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Home Repair The Old House

Should I be worried about foundation?

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Hi everyone!

I just bought a house from the 1950s and want to know if I should be worried about potential foundation issues. It passed inspection but couldn’t be looked at throughly as it’s a concrete slab with no basement. We have multiple doors that stick, some separating around certain doors, a few small cracks I found outside, and grooves in a wall corner. Being a new homeowner I’m over analyzing everything and was wondering if someone could let me know if this is normal or I should have it looked at? I attached some pictures. Thank you!

Featured Answer

party_music50

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

1st pic: looks like someone did a poor job of cutting the flooring to match the line of the trim. To fill the gap, it looks like they tried to fill it with silicone or caulk.

2nd pic: someone did a poor job of taping that corner... the tape is twisted and has air under it. I've attempted a repair w/ a similar situation... chances are you can only improve it. I use an exacta knife to cut away the tape that isn't secured to the wall, then fill with joint compound (retape if necessary) and smooth it out.

3rd pic: I wouldn't worry if I saw that, but hopefully someone who knows what's going on there will chime in.

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Comments (7)

Sheba Still
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks so much for your input, appreciate it!
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No problem. As for the staining, there is a product called Kilz, it's a primer and stain-stopper. If you just paint over the stain it'll come through again so treat it with Kilz first, a couple of coats, then paint over it. If it's a non-painted coating on the ceiling you will probably have to paint the whole hallway so it doesn't look odd but the other rooms should be ok if the colour difference isn't too noticeable. An airless sprayer is your best bet for painting the ceiling if the coating is too delicate for a roller. Over the crack itself I'd use fibreglass tape then mud it. If there is mould up there, you'll want to remove all affected insulation and spray the affected areas with a mould treatment. At least we know what it is now, and it's not structural. When I bought my house we had a mystery ceiling stain but the valley on the roof was quite obviously done for, as the previous owner had attempted a repair. We replaced the roof a year or so ago. You should be ok just replacing the boot, or caulking it. In the meantime tape over the joint might even suffice if you can get up there.
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Sheba Still
Original Author
4 years ago
Also forgot to add this pic
cat_ky
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Well the hole around that pipe on the right, should be sealed. I cant tell exactly what that is on the left, but. mostly what I have seen in all your pictures, is that there is a lot of deferred maintenance. None of which take a long time, to take care of, and your yard, definitely needs a very good raking, and clean up. On the interiior, that one picture of the ceiling, there appears to be a very wide line down from the ceiling line. Tape should not go that far down. Wondering if there was a wall paper border on there, and someone was too lazy to remove it, before painting over it. Or if that is actually a wall corner, and someone left the old wallpaper under and painted over it will do that. It could be the seam I am seeing is the actual wallpaper and it has been improperly wrapped around a corner. If the paint is latex, it will cause the border or any wallpaper to do what I am seeing there. Everything I am seeing, looks to be maintenance issues. Congratulations on your new home.
Sheba Still
Original Author
4 years ago
Good! That makes me feel better I can catch up on the maintenance. They did seem to slack on it, it was crazy the amount of leaves I’ve had to take in the spring and dead trees we had to chop. Thanks for your input!
poorgirl
4 years ago
Hi there , not sure where you live but we have a house also that the brick is in the ground, 60 year old house, we ended up digging the perimeter out approx. 2 ft around where there was no block , we cleaned the brick that was in the ground , patched any cracks and then put styrofoam against the brick and then filled it in , we are in Ontario and were told to do this for the water getting into the brick and freezing since there is a flower garden built against the brick.
Sheba Still thanked poorgirl
Sheba Still
Original Author
4 years ago
Thank you!

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