Tip #1: Understand the
TREC "repair recommendation":
 | The Real Estate Inspection Approach:
Under the TREC Standards of Practice for Real Estate Inspectors, if
you judge the performance of the foundation to be
inadequate, you are required to report the foundation as "in
need of repair".
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| The Engineering Approach: An
example of an engineering approach can be found in a publication of Texas Section of the
American Society of Civil Engineers. The guidelines state that if the
foundation performance is judged to be inadequate, the engineer
should report to his client the options that are available to
improve the performance of the foundation. Those options do include structural
foundation repair but also can include non-structural options such
as landscaping changes, more or less aggressive watering of the
foundation making cosmetic repairs and/or changes to the house and,
if appropriate, doing nothing.
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| Why the Engineering Approach is a More
Comprehensive
Approach: According to the US Army Corps of Engineers
publication Foundations in Expansive Soils, the fact that a
foundation is not performing "adequately" does not mean
that foundation repair is either necessary or desirable. Nor
does it mean that foundation repair will actually improve the
performance of the foundation. An engineer has both the
training and duty to exercise his engineering and analytical
judgment in judging both the adequacy of the performance of the
foundation and in reporting what options are applicable for
improving inadequate foundation performance. |
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Tip #2: Do not hold yourself out
as an engineer:
We recommend that you clearly state in comment section under
"Foundation" that you are not an engineer. If you try to diagnose
a visible crack in the slab or a brick veneer or drywall crack you could be
laying the foundation for a misunderstanding that could result in your taking on
a liability that you should not be saddled with. Real estate inspectors
are generalists; your task with respect to foundation inspections is to point
out drywall cracks, cracks in brick veneer and stucco, door issues and floor
slopes that could be indicative of damage due to foundation movement. If
you believe that the indications of foundation movement are indicative of
"inadequate" performance, then you have no choice under the TREC rules
but to report the foundation as in need of repair.
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Tip #3: Recommend that your
client visit this website: We recommend that you provide every client
the internet address for this website and encourage them to browse the
site. Recommend this website verbally and in writing. This website
was designed explicitly for buyers and sellers of houses in the Greater Houston
Area. It is loaded with valuable information for your clients. Any
client who visits this website on your recommendation will be impressed with
your knowledge and professionalism. In addition, they cannot help but come
away with a better understanding of slab-on-ground foundations.
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Tip #4: Include the following as
a comment in your report:
We recommend that you include the following in the foundation section of every
report you publish.
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I recommend that you visit the
following website: www.houston-slab-foundations.info. This website
will provide you with general information about slab-on-ground
foundations in the Greater Houston Area that is not readily available
elsewhere. The website was published specifically to help buyers
and others understand the foundation inspections with reference to real
estate transactions.
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Tip #5: Recommend a second
opinion by a Professional Engineer:
We recommend that you If the house shows visible damage or other indications of
foundation movement, always state your honest opinion as to the need for repair
based on your opinion as to the adequacy of the foundation performance and
recommend a second opinion by a Professional Engineer who specializes in
evaluating the performance of slab-on-ground foundations. We recommend the
following wording in the report.
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I recommend you retain a
Professional Engineer for a second opinion concerning the performance of
the foundation. The Professional Engineer you retain should have
the specialized training to perform an engineering evaluation of the
performance of the foundation. He can provide you with; 1) a
second opinion concerning foundation performance, 2) an opinion as to
whether foundation repair is structurally necessary and 3) options in
addition to foundation repair that the engineer deems applicable to this
house. For more information about engineering foundation
performance evaluations you should visit the website at www.houston-slab-foundations.info.
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Tip #6: Suggest that your client
visit foundation repair contractor's websites: Regardless of your opinion of the performance of
the foundation, recommend that your client visit the following foundation repair
websites:
| www.foundationrepair.org: This is the
website of the Texas Foundation Repair Association, a trade
association of foundation repair contractors. From the home
page if you click on "information" you will the go to a
page that gives you 3 choices, "information",
"maintenance" and "underpinning". These
sections provide good, reliable information about slab-on-ground
foundation behavior, the maintenance of slab-on-ground foundations
and what is involved in foundation underpinning including a good
discussion of the limitations of foundation underpinning. This website
was clearly created with a lot of engineering input.
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| www.dawsonfoundationrepair.com: The
www.dawsonfoundationrepair.com website is a foundation contractor website that
is
very informative. This website gives a good overview of the repair
process. It also includes a refreshingly candid explanation of how the
need for foundation repair should be determined:
| “The majority of home foundation
problems are not jeopardizing the structural integrity of the home.
Rather, the foundation problems present cosmetic deficiencies
(cracked brick veneer), inconveniences (fixing jammed doors) and a need
for greater home maintenance (fixing broken plumbing pipes).
The final decision concerning the repair of a home’s foundation
depends on the individual homeowner’s tolerance of the symptoms.”
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I want to repeat that last
sentence: The final decision concerning the repair of a
home’s foundation depends on the individual homeowner’s tolerance of the
symptoms. This simple truth makes this the most informative of
all the foundation contractor web sites.
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