Home inspector, leaky basement several areas, bowed in wall, cracks, efflorescence

Specific Inspection Topics Structural Inspections
#1

… 1:15 mark, and he says “This is what happens when you don’t maintain your gutters, downspouts and underground drain system”… ???

Did Bubb’s hear that right? lol Yes!

So if you maintain the gutters and downspouts n underground drain system lol,
basements won’t leak?

Walls won’t bow in?

You won’t get horizontal cracks in foundation wall?

Really? lol

all due respect bro, shtt they may indeed be very good on their inspections but sorry, not what is said, claimed here

Hmmm, when he brings up maintaining underground drain system, is he talking about maintaining the drain tiles along footings or if there’s some Bozo-brain type of swale or shallow EXT drain tile crap that may have been installed? Huh? loollllll

Doesn’t matter!!! If anyone thinks this nonsense aka maintainence will prevent leaky basements 'n bowed in walls they’re wrong, sheesh man, where do some get this stuff

He states there are cracks visible on the inside of wall (doesn’t tell the WHOLE story of the true condition of wall on the outside), so… bowed in wall he said with existing cracks, efflorescence… and i didn’t hear a word about the NEED to waterproof the wall corectly on the outside, hmmmm

Bubba doesn’t care IF there’s a concrete walkway or driveway or deck etc on the exterior of the bowed in wall, if you wanna help reduce, lessen the pressure against the wall AND ‘stop’ the water from entering then you need exterior waterproofing done correctly.

Here’s a house that had an INT drainage system installed and they farted with the grade outside, folla? Did THAT CRAP, solve the leaky basement and mold and bowed in wall? No! duh

Multiple EXT cracks in walls, allowing water into blocks, causing mold, efflorescence, clay soil and some underground tree roots caused the cracks, leaky basements n mold etc… and some wanna talk about DRAINAGE??? Maintain the gutters, downspouts and drain tiles along footings or maintain a stupid EXT french fry drain system that may have been installed? smh

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#2

Are you the seller of this house or something? Did he kick your dog and steal your boyfriend?
Are there “more reasons” water can be coming into a basement? Sure. There are a ton like maybe it’s floating in an ocean? Don’t let your home do that.
But if the point of your rant is to say that letting water soak around your foundation wall is ok and that it DOESN’T lead to these issues, then maybe you need to go back and reread a few things.
I’m confused what the point of this was except that your upset he didn’t give a complete foundations course in a 3min video.

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#3

You’ve been here for 3 months. You’ll get to know Mark. Yes he rants and he has some good information to share as an expert at stopping water from entering the basement or crawlspace. Give it some time or ignore him…your choice.

The best to you and your inspections.

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#4

Wow Andy, take a chill pill. Mark is one of the good guys.

#5

lol, 3 min video complete F course, nah man, it would have taken the guy what, 5-10 SECONDS to say it needs ext-waterproofing,pretty simple. And i’m not the one who decided to make a video and slap it on you tube and omit some important points

water drops out of the sky on, along a raised grade too, you don’t think some of that water doesn’t wet, soak some of the soil… especially on long, heavier rains.

Then lol even when the grade is raised with more soil, lets say quite a bit of that water IS diverted away from a 5-10 more feet, you think all that water that is diverted a bit further away goes straight DOWN? For those builders who backfilled with most-all clay or silty soil, some of the water that was diverted a bit further away will percolate/move through the the soil in all directions, not just down, sideways too, sideways underneath a raised grade, sideways underneath a driveway and so on.

For those who have all sand backfilled around house well then, they’ll have less worries as much of the rain/water will go straight down for the most part, still don’t want open exterior cracks in the walls.
And some who have sand backfilled will still have some tree roots that grow against or along a foundation wall that can cause cracks, leaks etc. I been around for 40 yrs and have talk to many homeowners who were ‘advised’ by HI’s and realtors etc to raise n slope the grade and everything will be a okay, that crap is overrated, overused as they claim it actually SOLVES most leaky basements, that’s nonsense is what i’m saying, what i’ve seen repeatedly for decades

Ok see the grade here? And check out the shallow EXT drain tile and gravel the homeowner PAID $2,000 for… it didn’t solve the leaky basement lol, watch 2nd video to see WHY it kept leaking

see why?

ask anyone, why didn’t the drain tile and gravel solve the leaky basement and most of the grade DOES already SLOPE AWAY lol. It cost as much for the ext drain tile and gravel as it did to correctly n properly waterproof the area that needed waterproofing, sheesh!!

to solve leaky basments one shouldn’t just adhere to the same old crap-line, oh all you need to do is re----grade… one needs to find, determine how-where-why the water is getting in on floor, NOT repeat the same old bs line

Good to meet ya Mr Andy, good luck man.

