense so they paid acompany, the company to do the
site prep.
Site prep, which could be awhole article on itself, is you
(02:28):
level it out.
You maybe do the slab thatyou're doing or, in this case,
piers to hold the house up forthe foundation.
That's how you do it.
Manufacturers could be in abasement, they could be in a
crawl space, they could be onraised piers.
They have a skirting like thisone.
So they pay for the site prepand then their new house got
(02:49):
delivered.
And didn't it almost fall offthe truck at one point they saw
she said when they were bringingit up it was tipping, okay, but
they caught it somehow, or itdidn't tip all the way over, I
don't know.
To me that could possibly twistsome things, but this has steel
frame on the bottom, so it's notreally going to not too much
(03:12):
overall damage is going tohappen, I imagine.
So anyway, they live in thehouse.
Actually, when they werebuilding they weren't allowed to
see it while they wereconstructing.
The company would not allowthem to oh heck no.
Which is that's a red flag in myhead.
They moved in.
There's all kinds of cracks anddamage on mostly the ceiling.
There's some cracks which arecosmetic.
(03:36):
At this point I understand it'sa new house.
You expect perfection, but itwas.
Yeah, you want it betterlooking than that.
They did not do a good job andthere was a raised area in the
center of the house.
So here's what I did I.
They called me when they want awhole house inspection.
Well, you told them they shouldget a whole house inspection,
just know what all is going on.
(03:56):
Good thing they did, becausejust look at the cracks in the
roof, the ceiling of the place,no big deal, it's cosmetic,
right, but what causes that?
So during the inspection foundout that when they put up the
site prep, the site prep, theground is not level.
Outside the base, the footprintof the house, the ground slopes
(04:20):
toward this house, toward thetoward, which is basically a
crawl space, flows toward that.
Water is directed right at thepiers, which you don't want to
undermine or wash away the soilunderneath your support piers.
That would be bad.
And judging by the variouslevels of wood shims that they
used on top of the concrete,used on top of the concrete
(04:43):
masonry piers so it would meetthe bottom of the frame of the
house.
The number of shims and two bywhatever they put in there
varies.
Even if they're only like sixfeet apart, they vary in the
number of shims.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
That's not good.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So the piers, none of those were level.
They're not all the same height.
In fact, I found two, ActuallyI found three support piers that
are not making either anycontact with the house itself or
it's so loose I can scoot itout by just my hand pulling it
out that's not good which is why.
(05:25):
Which is why they're havingsome issues.
How?
Because all things are going tosettle.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Everything's going to eventually like sag down a
little bit eventually habitationinvestigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in ohio.
Trusted, licensed homeinspectors for your needs.
From radon to mold towarranties for a great home
(05:54):
inspection, you really can't gowrong.
Visit HomeInspectionsInOhiocom.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
But this house.
I did a level survey.
I got a tool that measures theelevation of the rooms, the
floors, so I took that All right, not a huge structure.
I got my zero.
I set that right at the frontdoor.
Then I went to the four cornersof the house, okay, and then
(06:24):
one in the center.
Actually I have the survey I.
I mapped that out.
The center was only about 14feet away from the uh location
of the device.
The zero is 1.2 inches higher,which is way outside the
tolerance, because nothing'sgoing to be perfectly level.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
But this is outside the scope and we have other
things that are just barely atthe level for tolerance.
And then the corner where ithad the piers not touching that
one is down.
Oh, so that was already startingto well, there's nothing
supporting it, so it's right, soit's going to sink it's a steel
(07:06):
frame so it's not going to movethat much.
But it has no support, so theas it moves you you will get
more cracking in the roof.
I mean the ceilings, and theroof also has some issues.
It's a manufactured home.
It has some issues that need tobe done and actually in front
(07:28):
of the house it leaned outslightly.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Oh, I remember that in the picture.
So here's the long and theshort of it.
If you've got a new build, forwhatever reason, if it's a
manufactured home, if it is withanother one of the large
builders in one of theircommunities, make sure you get
it inspected, because the housesare going up fast, they're at
(07:53):
the mercy of theirsubcontractors and who they can
get and how much of theirknowledge base they actually
have, how much much you know.
Whatever the case may be, youneed somebody in your corner for
you?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
yeah, well, the specters, typically they're.
We're, we're working for theclient right, but overall we're
neutral to the whole processright, we don't get anything if
it sells or if it doesn't.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
We're there to just state this is the condition of
the house at this time, on thisday, during this inspection.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Well, the safest thing for a home inspector is to
be factual and accurate.
That's the safest thing forthem.
If they lie or misrepresenteither side going toward the
seller or leaning toward thebuyer they lose credibility.
And inspections don't.
Nobody wants to get sued.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah right.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Actually, in the state of Ohio the lawsuit is
limited to the fee of the homeinspection.
By law it's limited to that.
Unless you've got really grossnegligence and you willfully
decide you're going to lieinstead of just making a mistake
.
So actually it's probably saferbeing a home inspector now than
it was 10 years ago, because bylaw I'm like nope, how much you
(09:09):
paid, that's all you're goingto get.
So, anyway, this adventure forthese people, it was they're not
happy, but it was a red flagfor me when the builder would
not let them in until they werecompletely done with the house
Because they were covering stuffup Right.
Oh, and the same house, theback of the furnace, had like
(09:32):
stacks of drywall between thefurnace and the wall.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Oh, that's right to keep it up.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Or to keep it from rocking back and forth, I don't
know definitely not the standardway of doing it.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I'm saying the only thing is tip over, that's not
normal though no, in 23 yearsthat we've been doing this, have
you ever seen drywall used tohold up a furnace to keep it
from like moving or makingexcessive noise or anything?
