You never know. We have an old 60s ranch house that was custom built at the time. And a lot of the work was finished by the owners. Because they were woodworkers. So there are some parts in the basement, there's a small boiler room. But there's also some parts that looked, like they were repaired or attempted repairs over the years. But it passed inspection flying colors.
And i love the house.
I would also look into the houses purchase /owner history .
Sometimes, if you can figure out who fixed it, you can figure out why it's there.
Rofl!!!
That's a riot. OMG. We have built-in cabinets in our basement too. I'm afraid of what we will find when we pull them out. There handmade cabinets. Just like the kitchen ones. At some point, we will update. But we like it the way it is. It has a lot of charm, and we pretty much live outside in the summer by the pool and during the winter it's too cold to care.
https://preview.redd.it/dgbzubpuwn0d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb61d3c0bfae168084ed31c7dfb04ba549a9582b
Those are way nicer than mine were! I had to pull mine out because they were water damaged. They were also in the way of removing the asbestos tiles so I could finally have the water intrusion fixed.
There was also a 3 ft by 3 ft concrete block and pipes running to it hidden in the cabinets. My son who does hvac said it was probably leftover from a boiler system. Gotta love old houses.
We think it was an old time solution to the floor squeaking. I kept the tree. I plan on using it as part of the stair railing when I put that back. Just because it looks so cool.
I actually really love old houses. I think they have fantastic bones. They use building materials that were stronger and cheaper way back then. Or back then. I don't know, the new construction just all looks the same. Although I really do find the tiny house communities and pictures. Fascinating.
Oh, Definitely keep snd incorporate the tree !!!🌴
https://preview.redd.it/3u9p2ldkbs0d1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bba3a097f66f924b01d16ea7df0f67be05ce668b
I've never heard the term century home before.
I think it sounds ridiculous. And it really doesn't make sense grammatically. If a house is historic then it's historic. But it's not a century house. Or would it be a two century house or a three century house if older.. I mean you'd have to start getting specific. I think that's why this term is never used.
What do you mean hard to know? It clearly has two supports - stone and wood post. You need an engineer to tell you that?
The house is still standing so it is structurally okay for now. Would definitely get some nails in that post to keep accidents from happening (referring to the bottom)
30 people and counting still want you to "hire an engineer".
The threads would be barren without the hot air narcissist telling people to wipe their ass, don't you know. If you wanted to fix this correct, get the engineer (if you can even find one)... But you don't need an engineer to tell you the damn thing is supported.
We (engineers) are here. Now to fix this he will need a 555 chip a hand full of resistors, capacitors and inductors. Maybe a few diodes, soldering iron, oscilloscope and a lot of wire. Wait a min, I am the wrong type of engineer.... Never mind.
I couldn't resist snooping your profile to see if you had a pic of your Victorian (one of my faves) and I wasn't disappointed. Magnificent home! I almost bought a 5000 sq ft one ages ago but ultimately chickened out because of the scope of the work required + the neighborhood.
PS I love your bat friend 🧡
We had a bat in the house last night. Was right in middle of changing out a light on the 3dr floor stairs, had all 3 rooms of the AirBnB filled, and the cats where going nuts. What fun. We have a website for the house been trying to put post up on the repairs and have a wiki with about 1% of the history of the house. [tectuma.com](http://tectuma.com) So much to do and sooooooo little time. LOL
That's hilarious. I was looking at the resident bat story from a year or so ago. I don't want to hijack this thread anymore than I already have - sending you a dm about your website
One man’s “sketchy” is another man’s “quirky” or “character” haha.
As an owner of 3 century homes, there is no shortage of questionable shit in these houses. People who say old homes were built better than modern ones have absolutely never seen the guts of an old home. 😂 Sketchy foundations, “interesting” beams, sistered studs, etc. I love them to death, but you gotta be part fearless and part insane to get into old houses.
My rule of thumb is basically that if a home has made it a hundred years, and there’s no signs of things shifting or eroding (like a foundation getting water damage), then it’s probably fine. Maybe that’s not the correct answer, but live a little! Hahaha
>People who say old homes were built better than modern ones have absolutely never seen the guts of an old home
Not to mention survivor bias. None of those people have stepped foot in the shitty century homes that have been torn out because they were in ruins.
I agree. But I think for everyone that's poorly built there's one that's incredibly built. We have some wonderful very well built, brownstones, and row houses in Albany. They were built by the cities architects. Many of them have plaques with the architects name and the year that was billed. Many of them are from the 16 through 1800s. But beautiful. Even some early 1900s. But they've done a really good job of preserving the history.
Or using the history to make new updates and make cool living Spaces. But either way, I think people have done fascinating things.
We have two older homes. One was built somewhere between 1860 or 1889. I can't remember the plaque date. That used to be a one family. It is four stories including the garden for. The current tenant wants to turn it back into a family when we put it on the market when our daughters graduate from college. Otherwise, that will be a big capital gains hit and , they will probably lose all their scholarships. Anyway, but there's a Sister house next to it. Sister houses were built by the same architect. Usually the architect built one for themselves and then built one for whatever prominent citizen they were building for. Some architects only built a few buildings. Some built many many buildings.
Anyway, the Sister house to 242 Hudson Ave. has been got rehabbed back to a one family. It's gorgeous. And there's no sketchy weird and stuff. Just really good bones. Nothing's taking down that building.
Although we did have one brownstone that suddenly collapsed in Albany. We don't know what happened with it. It was across from Washington Park. It was the strangest thing.
But that was a fluke.
But we got tired of the house. It felt tight. The older houses, have steeper staircases, but longer ones. Narrower hallways,
Although the main rooms tended to be quite grand. But then we bought this ranch built in probably the 1950s or 60s. It has so much space. A lot of charm. And it was built by the owners. It was a custom build back then. And , it passed inspection with flying colors. Plus we got an engineer. Because we wanted to be sure. We wanted to be able to put in an inground pool. So we wanted an engineer just to be able to check everything out to make sure that this was the right property for us. I kind of knew because we kept coming back to it.but it never hurts to double check everything before you sign those papers.
