crumbling exterior foundation

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richardtb

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I am thinking about buying this house. Is this picture of the exterior foundation a concern? Richard

foundation.jpg
 
YES...there does not appear to be a footing for the foundation in the picture, looks like it was just built on the ground. However, further investigation is needed.
It also will need to be repaired if there turns out there is a footing.
Get a home inspection when you sign any papers, or just keep looking.There are plenty of homes out there.
 
Thanks. The house was built in 1997 and I don't see any other houses built by the same builder. So, even though the house has been remodeled and looks nice inside, I am concerned about how well built it was.
 
Dig a little deeper, I would bet that this is like a stucco finish that was finished to ground level before the landscaping was done. I doubt this is a problem.
 
If there are stemwalls, there may be serious problems. If there is just a slab-on-grade (with raised block perimeter), there may be more than serious problems. Especially if located in a cold climate. Someone needs to do some more exploration to determine exactly what the foundation consists of.

Saying there isn't a potential problem is not logical, based on what the one photo shows. Stucco finishes below grade (and thick ones, if that's what's there) are not normally done, unless they were installed in an effort to hide something. As others have said, post of few more pix, please.
 
Dig a little deeper, I would bet that this is like a stucco finish that was finished to ground level before the landscaping was done. I doubt this is a problem.

I have to disagree Neal. The blocks that are there are decayed away at the bottoms, way more than any stucco. I also see stones and a void at the bottoms. I stiil believe there is no footing, or stem wall. Do some more investigation work on it is my advice.
 
Thanks so much for all the responses. I am including the only pictures I currently have, although if someone tells me what pictures to take, I will go there and take more pictures.

foundation2.jpg

foundation3.jpg
 
Richard; The worry that others have is, does the foundation continue down below what we can see. Depending on ware you are there should be concrete down to below the frost line. Take something like a peice of steel or what have you and poke down under the dirt level and see if there is foundation there. When you are inside this house, how far off the floor was this window?
 
Richard; Besides what these think about the foundation, I don't like the caulking missing around the window in the second photo and the drip line below the window in the first photo. I am in a wet zone and we had lot's of problem with the stucco used in the ninety's. So much so, no one is using it anymore.

Inspector; I understand that you see blocks there, but they are not because they just don't fit 16x8 inches. Print the picture and measure it . This is just design in the stucco.

Bridgeman: You may be right about them trying to hide something. The other thing I have seen here is concrete forms made out of foam and left in place. In the nineties we saw lots of stucco over foam on the walls, a drip edge at the bottom of the wall, stucco continued down to the dirt line. And it looks just like this picture.
 
Richard;
Inspector; I understand that you see blocks there, but they are not because they just don't fit 16x8 inches. Print the picture and measure it . This is just design in the stucco.

Oh I get it, but the stones and no weep screed at the bottom for drainage says to me there is no footing. Just a old fashioned hunch,Let's hope I'm wrong.:D
 
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