Australian Politics Forum - House with a problem

Bobby.

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #15 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:29pm

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:25pm:

Bobby. wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 10:30pm:

Any building experts online here at Ozpolitic?

I want to buy a house & it has a problem.
See the picture.
There is no mortar left in some of the bricks
& it is quite bad in the area shown.

How can mortar wash away?
The house was built in the late 80s &
maybe not enough cement was used in the mortar?

( My place now has such hard mortar that it turns a masonry bit red hot if you try to drill it.)

Is this problem in the photo serious?
It's all around the house but the worst spot is in the photo.
What is holding the building up?
Would it fall down if there was an earthquake?

What would it cost to fix it?

cheers
sir Bobby

Hi Bobby

I'm not expert, but I have seen this before. As far as I'm aware, there are two possible causes. One is not enough cement used when mixing the mortar. The other is a missing damp coursing. Moisture rising causes the mortar to wash out.

It's not hard to fix, but it is tedious. You have to scrape out the mortar a few bricks at a time, take out the bricks and then relay them with new mortar (install damp coursing on the bottom as you go). Be careful not to take out to many bricks at a time or you'll cause the wall above to collapse. For safety sake, I'd do no more than 3 bricks at a time.

It's fairly easy to do yourself. Otherwise hire someone to do it for you.

OK thanks -
so you're saying you don't need any form of jack to hold the weight of the wall while the bricks are taken out?
Some bricks are just loose & come out by hand.
It's almost like there is nothing there at all to hold the weight of the wall.

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ian Gold Member Offline OzPolitic Posts: 9451	Re: House with a problem Reply #16 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:30pm John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:27pm: Work out what it will cost you to repair all this stuff then get the seller to knock that of the price. idiotic advice. why not just buy a house that doesnt need repairing.
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John Smith Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 78311 Gender:	Re: House with a problem Reply #17 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:32pm ian wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:30pm: John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:27pm: Work out what it will cost you to repair all this stuff then get the seller to knock that of the price. idiotic advice. why not just buy a house that doesnt need repairing. that takes the fun out of it. It all depends on the price, no?
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Bobby.

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #18 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:32pm

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:27pm:

As for the shower, assume it's all rotten.

Work out what it will cost you to repair all this stuff then get the seller to knock that of the price.

Yes - these things can be used as bargaining chips.
the seller of that place with a bad shower wouldn't admit
there was a serious problem -
he said it was easy to fix - just a few rotten boards &
the rest of it was OK. - he couldn't be bothered tearing the tiles up to do it.
Of course - he would downplay it!

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Sir lastnail

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #19 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:33pm

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:28pm:

Sir lastnail wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:26pm:

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:20pm:

Sir lastnail wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:05pm:

This all wouldn't be an issue if by law the seller had to provide a report

why? bobby is aware of the problem and still looking at buying it. When is your brain going to connect with reality?

It's potentially dangerous and not fit to live in. If the wall collapses on someone then of course the real estate scumbag is indemnified and gets to keep his ill gotten gains Sad

you're potentially dangerous.

Hey smithy isn't it funny how a real estate agent does not need to have a financial advisors license ? funny about that considering they are offering financial advice on million dollar assets compared with someone with a financial advisors license who offers advice on 5K parcel of shares Sad

.

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Bobby. Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 121026 Melbourne Gender:	Re: House with a problem Reply #20 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:33pm ian wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:30pm: John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:27pm: Work out what it will cost you to repair all this stuff then get the seller to knock that of the price. idiotic advice. why not just buy a house that doesnt need repairing. Because you'll pay a lot more.
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John Smith

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #21 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:34pm

Bobby. wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:29pm:

OK thanks -
so you're saying you don't need any form of jack to hold the weight of the wall while the bricks are taken out?
Some bricks are just loose & come out by hand.
It's almost like there is nothing there at all to hold the weight of the wall.

if you're worried, crawl underneath and build a temporary pier. If it hasn't collapsed yet, I don't see why it would suddenly. As long as you only do a few bricks at a time.

Having said that, I haven't got the full picture. if you're not sure, get a building report.

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John Smith

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #22 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:35pm

Bobby. wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:33pm:

ian wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:30pm:

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:27pm:

Work out what it will cost you to repair all this stuff then get the seller to knock that of the price.

idiotic advice. why not just buy a house that doesnt need repairing.

Because you'll pay a lot more.

Come of it Bobby, Ian and common sense are miles apart

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Our esteemed leader:
I hope that bitch who was running their brothels for them gets raped with a cactus.

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John Smith

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #23 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:35pm

Sir lastnail wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:33pm:

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:28pm:

Sir lastnail wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:26pm:

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:20pm:

Sir lastnail wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:05pm:

This all wouldn't be an issue if by law the seller had to provide a report

why? bobby is aware of the problem and still looking at buying it. When is your brain going to connect with reality?