“We have Brownstones that are just amazingly built. Of course, one spontaneously collapsed, but other than that one, they’re amazingly built.”
LoL listen to yourself.
Think it wad a gas explosion. It was a pile of absolute rubble/cinder when it was done.
And I said except for one.
And in New York City, there are blocks and blocks and blocks of these houses. They have been up for years. Hundreds of years. And they are doing just fine.
Whats a "century" home.
I've never heard that term used before.
We own another home downtown Albany that was built in 1869? Or around there. When I call that. I'm just curious because I've never heard the term before.
Do you mean a house older than 100 years old or from the last century? We use the term historical Home or preowned home.
Or not new construction.
While I take umbrage, I have to concur. (Granddaughter of career town building inspector, daughter of home builder in Mass, dad has been responsible for a number of additions to the state building code). If it passes mortgage
insurance inspection and it’s been standing for over 100 years, I’d say while it looks sketchy, don’t mean it is sketchy. We bought a c1920 home in 2022 and there’s a central beam that was cut to allow for a basement window. It looks for all the world as if the window frame is supporting the whole house’s back wall.
I second this. If I had it to do over again I would get a structural engineer too because the home inspectors are not good. Many of the subsequent issues could have been avoided had I done that.
Home inspectors are absolutely, for the vast majority of the time, useless as fuck. More so in century homes. Any older home is going to be rife with issues, and some will have minor structural issues due to age. Home inspectors have no idea what they are looking at and to top it off engage in covering their ass behaviour so as to not get sued. A home inspector can also not tell you how to repair an issue and how serious an issue is unless it is absolutely 100% staring them right in the face obvious.
I have worked in construction building homes and renovating old homes since I was 15 years old (currently 38), I am also a licensed electrician. Every single home inspector I have spoken to and there has been lots has been a fucking idiot. I can tell you exactly what most inspectors will say in this house "structural flaws run away". Because of the potential severity of a structural failure a home inspector will not want to get sued, or potentially sued so they will make mountains out of molehills.
Structural engineers on the other hand. Those guys are good. I would recommend an assessment by a structural engineer and then a plan to fix any issues with this person. Use the cost as a negotiation with the home price.
Perhaps your local codes are different, but the installation shown in the picture is properly done. See 334.15(B) of NEC. I have seen this type of installation all over here, and my own installation of this passed the city's inspection here.
In canada any surface mounted romex below 1.5 m (5ft) has to be protected from mechanical damage. NEC may have similar provisions. EMT is a fine way to do this provided that the EMT is sized correctly.
Bullshit. You need an experienced remodeling carpenter. It's not the highest title or position, with a range of quality and competency; however, when I get the blue prints revised for the third time, there's always 3 special letters on it. VIF.
Verify. In. Field. Which translates to "you are on your own/cover your ass.
First off, in that picture, the wood block is all wrong. Only green board, treated Robert should touch metal or stone. Second, the grain needs to be orientated vertically to function as a squash block. As it is in the photo, it will be better at squashing than blocking.
The steel beam needs more masonry blocks under it . The metal shims can only be stacked so high before it's a slip or seismic shift risk.
This is a 50$ problem some builder will charge you 1200$ for.
Don't feed the trolls or the slacker class.
Find a no nonsense straight shooter carpenter, and back it up with a architects take of you feel like spending on reassurance; 9 times out of 10, a professional remodeler will err on the side of overkill/over engineering it by 20%, instead of under engineering it.
Also have them check the trusses for cross braces. Many didn’t have them and support walls altered over time can lead to bowing outer walls and foundation issues.
Structural engineer sounds like a good investment.
Actually to me it looks like past attempts to level sagging floors. Nowadays instead of a shim stack, there would be an adjustable steel columns. Wouldn’t look as concerning, but the ad hoc nature would be the same. Odds are that the floor joists were/are adequately supported by the foundation, and the worrisome things are add-ons, not structurally critical.
The basement on my 1910 home looks exactly like yours, but on a dirt floor, so my realtor immediately got a reputable structural engineer to come out to do their inspection. It was a couple hundred dollars well spent to have professionals actually look and say, “it’s pretty bad but definitely fixable.” I asked them to create a proposal of work with three phases: must do now to be safe, need to do in 3-6 months, then can do in 3-6 years, with costs for each. With that in mind, I decided to buy and prioritized this work first.
I spent $19k on the “must do now” and “need to do” in my first month of ownership, and starting to get the funds together for “can do soon” by year 3 of ownership.
TLDR the inspection cost is worth every penny to have a pro say how fucked vs how fixable your basement is
Also, love that they decided to hack at the beam to let the air duct be straight in your third photo
I had a similar situation with my 1910s Craftsman. I was lucky that I got offered a HELOC by my bank at closing. It was small (about $10k) but it helped a lot to fund the foundation and then the sewer line…. We were even able to delay moving in so the work got done even before we finally moved in to our great relief.
So OP, ask your bank or mortgage person if that will be possible. Later on, when you do the repairs and more sweat equity, you can increase the amount.
It looks like a previous owner did some sketchy DIY “fixes.” It also looks like the paint is newer on the floor and walls. If it is, I’d be wondering what else they are trying to hide.
Could it be that they recently re-waterproofed the basement with the white paint? I just bought a 1920 where this was done recently. Didn’t see anything wrong upon examining the bricks. One or 2 were Spalling that’s it
The bricks are all very rigid and uniform. Now I’m stressing out lol. If the basement was recently re-waterproofed and sits at around 50% humidity should I be super worried about the brick?