#6

Thanks for the well wishes and that’s what I was getting at with my post. I get that there is more. But I learned nothing from your original rant. The follow-up you gave taught me something. You got knowledge, share it. Or you’re going to get tortured with more crap videos.

And Joseph I’m always chill. I just wanted to know what he was talking about. No need to white knight for him, there was no attack.

#7

Andy, when i slam or call out ‘some’ HI’s who do videos and they ‘come on’ like THEY are THE experts, and their friggin wrong and can misled homeowners with their bogues claims, i am NOT shtting on ALL other HI’s, cuz i see some others ‘get-it’, understand and they aren’t making videos n slapping em on you tube, i KNOW there ARE many GOOD home inspectors who care, who do a good job, i have seen 'em! lol i sure have, some are right here Nachi yep. Hey, i have hired Nachi inspector, M Bazzo, good man, good HI there! yep He, and some others don’t play games with leaky basements, he doesn’t make Y tube videos on this subject with some false claims, my kind of HI lol

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#8

I know a guy who has a successful business in CT installing these.

He is asking another friend of mine to go into business with him here in western NC installing these systems.

I told my buddy I was really skeptical and thought it was not a good way to repair…

but figured I would ask more informed people on here.

What do you think ?

#9

How ya doing Matt,

so ask yourselves this, if Fortress or all INT system co’s really cared about homeowners and their bowed in walls then WHY don’t they show everybody what i try to show some here? Why don’t they inform homeowners the same things, most successful repair method that Fairfax county VA talks about? (link below) Why don’t they simply write an article like John McEwen wrote on basement waterproofing, foundation repair and the scams within? I could go on with this particular point but ya’s likely get it so…

In my honest experienced opinion, the videos are just a ploy, a means of trying to BS people further, as they do with installing interior drainage systems, and extract $$$ outta them - i say yet again lol, why don’t they show homeowners what i will (links below) of EXTERIOR cracks in these walls that they NEVER ‘address’, lol. They leave all these EXT cracks, open… think about that will ya please.

AND, when one installs carbon fibers straps or beams or wall anchors, those things do NOT remove-reduce-lessen the cause(s) of why the wall is bowing in and has EXT cracks, and leaks… think about that too lol.

Example again, lets say a tree branch or two falls on your ROOF during a storm and it causes EXT damage to the roof, you know, OPENINGS and subsequently water entered becasue-of those openings in roof, RIGHT? haha

Well, are ya’s going to leave the tree branch on roof and NOT repair the exterior of the roof and INSTEAD, go in the attic and install some type of carbon fiber straps in attic/ceiling or wall (rrof lol) anchors and then devise some goofy moronic drain tile system up in the attic to divert the incoming water? I don’t think so but hey, in today’s screwed up world who knows what some Bozo’s will do/try.

Carbon fiber straps, wall anchors, beams do not remove the clay soil that expands n contracts AGAINST the wall, they do not remove any possible tree roots that grow along-against a foundation wall and all that INT system crap does not seal-repair-waterproof any of the exterior cracks in wall, cracked-deteriorating parging etc.

1:10 mark in that video they say-show, bowed in wall “caused by external soil pressure”.

1:30 they say-claim, 'The good news is, all three types of movement are addressed by using carbon straps etc — well what the HLL does ‘ADDRESS’ mean? Ask yourselves what ‘ADDRESS’ means to those who install them and their lawyers! They falsely claim imo, ‘They ELIMINATE ANY FUTURE WALL MOVEMENT’… really? Read the fine print IF there is any in their contracts

Is that part of their legal ‘out’ if and when someone’s wall moves, cracks further, bows in a bit more in the future? Uh huh. The word ADDRESS, hmmmmm, what does it mean HERE, per the carbon straps

See the multiple EXTERIOR cracks here… why don’t they inform homeowners of these? Why don’t they inform homeowners these cracks will get worse, widen and they allow water in basement, crawl n cause mold, efflorescence and are open invitations for insects to enter, how about some mice, a rat etc

Clay soil against the walls and some tree roots help cause this, installing anything INSIDE a basement does not remove, reduce any of the EXTERNAL soil pressure-roots etc and doesn’t repair/waterproof these cracks, sheesh lol

Clay soil, some pretty BLUE clay soil and underground tree roots caused these exterior cracks and BOWED IN wall…

… see the corner crack, the long horizontal crack, the step crack, the cracked exterior parging etc?

