If you were doing an appraisal inspection for this home, and just did cursory view of the utility room, you wouldn’t of probably of noticed a few things. The big question is, why is there newer block walls in a 1940’s built home? The reason is because the original foundation wall was caving in, and this was most likely done to prevent any further damage. So why did it happen in the first place? Most likely water, they also added drain tiling and a sump pump to this room, to help alleviate the water penetration.
This is something that definitely would need to be addressed. A structural engineer would most likely need to be called-in to provide some type of analysis. It’s not the appraiser’s job to make that determination, just let the lender know that there is a problem, and they make the final decision as what needs to be done. Would you even want to purchase this home, or borrow money against it?
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So the new wall was built in front of the old wall? This thing looks bomb proof from the photos! (apart from the old top 3 courses).
I understand why the bank would want a structural engineer to sign off on something like this… but on the same token it is not always easy and cheap to get a structural engineer to come in and sign off.
Might be a good suggestion to have a structural engineer report before making a repair like this so the documentation would be available approving the work to be done? Would this work for the appraisal stand point?
Yes, the new wall is built in front of the original wall. When I first walked into the room I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, until I seen the double wall.
This was an REO appraisal so they may of had one done prior, but with the seller gone there is no record. I wonder if the city would keep something like that on file?
If there was something stating that the current wall was built per instructions from an engineer, it sure would be enough for me, and I’m guessing that the UW would be ok with it.
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