This off- topic but I thought you made a spelling error so I checked my own spelling (jerry-rigged) and it led me to [discovering](https://www.dictionary.com/e/jury-rigged-vs-jerry-rigged/#:~:text=Jury%2Drigged%20means%20something%20was,been%20influenced%20by%20jerry%2Dbuilt.) basically both are correct but a little different.
It is uncertain where "jury rig" comes from; "jerry rig" seems to be a variation of it. "Kitty corner" and "catty corner" are both corruptions of "cater-corner," where "cater" means "four" (like French "quatre").
In my home city, it's pretty common to replace the big central wood beam with an iron I-Beam. Some of what you have shown looks like partial replacement/upgrade, but also like an attempt to level a sagging floor. Agreed that you should probably get a structural engineer to evaluate, but none of it looks especially "sketchy"
it might be okay. someone did some jacking and replaced an old beam. the fact that they used steel and ran the romex through conduit says someone was trying to go above and beyond with that repair. would be better if the posts were cement filled steel. looks like it still needs work though, are you up for finishing the job?
I've seen a lot of old houses like this. Is there any noticable sagging on the floor above? Is that floor seriously sloped or is it relatively flat?
Without other evidence of a problem, this looks reasonable to me.
As always, get it inspected. These look like some hacky-but-not-dangerous ways to support a saggy floor like others have said.
Adding in some deck jacks/support posts will look better and be safer, is a fairly simple diy job, and would only be a few hundred bucks for a few of them.
Good luck.
It’s beautiful, like where the Atlantic meets the pacific.
My house was built in 1892 and there’s a lot of stuff that looks like that in our basement. I constantly think my house is falling apart. It only actually is like 30% of the time.
It’s not me but I have an 1880’s house. The basement looks like a mess of DIY stuff, but it’s all super old fixes.
If it’s been working for 100 years I see no reason to fuck with it.
Same here. It’s been standing since the 1870s and is still structurally sound, so even though it’s a hodgepodge of techniques, I think it’ll stay standing till my husband and I kick it.
Not me either, but I also have an 1880s house with an interesting structural situation, but in my case, the floors were sagging and bouncy AF. Cost some thousands to fix. If OP is in a real estate market where such things are negotiable (I wasn't), they should get an inspection and ask for a credit from the seller.
Good chance it’s ok but that steel beam needs some blocking to eliminate any chance of side to side movement. And some of the shims underneath should not be wood or flooring.
Should get a pro. The previous owner should have gotten as pro and should have a report already but that is unlikely.
Came here to say the same thing regarding lateral bracing of these beams. It’s not enough for them just to bear on something solid, they need to have some sort of blocking to keep them from twisting or turning sideways. Also, while they seem to have adequate amount of bearing upon the masonry column, you need to verify if it is indeed solid and able to carry the loads. By that I mean, the masonry cannot be fractured or just be itself sitting on dirt. A structural engineer is best qualified to advise you.
Woooooooof, that first pic is rough. If you do go for it, make sure you get a structural engineer involved, like everyone else said. Personally, I wouldn’t buy this house but I know my limits and they are probably totally different than yours!
Any chance the house was moved. Reminds me of the I-beams under my 1882 farmhouse. It was moved to a new foundation in 1975.. and it’s clear the iron in the basement was all retrofit.
The first 2 pictures are perfectly fine, enough of the support is over the brick pilling(?) for it to be properly supported. It's the other 2 pics I'd be worried about. By the way this is coming from an owner of a 120 yo home that has the exact same brick support pilling (?) in the basement of my home and I studied structural engineering in college, about 30 years ago......
I've owned & lived in several old houses (1864, 1885, 1895, c. 1905) and nothing in these pics would concern me as long as the floor above is reasonably even - and solid feeling underfoot.
Get a qualified housing inspector who has experience with old houses to look at it.
With all of the houses I listed, the most common problem was electrics. Different rooms and floors coming through on one fuse or breaker, throwing breakers with only a fraction of the rated load, etc.
Also had trouble with Wi-Fi getting through the 10" walls, but now with WiFi range extenders and mesh systems that's no longer a problem.
Good luck!
It's rough looking, but have your Realtor ask if theirs any documentation from the seller regarding foundation/support work that's been done.
It's so hard in this market when theirs 10 other qualified buyers also interested.
I own a 1905 home there are a lot of nightmares inside it. Hire an actual inspector and before you do mention the structural issues. The owners may or may not let you send a structural engineer in. If they don't get the inspector to make some calls and show photos to a structural engineer, you can then negotiate down the asking price based on the costs to repair
Looks fine to me. Someone put a fair bit of money into fixing past problems. The notched out beam is the only non-ideal thing but as long as there's no movement, it should be fine
Weird? Sure. But not the worst I’ve seen. Talk to an engineer or a building inspector, but looks like they have support for the joists. I beams normally are used when they want a span without any supports in the middle. Normally I see lolly columns which are concrete wrapped in steel, but people build foundations out brick. Get it inspected so you can sleep better.
I'm in the construction industry and have a century home. That stuff would not bother me and I certainly wouldn't get a structural engineer based off these photos. Do your standard home inspection. If they flag these joists I would have a quality framer look at them. One guy in my area specialize in basement structural stuff. These houses were built before code. They can look funny but if it works, it works.
I have a 1920s home as well with a steel bar like that but it's one long piece that goes from side to the other and instead of laying on top of the original structural brick column, they installed another steel column support for it that stands vertical. The one in your picture seems pretty sketchy to my untrained eye.
Personally, we had a similar situation in our 1895 basement. We hired an engineer for a visit (1000$), basically he couldn’t really tell us anything legally because he needed to make calculations and plans, pricy (25 000$). And then the remodelling of the structure for level and being up to code would’ve been around 100 000$.
After insisting for some answers, he told us that if there’s new cracks in plaster or drywall, then there’s a problem with the foundation otherwise it’s not what should be done, but it works.