It's potentially dangerous and not fit to live in. If the wall collapses on someone then of course the real estate scumbag is indemnified and gets to keep his ill gotten gains Sad

you're potentially dangerous.

Hey smithy isn't funny how a real estate agent does not need to have a financial advisors license ? funny about that considering they are offering financial advice on million dollar assets compared with someone with a financial advisors license who offers advice on 5K parcel of shares Sad

.

why would an agent need financial advisors license? They sell houses, not give finance advice.

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Our esteemed leader:
I hope that bitch who was running their brothels for them gets raped with a cactus.

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ian

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #24 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:35pm

Bobby, your issue with the bricks is incorrectly mixed mortar, just because this is the part of the brickwork you can see mortar missing does not mean there are not problems with the rest of the brickwork. Its likely that the mortar was incorrectly mixed for the whole job. Also, the fact that there are 2 apparent serious repair issues with this house means that there are probably a whole host of serious issues you cant see. Stay away. Do not buy this house unless you pay land value only with a discount for the price of demolishing this place.

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Bobby.

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #25 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:37pm

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:34pm:

Bobby. wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:29pm:

OK thanks -
so you're saying you don't need any form of jack to hold the weight of the wall while the bricks are taken out?
Some bricks are just loose & come out by hand.
It's almost like there is nothing there at all to hold the weight of the wall.

if you're worried, crawl underneath and build a temporary pier. If it hasn't collapsed yet, I don't see why it would suddenly. As long as you only do a few bricks at a time.

Having said that, I haven't got the full picture. if you're not sure, get a building report.

I am almost sure that if I showed the bank that picture of the bricks they would want a full report.
It looks bad to me but I'm not a builder or any sort of expert.

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John Smith

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #26 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:37pm

Bobby. wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:32pm:

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:27pm:

As for the shower, assume it's all rotten.

Work out what it will cost you to repair all this stuff then get the seller to knock that of the price.

Yes - these things can be used as bargaining chips.
the seller of that place with a bad shower wouldn't admit
there was a serious problem -
he said it was easy to fix - just a few rotten boards &
the rest of it was OK. - he couldn't be bothered tearing the tiles up to do it.
Of course - he would downplay it!

tear up tiles? first you have to remove the shower base, then pull up tiles, waterproofing and then the floor boards. Then start again and rebuild the thing. It's not hard, but it's a little more complicated than changing a few boards.

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Our esteemed leader:
I hope that bitch who was running their brothels for them gets raped with a cactus.

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ian

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #27 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:37pm

Bobby. wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:33pm:

ian wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:30pm:

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:27pm:

Work out what it will cost you to repair all this stuff then get the seller to knock that of the price.

idiotic advice. why not just buy a house that doesnt need repairing.

Because you'll pay a lot more.

sorry. didnt realise you were an expert builder.

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John Smith

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #28 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:38pm

Bobby. wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:37pm:

John Smith wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:34pm:

Bobby. wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:29pm:

OK thanks -
so you're saying you don't need any form of jack to hold the weight of the wall while the bricks are taken out?
Some bricks are just loose & come out by hand.
It's almost like there is nothing there at all to hold the weight of the wall.

if you're worried, crawl underneath and build a temporary pier. If it hasn't collapsed yet, I don't see why it would suddenly. As long as you only do a few bricks at a time.

Having said that, I haven't got the full picture. if you're not sure, get a building report.

I am almost sure that if I showed the bank that picture of the bricks they would want a full report.
It looks bad to me but I'm not a builder or any sort of expert.

you should ALWAYS get a building inspection BEFORE you buy. If this is what you can see, who knows what's there that you as a layman can't see.

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Our esteemed leader:
I hope that bitch who was running their brothels for them gets raped with a cactus.

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Bobby.

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Re: House with a problem
Reply #29 - Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:38pm

ian wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2016 at 11:35pm:

Bobby, your issue with the bricks is incorrectly mixed mortar, just because this is the part of the brickwork you can see mortar missing does not mean there are not problems with the rest of the brickwork. Its likely that the mortar was incorrectly mixed for the whole job. Also, the fact that there are 2 apparent serious repair issues with this house means that there are probably a whole host of serious issues you cant see. Stay away. Do not buy this house unless you pay land value only with a discount for the price of demolishing this place.

The 2 pictures I showed everyone are from TWO different houses that I looked at.

My untrained eye has probably missed much more.

Its likely that the mortar was incorrectly mixed for the whole job.

Yes - the whole place would have sandy mortar -
some halfwit mixed the mortar in the wrong amounts -
not enough cement.

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