House Buyers

Basements that are “ready to finish” are a scam. Homeowners who want to ditch a house with a damaged foundation and sketchy flippers do this. They put up studs and fill the gaps with shitty useless wool insulation to hide cracks or crumbling walls. Look at this house I am working on today. New owners say their basement is freezing despite being insulated, so they are thinking about getting closed cell sprayed on the walls. I start pulling out the wool, which is full of mould. And look - a 2 or three inch gap between the wool and the sill plate of the house. And it was inspected! [IMG_1695.jpeg] [IMG_1694.jpeg]

Buyers need to know that there are two types of basements: those that can be finished and used as living space, and those that just hold the house up out of the swamp. That looks like an example of the latter. Turn a 'non-living space' basement into an expensive mess twice. First by jacking up the price of the property by finishing space that should never have been finished that way; and second, by needing to have it all ripped out and repaired and realizing that it was never intended to be a finished space. Good luck with it!

Winnipeg foundations all look like this. The soil expands and contracts and destroys foundations over time. The only sure fix is jack up the house and put an ICF under it.

westwoody said: Winnipeg foundations all look like this. The soil expands and contracts and destroys foundations over time. The only sure fix is jack up the house and put an ICF under it. Click to expand... You have to love Red River Clay...said no one ever.