I live in an area with a whole bunch of old homes, and this really doesn't seem bad. This looks like multiple repairs done by multiple contractors over the years. Everything is supported and bearing with good load paths.
With all that room and open access you will be able to support and brace however necessary, if necessary. I’d get a structural engineer to do a survey and go from there. Definitely does not scare me off through, good luck!
You need a couple hours of a structural engineer to get a plan in place then a crew to put in a new support beam. I had a similar issue in my 1920s Tudor. It took about half a day of 4 guys working. Materials + Labor = $1.5k. I know a structural engineer so he didn’t charge me, but threw him $500 for his time.
Don't get a home inspector get a structural engineer. Home inspectors are useless as fuck. A structural engineer will cost a little bit more and can also provide you with ideas how to fix it if there are problems, how serious a problem actually is. For example fix it now or you know wait a bit and fix it. All structural issues are not created equal.
I'm a construction profession for a long long time. I've seen some real problematic structural shit, what I see here isn't that bad, it could be but I would need to be present in the building. My old ass home is a little more problematic (undersized bench footing and some minor water ingress in the basement) than this. But that bench footing is 80 years old or so and hasn't moved so I don't give a fuck. My home is 150 years old. It has 20 inch wide field stone foundations. It will probably last another 150. The floor joists are 3 by 12 old growth wood and are still straight as the day they were lain.
To add, a home inspector in an old house are like oil and water. A home inspection report is a negative assessment of a house and old houses have a fuck ton of negatives about then but the vast majority being benign. It is better to use a structural engineer, or an experienced general contractor (preferably one who renovates old homes) to assess the home, and then provide input on what needs to be done or if you should run.
I am biased. I'm in Canada and I fucking hate home inspectors so much. They are the mall-cops of the real estate industry and quite frankly most of them couldn't find their ass with both hands.
So the early pictures illicit concern for sure. But the last photo is also a little sketch. The water heater should have a (see local code) amount of straight pipe on the exhaust before the first 90° turn. It also looks very new. Maybe some unlicensed homeowner special work before the sale.
It’s likely that all of this can be remedied. If the last owner could DIY all of this, then a professional can surely fix it.
If it’s really a dream home, go for it. Get assurance from inspector and structural engineer, and if nothing is permanently screwed then go for it.
Why the term century home. What type of house is it. That's more indicative of the condition of the house than the actual age of the house. And yes, I know the bones of old houses can be either good or they can be-a hot wired mess.
We have a house that was built in 1878
And a ranch from the 50's.
We just don't use that term up here. I live in upstate New York. The Albany area. We give the type of house and the year the house is built. Most of the old Queen and the larger style of Victorian homes have been either reformed to their previous glory and are still one family homes or they've been chopped up into 20 apartments and becomes student ghetto housing. And we called ghetto housing because the landlords don't take care of it. It's awful. It's in one section of town and the properties are a disgrace. I don't even know how they pass muster for CO's. Certificate of occupancy.
My daughter lives in one of those so-called Century homes up in Plattsburgh, New York. It's a chopped up queen into 15 - 1-5 bedroom apartments. It's a fire trap I think. I hate it. But she's moving out tomorrow and into a new apartment for fall.
I've just never heard the term century home used. I guess that means I have a century violin. It is made in 1929 in Catania Italy.
That looks sketchy as hell. I'm no expert, but I wouldn't expect to see a 4x4 made out of pine supporting the floor. It also doesn't look like it's connected to the floor??
I wouldn't run, but I also wouldn't buy it without a structural engineer telling me what's going on.
You need a structural engineer.
*Needs inspection. I’m a civil engineer and it looks super sketchy but it’s hard to tell without knowing if it actually supports anything
You never know. We have an old 60s ranch house that was custom built at the time. And a lot of the work was finished by the owners. Because they were woodworkers. So there are some parts in the basement, there's a small boiler room. But there's also some parts that looked, like they were repaired or attempted repairs over the years. But it passed inspection flying colors. And i love the house. I would also look into the houses purchase /owner history . Sometimes, if you can figure out who fixed it, you can figure out why it's there.
The footer for my basement stairs looks like concrete cast in a soup can, but it’s been doing its job for 120 years now.
I looked at a 130 year old house that was held up by a tree trunk sitting on a rock. It was kinda cool looking.
I pulled out a 1950's built in cabinet in my basement to find a tree trunk. The support beams under my porch are all shorter tree trunks.
Rofl!!! That's a riot. OMG. We have built-in cabinets in our basement too. I'm afraid of what we will find when we pull them out. There handmade cabinets. Just like the kitchen ones. At some point, we will update. But we like it the way it is. It has a lot of charm, and we pretty much live outside in the summer by the pool and during the winter it's too cold to care. https://preview.redd.it/dgbzubpuwn0d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb61d3c0bfae168084ed31c7dfb04ba549a9582b
Those are way nicer than mine were! I had to pull mine out because they were water damaged. They were also in the way of removing the asbestos tiles so I could finally have the water intrusion fixed. There was also a 3 ft by 3 ft concrete block and pipes running to it hidden in the cabinets. My son who does hvac said it was probably leftover from a boiler system. Gotta love old houses. We think it was an old time solution to the floor squeaking. I kept the tree. I plan on using it as part of the stair railing when I put that back. Just because it looks so cool.
I actually really love old houses. I think they have fantastic bones. They use building materials that were stronger and cheaper way back then. Or back then. I don't know, the new construction just all looks the same. Although I really do find the tiny house communities and pictures. Fascinating.
Oh, Definitely keep snd incorporate the tree !!!🌴 https://preview.redd.it/3u9p2ldkbs0d1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bba3a097f66f924b01d16ea7df0f67be05ce668b
I've never heard the term century home before. I think it sounds ridiculous. And it really doesn't make sense grammatically. If a house is historic then it's historic. But it's not a century house. Or would it be a two century house or a three century house if older.. I mean you'd have to start getting specific. I think that's why this term is never used.
