You just described a tear down and rebuild, or sell and move.

thanks Verbo,

you the cost and effort of raising the ceiling and adding pitch to the roof is more-or-less similar to rebuilding rather than remodeling?

how do we draw the line between remodeling and rebuilding? could you give me some example? i guess those two terms are mixed in my head.

Honestly the best bet is probably to find a good local contractor and have a chat with him, including letting him poke around in the house.

I agree with Millworkman, find a good contractor, and have him check everything in your house, before you make a decision. If the rest of the house is ok, and its just the addition you are having a problem with, it may be only the addition, that will need to be torn down, and rebuilt again. Since we here, cant see your house, none of us have any idea, of its condition, or the area its in, or whether its a tear down, or just needs some work. A contractor, can help you with all those answers. (a good contractor, not a fly by night type of contractor, or a wanna be contractor)

You need to find a foundation company with a licensed engineer to come inspect the home. Fixing a crack in the foundation—what does that mean??? Did they just slap some concrete in the crack or did they have to put in supports? The cracks on the interior you are describing are cracks from shifting foundation that they likely just soackled and painted. IF the foundation has been properly supported, then those cracks can be fixed, but it is a more involved job than some spackle and paint.
If the foundation has not been properly supported , you will need to get that done, depending on the extent of the issue, could be a few thousand to much much more. After it is properly lifted, many more cracks will likely appear inside, requiring extensive repair to walls and likely ceilings.

I’m sorry you are going thru this. I have been there. I don’t know about California laws but in my area if you know about foundation issues, you are required by law to disclose the engineering report to prospective buyers, even after repairs are completed.

Did you get a home inspection?

I agree with the need to have a foundation company evaluate the foundation problems. Probably best to get three quotes. From your description it appears the foundation problem may only be with the addition. Check with the city to make sure it was permitted. You may also want to consider legal action against the seller. He should have disclosed the defect prior to you purchasing. A local real estate attorney would be worth consulting. First get the foundation evaluations and quotes. Before the quotes make sure the addition was permitted.

After you determine the cost for foundation repair, you can get quotes for the roof changes and interior finishing. Your home value may go up as a result of the improvements. The realtor you used could help you determine that.

Raising the roof makes the "good bones/bad bones" issue moot, as all of the exterior bearing walls would require new framing, new electrical, revised plumbing, etc. At the same time you'd want to install new windows and doors, as they'd need to work with the 2' higher house.

Verbo throws the "your house is a tear down" dart at just about anything that's posted here, but this time that dart may have hit the bullseye.

"Verbo throws the "your house is a tear down" dart at just about anything that's posted here, but this time that dart may have hit the bullseye."

Was bound to happen sooner or later.....................

Thank you everyone for all the valuable comments. As far as the inspection goes, 3rd party home inspection report was provided by the seller and a couple of foundation cracks were noted by the inspector, which was later remedied by the foundation specialitist hired by the seller with 5 years warranty. according to the picture taken after the remedy, it looks like couple steel rebar was inserted into the foundation for the vertical crack, and the horizontal crack was masked/covered with something i can't really tell what it is (maybe concrete?)

based on what everyone is suggesting, I should do

1. hire a foundation speciality company to take a closer look into the foundation of the house

2. talk to a experienced contractor regarding the scope of the work after the foundation issue is addressed and settled.

This was really helpful. is there anything else I am missing? I really appreciate everyone's time to write such a thorough comments!

It maybe simply be that the foundation was repaired properly but the drywall inside was not properly fixed. If they just put mud in the cracks and repainted, it will recrack. So you may not have a big issue. You could even fix it yourself if you are handy. There is plenty of info online. My husband did a beautiful job in the home we remodeled. You should have the warranty for the foundation as it should be transferable. Contact that company first.

at about the roof?

No one has said anything about the roof?

If you have to replace the entire roof, that won't be cheap either.

Did you purchase a warranty for the house?

What does the warranty company say?

Rtpaige03 - that’s what i am hoping for. I am going to reach to my realtor to see if i can get in touch with the company that fixed the foundation and go from there. If it’s just a drywall issue, i could just rip off all the ceiling drywall and just keep the joist exposed. And perhaps focus on redoing the roof with new polyiso insulation/TPO on the exterior and keep the current form as a flat roof. With the exposed ceiling, i would know if it leaks again…. And i wont have to worry about mold growing behind the drywall the exposed ceiling.

Loobab - it wont be cheap, but i think it will still be cheaper than other options mentioned above… which is rebuilding the house. In california, it looks like i am looking at $1,000,000 to build an average quality house of 2000sqft. Ouch…

Whatever route i choose to go, it will put a lot of financial burden on me… Hopefully not too much. I wont feel good about selling this house to others. Even if i sell it to others at later time, i would want to address and remedy the problem first and at least turn it into something mediocre before i do that.

I guess I am just going to have to suck it up and move on. I should have trusted my instinct rather than naively trusting what realtor said. Good and painful lesson learned as a first home buyer. But it aint fun to have a growing pain as a middle-age man… that’s for sure.

I

If you're going to have the foundation inspected, I suggest inspection by an independent structural engineer.

I would stay away from anyone suggested by a realtor. Its always best to get your own inspectors.

The house has stood for over 60 years on the existing foundation in earthquake country. It's going to stand for another 60. Let your engineer calculate that and have your accountant explain the money you set of fire to have common sense explained to you.

Concrete cracks. Not "if", but "when". Generally not a big deal.

The cracking could also be from the middle of the building. We had a massive dip in a building that when we had a highly qualified company come in and put proper structural support in for the bearing center wall the cracking and windows not closing issues were resolved.

Joseph Corlett - then something like surfside condo collapse shouldn't have happened. I would rather pay a couple hundred bucks for a thorough investigation and understand what i am dealing with. I am sure it will be cheaper than hiring an accountant to look at my money spending and far more worthy.

The house is in San Jose. I am pretty sure, that like much of California, that there is extremely low inventory there, and that the cost of selling the current house and purchasing another house, especially in such a tight real estate market, may not make moving feasible. Only you, with your personal financial situation, can determine this.

However, if the house is in a great location, and the lot you have is desirable, you may want to take care of these problems and stay there. How much money you put into your home will depend on your ability / desire to do that.

And, you know, you will have to disclose every problem you discover when you sell the home, so it may not be so easy to just sell and purchase something else. If the seller of your home didn't disclose major defects to you, then you may have a case for the damages, and you should consult an attorney.

And, by the way, James, you are looking at probably $1M to do a whole house remodel. However, that may well be worth it, given high property values where you are. I would start consulting with very, very reputable general contractors to get an idea. Agree that I wouldn't trust your real estate agent.