No okay, so there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I think I've seen wood shoved behind one, before
which I understand one thingstable right but man, but it was
like stacks of like four sheetsof drywall, just the smaller
squares just showed back there,so I'm not even certain how
they're.
If you move that, friends areall going to fall the floor,
look like we didn't move it tosee if they're secure in any way
.
I think they're just wedged inthere.
(10:22):
But always get it inspected.
If a site prep this well, thiswhole house, as far as I know it
would have been near perfect.
Except for the roof they did.
Whoever did the shingles,little errors up there, but
they're easily fixable.
Other than there's noventilation is not right, but
anyway, all the other issues arereally like pretty minor
(10:45):
overall, but the site prepdidn't get that thing level.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
That's the issue so how can they do that now?
Do they have to go back out andjack up that house and redo
that site prep like would thatbe the best way to do that then?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
that would probably be the absolute best way is to
raise the house and then redothe the site prep and the site
prep, yeah but would that?
Speaker 2 (11:08):
have caused permanent damage to that yet, or no,
maybe what?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
here's the thing they didn't do a good job on the
site prep, so how do we knowthey did a good job with the
footers?
right as far as I know, the, thefooters are just no, they're
not big enough, they're notwhite enough.
I have no way of knowing,because you can see evidence
where and we're standing waterin there.
But I can see where water hastrickled from the outside across
(11:33):
the footers, where the would beand and uh, slowly eroding
everything away, at leastsaturating the ground where it's
soft, where the footers couldsoak down.
Now, the best thing for them todo right now, if they can't get
this, let's assume the footersare good, they want to, okay
let's, let's, let's give them alittle boost.
(11:54):
Let's assume they're okayfooters are good, absolutely
need to go, and there's nogutters on the house either that
was.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
That was an upgrade.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
That was an upgrade to add to the house.
I'm like and I told him youabsolutely need to get gutters
on here Is direct the water andgrade the dirt in the back.
It's back house was based onthis one.
Grade it so no water runsunderneath the place.
Okay, if you do that, thefooters, once they all dry out,
(12:24):
will stay in place.
You don't have to worry aboutthem settling, assuming the
ground is all nice and solidlike undisturbed soil when they
build on it.
Okay, they gotta control thewater and then, after they know
that's all done, then they couldgo up underneath there and add
metal shims.
(12:47):
Your shims between your piersand your structure should not be
wood.
I mean, if they're pressuretreated wood, okay, that's
better, but these are just plainuntreated wood.
They're all going to rot.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Oh yeah, they're already moldy.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I'm looking at the pictures right now someone has
some mold growth on them already, but they should be metal shims
.
But I would 100, I would wantto go back underneath there, get
the that would.
You almost have to bring alittle jack to raise it up
slightly.
So you pull out the wooden ones, put in metal, metal or in some
cases I think you probablycould fit some brick in there
(13:26):
and re-support that stuff.
And then you've got to figureout where's level at on this
thing.
So you almost have to raise upthe house, get the piers all
level with new concrete blocksor whatever, and then lower it
back down.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Sounds like a lot of work.
They'd have just done it rightin the first place.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah, to me that would have been a red flag.
The builder or contractordoesn't want you showing up to
take a look at their work.
That's iffy.
That is very iffy to me.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
So anyway, well, we build our house and we were here
every week like easily, yeah me.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
so anyway, we build our house and we were here every
week like easily, yeah, and wetrusted our guy, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Then they're taking a look.
Yeah, like we still just camehere to hang out and and take a
look and do stuff.
So you know that that's anotherthing too.
Like I've been hearing a lot ofpeople that have had problems
with builders in the past monthor so and everyone has told me
that there were red flags thatthey saw, that they ignored and
that they wish they hadn't.
If you see something and it'sgot your little spidey senses
(14:28):
tingling and if you're not sureabout it, don't hesitate, follow
your instinct either get aninspection or walk from the deal
.
You know this is going to bethe largest purchase basically
for your life at this point intime.
Like, you may upgrade and moveup to another larger one down
the road, but to this point intime, this is your largest
(14:50):
purchase.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
We kept an eye on our place and there's one piece of
wood that our builder put up.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
It it, it as it dried out it split, so I hate this
thing split Done the next dayand he, he, so I hate this thing
, split, Done the next day andhe switched it out, which I mean
.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Our builder's name was Dean.
He was doing a great job.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
But mentioning that toward the beginning, he knows
we're keeping an eye oneverything.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
So that kind of sets the tone.
So if you're hiring a builderman, not nitpick, but call
something out early on.
They'll go.
Oh okay, then they'll take careof it.
Now that would that split wouldhave supported forever.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I don't know, probably probably it was the
whole way through, but it wassplit the whole day.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I'm like, no, probably, not probably better
safe a little split, like Istill might, would have called
out a little less than I stillwould have called it out.
If it split a little less thanthat, I still would have called
it out.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Follow your instincts and hire an inspector.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yep, double check the stuff.
But anyway, never go without ahome inspection.
Now, this place heremanufactured home.
I think it was the model homethat they had, so maybe they
sold it as is, but even then youshould do it.
(16:09):
That they had, so maybe theysold it as is if they did, if
they bought it, as is, thatdoesn't mean the site prep can
be shit right in order to wreckthe house.
So they need to go afterwhoever did the site prep, which
I don't know.
That was that same company, orthey subcontracted that out,
that I do not know.
But either way, way, it needsfixed.
Biggest thing they can do rightnow is control the water.
Do not let water flowunderneath there anymore.
(16:30):
That will at least slow downany progression of issues.
Minimum.
Do that.
All right, laura.
Any other thoughts?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
All right, thank you everybody, bye, bye-bye.
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