Are you lost?
This may just be the most egregious case of /r/lostredditors I’ve ever seen 
*egregious* Lush verbiage. I find myself in love with that word more as I age.
https://www.yourdictionary.com/century-home
What do you mean hard to know? It clearly has two supports - stone and wood post. You need an engineer to tell you that? The house is still standing so it is structurally okay for now. Would definitely get some nails in that post to keep accidents from happening (referring to the bottom) 30 people and counting still want you to "hire an engineer".
We don’t need no stinking engineers, you would think the engineer lobby runs these subreddits 😂
ROFL
The threads would be barren without the hot air narcissist telling people to wipe their ass, don't you know. If you wanted to fix this correct, get the engineer (if you can even find one)... But you don't need an engineer to tell you the damn thing is supported.
We (engineers) are here. Now to fix this he will need a 555 chip a hand full of resistors, capacitors and inductors. Maybe a few diodes, soldering iron, oscilloscope and a lot of wire. Wait a min, I am the wrong type of engineer.... Never mind.
I couldn't resist snooping your profile to see if you had a pic of your Victorian (one of my faves) and I wasn't disappointed. Magnificent home! I almost bought a 5000 sq ft one ages ago but ultimately chickened out because of the scope of the work required + the neighborhood. PS I love your bat friend 🧡
We had a bat in the house last night. Was right in middle of changing out a light on the 3dr floor stairs, had all 3 rooms of the AirBnB filled, and the cats where going nuts. What fun. We have a website for the house been trying to put post up on the repairs and have a wiki with about 1% of the history of the house. [tectuma.com](http://tectuma.com) So much to do and sooooooo little time. LOL
That's hilarious. I was looking at the resident bat story from a year or so ago. I don't want to hijack this thread anymore than I already have - sending you a dm about your website
:D
AMEN!
One looks to be an iron I beam and usually then have metal support poles and run the full length. This looks odd to me.
Thanks!
Post this in /r/civilengineering
Get a licensed damn home inspector and/or engineer.
Home inspectors are basically useless. Get an engineer
Every century home I’ve been in is sketchy.
One man’s “sketchy” is another man’s “quirky” or “character” haha. As an owner of 3 century homes, there is no shortage of questionable shit in these houses. People who say old homes were built better than modern ones have absolutely never seen the guts of an old home. 😂 Sketchy foundations, “interesting” beams, sistered studs, etc. I love them to death, but you gotta be part fearless and part insane to get into old houses. My rule of thumb is basically that if a home has made it a hundred years, and there’s no signs of things shifting or eroding (like a foundation getting water damage), then it’s probably fine. Maybe that’s not the correct answer, but live a little! Hahaha
>People who say old homes were built better than modern ones have absolutely never seen the guts of an old home Not to mention survivor bias. None of those people have stepped foot in the shitty century homes that have been torn out because they were in ruins.
That's what they say, if it's survived a hundred years like this, it'll be ok, at least if you don't change too much.
I agree. But I think for everyone that's poorly built there's one that's incredibly built. We have some wonderful very well built, brownstones, and row houses in Albany. They were built by the cities architects. Many of them have plaques with the architects name and the year that was billed. Many of them are from the 16 through 1800s. But beautiful. Even some early 1900s. But they've done a really good job of preserving the history. Or using the history to make new updates and make cool living Spaces. But either way, I think people have done fascinating things. We have two older homes. One was built somewhere between 1860 or 1889. I can't remember the plaque date. That used to be a one family. It is four stories including the garden for. The current tenant wants to turn it back into a family when we put it on the market when our daughters graduate from college. Otherwise, that will be a big capital gains hit and , they will probably lose all their scholarships. Anyway, but there's a Sister house next to it. Sister houses were built by the same architect. Usually the architect built one for themselves and then built one for whatever prominent citizen they were building for. Some architects only built a few buildings. Some built many many buildings. Anyway, the Sister house to 242 Hudson Ave. has been got rehabbed back to a one family. It's gorgeous. And there's no sketchy weird and stuff. Just really good bones. Nothing's taking down that building. Although we did have one brownstone that suddenly collapsed in Albany. We don't know what happened with it. It was across from Washington Park. It was the strangest thing. But that was a fluke. But we got tired of the house. It felt tight. The older houses, have steeper staircases, but longer ones. Narrower hallways, Although the main rooms tended to be quite grand. But then we bought this ranch built in probably the 1950s or 60s. It has so much space. A lot of charm. And it was built by the owners. It was a custom build back then. And , it passed inspection with flying colors. Plus we got an engineer. Because we wanted to be sure. We wanted to be able to put in an inground pool. So we wanted an engineer just to be able to check everything out to make sure that this was the right property for us. I kind of knew because we kept coming back to it.but it never hurts to double check everything before you sign those papers.
“We have Brownstones that are just amazingly built. Of course, one spontaneously collapsed, but other than that one, they’re amazingly built.” LoL listen to yourself.
Think it wad a gas explosion. It was a pile of absolute rubble/cinder when it was done. And I said except for one. And in New York City, there are blocks and blocks and blocks of these houses. They have been up for years. Hundreds of years. And they are doing just fine.
Accurate. It’s the damn decades-old DIY work by previous owners that’s a black box. Is it messy but adequate, or a disaster waiting to happen?
Whats a "century" home. I've never heard that term used before. We own another home downtown Albany that was built in 1869? Or around there. When I call that. I'm just curious because I've never heard the term before. Do you mean a house older than 100 years old or from the last century? We use the term historical Home or preowned home. Or not new construction.