Why don’t the inside system knotheads SHOW homeowners these existing problems? Well, we know why eh.

Fairfax County VA, pages 6 and 7…
YO, lol… SURELY if carbon straps were what some falsely claim they are, they do… Fairfax and others would inform homeowners of the supposed claim, ‘Eliminates any future wall movement’ … right? lol come on folks, getting bs’d

"Based on application submissions and project reviews, the MOST successful repair method for foundation walls… is to remove and replace the clay with sandy-gravelly soils and waterproof the exterior of wall’

Hmmmm, ‘remove the clay soil’… backfill with sand-gravel’, ‘waterproof the exterior of wall’… does installing carbon fiber straps etc inside REMOVE clay soil outside? lol Does it waterproof the exterior of wall? hlllll no.

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#10

Good morning, Andrew. Hope this post finds you well.
Please, advise “fast reply” and lodge a complaint about “this poster” and the shameful gibberish he portrays on the message board.
Best advice I can offer. I concur by the way. He’s off his rocker.

Larry you say to the porter “You’ve been here for 3 months.” Yet he is smart enough to reason this is plain gibberish. This is what new inspector have to contend with?

Time to change the channel on this poster.

#11

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

#12

Mark Anderson. You should be removed from ever posting on the forum.
You are delinquent both mentally and figuratively for your childish and abrupt behavior on the MB. Its a wonder how you archived the designation of CPI without inside help.

#13

Hydrostatic pressure, expansive clay soil and even frost can put enough pressure on the foundation to cause the walls to lean or even collapse. Teach if you going to teach. Rant if your going to rant. But for the love of God…make some sense man.

#14

Robert, if you don’t care for his posts, IGNORE him!

He shares some very good advice about waterPROOFING a basement or crawlspace. That is… water stops entering.

#15

Thank you for that very informed and well written explanation. I completely agree and will forward this to my buddy before he decides to get into that business…

that video was very telling and really made it clear that the ONLY way is to address it from the outside.

Question…there are so many ways to repair and water proof from the outside. What is your favorite system? Shoot epoxy into the cracks and then seal the outside with tar, tar paper, more tar…or some other method?

thanks so much for everything you do on this forum

subscribed to your youtube as well

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#16

‘Walls won’t bow in, move’, that is what the azz INT system chump said in video Mr roofer in CA

It is you who needs to be removed, ya fool, just like the homeowners said on Yelp, you arrogant lil witch

And don’t ever come near Detroit because Bubba won’t buy you any fricken puddin’, understand?

#17

Matt, at least you can understand Mark’s effort to inform the general public about keeping water OUT of the basement, crawlspace, etc.

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#18

Matt,

not problem, just my honest opinion.

well, we hand dig (one can use/rent a small 'ho if they’d rather, just be careful and know where all underground lines are, how they run, depth n so on)

then scrape n brush the wall, part of wall we are doing (sure, one can wash the wall with Mr Clean if choose but the sooner one gets it waterproofed and OUT of the ditch, the better)

then hydraulic cement in, over crack, cracked parging, around gas line n any other openings in wall

then a thick tar, mastic, its roofing cement… say again THICK over every part of wall, top to bottom, end to end

then 6 vil visqueen over that (sure one can use a dimpled membrane AFTER slapping the visqueen etc on)

yeah we check the dummy–tiles and replace IF necessary, not for anything else other than to make city inspector or homeowner happy

backfill with clean gravel all the way UP to within a few inches of grade

—couple other quick thoughts, have seen other-companies use a TORCH and they lit the house on fire, maybe don’t use a torch
when operating equipment, carefull not to hit house, siding, awnings etc, have seen other companies do that, have also seen companies use backhoe and cracks numerous driveway slabs, couple times it was the NEIGHBORS drive slabs and one idiot did NOT replace the slabs

some home inspectors might want to WARN homeowner etc that IF they hire an INT system chump to install their dufus system and they j-hammer the basement floor out, watch out, it is possible (and has occurred) the foundation wall could bow in more or collapse into basement.- hence ask for company’s insurance and see if they COVER that possibility

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#19

thanks Larry, sheesh lol, i simply try to help some homeowners seeking some truths… OH, where is Danny? He popped on pretty quick after i put a lil something up and he replied n then, poof, gone, well sure he’s prolly very, very busy with his INT systems

#20

thanks again…
your post also convinced my buddy to not go into that business with the guy from CT.

The analogy of a tree falling on the roof was golden and really communicates the stupidity of NOT fixing it from the outside first.

peace,

matt

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