Robert Budnikas
10-10-2011, 09:40 AM
Hello Everyone
I was hoping to never be on this side of a problem but recently am finding very bad things in my home located in Burlington, Ontario which I have lived in for 4 years with my wife.I need your expert advice on how to proceed.
This past March we began ripping up carpeting on the main floor of our bungalow and noticed that the floors were sagging towards the middle of the house. I basically refinished the floors and was planning to tackle the already finished basement in the fall. I started ripping out the bathroom and found problems there but the biggest issue was the cross member support under the floor joists. I have pictures but basically the previous owner bolted 3 pieces of quarter inch steel plating measuring 13 feet in length to the support beam. The room spans 22 feet. There is only one post on this beam and suspect there were at least two from the original builder. I say this because he originally planned the basement which included a pool table which he left in the sale of the house to us. I believe there was a support post in that location, hence why he bolted these steel plates to the support beam thinking it was strengthening that beam.
There are so many bolts going in that beam that the obvious issue to me is that he has compromised the strength of the original wooden beams. He either made the change because he was too cheap to replace it with a proper ibeam, plain stupid or probably both. Also he either knew the floors were sagging before or by doing this he weakened everything.
I did have a home inspection but it is considered Latent Defect as he couldn't see behind the wooden facing over the beam. Another thing is that the previous owner marked "NO" on an SPIS (Seller Property Information Statement) to the following question: "Are you aware of any structural problems?"
My main concern here is what to do now. One option is to call the City of Burlington and have a work order put against the home, but how long will that take. I really need your expert advice and opinion on this. I have pictures and have halted doing anything more.
Hope someone can point me in the right direction.
Robert
I was hoping to never be on this side of a problem but recently am finding very bad things in my home located in Burlington, Ontario which I have lived in for 4 years with my wife.I need your expert advice on how to proceed.
This past March we began ripping up carpeting on the main floor of our bungalow and noticed that the floors were sagging towards the middle of the house. I basically refinished the floors and was planning to tackle the already finished basement in the fall. I started ripping out the bathroom and found problems there but the biggest issue was the cross member support under the floor joists. I have pictures but basically the previous owner bolted 3 pieces of quarter inch steel plating measuring 13 feet in length to the support beam. The room spans 22 feet. There is only one post on this beam and suspect there were at least two from the original builder. I say this because he originally planned the basement which included a pool table which he left in the sale of the house to us. I believe there was a support post in that location, hence why he bolted these steel plates to the support beam thinking it was strengthening that beam.
There are so many bolts going in that beam that the obvious issue to me is that he has compromised the strength of the original wooden beams. He either made the change because he was too cheap to replace it with a proper ibeam, plain stupid or probably both. Also he either knew the floors were sagging before or by doing this he weakened everything.
I did have a home inspection but it is considered Latent Defect as he couldn't see behind the wooden facing over the beam. Another thing is that the previous owner marked "NO" on an SPIS (Seller Property Information Statement) to the following question: "Are you aware of any structural problems?"
My main concern here is what to do now. One option is to call the City of Burlington and have a work order put against the home, but how long will that take. I really need your expert advice and opinion on this. I have pictures and have halted doing anything more.
Hope someone can point me in the right direction.
Robert