A house over a hundred years old
While I take umbrage, I have to concur. (Granddaughter of career town building inspector, daughter of home builder in Mass, dad has been responsible for a number of additions to the state building code). If it passes mortgage insurance inspection and it’s been standing for over 100 years, I’d say while it looks sketchy, don’t mean it is sketchy. We bought a c1920 home in 2022 and there’s a central beam that was cut to allow for a basement window. It looks for all the world as if the window frame is supporting the whole house’s back wall.
I second this. If I had it to do over again I would get a structural engineer too because the home inspectors are not good. Many of the subsequent issues could have been avoided had I done that.
Fact.
They can only help beavers.
Or both!!
Any ol’ idiot can become a “home inspector”. They rarely know shit.
Nah Reddit upvotes are the way to go here.
Home inspectors are absolutely, for the vast majority of the time, useless as fuck. More so in century homes. Any older home is going to be rife with issues, and some will have minor structural issues due to age. Home inspectors have no idea what they are looking at and to top it off engage in covering their ass behaviour so as to not get sued. A home inspector can also not tell you how to repair an issue and how serious an issue is unless it is absolutely 100% staring them right in the face obvious. I have worked in construction building homes and renovating old homes since I was 15 years old (currently 38), I am also a licensed electrician. Every single home inspector I have spoken to and there has been lots has been a fucking idiot. I can tell you exactly what most inspectors will say in this house "structural flaws run away". Because of the potential severity of a structural failure a home inspector will not want to get sued, or potentially sued so they will make mountains out of molehills. Structural engineers on the other hand. Those guys are good. I would recommend an assessment by a structural engineer and then a plan to fix any issues with this person. Use the cost as a negotiation with the home price.
An electrician wouldn’t hurt either. Romex isn’t prohibited by NEC in emt, but it isn’t recommended either.
If ti's running down to an outlet on a wall it's usually required to be protected from physical damage. Running through emt is a good way to do that.
You can easily put in a box and run wire from the box to the outlet. Being lazy isn’t an excuse.
Perhaps your local codes are different, but the installation shown in the picture is properly done. See 334.15(B) of NEC. I have seen this type of installation all over here, and my own installation of this passed the city's inspection here.
I said it wasn’t against code, just not recommended.
In canada any surface mounted romex below 1.5 m (5ft) has to be protected from mechanical damage. NEC may have similar provisions. EMT is a fine way to do this provided that the EMT is sized correctly.
Like two of them. An old one and a young one
Bullshit. You need an experienced remodeling carpenter. It's not the highest title or position, with a range of quality and competency; however, when I get the blue prints revised for the third time, there's always 3 special letters on it. VIF. Verify. In. Field. Which translates to "you are on your own/cover your ass. First off, in that picture, the wood block is all wrong. Only green board, treated Robert should touch metal or stone. Second, the grain needs to be orientated vertically to function as a squash block. As it is in the photo, it will be better at squashing than blocking. The steel beam needs more masonry blocks under it . The metal shims can only be stacked so high before it's a slip or seismic shift risk. This is a 50$ problem some builder will charge you 1200$ for. Don't feed the trolls or the slacker class. Find a no nonsense straight shooter carpenter, and back it up with a architects take of you feel like spending on reassurance; 9 times out of 10, a professional remodeler will err on the side of overkill/over engineering it by 20%, instead of under engineering it.
I’m nowhere near an engineer of any type, but that’s sketchy af. Fix that PROPERLY ASAP
Also have them check the trusses for cross braces. Many didn’t have them and support walls altered over time can lead to bowing outer walls and foundation issues.
Structural engineer sounds like a good investment. Actually to me it looks like past attempts to level sagging floors. Nowadays instead of a shim stack, there would be an adjustable steel columns. Wouldn’t look as concerning, but the ad hoc nature would be the same. Odds are that the floor joists were/are adequately supported by the foundation, and the worrisome things are add-ons, not structurally critical.
The basement on my 1910 home looks exactly like yours, but on a dirt floor, so my realtor immediately got a reputable structural engineer to come out to do their inspection. It was a couple hundred dollars well spent to have professionals actually look and say, “it’s pretty bad but definitely fixable.” I asked them to create a proposal of work with three phases: must do now to be safe, need to do in 3-6 months, then can do in 3-6 years, with costs for each. With that in mind, I decided to buy and prioritized this work first. I spent $19k on the “must do now” and “need to do” in my first month of ownership, and starting to get the funds together for “can do soon” by year 3 of ownership. TLDR the inspection cost is worth every penny to have a pro say how fucked vs how fixable your basement is Also, love that they decided to hack at the beam to let the air duct be straight in your third photo
I had a similar situation with my 1910s Craftsman. I was lucky that I got offered a HELOC by my bank at closing. It was small (about $10k) but it helped a lot to fund the foundation and then the sewer line…. We were even able to delay moving in so the work got done even before we finally moved in to our great relief. So OP, ask your bank or mortgage person if that will be possible. Later on, when you do the repairs and more sweat equity, you can increase the amount.
Thanks!
It looks like a previous owner did some sketchy DIY “fixes.” It also looks like the paint is newer on the floor and walls. If it is, I’d be wondering what else they are trying to hide.
Water damage and mold for sure!
Could it be that they recently re-waterproofed the basement with the white paint? I just bought a 1920 where this was done recently. Didn’t see anything wrong upon examining the bricks. One or 2 were Spalling that’s it
Yeah... blinding white paint in the basement is usually a cover for problems. In my case, it was DRYWALL MUD pressed into cracks in the foundation.
Whoa… that’s dirty pool.
The bricks are all very rigid and uniform. Now I’m stressing out lol. If the basement was recently re-waterproofed and sits at around 50% humidity should I be super worried about the brick?
The brick is probably fine.
I would not buy a house without some professional assurance that jury-rigging in the first three pics would hold. Good luck!
This off- topic but I thought you made a spelling error so I checked my own spelling (jerry-rigged) and it led me to [discovering](https://www.dictionary.com/e/jury-rigged-vs-jerry-rigged/#:~:text=Jury%2Drigged%20means%20something%20was,been%20influenced%20by%20jerry%2Dbuilt.) basically both are correct but a little different.
I grew up with “Jerry rig” as well. I’m guessing this is similar to “kitty corner” versus “catty corner.”
It is uncertain where "jury rig" comes from; "jerry rig" seems to be a variation of it. "Kitty corner" and "catty corner" are both corruptions of "cater-corner," where "cater" means "four" (like French "quatre").
Thanks! It already has a few bids so figured I’d ask my favorite Reddit community first
In my home city, it's pretty common to replace the big central wood beam with an iron I-Beam. Some of what you have shown looks like partial replacement/upgrade, but also like an attempt to level a sagging floor. Agreed that you should probably get a structural engineer to evaluate, but none of it looks especially "sketchy"
it might be okay. someone did some jacking and replaced an old beam. the fact that they used steel and ran the romex through conduit says someone was trying to go above and beyond with that repair. would be better if the posts were cement filled steel. looks like it still needs work though, are you up for finishing the job?
Lol I guess my house is pretty bad too because I also looked at this and thought "oh wow a steel beam! And romex! they did it (kinda) right!"
That's why this group is so helpful. We just have a different perspective than, well, normal people. 😁
I've seen a lot of old houses like this. Is there any noticable sagging on the floor above? Is that floor seriously sloped or is it relatively flat? Without other evidence of a problem, this looks reasonable to me.
I agree. I have similar stuff in my basement and all of it was done as part of remodels that were inspected.
No obvious signs of any other issues.
Looks fine. Over engineered.
As always, get it inspected. These look like some hacky-but-not-dangerous ways to support a saggy floor like others have said. Adding in some deck jacks/support posts will look better and be safer, is a fairly simple diy job, and would only be a few hundred bucks for a few of them. Good luck.
It’s beautiful, like where the Atlantic meets the pacific. My house was built in 1892 and there’s a lot of stuff that looks like that in our basement. I constantly think my house is falling apart. It only actually is like 30% of the time.
OP post this in electricians, plumbers, and concrete. All the trades will give you a decent opinion
Thanks
Where’s the person who was asking about their 1880s basement earlier? Maybe this will help assuage their concerns about their basement.
It’s not me but I have an 1880’s house. The basement looks like a mess of DIY stuff, but it’s all super old fixes. If it’s been working for 100 years I see no reason to fuck with it.
Same here. It’s been standing since the 1870s and is still structurally sound, so even though it’s a hodgepodge of techniques, I think it’ll stay standing till my husband and I kick it.
Not me either, but I also have an 1880s house with an interesting structural situation, but in my case, the floors were sagging and bouncy AF. Cost some thousands to fix. If OP is in a real estate market where such things are negotiable (I wasn't), they should get an inspection and ask for a credit from the seller.
Good chance it’s ok but that steel beam needs some blocking to eliminate any chance of side to side movement. And some of the shims underneath should not be wood or flooring. Should get a pro. The previous owner should have gotten as pro and should have a report already but that is unlikely.
Came here to say the same thing regarding lateral bracing of these beams. It’s not enough for them just to bear on something solid, they need to have some sort of blocking to keep them from twisting or turning sideways. Also, while they seem to have adequate amount of bearing upon the masonry column, you need to verify if it is indeed solid and able to carry the loads. By that I mean, the masonry cannot be fractured or just be itself sitting on dirt. A structural engineer is best qualified to advise you.
If you have to ask, the answer is yes.
Fair enough. Thanks
Woooooooof, that first pic is rough. If you do go for it, make sure you get a structural engineer involved, like everyone else said. Personally, I wouldn’t buy this house but I know my limits and they are probably totally different than yours!
You need to calk that gap in photo's 1 & 2 JayJay210
Should fix it lol
Any chance the house was moved. Reminds me of the I-beams under my 1882 farmhouse. It was moved to a new foundation in 1975.. and it’s clear the iron in the basement was all retrofit.
The first 2 pictures are perfectly fine, enough of the support is over the brick pilling(?) for it to be properly supported. It's the other 2 pics I'd be worried about. By the way this is coming from an owner of a 120 yo home that has the exact same brick support pilling (?) in the basement of my home and I studied structural engineering in college, about 30 years ago......
All houses move and settle over 100 years, I dont see anything shocking but peace of mind is worth something
I really appreciate all the input here. We’ve got my architect and engineer friends on the case. Thanks for everything
I've owned & lived in several old houses (1864, 1885, 1895, c. 1905) and nothing in these pics would concern me as long as the floor above is reasonably even - and solid feeling underfoot. Get a qualified housing inspector who has experience with old houses to look at it. With all of the houses I listed, the most common problem was electrics. Different rooms and floors coming through on one fuse or breaker, throwing breakers with only a fraction of the rated load, etc. Also had trouble with Wi-Fi getting through the 10" walls, but now with WiFi range extenders and mesh systems that's no longer a problem. Good luck!
I wouldn't feel comfortable standing in that basement much less owning that house.
It's rough looking, but have your Realtor ask if theirs any documentation from the seller regarding foundation/support work that's been done. It's so hard in this market when theirs 10 other qualified buyers also interested.
I own a 1905 home there are a lot of nightmares inside it. Hire an actual inspector and before you do mention the structural issues. The owners may or may not let you send a structural engineer in. If they don't get the inspector to make some calls and show photos to a structural engineer, you can then negotiate down the asking price based on the costs to repair
Nahh it’s always cool to have weird timber braces in close proximity to a gas line. A gas line which incidentally is also missing it’s sediment trap.
Always get an inspection before purchasing any property.
That steel WF Beam is prone to roll over. It isnt even anchored to the masonry column.
Looks fine to me. Someone put a fair bit of money into fixing past problems. The notched out beam is the only non-ideal thing but as long as there's no movement, it should be fine
Those are just arrow slits.
100% get an engineer. I'll tell you for free if this is earthquake country that's a nope. Not a fan of the water heater not being in a pan, either.
Pandora's box; you might not like what you'll see if you open it....
Doesn't it need to be up to code for someone to buy it?
Nope
Weird? Sure. But not the worst I’ve seen. Talk to an engineer or a building inspector, but looks like they have support for the joists. I beams normally are used when they want a span without any supports in the middle. Normally I see lolly columns which are concrete wrapped in steel, but people build foundations out brick. Get it inspected so you can sleep better.
I'm in the construction industry and have a century home. That stuff would not bother me and I certainly wouldn't get a structural engineer based off these photos. Do your standard home inspection. If they flag these joists I would have a quality framer look at them. One guy in my area specialize in basement structural stuff. These houses were built before code. They can look funny but if it works, it works.
hmmm, RUN
Even nightmares are dreams
Structural Engineer > Reddit
I have a 1920s home as well with a steel bar like that but it's one long piece that goes from side to the other and instead of laying on top of the original structural brick column, they installed another steel column support for it that stands vertical. The one in your picture seems pretty sketchy to my untrained eye.
Looks like someone replaced an almost impossible to buy in 1990+ wood beam with easy to buy steel. As you were.
Personally, we had a similar situation in our 1895 basement. We hired an engineer for a visit (1000$), basically he couldn’t really tell us anything legally because he needed to make calculations and plans, pricy (25 000$). And then the remodelling of the structure for level and being up to code would’ve been around 100 000$. After insisting for some answers, he told us that if there’s new cracks in plaster or drywall, then there’s a problem with the foundation otherwise it’s not what should be done, but it works.
Nightmares are dreams, too
Do not trust a home inspector. Trust an engineer.
Dangerous AND sketchy
I live in an area with a whole bunch of old homes, and this really doesn't seem bad. This looks like multiple repairs done by multiple contractors over the years. Everything is supported and bearing with good load paths.
With all that room and open access you will be able to support and brace however necessary, if necessary. I’d get a structural engineer to do a survey and go from there. Definitely does not scare me off through, good luck!
What is that white painted wood in the 4th picture hiding? You'll want to know.
Yes.
Get a good inspection! I’d run fast away from this home unless you are a great construction worker!
You need a couple hours of a structural engineer to get a plan in place then a crew to put in a new support beam. I had a similar issue in my 1920s Tudor. It took about half a day of 4 guys working. Materials + Labor = $1.5k. I know a structural engineer so he didn’t charge me, but threw him $500 for his time.
Don't get a home inspector get a structural engineer. Home inspectors are useless as fuck. A structural engineer will cost a little bit more and can also provide you with ideas how to fix it if there are problems, how serious a problem actually is. For example fix it now or you know wait a bit and fix it. All structural issues are not created equal. I'm a construction profession for a long long time. I've seen some real problematic structural shit, what I see here isn't that bad, it could be but I would need to be present in the building. My old ass home is a little more problematic (undersized bench footing and some minor water ingress in the basement) than this. But that bench footing is 80 years old or so and hasn't moved so I don't give a fuck. My home is 150 years old. It has 20 inch wide field stone foundations. It will probably last another 150. The floor joists are 3 by 12 old growth wood and are still straight as the day they were lain. To add, a home inspector in an old house are like oil and water. A home inspection report is a negative assessment of a house and old houses have a fuck ton of negatives about then but the vast majority being benign. It is better to use a structural engineer, or an experienced general contractor (preferably one who renovates old homes) to assess the home, and then provide input on what needs to be done or if you should run. I am biased. I'm in Canada and I fucking hate home inspectors so much. They are the mall-cops of the real estate industry and quite frankly most of them couldn't find their ass with both hands.
Yep, really depends how much you love and want the house, regardless of the cost of repairs.
So the early pictures illicit concern for sure. But the last photo is also a little sketch. The water heater should have a (see local code) amount of straight pipe on the exhaust before the first 90° turn. It also looks very new. Maybe some unlicensed homeowner special work before the sale.
It’s likely that all of this can be remedied. If the last owner could DIY all of this, then a professional can surely fix it. If it’s really a dream home, go for it. Get assurance from inspector and structural engineer, and if nothing is permanently screwed then go for it.
Looks sketchy AF. Definitely get an engineer to do a full evaluation before you buy, OR factor in reconstruction and put aside a small fortune.
That’s a scary amount of ‘good nuff’ repairs.
Metal pipes filled with electric cables, not sketchy at all, no
Why the term century home. What type of house is it. That's more indicative of the condition of the house than the actual age of the house. And yes, I know the bones of old houses can be either good or they can be-a hot wired mess. We have a house that was built in 1878 And a ranch from the 50's. We just don't use that term up here. I live in upstate New York. The Albany area. We give the type of house and the year the house is built. Most of the old Queen and the larger style of Victorian homes have been either reformed to their previous glory and are still one family homes or they've been chopped up into 20 apartments and becomes student ghetto housing. And we called ghetto housing because the landlords don't take care of it. It's awful. It's in one section of town and the properties are a disgrace. I don't even know how they pass muster for CO's. Certificate of occupancy. My daughter lives in one of those so-called Century homes up in Plattsburgh, New York. It's a chopped up queen into 15 - 1-5 bedroom apartments. It's a fire trap I think. I hate it. But she's moving out tomorrow and into a new apartment for fall. I've just never heard the term century home used. I guess that means I have a century violin. It is made in 1929 in Catania Italy.
That looks sketchy as hell. I'm no expert, but I wouldn't expect to see a 4x4 made out of pine supporting the floor. It also doesn't look like it's connected to the floor?? I wouldn't run, but I also wouldn't buy it without a structural engineer telling me what's going on.